January 21, 2018
...Or Not.
I had intended to try doing a First Episode Writeup today. I couldn't motivate myself to even start. I want to do it, but it'd actually require effort and I don't have it in me right now. And I have no idea where it went.
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January 20, 2018
Getting Back To It
I'm going to see if I have any mojo left on Sunday. Watch this spot. If I do, there's gonna be something interesting here. If I don't, well, there's not going to be anything interesting here. Which is basically SOP, isn't it?
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December 14, 2015
Gakkou Gurashi Ep06
This has been a tough one. Not just because of the subject matter, which as you'll see is less unicorns and rainbows and more zombies and more zombies. No, actually, zombies and more zombies would have been okay. This particular episode of
Gakkou Gurashi is of a type that makes for really tough recapping, because it relies heavily on sound to convey a very dramatic turning point in the series. And, in case you haven't noticed, much of this blog is silent, occasional music posts to the contrary. So how to actually
do this? I've given it much thought, and to be blunt, "I dunno. I just dun." Which might be a first. Well, that's always exciting, huh? Breaking new ground, heading off into the great
unwashed unknown. As always, however, I must caution you, the reader, against spoileriffic activities and discussions, if for no other reason than I'm watching the show as I do the writeups... Ep06 is as far as I've gotten! If you even drop hints that could be spoilers, I will not hesitate to do
Bad Things. And nobody wants that. So! On with the story, eh?
Last time out, we got to see how Miki joined the gang. What wonders does
Gakkou Gurashi bring us this time?
GAH!!!
...
Sorry, I'm just not sure that being stared at by a weird kid is how I'd want to wake up after having survived a shopping mall full of undead horrors. A glass of water, though, is exactly what Miki needs, and after that...
...it's time for introductions! Well, introduction-singular, as Miki just completely ignores Megu-nee and concentrates on the amazing fact that Yuki is a senior. While that
is something of a shocking revelation, it doesn't seem like enough reason to completely blow off a teacher to me.
A short conversation between Megu-nee and Yuki about explaining the School Living Club to Miki does nothing to help matters, as the garterbelt-wearing lovely seems to just get more confused. The talk ends when Yuki hands her teacher the water bottle she's holding. Turning back to Miki, we hear the sound of a water bottle hitting the floor. Curiouser and curiouser.
A tour of the school is in order, it appears, even though Miki's a student there. Ever a good kid, Miki points out that they've left the door to the room open. "That's okay, Megu-nee is still in there!" Hmmm. But you'd think the junior would have noticed that...?
more...
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Mystery solved, at least. (Ugggh.) Just a skosh dark! A smidgen! It IS a zombie show, I suppose that's par for the course...
Posted by: GreyDuck at December 14, 2015 08:21 AM (rKFiU)
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Question (I haven't watched this, FTR): Yuki *wants* to have a sports festival, or says *it's time* to have *the* sports festival? Just trying to gauge whether any part of her mind is staying rooted in reality.
Posted by: Ben at December 14, 2015 10:34 AM (DRaH+)
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Ben, the line from the subs read:
"Everybody! Let's have a sports meet! Playing sports together will make things more fun!"
So... more she
wants to have one.
Posted by: Wonderduck at December 14, 2015 05:45 PM (zAcee)
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Ok, that makes sense. I would think she's not, in all likelihood, actually delusional. Or rather, not psychotic may be a better choice. She's intentionally overlaying a select version of what she wants to be real over what IS real. She may not even actually be doing it consciously, but she's not so deep that she's strictly abiding to an alternate, remembered reality. I suspect that she's far enough out of it that she can get people hurt, though. Or worse. Damn, this is a dark, depressing show.
Posted by: Ben at December 14, 2015 07:18 PM (DRaH+)
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Going along with Yuki's stupid ideas are probably what keep Kurumi and Yuri sane and the group together, as opposed to Kei leaving on her own.
Posted by: muon at December 14, 2015 10:41 PM (IUHrD)
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Yeah, I kinda mention that, Muon.
Posted by: Wonderduck at December 14, 2015 11:15 PM (zAcee)
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I was replying the Ben's comment about Yuki's delusions putting them in danger. Her ones of Megu-nee help keep her from danger as in the library, and they overall help keep the girls together, as opposed to what happened with Miki and Kei.
Posted by: muon at December 16, 2015 04:47 AM (IUHrD)
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October 04, 2015
Gakkou Gurashi Ep04 and Ep05
Two episodes at once? I can hear you, my assembled readers, asking in unison if I'm insane, if I've lost my mind, if I have, in fact, gone 'round the bend. To which I respond with "well,
duh." There is, however, a method to my madness. I have done two episodes at once before, but they were "nutshelled", or brief recaps of episodes that were pointless or annoying or both. Not this time! In a fair and just world, these two episodes of
Gakkou Gurashi would have either been aired back-to-back or as one hour-long episode. Well, this isn't a fair and just world, obviously. Obviously, The Pond is not fair and just either, but I can at least try to improve this little corner of the planet by doing this. I'll fail, of course... improving the planet is not accomplished by blogging about anime... but the effort will have been made. That's gotta count for something, right? Now, before we get started, allow me to repeat myself. I'm blogging about the anime, not the manga. I'm not interested in knowing how things are done or aren't done in the manga, nor in what's coming up in the show. I'm watching it as I blog, so I'm literally no farther than Ep05. So if I say something that is proven false in a later episode, I don't want to know about it. All of this is a lot of words to say
No Spoilers. Please don't make me
be grumpy at you. You don't know what
I'm capable of. Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way... as you may remember,
Ep03 was mostly flashback to that day. We don't find out how they get off the roof, but I guess that's okay! What will we learn about today?
Yuki is hand-drawing a graduation album... after all, it's soon to be that time of year for them... and Miki is helping, in exchange for Yuki actually doing her chores. Yuri and Kurumi were apparently gardening, look at those daikons... and no, that's not a euphemism for anything. I'm amused that while I meant to type "euphemism", my fingers actually generated "
euphonium". I also badly mangled "euphemism" to the point that spellcheck couldn't quite figure out what I was trying to say. Sometimes I wonder about myself. Anyway, Yuki is a lousy artist, go figure, and everybody makes fun of her for it, also go figure.
Miki, on the other hand, is quite good... to the point where the others are wondering who the girl is with her in the picture. "She was a... close friend," she says with a sad look as we fade into another flashback. Lots of those in this show, huh?
more...
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Great post, though it took two hours to get through because I had to stop down for an hour and a half to watch a Hitchcock film partway through...
But seriously this show seems to be made of pure WTF-sauce. I'm glad you're doing these recaps. There's no way I'd be able to actually watch. Too many zombies.
Posted by: GreyDuck at October 05, 2015 07:43 AM (rX7cO)
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Ok, so the teacher must be dead. So I'm guessing she must be a product of Yuki's imagination as well.
Posted by: Ben at October 05, 2015 07:57 AM (S4UJw)
Posted by: Rick C at October 05, 2015 06:30 PM (FvJAK)
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Rick C, I didn't mean she's entirely imaginary, I meant her current presence in the story (as far as I can follow from reading write-ups and commentary) is in Yuki's mind only. I.e. she's dead, but Yuki is *pretending* the teacher is still alive. She just edits out inconvenient details, like the fact that the teacher isn't driving her own car, out of her daily narrative.
Either that or Yuki can see ghosts. I guess that's possible, too.
Posted by: Ben at October 05, 2015 08:16 PM (S4UJw)
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It is interesting to watch you go through the maze that we went through over at Muppet's place
Posted by: ReallyBored at October 06, 2015 11:33 AM (ulGxe)
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Guys, I think you're treading awfully close to spoilery territory.
Posted by: Wonderduck at October 06, 2015 04:56 PM (a12rG)
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September 10, 2015
Gakkou Gurashi Ep03
Well, if nothing else, I'm persistent. Slow, but persistent. Like kudzu, or the plague. I'm not giving up on this project, even if it runs me into the ground, thereafter becoming a member of the waddling dead and make a cameo appearance in this show. Ladies and Gentlemen and other readers of The Pond, the world's first zombie duck. Except, of course,
that wouldn't be true, not by
a long shot. I was about to say the world's first zombie blogger, but... well... I mean... y'know. Kinda hard to tell the difference, really. So.
Gakkou Gurashi. Let's review, shall we?
In Ep01, we met the more-or-less lead character and discover that she's more than a little bit
tetched in da haid. To be fair, she's got good reason: zombie apocalypse!
In Ep02, we're introduced to the rest of the School Living club, featuring Shovel Girl. Oh, and the impossible school store. So what wonders will Ep03 bring us? Well, chances are you already know, since I'm writing this over a month since the episode first aired, but let's pretend, shall we? Actually, to be fair, I've kinda forgotten the details already, and I haven't watched the show since then. Remember the rules, everybody: I'm not interested in hearing how the manga does it, and I
really don't want to know spoilers and details
I haven't experienced yet. Or I'll become very angry and you won't like
what happens then. So let's get on with Ep03!
