First Impressions – Galilei Donna
Storia di tre sorelle a caccia di un mistero (Story of three sisters on the hunt for a mystery)
With much of the premise remaining shrouded in mystery, Galilei Donna’s premiere chose to rely on its characters for the majority of its entertainment value and appeal. In this crucial first episode, the plot details were few and far between, so the three Ferrari sisters would basically have to carry the show – which they accomplished with their distinctive, compelling, and downright likeable personalities.
The youngest of the trio and the first Galileo descendant introduced, Hozuki Ferrari (Hidaka Rina), is so far my favorite of the three siblings. Sure, she’s cute like the other sisters, but after all, it’s what’s inside that matters and inside Hozuki is the mind of an engineering genius. Yet the trait that stood out the most wasn’t her intellect but how preternaturally level-headed and bold she was even in the most trying of situations. Hozuki’s actions in the early moments of the episode when she was chased by a sinister drone was a wonderful foreshadowing of her actions during the rescue of her family from Cicinho (Kamiya Hiroshi) and his Black Ganymede. Both times, she coolly turned on the jets, evaded the enemy, and then turned the tide on her pursuer. Hozuki simply acts far older than her age, which is always refreshing when so many young female characters are portrayed otherwise. With Galilei Donna’s synopsis pointing towards constant conflicts between the siblings as one of the central storylines of the series, it will be interesting to see what role Hazuki will play – my bet is she’ll be the “peacemaker”.
Little is known about the middle sister, Kazuki (Ookubo Rumi), other than that she is quiet, reserved, serious, and so crazy about a boy she can’t even be in classroom group activities with him. From the OP, she is shown practicing karate and appears to be the athletic sister of the three. Unfortunately, she was relegated to almost a secondary status in this first episode, even overshadowed by the antics of her “tiger mom/typical Asian mom” Sylvia (Kuwashima Houko). Hopefully we’ll learn more about her character in coming weeks since she would make a perfect foil for her older sister Hazuki (Shindou Kei), who’s anything but soft-spoken.
Hazuki’s loud-mouthed, combative, “I’m gonna lawyer you!” personality was a joy to watch to say the least. Anyone with the gall to lawyer the hostage taker or attacker while they themselves are being taken hostage or attacked is awesome in my book. In any case, Hazuki makes a great addition to the Ferrari sister trifecta as she brings much needed contrast and comedy to the serious proceedings. The only reservation was the hints of a potential romance between her and Cicinho as it would be a bit too predictable and clichéd of a plot twist and the story holds too much potential to be side-tracked by yet another romance.
Like the beginnings of any mystery, the first episode of Galilei Donna raised more questions than it answered. From the synopsis given by the show’s producers, we know that the Earth has plunged into another ice age. This probably led to methane clathrate becoming an important source of energy, if not the primary source, and thus, the destruction of a major mining complex would have serious global implications/consequences. Whatever Galileo’s inheritance is, it’s likely something that is related to the attack in the opening scene of the episode.
In any case, the premise of Galilei Donna should be an intriguing one even in its barebones state for most viewers. To top it off, there are even mecha in the story, and everyone knows mecha just make nearly every show better. If god forbid mecha aren’t your cup of tea and neither are the character designs by Adachi Shingo of Sword Art Online and Working! fame, there are still plenty of factions and character dynamics that can command your interest like the mysterious curly-haired woman in Hazuki’s group.
All in all, A-1 Pictures and director Umetsu Yasoumi are off to a promising start with Galilei Donna. The Galilei sisters might not be the infamous Tsuganoki Second Junior High School’s Fire Sisters, but they do have a mecha airship shaped like a goldfish, and that is definitely worth watching for.
About verdantly
I like writing about anime, long walks on the beach, and clichés. Oh and being mysterious too...
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Hozuki Ferrari BUILT A GOLDFISH MECHA IN A BASMENT WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!
This was one of my most anticipated, and now, my most favorite show of the season. Everything just had the right POP!
I was super excited over the detail about methane clathrate, because I have researched such things. And it’s stuff that was once thought to be only in the outer reaches of our solar system. But we are finding it here on Earth as well. So whether or not we see space travel is still up in the air. That base might have been on a moon of Jupiter or in the Antartic….
But really, we all know that Hozuki is the star of the show. This is the Absurdly Competent LOLi given all five stars.
There is so much layering happening with Cicinho (Ararrragi!), so much that he raised the reluctant ally flag so early.
I am so much looking forward to next Thursday.
