Plastic Little is another anime with a high quality of animation.
The background art is particularily good. There is also a manga for Plastic Little which has equally high quality art.
This series has a somewhat unjustified reputation for having too much nudity, and though there is a fair bit, the amount
is often greatly over-exaggerated. It is, however, obvious that some of the nudity is put there simply for the "viewer's benefit". Plastic Little is about 17-year old Captain Tita and the rest of the crew of the hypersub, Cha Cha Maru. Living on a planet called Letta that is entirely composed of liquid gas, the land masses on the planet are all man made and kept afloat by giant, sophisticated devices called gravity belts. The Cha Cha Maru is a pet shop hunter; they search the 'sea of clouds' for animals to capture and sell them to people. The story in the anime starts out with the ship docked at port for repairs when Tita meets up with a 16-year old girl named Elysse, who is being chased by military officers. Tita rescues her and then later learns that Elysse's father, the inventor of the gravity belts, was killed by Guizel, the military leader who wants to turn the gravity belts into a weapon. Tita becomes involved and her, Elysse, and the rest of the crew attempt to stop him.
Main Characters
Tita Mu Koshigaya
Original voice: Yuriko Sezaki
The 17-year old captain of the ship, Tita recieved this position after her father, the previous captain, died during an emergency when he jettisoned the engineering section with him in it in order to save the ship. Tita
is a warm, kind-hearted person who won't think twice before helping someone in need. This often leads to trouble, but the end usually justifies the means. Tita is somewhat of a daredevil and a bit reckless at times, but always manages to make it
through despite this.
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Joshua L. Balboa
Original voice: Norio Wakamoto
The weapons / defensive systems officer, the 32 year old Balboa cares for Tita a great deal. A former high-ranking member of the military, he has training in combat-related instances, though he prefers to be cautious in when it comes to potentially dangerous situations. Balboa is not his real name, as he changed it after a military incident that was supposed to have left him dead. It was after this incident he joined the Cha Cha Maru, where he first met Tita and her father.
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Mei Lin Jones
Original voice: Keiko Yokozawa
Mei is the 26 year old ship's doctor and the only other female on board besides Tita. In addition to being a doctor, she is a master of physics and theology. Like most of the others, she cares for Tita's safety a great deal and also has a high degree of compassion towards all people in general as well, though this was not always so. Mei used to be someone who only cared about her research and had little feelings towards the well being of others, until she was called upon to cure a girl suffering from advanced stages of a deadly disese called Ietta fever. The girl turned out to be Tita, and Mei subsequently formed a close bond with her and learned the value of compassion. Mei is also a Chinese martial arts expert.
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Mikhail DiAgleff
Original voice: Shou Ohtsuka
The oldest crew member on board at age 45, Mikhail is the chief engineer, maintaining the engines and other systems. Mikhail was very good friends with Tita's father and cares for her more so than anyone else on board, going out of his way to protect her. Mikhail thinks of Tita like his own daughter, and blames himself for not being able to save her father.
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Nichol Hawking
Original voice: Kappei Yamaguchi
Nichol is the helmsman and navigator of the Cha Cha Maru, and is only two years older than Tita. He is quite shy and has a crush on Tita, but is too afraid to tell her about it. He is one of the top 5 navigators on Ietta, and his skills as a pilot are widely known. Nichol is friends with Roger, and though he is never totally adverse to the idea, he is less reluctant than Roger is in his schemes to peek at Tita / Mei in the baths.
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Roger Rogers
Original voice: Takanori Nakao
The assistant engineer of the ship, Roger is also fairly young and is friends with Nichol. He is outgoing and quite a crude person. Always trying to get a peek at Tita or Mei in the baths and filling Nichol's head with stories, Roger also has a habit of doing things he shouldn't and then not telling anyone. Roger is also quite lazy, though he his skilled at his work when he puts some effort into it.
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Images
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