The teacher, Megu-nee, is sitting in the teacher's office and writing in a journal, and cheerful, lighthearted writings they are, too! "This may end up being my will." Whee, so happy! The members of the School Living Club are off doing something or other and she has some free time, so it looks like her writing means flashbacks for us!
If nothing else, though, this does seem to answer the burning question as to whether or not she's actually real or a figment of Yuki's imagination. One gets the impression that Yuki can't
spell "journal", let alone dream up someone writing in one. So what really happened when the zombies came?
more...
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Really enjoying your writeups, but I'm not touching this one. I feel a great, big train wreck coming at the end of the tunnel.
Posted by: Ben at September 10, 2015 09:52 PM (S4UJw)
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A handful of broken schoolgirls and a partially broken teacher.
Hooboy.
"That's trouble with a capital "T" and that rhymes with "Z", and that stands for Zombie!" Monorail! Er, wait...
Posted by: GreyDuck at September 13, 2015 10:56 AM (rX7cO)
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August 12, 2015
Not Giving Up On Gakkou Gurashi
Though to be honest I probably should. Between work and life in general, I'm finding it difficult to crank out the writeups for
Gakkou Gurashi... heck, I'm finding it difficult to generate the time to watch it, let alone spend the four hours-plus a good writeup takes.
But I
want to do this so very much. But, y'know:
the spirit is willing, but.... Yeah, its kinda like that. It's a LOT like that. It IS like that. Once I get a handle on everything, I'd expect regular programming to return. I'm just not there yet.
The show's worth the effort, though.
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Getting a handle on everything IS paramount. We understand, man.
Posted by: GreyDuck at August 13, 2015 03:27 AM (/zxpg)
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I guess that means you're not blowing up other naval geeks in World of Warships either. That was my second guess, right after being the FNG at work.
Posted by: Will at August 13, 2015 05:28 PM (1EtXn)
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As fun as that sounds, Will, I'm afraid not. No account... and while I'm (obviously) interested, I'm less than thrilled with WarGaming's PTW format.
I mean,: premium,
gamewinning, ammunition? Really?
Posted by: Wonderduck at August 13, 2015 09:19 PM (jGQR+)
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I'll hold out for Gaijin to come up with a ships mode (or more like, I haven't even been playing WT - so many good games, so damned little time.)
I'm half torn between watching the show, and half waiting for your writeups (however long that might take) so that I can enjoy them without having seen the show. But there's no reason to do 'em to a schedule, it doesn't mean anything if you too don't enjoy it.
Finding a great deal of joy in this season. Not a good show every day, but plenty of popcorn-level plus a couple of gems.
Posted by: Avatar at August 13, 2015 09:25 PM (qxzj1)
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I won't claim that gold ammo isn't BS (while gold-slinging in public matches is generally frowned upon, clanners will often do it when desperate), but it doesn't exist in WoWS. (At least for now. I don't know if it will be added later or not.) The whole armor/penetration system is vastly simplified. Bigger guns hit harder. There's still lots of math for angles etc going on in the background, but the player isn't faced with a choice much more complicated than firing HE or AP. HE for inflicting general damage, wrecking modules, setting fires, and slowly grinding a guy down, or AP for trying to pierce the citadel for large alpha. Both are freely available. So far the only thing gold seems to do is speed up the grind.
A friend and I have both had really good luck so far with the Phoenix cruiser at tier 4.
Torpedoes suffer seriously from arcade mode shenanigans, but they're manageable if you keep your head on a swivel and know the play-style of your opponent ships.
Posted by: Will at August 14, 2015 06:42 AM (1EtXn)
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Gecko can wait until the muse say's it's time.Besides, Spa is only nine days away, eight for qualifying or seven for practice.
Posted by: jon spencer at August 14, 2015 08:48 AM (JSYPT)
7
Besides, Spa is only nine days away...
Oh crepe... I forgot about that.
Posted by: Wonderduck at August 14, 2015 03:56 PM (jGQR+)
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August 02, 2015
Gakkou Gurashi Ep02
Hello, hi, and how are you? A surprise shortage of work at work hied me home very early on Monday, so I thought what better way to celebrate not having to stare at a computer screen all day than by staring at a computer screen all day and being allegedly funny in the process? Some time back, I did a little
not-quite-a-writeup for Ep01, and decided that if Ep02 kept the energy and interest up, I'd make it a full writeup series. It did, and I am! If you're not familiar with the show, read that there linky to Ep01... it'll give you the basics Or you can just be confused, one of the two. Now, a word of warning to y'all... I haven't read the manga, and I'm probably not going to anytime soon. What this means is that I am
not interested in knowing what the manga does, says, doesn't do or say or hints at about characters, situations, or coming activities. If you feel a burning need to say something in the comments about future events,
don't. This is a writeup of the anime series. Okay?
