Glass Fleet, Volume Six

After six long volumes of the worst anime I’ve had to review to date, Glass Fleet has finally ended! Is Volume Six as bad as the previous five? Or is it the saving grace of the lot?

plot summary

Cleo must convince the nobles to side with him in order save the galaxy from being pulled by the Black Cross to its doom. He convinces Michel to speak on his behalf to the nobles of the galaxy so they may fight for his new cause. Michel works hard to gather new supporters to Cleo’s cause, and succeeds admirably.

Vetti still desires to unify the galaxy, but his desire to do so is not altruistic. Too late, Vetti’s aims are revealed, and none move to stop him. Except for Cleo. Two swordsmen must fight and only one will win. Only one will unify the galaxy, and only one will save it from it’s doom.

Review

Volume Six was confusing and bad, in other words, exactly in keeping with the rest of the series. The convoluted plot twists were far more confusing than they were intricate, which is what they were supposed to be. It made my head hurt to watch the cheap drama of the finale, and made it almost impossible to describe out loud. I knew what I was seeing but I couldn’t put it into words as to why I was seeing it.

Yet, as bad as Volume Six was, it was actually better than the other volumes, for many reasons- yet was still bad- but for reasons other than why previous volumes were bad. Yes, the finale was as loopy as that statement.

Six didn’t blow as hard as other volumes because it paid attention to all the loose ends. All the tiny bits, attached to the series by the thinnest of threads, were accounted for and given a “decent” finish. It was hard to believe this series, which couldn’t even tell you where it’d been, had taken everything that made NO sense, and made it make sense, albeit a slipshod, dodgy, nonsensical sense. Everything came together in its own way, but was too little too late for something that never had a snowball’s chance in hell to begin with.

The concepts were still beyond ridiculous and contradictory. Ideas kept cropping up which had no logic, but were somehow tied into the rest of the story. Glass Fleet did a fair job making the ludicrousness mesh, but still didn’t cancel out the lameness of the ideas. Lameness relating to other lameness remains lame. It’s like zero (lameness) multiplied by any number is still zero (lame). Basic math.

Character Design

Another reason this volume was better than the rest was the omission of any new, gawdawful character designs. No new overt insults to the fashion world were given, only snide looks. Anything that was already bad, was still there, but no gasoline was poured onto the blazing inferno of Horrific Character Designs. This was so welcome, it actually made the rest of the anime “look” better.

Animation

The animation continued its shifty workmanship, ever changing in style and quality. As the end drew near, the animation grew a bit better and took on a shonen feel. The outlines were heavier and darker, and action lines nudged the style further into shonen.

There was even a shot, right at the end, which was good. G-o-o-d. It was perfectly framed, the faces were appropriately emotional and the action wasn’t stilted or cheap. The shot in question was two seconds long. Out of the entire anime, all nine hours of it, there were two seconds of good animation, and it was at the end of the anime. Better late than never,eh?

Volume Six Conclusion

Volume Six of Glass Fleet really had no chance of turning this series around. It did its best, and was actually better than the rest of the DVDs, but still failed to make any difference in the overall quality of the anime. Maybe if the third or fourth volume had started to come around, the series may have been better. But I can’t lay the fault of the wretchedness of all six volumes at the feet the the final DVD.

Volume Six Rating

Glass Fleet, Volume Six gets 2 outta 4 Hammies!

Series Conclusion

To say Glass Fleet was bad would be an understatement. The entire concept from start to finish was horrible. However, if Glass Fleet adhered to its own rules and its own world, it would have been passable. Not good, though. Never good. As it is, the contradictions, absurdities and forced stereotypes make this series one to avoid. This melange of badness dooms Glass Fleet to the bottom of the anime barrel, hopefully never to see the light of day again.

Series Rating

Glass Fleet gets 1 outta 4 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher: Funimation
• Release Date:May 6, 2008
• Retail Price: $26.99
• Number of discs:1
• Episodes:23-36
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Rating: TV-PG
• Language: English, Japanese
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen