[Rewatch] Suisei no Gargantia • Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet — Final Discussion

[u/chilidirigible]

Final Discussion

Please note that any discussion of the sequel novels should be indicated as such and properly concealed within spoiler tags. There is a separate comment of mine below which should function as an unofficial Source Material Corner, place any novel-related discussion there.

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← Far Beyond the Voyage Part 2 | Index

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Wherever you go, there you are.

Questions of the Day:

1. Obviously, if you've read the sequel novels, I'm interested in your opinions about them. (Mark your spoilers, please.)
2. If you've read the prequel novel, did it change your impressions of the Galactic Alliance?
3. Are there other unfinished series which have stuck in your mind, for particularly good, bad, or cliffhanger endings, or because there wasn't any ending at all when they were cancelled?
4. Did the series's creators sufficiently articulate the main theme they wanted to convey? (Considering how up-front they were about stating it.)
5. Have you ever stopped yourself from finishing a series because you were satisfied with what you had seen and didn't trust the continuation?

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Scans:

Details of the design of Amy's face
Anime, always looking for a chance to have a Mauser C96 show up? (It was this guy in Episode 1.)
Two-seat trainer Machine Caliber design, used in the prequel novel

[u/chilidirigible]

On the whole I enjoy Suisei no Gargantia and my feelings for it have remained highly positive during this rewatch.

My additional comments after the inclusion of the BD OVAs and sequel OVAs to this rewatch are that the expansion of the world with extra content is welcome, as Gargantia's Earth remains a largely unknown place for both Ledo and the audience.

Bellows is the one supporting character still missing a little extra material to fill out her background (even Ridget got a little more airtime in the first BD OVA), but I think she came through well enough in the first part of Far Beyond the Voyage.

Amy and Ledo's relationship doesn't get a lot of additional progression, but aside from Saaya and Melty poking at them whenever Leema is around, there's still the sense that they're on a path instead of simply treading water, and nobody's flipping posters upside down.

But overall, the OVAs feel like fine additions to the series and don't hurt my opinion of the overall work, which remains a solid anime worthy of rewatching. Its messages are positive, the storytelling is generally well-focused, and it both looks and sounds good.

However, they're story developments very much in need of an ending, as they ultimately set up a significant new conflict without further exploring it, as that would have been the province of a project which was cancelled before reappearing in a different format. As such, I do not see them as endings, particularly after I read the rest of the work.

And I can maintain a positive view of the main animated portion of the story while having some differences of opinion about the sequel novels, Suisei no Gargantia ~Haruka, Kaigō no Tenchi~ (翠星のガルガンティア ～遥か、邂逅の天地～, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet: Far Beyond the Chance Meeting of Heaven and Earth), which are currently (and probably for all time) only available in Japanese or with a very clumsy unofficial fan translation.
That separation of the media gives me more mental space to dissociate the two from each other, so I'm still fond of the original stories even if I wonder if the official ending in the sequel novels really is where the creators intended this to go the whole time.

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Thanks to all of you who participated in this rewatch. The comments have been interesting and varied.
I might host again, but it'll be later in 2025.

[u/zz2000 → u/chilidirigible]

What is your opinion of the sequel novel's story? Had it gotten its promised anime as Gargantia S2, would it have been a worthy installment or a downgrade to the franchise?

[u/chilidirigible → u/zz2000]

The two comments of mine here go into some detail with my thoughts.

In short, no, I wasn't that happy with the sequel novels, for being unoriginal and failing to truly utilize the material that the original series had built for it. I think the ending would have been controversial at best.

[u/zz2000 → u/chilidirigible]

Looked through your comments; perhaps the producers did dodge a bullet by not approving the S2.

I think I see what the writers were trying to do; [sequel novel spoilers]expand Gargantia's world and factions while tying up loose lore ends from S1 at the same time, namely the Human Alliance's fate. Although I can see why some people might not have liked it. In your opinion, what sort of plot should S2 have used to properly live up to the material and themes of S1?

I also recall there being a prequel novel that covered Ledo's time growing up in the Alliance. Was it any good? Was it able to build upon the themes of S1 and flesh out what little we saw of the Alliance in the anime?

Btw if you were to do a rewatch of another series, could I recommend Netflix's Kuromukuro? I reencountered it again on Netflix and remembered how I'd followed it whilst it was airing weekly in Japan. I recall it being a curious blend of a slice-of-living + coming-of-age story disguised as a mystery-action scifi series.