We cool? Don't make me be a big awful meanie. I may be good at it, because I'm a rotten bastard at heart, but I don't like to be a big awful meanine. So lets put all that behind us and get on with the recappin'!
We open with lovely watercolor-like memories narrated by Kurumi, aka "Shovel Girl." She was the manager of the school's track team... not because she particularly liked running or jumping or throwing the discus or putting the shot or playing 47-man Squamish, but because she had a thing for a guy, one of the upperclassmen, on the team. Yes, it's an honest-to-gosh case of "
Notice me, Senpai!"
And notice her he does. And why not? She's a lovely girl with twintails and she's clearly crazygonuts over him, and even though his hair covers his eyes and really he should get that trimmed a bit, he isn't blind. Late one afternoon, they're on the roof of the school...
...and he reaches for her. Ah, young love... ain't it swell? Even if you can't see his eyes through the thatch he calls hair. His parents have often said "you really should get that cut, Skippy," because that's his name: Skippy. "You look so much nicer with short hair. And you'd be able to read the blackboard better, it'd help your grades." But Skippy, being a rebellious teenager, and yes, even the Japanese have teenager problems, just keeps on growing his hair and saying "I'll live like I want." And right now, it appears that what he wants is Kurumi.
Specifically, her brains. I'll have you know that when Skippy's hand reached through the letterboxing, I actually jumped a little in my seat. I may also have whimpered like a sad puppy as well. The possibility even exists that I may have wet myself
a tiny bit. I'm not proud of that, but
there you are. And then ZombieSkippy eats her. The end.
more...
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With regards to the school store, it likely carries most of the things
that the clubs and student council nee. Remember that the student
councils in Japanese schools do cleaning and grounds maintenance. Heck
the home-ec classes fix the bentos in the schools that don't have
cafeterias and sometimes run them in those that do. When I was young, I
went to a school with a store in rural VA and even without that dynamic
you could get some cleaning supplies.
Regarding Megune: I THINK she's real (that was certainly my big question after episode 1)
This answered my big question regarding power I had missed the bit about the batteries and the cloudiness. Thanks.
Um. Didn't they say that sound, not vision, was...?
I don't THINK so. However, even if they did, while sound seems to be
important to the ambulatory deceased, since it's unlikely they've done
an eye-test on one of their shambling former classmates it makes sense
not to take a chance.
This show is beautifully paced.
Let me second Wonderduck's admonition not to spoil anything. Even if you
are outside the attack radius of northern Illinois
you might be within
mine.
Posted by: Wonderduck at August 03, 2015 04:29 PM (jGQR+)
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How did Brickmuppet's comment get signed "Wonderduck"?
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at August 03, 2015 05:18 PM (+rSRq)
Posted by: Pixy Misa at August 03, 2015 06:24 PM (2yngH)
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At a guess, Wonderduck needed to edit the comment and so reposted it but forgot to change the user name.
But maybe elves.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at August 03, 2015 06:26 PM (2yngH)
5
(sigh) Yes, I goofed the second time. I didn't like the formatting the first time around so I deleted it. Since 'Muppet appears to be totally unable to comment on The Pond, I had to do it for him.
Posted by: Wonderduck at August 03, 2015 07:04 PM (jGQR+)
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Duck, you forget - we would not merely whang on a bucket but in fact would rev one of the old eight-cylinder F1 engines in the parking lot for you.
Well, that and to get the achievement for killing over 56,000 zombies. But partly for you, man!
Japanese school stores do occasionally have weird inventory. They do some jokes about it in GA. They've got at least some chance of having any particular object that someone needed for something and couldn't get at the time...
Posted by: Avatar at August 04, 2015 04:29 AM (qxzj1)
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Oh, '80s music videos...
I didn't even watch this and the hand-breaks-the-letterboxing effect creeped me out. Pretty sure I'm never actually watching the show at this point! (Yes, I'm a wuss. I know.)
Posted by: GreyDuck at August 04, 2015 07:31 AM (/zxpg)
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July 16, 2015
Announcing The Next Writeup Subject!
I've thought about it long and hard, and I'm pleased to say that I've chosen
Gakkou Gurashi to be the subject of the next Episodic Writeup series!
