A story setup like this when done right could actually be incredibly interesting. What happens to an island nation like Japan when they are forced to live local again? What happens to a nation like China that still relies heavily on seafood? What about a super far flung nation like Australia?
I was expecting an interesting story, but what I got was, unfortunately, a magic girl harem anime. You see, in Arpeggio, each ship has its own "mental model," a physical manifestation of the ships AI. As these mental models come in contact with humans, they begin to question their purpose. Even this could be a good setup, but it is heavily reduced to just another bland harem anime.
Don't get me wrong, I like some harem anime. I enjoyed Highschool of the Dead, I loved Gate, and Princess Lover also had amazing characters. But Arpeggio is just bland overall. The interesting backstory is never explained. The characters are never developed. And everyone has like one personality trait, even the humans, that they never go beyond.
The animation is similarly bad. The entire anime is CGI, and not good CGI. The CGI is similar to the low-budget Netflix anime Knights of Sidonia. But where Knights of Sidonia overcame is poor animation with superior storytelling, Arpeggio does not, leaving the entire experience as an overall disappointment.
Do I regret watching Arpeggio? Not really. It was only 12 episodes long, and while boring, it was not excruciating to endure. However, had I known what I know now about the story, I'd have skipped this altogether. I want them to develop the world more, but I could take a pass on the characters featured in this particular outing into the world of Arpeggio.
