In short, a disappointment:

I liked the first two episodes of Mouretsu Pirates when we saw a lot of the fascinating high-tech world it takes place in and focus was on Marika and her relationship with her mother, friends, etc,. But 20+ episodes later, as much as I wanted to keep the enthusiasm I had at the beginning of the series going, it grew continually boring for me. All I got from the majority of the show was dialogue full of techno-babble, flashy spaceships and computer screens, and a large cast of characters that I barely got to know. I thought at least one of the crew members of the Bentenmaru would have a starring episode where we got to know them better and see Marika and others interact with them, but by episode 26, I don’t feel anymore attached to them than I did at the beginning, which is a shame since a lot of them seem potentially interesting, like the full-on cyborg Schitzer [] and the eccentric but secretly beautiful Coorie… I would have loved to see their stories over all the strings of technology and political exposition.

There you have it: a rather unexpected take. And wasn't the show supposed to be targeted at little girls? Yumeka is not so little anymore, of course, but she's at least half closer to the imaginary demographic than all the old men who blogged Mouretsu.