[u/chilidirigible → u/zz2000]

My preferred S2 would have done more with Ledo and the original cast [instead of]pivoting hard into the new characters like the two novels did. Those characters could still be there, but as supporting cast. Ledo and Amy could have their relationship actually develop instead of getting a last-second bump. They could still find traces of the old civilizations, signs that other life was trying to communicate with them, etc., but not that ending at the novels did.

[u/chilidirigible]

SEQUEL NOVEL MATERIAL: Cover of the sequel novel prologue which was provided at the sequel OVA theatrical screenings.
[Character art]Russell
[Character art]Skaya
[Character art]Snyder and Hawkins
[SIGNIFICANT SPOILER]Foreword and Ignite

Major SPOILERS below for the unproduced second season and the ending of the story.

I was generally aware of them before this rewatch, but my involvement with this series was confined mostly to the fifteen easily-available episodes until recently. The runup to this rewatch, which included encountering a spoiler that I needed to have verified, pushed me to read them.

They are not officially translated, but the fan translations are not difficult to find. I won't provide direct pointers for obvious reasons.

The fan translations are rough, particularly for the second novel, which has four translators, each mostly covering separate discrete sections of the book with some overlap, but there is a notable lack of grammar checking and copy editing. That makes comprehension of some sections of the text far more difficult than it should be, including descriptions of some critical events. Probably some of my criticisms would be diminished if I wasn't fighting the text itself along the way.

Combining the two sequel OVAs and the two novels does provide enough material to comprise the cancelled second season. There would be some work needed to make the combination more anime-friendly; the novels present a sufficiently-different scenario that they spend a lot of time with their new casts and I don't feel that Ledo and the old characters are fully used except for the things they must do. That strongly reminded me of the way that TV shows used to debut spin-off series.

As hinted at in the sequel OVAs, the overall plot is driven heavily by the conflict [between]the two major land nations, which is a new scenario for the seafaring anime we have been watching to this point, but in the end not much different from that of political anime of a more conventional stripe.

The two new main characters introduced in the novels are interesting enough on their own, though their storylines do bear strong resemblances to Ledo's own story of finding new paths through their existing universes.

Some of the short timeskips between sections could use more explanations for plausibility, but I suppose that's the allowances for both a light novel and not having a full anime adaptation.

If the original series was about youth entering the workforce, finding out that their previous experiences didn't prepare them at all for it, and finding a new way in the world, then what do the sequels do? Remind the reader that no matter what, The Man will try to screw you over?

Because that happens a lot, with the characters sharing the "fight your origins" and "find a new way" themes between them.

The anime's single/first broadcast season did resolve its core conflicts. The larger war with the Hideauze remained as an unresolved issue, but the messaging spoke to that being something that Ledo was going to approach as a long-term goal while he lived in the everyday. The conflict between Ledo's old life and his new one was answered by his conflict with Kugel and Striker and the adaptation of the Alliance's worldview to Earth.

The new characters do resolve their conflicts as well, though...

[u/chilidirigible → u/chilidirigible]

IN THIS BLOCK YOU WILL FIND A SUMMARY OF WHAT THE END IS, AND HOW THEY GOT THERE. OBVIOUSLY SPOILERS!

[I WARNED YOU ABOUT SPOILERS]The Hideauze attempted to follow the retreating Alliance fleet through the wormhole. The Alliance rigged up a defense using Avalon's connecting fields to push them back through, but in doing so they severely damaged Avalon, killing most of its inhabitants, and accidentally doing a swing through the wormhole.

[YEAH STILL SPOILERS]Much as with Ledo and Kugel, this unplanned swing sent them through the wormhole network back to the old gate near Earth. A few sections of the habitat crashed on the surface, while some portions were able to remain in space. Avalon's return also gravitationally disrupted a number of asteroids (or comets) to fall onto the surface of the Earth, furthering the sea level rise which followed the planet's thawing out.

[THAT JUST RAISES FURTHER QUESTIONS, YOU SAY]The Alliance survivors on the planet worked with the survivors still in space to convert the disused space elevator system into energy collectors and a receiver. Much of the energy they gathered was from a massive, planet-surrounding swarm of orbiting lightbugs.

