OK, we’re getting into pretty silly territory here. Planetes this isn’t. Watching the first episode I found myself making a list of implausibilities, but I had to stop when I ran out of paper.

Just to begin with:

• It’s hard to imagine circumstances under which space piracy would be a reliable way to make a living.
• Even if such circumstances existed it hardly seems like something that could be done by students as a part-time job.
• Even if that were the case, it seems doubtful that space pirates would wear cosplay pirate hats and greatcoats.
• Skirts don’t work in space. Exceptions may be made for civilizations that have cheap and reliable artificial gravity, but that clearly isn’t the case here.
• Long hair doesn’t work in space either unless you braid it and tie it back like Princess Leia.

Why am I even worrying about this stuff when obviously the writers know all this and don’t care? Perhaps because the story is delivered in such a deadpan straight-faced manner that it feels like it ought to make sense. Actually that’s probably the right approach. Winking at the audience works fine for a short parody but in a long story it gets irritating. The sillier the premise, the more important it is to play it absolutely straight.

The story starts on Sea of the Morning Star, a planet of the Tau Ceti system that was settled mostly by Japanese-speakers. Over a hundred years ago the planet fought a war for independence from Earth. During the war it issued Letters of Marque to selected privateers. (I can buy that. There are precedents from the American Revolution and the War of 1812.)

After the war the Letters of Marque remained in force. (Say what? OK, OK, I’ll just shut up now.) Furthermore, due to some bit of poor legal drafting, the Letters of Marque were hereditary. (Huh? Never mind…)

Marika Katou (Mikako Komatsu) is a normal teenager who attends an elite girls’ high school and has gained some experience as a space pilot as a member of the school’s “yacht club.” One day she is accosted by Misa Grandwood (Shizuka Itou) and Kane McDougal (Masaya Matsukaze), two officers from the pirate ship Bentenmaru.

(Benten is the goddess of music and eloquence and is usually shown with a stringed instrument. “Maru” means “circle.” Hence the ship’s logo.)

Marika is astonished to learn that Gonzaemon Katou, the captain of the Bentenmaru, is actually her father that she has never met. Unfortunately he was just killed in an accident and as his only heir Marika gets the Letter of Marque. Misa and Kane want Marika to take over as captain of the Bentenmaru. Otherwise the Letter of Marque will lapse and the Bentenmaru will lose its legal right to engage in piracy. (Excuse me, privateering.)

To help Marika make the right decision Kane and Misa get jobs with her school’s faculty and Kane gets himself assigned as adviser to the yacht club. (Pirates seem to have great connections.)

So far Marika hasn’t agreed but it seems clear that she is going to do it. For one thing there is nobody to talk her out of it. Her mother Ririka (Yuuko Kaida) is a former pirate herself and has no problem with letting her daughter try it. The other members of the yacht club are bored rich girls who would like nothing better than to try their hand at piracy. There is a mysterious transfer student named Chiaki Kurihara (Kana Hanazawa) who may be up to no good but for the moment she is helping Marika.

The main obstacle is some shady characters who want to kidnap Marika, either to keep her from using the Letter of Marque or because they want to use it themselves.

The series is directed by Tatsuo Satou who was responsible for such popular shows as Stellvia, Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars and Martian Successor Nadesico. These are all basically skirts-in-space epics but with likeable characters and interesting stories. Thus a lot of fans have high hopes for this one.

“Bodacious Space Pirates” strikes me as a pretty poor translation of the Japanese “Mouretsu Paireetsu” which is more like “gung-ho pirates.” There is no reason to blame the American translators; this was chosen by the Japanese producers. Nevertheless if they wanted a funny English title they would have done better to go back to the title of the original light novel series: Miniskirt Space Pirates.