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
I was wondering where the mine was. I am guessing it is on Earth, because the attack opened large holes in the roof. I am guessing that miners would not have been able to breathe after that, unless it was an Earth atmosphere.
Anyways, fun episode.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
From what I saw, it looked to be in the Antarctic, at least that’s where I assume it was.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
That is the safest assumption. But damn, I am still holding out for Europa or something like it…cause space travel is awesome…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Spammy stole my comment in a cave with a box of scraps.
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 38 comments
Oh my god, I really loved this. The youngest one is so awesome and is my favorite so far. All of the girls are pretty awesome though. It also looks really nice and has a good atmosphere. One of my favorite shows of the season so far.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
This was a very fun premiere, and some great surprises with voices. Koyama Rikiya as the girls’ father just added to the cast mentioned above. The giant goldfish was far more interesting than the other mechs, too. 🙂
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Hozuki Ferrari BUILT A GOLDFISH MECH IN A BASEMENT WITH BOX OF SCRAPS!
I don’t think I will ever tire of saying that!
And yes, Rikiya is a great great bonus to the show.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I liked how this first episode went along. The story has promise so I hope it stays interesting. As if things weren’t appealing enough with the animation, we get Hiroshi Kamiya among the seiyuus. His character by comparison seems like a carefree, easily violent and unrestrained version of Karneval’s Gareki. For now, the best description I can give about the three main girls is this: Brilliant but lazy.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
It is so much fun to see him engage in that causal villainy isn’t it?
The brilliant but lazy may apply to the older sisters, but Hozuki is Boss! She built a goldfish mech……
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I honestly really loved this series. It was another one that wasn’t on my list but I decided to check it out. (strangely my deciding factor was seeing the awesome artwork for it on the Metanorn banner 😛 )
And when I got to see it, it quickly surpassed all my expectations and became my second favorite show this season after Valvrave. I love all three girls, the oldest is my favorite since she seems the most Western of the three. I love her defiance against the bad guys and how she spouts law jargon at them. Also the interesting romantic tension between her and the redhead rogue guy. This entire show had a more Western feel, especially since it takes place in Italy, and I love it!
I really like the youngest girl too, and her ingenuity. The fish mechs in this series is awesome. I like how she built everything herself, and yet, you can see from her room that she’s still a girly girl. The parents are cool too, even though one is an overbearing mom and the other is a flower child dad, it was just nice to see parents for once in an anime that are not weirdly absent or dead. Some that actually care that something happened to their kids. (It’s actually pretty rarely seen in most anime I watch.)
I like Cicinho too and don’t doubt that he will become more than simple bad guy. In fact I don’t doubt there will be other villains that are worse on their way. For now I’ll be happy to see how it plays out.
I loved this episode and I give it a very enthusiastic 8.4/10.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I freekin’ love Shingo Adachi’s designs. I love how Working had that injection of realistic style design, yet still very much an anime design. And that just flowed so well with SAO; a fantasy world that had that sort of realistic character impact. I think it does incredibly well with this show.
Girly Girl? She discard all her clothes and choose some sort of cannon shell to pack? She may be girly, but she is Boss. The Inheritance/Relic?
And yeah, it is awesome to see actual parents in a show. Sometimes some shows handle it fine, but the Dead Parent Syndrome is a bit overdone…
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Did you see her room? And how much clothes she actually has? Her variety of hair ornaments?
Total girly girl. Yet, she also happens to be a girly engineering genius girl, so she’s alright in my book. 🙂
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
🙂
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Ach, Spammy.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
“My name is Silvio! Would you pretty underaged girls like to bunga bunga with me?”
Self-explanatory.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
This show certainly surprised me. A-1 was pretty good at keeping us in the dark before it started airing, so needless to say I did not expect this much chaotic fun. From the charismatic characters (all of them) to the ridiculous tech (who builds a rocket-bike-suitcase-gun?), the whole experience can only be described as a blast.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
The goldfish mech was definitely a highlight. It was like an anime version of Dexter’s lab where there are all these secret, nifty inventions hidden in the basement that the family knows nothing about. I think Hozuki is my favourite too so far. Gotta love a little kid that actually pulls her weight around!
The girls are fun but oh God do I hate the mom. Part of it is probably intentional but she’s just so goddamned rude. I don’t even know if the dad deserves that kind of scorn or not. So far he seemed nice, although the fact he looks like Jesus in hippie clothes is a little offputting.
I’m not so hot on the plot (the villain got away so easily!!!) but I like the three girls a lot and I think they’ll be fun to watch each week.