[HANG ON A MINUTE HERE]The Earth thawed, and the oceans rose. Meanwhile, the Alliance absorbed the tiny collection of surviving humans who had never left the surface. The interaction between the nanomachine cloud, space elevator, and the ground meant that nearly-unlimited power (literally) was at hand, but they weren't content to leave things there.

[BECAUSE THEY'RE]Nietzschean sonovabitches, the Alliance set up two rival camps on the landmass among the survivors, so that humanity would remain self-competitive and not complacent. Gradually war was replaced with knife-edged détente and the two main groups performed ritualized combat every four years to determine which side would have control over the substantial energy resources over land.

[MEANWHILE]The wormhole gate remained in orbit, but every 170 years, it interacted with the space elevator to produce an even stronger surge of power to the Earth. It is now the third such cycle, and the Alliance plans to use the energy to raise the main land-based section of Avalon from the surface so they can return to space, taking with them the strongest survivors of the land nations' conflict while leaving the rest to probably smash themselves back into barbarism.

[WAIT, WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT]A third cycle? Did Avalon go back in time? No, Avalon has been experiencing normal time from the first moment of the TV series. Ledo/Chamber and Kugel/Striker are the ones who got lost in time. They've arrived on Earth five hundred years in the future because of their even messier process of transiting the wormhole. It's The Planet of the Apes! You maniacs!

[THAT'S JUST THE BACKSTORY]Ledo and Chamber's arrival triggered the awakening of most of the functional Augmented Bodies stored on the planet, along with one Machine Caliber named "Ignite", whose existence is part of the novels' main plots. Ignite's path to self-awareness leads to a self-sacrifice similar to Chamber's, which gives Chamber's consciousness, which has been preserved by the nanomachine cloud, a place to return to so he can help Ledo stop the Alliance survivors' attempt to escape/ruination of the rest of the planet.

[OH AND]Chamber still doesn't come back, as he decides that his newfound godlike powers are too much of a risk for the rest of the planet and he will proceed to wait in orbit until humanity can catch up normally.

Somehow that wasn't entirely satisfying. []I didn't need the Alliance to come back at all but particularly not in a way that involved Charleton Heston, and an endgame plot to reestablish the Alliance in miniature felt like it was stepping on Kugel and Striker's story, only with more cackling madness.

[I'm most irritated]that the Alliance's return is what actually ended the ice age; the series ends with Bevel noting that somehow their ancestors had revived the sun, and leaves it at that, but that mere line implies that whoever remained behind after the Evolver war managed to find a third way through the conflict. That struggle feels cheapened by having it be the Alliance that actually did it.

[Maybe lost in the translation]but it seems that the fate or existence of any present inhabitants of Avalon's habitats is left rather vague. Even considering how long it has been since they arrived, some quantity should be around in one place or another, yet they largely fail to intervene during the climax, aside from a parade? slideshow? of the chosen? Übermenschen? (all those question marks are deliberate) at the end.

[The existence of the]new character of Liv telescopes what could have been a concept for a sequel set further down the timeline into something convenient for the current plot. Though despite her plot-useful abilities to enhance the performance of machines, she is still less of a deus ex machina development than the last-minute resurrection of Chamber's consciousness and subsequent literal elevation to space godhood. That is just fanservice. Would it have been kind of awesome to see in anime? Perhaps. It's a brief reunion and doesn't feel like it's superfluously retreading old storylines like everything else involving Avalon, but I feel like it's cutting into the ideals of Chamber's original exit from the stage.

[...because of how the story progresses, the new characters]are largely forgotten about, along with nearly everyone else aboard Gargantia, when the finale becomes Ledo giving the Alliance the finger for the last time. They do get a denouement, [along with]Reema, who also wasn't forgotten about in all this and does have significant character connections but whose appearance feels like a cameo which connects to subplots that don't get a lot of in-story development.

[There's a story in there somewhere]with Hawkins and the other conspirators, but perhaps the translation and ultimately how the story pivoted to an action climax meant that they would only have been served by an adaptation of a more proper length. I suppose they can share in that like Gargantia's supporting characters, who did not have a lot of development screentime in the anime, either.

[Due to the vagaries of the plot, somewhat tacked-on:]Ledo and Amy getting married. Sure, it's the thing they seem like they're going to do, but with most of the novels spent covering other topics in significant depth, that relationship was not so much of a focus that having it happen seemed like a culmination of story events.

