Alternate titles: Galileidonna, Minami-Ke In Space
Original by A-1 Pictures
Simulcast on Crunchyroll

Premise: Hazuki (Kei Shindo), Kazuki (Rumi Okubo) and Hozuki (Rina Hidaka) Ferrari are distant descendants of famous Italian cosmographer Galileo Galilei, yet much to their mother’s dismay, all three show little ambition to step into their ancestor’s footsteps. When the family becomes target of a shady organization out for Galilei’s “heritage”, however, the sisters are forced to fight for what little they hold dear. That is, if they can stop fighting each other.

Aqua‘s Verdict: Al Dente

Galilei Donna is not exactly a show you’d expect in the noitaminA timeslot, traditionally known as a safe haven for distinctly un-anime anime. Yet in the current climate of the industry, this philosophy seems to have shifted to include anything that has any sort of ambition whatsoever. Galilei Donna is most definitely an anime, but certainly displays this ambition, with its imaginative setting, cool robots and conflicting personalities. This first episode reveals a peculiar mixture of a slice-of-life show about a family forced to reconcile living on a spaceship and an action-driven sci-fi epic about giant mechanical goldfish fighting pirate robots. It mashes together surprisingly well. Galilei Donna has just the right amount of silliness to be entertaining without losing its grip on common sense. It’s anime, but in a good kind of way.

Hey, that rhymed! In any case, I found myself particularly entertained by the characters of Galilei Donna. I would not immediately call them unique, or even strong, but all of them do have some sort of distinct hook to keep you interested. Where did Hozuki get her adorable talking goldfish? What’s up with Kazuki and her crush? Why does Hazuki slack off so much, while she certainly seems to be ambitious enough? What happened between their parents? By far the most entertaining one of the bunch is the villainous Italian dandy who claims to be nothing like your average Italian… but still definitely wants to be home in time for the World Cup. He must be the funniest and closest to home stereotype I have ever witnessed in an anime, but it perfectly shows how this show, in everything it tries to do, certainly doesn’t forget to be fun.

Lifesong’s Verdict: Ridiculously Fun

Okay so, I only just barely understand what it is we have here, but the first episode was awesome. Beautiful animation, gorgeous character designs from Shingo Adachi, excellent directing and let’s not forget the flying goldfish mech. Basically, this episode was packed with fun. I don’t know where it will be going as we got slight hints about the plot at best, but if all the characters are this much fun I am sure it will be worth the ride to find out.

There is also some good potential for drama here. These characters have a very broken family. Despite the fact that they clearly care for each other on some level they don’t get along at all and wow their mother could anger a saint while their poor father has apparently run off and become a hippy? Yeah, who knows how they got this way, but it sure is interesting none the less!