Gargantia on the Verduous Planet: Episode 10 Review by Miki

Streaming Allegiance: Crunchyroll
Reconnaissance Report by: Miki
Progress: Episode 10


Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet PromoThe makeup of the Gargantia and the direction of the series take a significant turn over this span of episodes. Relics from Earth’s distant past inform Ledo’s understanding of how humanity reached the point of his own situation, and they weigh heavily on him. Just as he’s processing his new revelations, another unexpected factor enters the scene… a factor that will either make or break the show.

Considering this series was created by the man behind Madoka Magica, people were speculating what kind of twist this show would take. Episode 7 provided one twist, Episode 8 involves the reconfiguration of Gargantia’s fleet, and episode 9 finally brings the real “Urobochi twist” in a torrent of impressive, meticulously-crafted backstory. It’s nothing new to anime as a medium, but it doesn’t feel cheap either.

What DOES feel a little cheap at this point is the big reveal at the end of Episode 10. It defies some of the internal logic of the series up to this point, and had better have some good explanation. I’m sure it will, though, and I’m not terribly worried about it. I’m also concerned about the lack of cultural adjustment and overall character development for Ledo. I’m really hoping the show returns to that before the end, but I’m worried that everything going on has changed not just the scenario, but also significantly altered the mood of the show away from the charm the first half of the series exuded.

This show has been on shifting sands for the last 4 episodes with so many things changing so fast, but it remains steady above it all. It’ll be neat to see how all the threads all come to a head and settle in the end.

Episode 10 score: 9.00/10