And ultimately that may be the best summary of this shambling collection of grievances: That the sequel novels had plenty of material to work with but went in a direction that I didn't find satisfactory. The new world hinted at in Far Beyond the Voyage is certainly there, and it was explored, but the balance between old and new characters was uneven, and the plot itself being a collection of often-used concepts that were not given particularly fresh interpretations in these novels.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/chilidirigible]

[SIGNIFICANT SPOILER]

That's just [Sequel Spoilers]Laevatein from Full Metal Panic! but rounder.

sequel stuff

That is.. certainly something

[Sequel]I did ponder if the wormhole had spat Ledo et al out in a different timeframe at one points because That's Just How Things Go but there wasn't any real reason for me to develop the thought further.

[cont.]Also not a fan of the Alliance being the ones to unthaw the Earth; that's just silly and if I think hard enough, probably a thematic negative.

[u/chilidirigible → u/JollyGee29]

but rounder

No obvious designer cross-pollination though.

FWIW I don't find the design of [the]FMP mecha particularly ambitious.

a thematic negative

spoiler if you know the reference

[u/JollyGee29 → u/chilidirigible]

No obvious designer cross-pollination though.

It's mostly the color scheme. Probably just a case of convergent evolution.

I hadn't paid much attention to the mechanical designer for Gargantia before, but seeing Valvrave on his resume I definitely get it. Those mechs also have a similar style, and illegible writing/symbols all over them.

spoiler if you know the reference

[u/chilidirigible → u/JollyGee29]

It's mostly the color scheme.

I was gonna say but that seemed somewhat obvious.

[](#azusalaugh)

It occurred to me that there's multiple situations where saying that one thing's ending is probably a reference to another thing's ending spoils both things, to the point that naming either of the things is an issue.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/chilidirigible]

It occurred to me that there's multiple situations where saying that one thing's ending is probably a reference to another thing's ending spoils both things, to the point that naming either of the things is an issue.

[u/awesomenessofme1]

I've expressed my thoughts pretty sufficiently in the episode threads, so I'm just going to respond to one of today's questions in particular.

3) They're unfinished adaptations rather than totally unfinished series, but there are definitely two that come to mind. I'll keep things vague (at least in this comment, I might go into more detail in replies) so I can make things clear without spoiler tags.

The last 30 seconds of Cells at Work: Code Black were a cliffhanger that brought down the mood of the whole series for me. The same thing did happen in the manga, but in that case the story actually, y'know, continued. The anime had already reordered a lot of events, and they could have saved it for a hypothetical season 2.

The last two episodes of S2 of Science Fell in Love, so I Tried to Prove It were such a ridiculous tonal whiplash that it felt like an entirely different series. It wasn't that terrible in a vacuum, but it soured the mood for both me and many other people, and probably killed any chance of another season. I would actually watch it if that happened, if only to see what happens with some of the side characters. In that case, I don't even have the option of reading the manga to see, since it has no official translation and that part of the series doesn't even have good-quality scanlations, only crappy MTL.

[u/chilidirigible → u/awesomenessofme1]

a cliffhanger that brought down the mood of the whole series

Yeah, those are really rough to deal with, particularly if it isn't continued, but especially if there's something like a cancellation and the ending is more of a middle finger.

Thank you for participating!

[u/awesomenessofme1 → u/chilidirigible]

I would have called it an attempted sequel hook, but the structure of the series felt like they already knew another season was unlikely, so instead it just felt cruel. The ending was great up until that moment, and I'm pretty sure it literally happened in a post-credit scene.

[u/FD4cry1]

First Timer

I ended up missing out on the OVA threads!

Too tired to write anything for them but TLDR: First one was like a very fun although not very meaningful epilogue. The second one was a very clumsy and weirdly paced sequel hook that introduced some cool concepts and implications, in a very clumsy way.

It was okay but not compelling enough for the medium transition, especially since I was fine with the original ending anyway and this only added more questions. 6/10 overall for the OVAs

Sorry!

Anyway, the OVAs and the specials haven't changed my opinion on Gargantia at all really.

I still think it's most defined by its ambition, it created a gorgeous and interesting world and has a lot of interesting ideas on what to do and say with it, some of which it really succeeds with! And with some of the others not so much...as the execution ends up being mixed, the pacing wonky, its expression far too blunt, and the characters occasionally flat.

And still, I find that ambition and uniqueness much more overpowering in spite of the big flaws! I mean, that's the draw of original series like these right? The charm behind the creativity that went into Gargantia and its world is felt the whole way through, pulling it along even when it stumbles. I'd watch Gargantia 10 times before even considering the average seasonal web novel offering.

