The episodes feature separate stories that revolve around the all-female pirate crew of the Sol Bianca, a mysterious, massive and seemingly invincible spaceship. In the first episode, due to an unforeseen turn of events during a routine attack on a smuggling vessel, the ladies end up going to a dictator-led planet in search of a legendary treasure, while helping a young boy out in the process. The second episode has them sneak aboard another ship looking for an all-powerful mineral called pasha secretly stored somewhere within, but as one would expect, things don’t go that easily. Meanwhile, one of the pirates is revealed to have a strange connection to the Sol Bianca’s computer system, and there is a mysterious man going after them.
The story lines in the two episodes are confusing and sloppily put together. The direction is all over the place, so it’s difficult to tell what’s going on at times or even where the characters are. Many key plot elements are left unexplained (i.e., why is X there, why is Y doing that, etc.). In the first episode, the antagonists aren't given any motivations besides that they want to work people to the bone in mines (what are they mining?) and are anti-freedom. The second episode is filled with foreshadowing, a cliffhanger and the introduction of a main antagonist, but there’s no payoff for these since this is the last episode, and there is no original source material. There’s another OVA that came out a few years later, but it’s a prequel. They had planned a sequel to this, apparently, but due to various reasons, it never got made. So we will likely never know what the deal with the bad guy is, or the secrets of the ship and its crew.
The five main characters themselves are unique and surprisingly memorable for a 2-episode show. Named after months of the year (which I’m sure is related to some plot point that never got visited), they each have distinct personalities and appearances. Frustratingly, however, they often act like they don’t care about the various life-threatening situations they’re in. Some of them treat the fact that they’re about to get executed as a matter of mild inconvenience, for instance. I guess when you have a super powerful spaceship, there’s never anything to worry about…
Which brings me to the spaceship, which has a complex design and an interior that stimulates the imagination. The ladies often hang out in a spacious lounge with large, round, white sofas, trees and even a pool. There’s also a scene where they’re shown lazing around in the wilderness next to a waterfall. The bedroom of one of the characters is also huge, with wide windows. All of these are somehow within the spaceship. We learn a few more interesting facts about the spaceship during the show that contribute to its intrigue, as well. Suffice it to say, I really liked the spaceship and wanted to see more of it.
As for other technical aspects, the animation is not bad, although it is a little rough and could use more detail. Character designs are great. Voice acting is okay, but the gray-haired pirate sounds too much like Conan (same voice actor). Some scenes had no background music and really needed it because they felt too quiet in the first episode, but overall the music was acceptable. Similarly, both ending themes were okay, but they didn’t fit the series well and weren’t all that memorable.
Regarding objectionable content, there is a lot of violence and killing in both episodes, and some nudity in the second episode. The nudity feels extremely forced to the point of ridiculousness. The reason for the nudity doesn’t make any sense, and it seems like it was just an excuse to get one of the characters topless for a few scenes.
Overall, I wanted to like “Sol Bianca” more, because of the great character designs, the fun interactions between the characters and the cool ship. But the story is too messy and incomplete for me to give this a higher rating. I still recommend watching this for the aesthetic atmosphere it exudes, but don’t go in expecting a coherent or conclusive story.
