March 26, 2014

Defender Of Nori

Ladies and Gentlemen, we all know how dangerous everyday life can be.  One can be outside taking the blobfish for a drag when suddenly, BAM!, one explosive garbage can and your entire life is ruined forever.  And it's not just randomly detonating containers, no no.  Upon occasion, even things as innocuous as trees, concrete, pebbles, clouds, and sugar gliders are known to combust spontaneously like a trespasser at a Rammstein concert.  So what's a justifiably concerned biped with a relatively new and innocent desktop computer named "Nori" to do for local defense?  In this particular case, I decided to go right to the top... I hired Rensouhou-chan.

Or, as I prefer to call him, "Turret-kun."  If you're reading this blog, and I beg your forgiveness if you are, you've likely at least heard of a Japanese online game called "Kantai Collection," or "KanColle" for short.  KanColle is, if I've got this right, a game where you are a Fleet Commander, and your fleet is made up of anthropomorphic ships from the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II... that are all young women.  If that isn't awesome enough for you, damage taken in the game is reflected by torn clothing.  Yeah, I know.  Did I mention that there's an anime coming out this Summer for the game?

Anyway, in the game, Turret-kun up there is the pal of Shimakaze, which in the Pacific War was a one-off "super destroyer".  41 knots top speed, a stunning 15 torpedo tubes, and six 5" dual-purpose guns in twin turrets... just like Turret-kun up there!  And he's perfect to protect Nori from wayward dangers like suicidal 'splody stoats.

I feel safer already.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:41 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
Post contains 281 words, total size 2 kb.

1 I'd not heard of KanColle before, and now I'm both amused and slightly disturbed... though if there's an anime I may have to watch it just for the chance to compare it to Arpeggio of Blue Steel, I suppose.

Posted by: GreyDuck at March 27, 2014 07:29 AM (CUkqs)

2 Did you get just Turret-kun, or did he come with Shimakaze? 

Posted by: Ben at March 27, 2014 10:25 AM (Oftf2)

3 I have trouble with the logical dissonance involved - too many of them ended up, historically, with "ate a big fat American torpedo and sank" for comfort. Or rather, it's GOOD that they did, but anthropomorphizing them and then saying that...

It's not on quite the same level as depicting Adolf Hitler as a magical girl, thank goodness.

Didn't have this problem with Arpeggio because, nominally, it's a future SF story. Didn't have the problem with Sakura Wars because, well, in the second game it's revealed that all the military fascist stuff in the '20s and on was the fault of demons which you then kill. (Hey, I don't demand that they confront it head on...)

Posted by: Avatar at March 27, 2014 11:35 AM (IopVv)

4 Hard to imagine anyone having not heard about KanColle yet. My coworkers were playing it, even. And that fanart everywhere.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at March 27, 2014 12:52 PM (RqRa5)

5 The mecha-musume aren't just Japanese ships. I've seen fanart of Bismarck-chan, for instance.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 27, 2014 02:33 PM (+rSRq)

6

  The mecha-musume aren't just Japanese ships. I've seen fanart of Bismarck-chan, for instance.

The Kriegsmarine ship cards are a recent development for Kantai Collection.  I would be interested to see where this might lead.

I do want to see how they would anthropomorphize USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6), if they ever get that far.

It's not on quite the same level as depicting Adolf Hitler as a magical girl, thank goodness.

Well...There is a mecha musume card game entitled Barbarossa that avoids the mahou shoujo but keeps the rest of the moe factor.  They also moe-fy various other Germans, some of whom were convicted for war crimes (You can see one of them on the page there.).  There is a Kickstarter going on for an English translation of it, and the project page can make for uncomfortable reading (So fair warnings there.).

Posted by: cxt217 at March 27, 2014 05:19 PM (RXzit)

7 I have trouble with the logical dissonance involved...

According to the light novel... or one or more of the manga storylines (none of them entirely overlap with each other)... KanColle takes place in a world where WWII didn't happen.  Combat is against Angels Neuroi Alone Fleet of Fog Abyss, "monster ships."

Posted by: Wonderduck at March 27, 2014 06:11 PM (GPEgF)

8 I was actually thinking of Daiteitoku there. Guess I shouldn't be shocked that it's not only been done, but more than once!

Maybe I'll try the game out. It's supposed to be pretty fun, say my friends who are fans of both moe and mil.

Posted by: Avatar at March 27, 2014 06:53 PM (zJsIy)

9 Er, I meant "Daiteikoku". Darned spelling...

Posted by: Avatar at March 27, 2014 06:54 PM (zJsIy)

10

Wonderduck, they seem to have borrowed that idea from Strike Witches, which also takes place in a timeline where WWII never happened. (In the first series there's a scene with Wilcke and Sakamoto where Sakamoto muses that if the Neuroi hadn't attacked, the nations of earth probably would have been at each other's throats by then.)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 27, 2014 09:29 PM (+rSRq)

11 Steven, note "Neuroi" up there in my comment. 

Posted by: Wonderduck at March 27, 2014 09:46 PM (GPEgF)

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