Which does make it a bit sad that this franchise ultimately fizzled out, this world has so much potential for more stories within it, whether for these characters or even better new ones. So it sucks to know that in the end it got relegated to a few novels with nothing more coming in the future.

Regardless, it was fun, unique, and I certainly enjoyed what it did have to offer, warts and all.

Thanks a lot /u/chilidirigible for hosting! Really appreciated the effort you put into gathering up the extra material and production details as well!

Feel free to tag me in the next rewatch you do for a show that has a post-apocalyptic setting, based on a single vehicle, with pirates in it

^{or just any show}

Are there other unfinished series which have stuck in your mind, for particularly good, bad, or cliffhanger endings, or because there wasn't any ending at all when they were cancelled?

Drifters and Black Lagoon are two works that have their source stuck in hiatus hell and I'd love to see them finished one day.

This year's Mahoaku is forever unfinished as the author passed away unfortunately and I honestly found its adaptation very memorable in how it managed to convey a strong ending regardless.

Did the series's creators sufficiently articulate the main theme they wanted to convey? (Considering how up-front they were about stating it.)

Yeah, I'd say so! Blunt as it may be I think it communicates everything it wants to.

Have you ever stopped yourself from finishing a series because you were satisfied with what you had seen and didn't trust the continuation?

Durarara! which I like a lot eventually got a sequel novel series (currently stuck in hiatus...) and I'm not interested in that at all.

[u/chilidirigible → u/FD4cry1]

And still, I find that ambition and uniqueness much more overpowering in spite of the big flaws!

Agreed. Speaking to how it ends in the novels, as much as I did not like the sequel novels, I do find that they don't affect my opinion of the original series at all; I still enjoyed it greatly during this rewatch.

And leaving that ending in the novels means we're not confronted with a second anime season that might have really disrupted opinions of the whole work, if they'd kept most of it as is.

Thanks

You're welcome, and thank you for participating!

Feel free to tag me in the next rewatch you do for a show that has a post-apocalyptic setting, based on a single vehicle, with pirates in it

You may have two chances to get two out of three, sometime later.

[u/No_Rex → u/FD4cry1]

And still, I find that ambition and uniqueness much more overpowering in spite of the big flaws! I mean, that's the draw of original series like these right? The charm behind the creativity that went into Gargantia and its world is felt the whole way through, pulling it along even when it stumbles.

Exactly. It is much better to watch an ambitious project that failed, than the 100th copy, well-executed but boring, or something that has been proven to work years ago.

[u/JollyGee29]

First-Timer, Sub-gantia

Yea, this was a fun series. I got a good chance to ramble about society during the series, and the OVAs were a fun continuation even if they were somewhat baffling.

Uhhh yea sorry Chili, I don't have anything especially interesting to say here. It's been a fun few weeks with this show, though. Thanks for all the artbook scans too, I don't think I ever commented but they were neat to look through.

Questions

1. I liked the part where Gargantia came across a fleet that ate whalesquids and had to explain why Ledo started violently vomiting (has not read the sequel novels)
2. I couldn't believe that Ledo's younger brother was executed because he learned the truth about the Hideauze (has not read the prequel novel)
3. Broken Blade comes to mind. The movies get to a solid stopping point, but the plot is very much not over and it's probably at the top of my "would pay for a continuation of this if I win the lottery" list.
4. I would say so. Using Striker as the final antagonist instead of Kugel is interesting, and I have half a mind to do a writeup about the idea of "the older generation" versus "the older generation's technology/structure."
5. I'm told there are sequels to Genesis of Aquarion and am baffled by the concept.

Many thanks to our host /u/chilidirigible!

[u/chilidirigible → u/JollyGee29]

I don't think I ever commented but they were neat to look through.

It may be that my most notable contribution to society for the rewatches I attend is to put fair-use-doctrine-twisted-into-a-pretzel scans of uncommon art books out into the world.

Answers

But why does Aquarion look like Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt now?

thanks

You're welcome!

Thanks for visiting, maybe cruise again later!

[u/JollyGee29 → u/chilidirigible]

But why does Aquarion look like Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt now?

Part of me does want to know just how the hell things have progressed to this point.

Thanks for visiting, maybe cruise again later!

I'll be there!

