It wasn't a good sign that I immediately wanted to put in another dvd to erase this series from my eyes.  Glass Fleet is one of those stories that takes place in a galaxy far away with space ships and an evil empire.  Sadly, I'm just not in to those types of stories.  For me, Star Wars is the beginning and the end of 'the empire with space ships in a galaxy far away.'  Everything else pales in comparison.  If far away galaxies, empires, and space ships appeal, this might be the series for you.  But then again, maybe not.

Glass Fleet opens with a young man, Vetti, winning a decisive battle and declaring himself Holy Emperor.  His hold is tenuous at best, and his use of brute strength to unite the empire and his oppression of the common folk lead to rebellion.  Heading the effort is Michel Volban, a young noble intent on overthrowing Vetti for both political, and as hinted at later, personal reasons.  While Michel is willing to fight and sacrifice for the cause, his supporters, the People's Army, just aren't strong enough to take Vetti down.

At Michel's darkest hour, he encounters the pirate, Cleo.  Their meeting, however, is not ideal.  A pirate by trade, Cleo sees an opportunity for a huge payoff, and ends up rescuing Michel by accident.  Michel, witnessing Cleo's amazing glass ship and how well he fights, sees an opportunity to buttress his failing revolution.  That is, if he can convince the clueless and selfish Cleo to help out.

Cleo, a member of the royal family that has been ousted from power for some time, pays no attention to current politics.  He is solely interested in stealing and eventually taking over the galaxy for his own personal gain.  When Michel asks for his help, he scoffs at the idea.  Michel makes it his mission to convince the reluctant Cleo. 

Having lost his own ship, Michel and his two faithful retainers remain with Cleo and his crew, creating a great deal of tension.  Michel is very obviously of noble blood, which irritates Cleo, as does his insistence that he help the cause.  It's not until Cleo encounters Vetti himself on an outpost of a planet that he begins to change his mind.  He learns that Vetti is obsessed with Michel, stemming from some mysterious event in the past.  It's also evident that many of Michel's reasons for leading the rebellion are personal.  Cleo's violent encounter with Vetti involves him in the rebellion whether he wants to be or not, sealing his alliance with Michel.

So far, the story moves quickly and an awful lot happens in these first few episodes.  Conflicts are set up, mysteries are introduced, and there is already a rather large cast of characters.  Unfortunately, the story is cliche and, well, cheesy.  The characters are pretty stereotypical.  There are the nobles who are so arrogant they eat during battle, the stiff butler, the plucky girl, the geeky computer guy, the sensitive bear of a man.  Cleo and his eclectic crew fly through space on their very impressive glass ship.  Michel and his retainers are fish out of water in this new world of pirates.  In some ways, the series reminds me of Outlaw Star, with the super, teched-out ship the likes of which no one has ever seen, and the quirky crew.  Outlaw Star manages to pull it off; Glass Fleet does not.  At least not so far.  Since such a diverse group has been gathered on the glass ship, I'm hoping for a fun, interesting dynamic.  So far, there have been a few attempts, but the story focuses more on the rebellion rather than what goes on among the crew and their new passengers.  We'll see.

For the most part, the animation is unimpressive.  There's something about the character designs and backgrounds that's almost...childish.  The drawings aren't childlike or chibi, but they just don't seem quite right.  I can't put my finger on it, but they are almost like Cinderella-storybook images, as if the art crew was going for realism, but didn't take that final step.  That lack of a final step results in such scenes as the shirts flying off of two competitors from the impact of their swords meeting in a duel.  It caused me to break out into a fit of giggles, but the scene wasn't supposed to be funny.  This sort of thing happens all too often and it's a big problem with this series.

The world these characters inhabit is an odd mix of futurism and eighteenth-century France.  The spaceships look sleek and futuristic on the outside, but the interiors are decorated with gold leaf and Louis XIV chairs.  Costumes also tend toward pre-Revolutionary France, and when on the ground, the characters use horses and carriages.  It makes for an interesting juxtaposition. 

Glass Fleet suffers for its action sequences.  There are several instances involving the spaceships where the CGI just doesn't work at all.  At these times, the action takes on a video game quality that is jarring and unattractive.  The CGI is successful here and there, namely for the beautiful flickering fires in several fireplaces and for the glass ship itself.  The way the light plays off of the glass, with hints of iridescent colors is lovely.

It's not only the CGI that's problematic during the action sequences.  The traditional animation doesn't work either.  A climatic sword-fight is animated traditionally, but the action is slow and in some instances not even shown at all!  In those cases, all that is presented are flashes of light on a wall and the clanging of swords.  How disappointing!  I'm not an advocate of bloody, graphic violence, but if there's supposed to be a sword-fight, I want to see all of it.

The character design is diverse, which is nice, but Michel looks too much like D'Eon from Le Chevalier d'Eon for my tastes.  He's androgynous with long blond hair and that foppish paramilitary jacket with the epaulettes.  I even checked to see if the series had the same character designers.  They do not.  The resemblance is unsettling.  Regardless, I spent the first couple episodes attempting to place Michel's gender, and finally settled on male.  For now.  I have my suspicions that his true gender might be one of the many secrets Michel is hiding.

I watched the dub, which was just as cheesy as the series itself, so everything matched.  Consistency is good.

Extras include Japanese cast interviews, textless songs, and some trailers.

Some folks might really enjoy this series.  There's some humor, it's fast-paced, and there's much swashbuckling.  It's a way to waste a chilly, dark afternoon.  However, I thought the series so far is cliched, predictable, and overdone.  It might get better.  Who knows?  Everything deserves a second chance, right?