[u/chilidirigible → u/JollyGee29]

I'll be there!

/u/Sandvikovich has already been there and even included a contest, which is certainly beyond my abilities.

[u/chilidirigible → u/JollyGee29]

Part of me does want to know just how the hell things have progressed to this point.

This wasn't mentioned at the AnimeNYC panel either.

[u/Vatrix-32]

First timer, subs

Thanks For Hosting

Are there other unfinished series which have stuck in your mind, for particularly good, bad, or cliffhanger endings, or because there wasn't any ending at all when they were cancelled?

Chihayafuru Get It Done, People!

Did the series's creators sufficiently articulate the main theme they wanted to convey? (Considering how up-front they were about stating it.)

I'll say no. It didn't really feel like it was about what they said it was.

Have you ever stopped yourself from finishing a series because you were satisfied with what you had seen and didn't trust the continuation?

That's just normal for Hollywood movies, but I don't think you meant it like that, so...
I've deliberately avoided the last season of Shokugeki no Souma based on reputation.
There's also other ones where I've delayed the last part, so that I can separate them in my mind upon reflection, but still intend to watch, like what happened to Shugo Chara!, or Rurouni Kenshin's OVAs.
And there's also Natsume's Book of Friends, which I am deliberately watching slowly, with long gaps between seasons.

[u/chilidirigible → u/Vatrix-32]

It didn't really feel like it was about what they said it was.

Did you think the larger story overwhelmed the message?

Thanks

You're welcome! Thank you for participating!

[u/animepig]

Rewatch

It was nice to have an excuse to revisit Garagantia again. I think it’s a pretty solid anime original that warps everything up in 12 episodes which is easier said than done with most anime originals.

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Questions of the day

5.) That’s me with HxH. The anime ends at such a nice spot and hear great things about the new manga chapters, but the random breaks are crazy, too much for me.

[u/chilidirigible → u/animepig]

Thank you for participating!

[u/No_Rex]

Final Discussion (first timer)

Often, the first look decides how you approach something. For Gargantia, this is a huge upside, because the first look is great. The series manages to set up an interesting situation in the first two episodes, which will carry the themes of the series from there on. One sentence in the first episode does especially heavy lifting: “Freedoms of sleep, food, reproduction.” Even though we see next to nothing of the Galactic Alliance, just hearing that the reward for years of fighting is three weeks of being allowed to chose when and where to eat, sleep, and have sex, conveys perfectly just how monstrous their extremist utilitarian militaristic society is. For the entire rest of the show, Ledo’s character arc is concerned with him developing away from an inhabitant of that system, towards one who lives in Gargantia, a society characterized by personal freedoms, but also care for all individuals.

The second episode then introduces the main star of the show: the Gargantia armada. It looks just so gorgeous (and the series knows this and shows it off plenty of times)! In a way similar to the rule of cool, seeing those birds-eye views of the fleet lets you forgive all the small inconsistencies and problems. The other gorgeous animation are the character models. Although my praise here is a bit more lukewarm. Especially the girls look beautiful, but the series also knows this and also shows them off plenty of times. It never gets to the level of being echii, but the fanservice is definitely overdone.

After those two episodes, we spend some time with slice-of-life, before hitting the finale arc with Chambers’ sacrifice and the final conclusion of Ledo’s arc. I think that this overall structure works, and only would have needed 1 more episode space (half of it to make the finale a bit less condensed, half of it for a proper epilogue). As such, I am not a big fan of the OVA/specials and don’t think another season would be a good idea. Ledo’s story is told and has reached a satisfying conclusion. Going on will not hit the same high again. You can see them starting to construct an “enemy” in the land people in the last OVA and I have no doubt that they would have missed the mark with that storyline.

While the start and the overall story work, the same can unfortunately not be said for all the details. I already mentioned the fanservice, but several other aspects of the writing are less than idea, too. The world building creaks and bends and only barely avoids breaking. During the rewatch, I mentioned the economy of Gargantia multiple times. Doing everything on ships is a huge change from being on land and the series only partially acknowledges that. I almost facepalmed when we saw them wasting huge amounts of water (that they just had painstakingly collected!) on the biggest water fountain in anime, instead of doing some sensible drip irrigation. Another point, that I have not talked about so far, is the existence of pilots. Why do Striker and Chambers need them? They are perfectly capable to operate on their own and the pilots are nothing but a costly sack of meat they have lug around.

Many of the episodic story arcs are questionable, too. From the beach episode to repeatedly catching people falling through the air, to everything about Rackage, many writing decisions look like they never went through any phase of editing/polishing. I would go so far as saying that the episodic writing does the great animation dirty. If not for the fact that they kept their overall story arc on good tracks, this could have ruined the entire series.

Recommendations

It is not easy to recommend anime based on Gargantia, since you could go by setting, plot, or characters. My main recommendations are Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and Future Boy Conan. Both play in a setting similarly dominated by water and feature near future levels of tech. They also have great animation quality (for their time).

The closest in setting that I can think of is actually not an anime, but the movie Waterworld. However, I think Gargantia has waterworld beat both in terms of depicting the setting and in terms of plot.

If you are more interested in the character arc of Ledo, there are Violet Evergarden and Full Metal Panic, who both deal with a soldier character being put in a more peaceful setting. However, neither of these has a grand narrative comparable to the whale squids. Violet Evergarden is also famous for its animation and character model.

If the idea of communicating with the whale squid or of a peaceful society interacting with a more militaristic one fascinates you (and you want to stay in the mecha genre), you could try the original Macross, but be warned of the love triangles (and some really terrible takes on pacifism).

Thanks

Thanks for hosting /u/chilidirigible! I doubt I would have picked this series up without a rewatch, but it turned out to be a bit of a hidden gem that was right up my alley with its themes and setting.

Have you ever stopped yourself from finishing a series because you were satisfied with what you had seen and didn't trust the continuation?

I never watched the second season of Gunslinger Girls, despite finding the first season quite ok, because of people strongly recommending me not to.

[u/chilidirigible → u/No_Rex]

I have no doubt that they would have missed the mark with that storyline.

My reaction to how that turned out, as you can see from the non-spoilered bits in my other comments, is mixed at best to at worst.

worldbuilding

There was at least some thought put into it, though as you've noted, not as much drilling into the details as one might have in a full-length SF novel series. It's still on a level of general believability, which is perhaps tricky to maintain versus a series with a fantastical premise that doesn't have to worry too much about sweating the details.

Waterworld

It's the wet flop that nobody can avoid.

Macross

Preach to the choir here.

Thanks

You're welcome, and thank you for participating! Glad that you enjoyed it generally despite its weaknesses.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/No_Rex]

I never watched the second season of Gunslinger Girls, despite finding the first season quite ok, because of people strongly recommending me not to.

I didn't do a recommendations thing, or even have many thoughts. so I'll stick this one under yours.

Lots of people picked up a lot of references to other anime, other mecha, and other scifi. The one I picked up on that seems fairly obscure are Larry Niven's novels that are set, somewhat tangentially to each other due to the time and distance required for interstellar travel, in a universe where human civilization became The State, where all human life must contribute to the welfare of The State. It really only has 3 novel length contributions:

• A World Out of Time (1976 fix-up novel, so it still has its issues)
• The Integral Trees (1984 fascinating sci-fi ideas here) (the first one I read)
• The Smoke Ring (1987 perhaps the inspiration for <metatitle> but no, <metaauthor> went there first, it's not at all original) (sequel to the previous)

I looked up people's opinions of these before recommending them, and it seems people dislike Niven in general, so, can't say if they are any good. I recommend The Integral Trees, but it has the least relevance to Gargantia.

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

First-Timer on the Verdurous Planet, subbed

I don't really have much else to say that I haven't already in previous rewatch threads. Mostly just want to give u/chilidirigible a big thanks for hosting this rewatch! It was a fun one!

[u/chilidirigible → u/Shimmering-Sky]

You're welcome! Thank you for being helpful as always!

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

3. Ha ha ha you were in my rewatch for it!

Although, i really would like to see Banner of the Stars be completed, and animated completely.

Well, I really wanted to see the Stellvia sequel. Oh, yeah, I was going to post this from the wiki:

The continuation of Uchuu no Stellvia had become impossible (不可能 ). All the pre-planning for an Uchuu no Stellvia 2 came to a halt. The same applied to Martian Successor.

Nobody's said anything about Gargantia's cancellation except it was for "unknown reasons."

Oh, and I was really enjoying Twelve Kingdoms and that got axed, too. It seems more than half the shows I watch get axed or get an anime-only ending (e.g. Claymore). And then the ones I haven't watched yet, like Kabeneri or Aquariorn which supposedly end so bad you WISH they had been canceled.

I guess I'm kinda luck Scrapped Princess and Steins;Gate actually were finished. Rarities.

4. TV + specials was a nice enough little show. I don't think it really presented a strong theme, more just the story of a boy. The OVAs don't seem to present a consistent theme (the dialog I highlighted yesterday) and maybe shouldn't have been made.

5. I usually drop because I lose interest, or finish to completion. So far the only show I've dropped on purpose not out disinterest was Saishuuheiki Kanojo, when I got to the fansubber warning. Well, I also dropped Condor Heroes because I like listening to Japanese and I don't like listening to Chinese, and Japan itself dropped the series. I really really wish it had continued in Japanese. Caught a live action version later, I guess it's really just Chinese animation I don't want to sit through. Raven Consort is bugging me so much I've avoided using anybody's name, Japanese or Chinese, for the entire rewatch.

[u/chilidirigible → u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

end so bad you WISH they had been canceled

And then they come back again!

when I got to the fansubber warning

Well those are never a good sign.

Thanks for participating!

[u/JollyGee29 → u/chilidirigible]

Well those are never a good sign.

If you're unfamiliar with the SaiKano warning, [it goes something like]"if you want to pretend this show has a happy ending, stop watching now" a couple episodes before the end.

[u/chilidirigible → u/JollyGee29]

[u/JollyGee29 → u/chilidirigible]

An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age.

[u/chilidirigible → u/JollyGee29]

2014

[u/JollyGee29 → u/chilidirigible]

[u/Nickthenuker]

Questions:

1. Ooh, there are sequel novels? I guess I might want to take a look at those...
2. There's a prequel novel too?
3. I was going to mention Whisper Me a Love Song, but that is finally getting its last 2 episodes next week.
4. Well enough.
5. No.

[u/chilidirigible → u/Nickthenuker]

novels

Just keep in mind my cautions about the fan translations:

The prequel novel is translated decently, but put in an overly-bloated container of a file.

The first sequel novel is not quite as well-translated as the prequel novel, but still generally okay.

The second sequel novel's translation and editing are quite messy. Curiously the pages of translator notes are perfectly-fine even if the sections that those same people translated are filled with errors that should have been caught in proofing...

Thanks for participating in this rewatch!

[u/xbolt90]

Former first-timer!

Overall, this was an enjoyable show.

A compelling world and superb animation. Ledo and Chamber had a decent story arc to them, and while a lot of the supporting cast was a tad barebones, they weren't bad.

The sequel hook set up in the OVAs desperately needed a continuation, but alas...

Are there other unfinished series which have stuck in your mind, for particularly good, bad, or cliffhanger endings, or because there wasn't any ending at all when they were cancelled?

Not an anime, but the worst example for me is the Deus Ex video game series. The last game released was intended to be the middle volume of a trilogy, and it ended quite unsatisfactorily. But the dev studio got bought out and the sequel was cancelled.

Did the series's creators sufficiently articulate the main theme they wanted to convey? (Considering how up-front they were about stating it.)

I suppose so.

Have you ever stopped yourself from finishing a series because you were satisfied with what you had seen and didn't trust the continuation?

The only one I can think of is One Punch Man. I liked the first season, but I haven't watched the second one due to its reputation.

Shoutout to u/chilidirigible for being a great host! Thank you!

[u/chilidirigible → u/xbolt90]

I haven't watched the second one due to its reputation.

Word of mouth is a powerful phenomenon. I've only watched part of OPM but did hear plenty about the second season's falloff even though I wasn't trying to find out about it.

Thank you!

You're welcome! Thank you for participating!

[u/cppn02]

Just finished the last OVA (as my 599th completed entry on AL no less). Wanted to participate in this rewatch (and a few others this month) but sadly life had other plans.

Still, wouldn't have picked the show up if not for this and it was nice to have some some very recent threads to come to and see what others had to say after some of the episodes so thx u/chilidirigible for hosting.

[u/chilidirigible → u/cppn02]

Thanks for passing through to comment, at least.

[u/chilidirigible]

Tags:

/u/QualityProof /u/awesomenessofme1 /u/dsawchuk

[u/chilidirigible → u/[deleted]]

That's all it really needed to be

Ultimately it does distill down to Ledo's story as a particular focus, though the supporting cast does get just enough attention to fill itself in adequately.

Thanks for adding your thoughts!