The second episode aired earlier today, and I should have the writeup done on Saturday! Sure, it may look fluffy, but
there's more here than meets the eye. A LOT more, and it's prime fodder for my writeup mill. Look forward to it, won't you?
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May 28, 2015
The Evangelion Movies: 2.22 You Can (not) Advance, pt 3
Because what's more fun on a weekend than a movie filled with angst-ridden, emotionally stunted, just flat-out damaged kids being forced to save the world while being used by an
O2STK to actually bring around the end of the world, just in an approved manner? Right, doing a
writeup of that very movie!
After pt 2, how could I not want to leap right into pt 3, huh? I mean, other than reasons of sanity, not that that's ever been a concern of mine before. But you know, times these days are hard, and at times like this, one's sanity becomes a precious, precious commodity, one to be treasured and nurtured, not squandered like the virtue of a Lady of the Evening named Trixie in San Diego during Fleet Week. However, I squander my sanity gladly for the entertainment of my readers, the accumulated Pond Scum, a term I use endearingly. You'll note, of course, that it's months after I completed the previous installment... that'll show how much I love you guys. But enough of my self-congratulating maunderings, let's get on with the
Adventures of Nigel Evangelion.
The night after they've killed the most recent Angel, Asuka has another teeny-tiny lil' breakdown. She's used to being alone, but for whatever reason she crawls into bed with Shinji... come to think of it, it's quite possible that that's about as close to being alone as you can get with another human being. Before you start thinking that we're getting red-hot one-on-one Eva pilot action, remember that Asuka is the one person who
hasn't punched Shinji in the face. She's perpetrated other violence upon his person, so I guess the suppose their relationship is still up in the air, but without the punch in the face you can't be sure.
Time passes in a normal, relaxed way. People get up, go about their days, come home. Asuka proves to be only slightly better than feral. Shinji doesn't whine much. Teh Rei watches it all with an air of dull surprise. Angelic days indeed (see what I did there?).
Except for all that Eva simulation training. Oh yeah, that. That sort of thing isn't exactly common. I mean, for these kids it is, but it's not like Fred and Ginger in class 2-2 spend their afternoons stuck in a Entry Plug, surrounded by something that looks a lot like amniotic fluid, controlling giant bio-robots. Don't worry, though... if they
do, I'm sure there'll be an
Evangelion movie about them.
more...
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March 29, 2015
Kantai Collection Ep12
So here we are. The culmination of three months worth of Wednesdays, all coming down to this. It's been a long and surprisingly entertaining run, going all the way back to
January 7th. Along the way, there's been a Cthulhu summoning, incontinent shipgrannies, a deep and kinda disturbing love for
Mutsu has grown, and more comments than any two Series Writeups combined. Seems
Kantai Collection struck a chord with some folks, good, bad, or otherwise. I've had long discussions about the series offline, seen more than the show's share of bullhockey get spouted in online forums... cheeseandrice, the historical misconceptions I've seen about what actually occurred during the
real Pacific War have been enough to make me loathe the American education system. Despite all that, the series itself has been consistently entertaining, if
somewhat pointlessly fluffy at times. Well, we're not making
Haibane Renmei here after all. Hell, we're not even making
K-On!.
Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng.
Which is a good thing. The show always knew what it was, though maybe not always what it wanted to be. Historic melodrama? Comedy? Lightweight fanservice vehicle? Tragedy? All of the above at the same time? Or just
Kantai Collection? Let's go with that. That's good enough, I believe. And if it isn't going to win any "Best of 2015" awards, well, that's okay too. So the end is nigh, how will it all go down? So to speak, of course... "going down" isn't a phrase you want to use when it involves warships. Or maybe it is, if you're the type of person who thinks of anime "that way". If you are... um... ew.
We pick up pretty much exactly where we left off at the end of
Episode 11: the Battle of Midway has begun, and history is doing Bad Things to our Shipgirls, which is what you'd expect. Three of the four carriers have been hit, only Hiryu seems to be able to fire arrows, there's an Abyssal surface warfare fleet closing in, and Akagi is in dispair as an anti-shipping bomb is headed right 'twixt her eyes. One can rail against fate, but it seems one cannot defeat it. And then... ...I keep getting distracted. The past two hours have been spent watching
WarThunder Fail videos, random
AMVs, and falling asleep at my desk. So I'm going to take a nap and pick this up when I'm done.
I'm back. Six hours of nap later, I'm back. If you're wondering why this writeup has taken as long as it has, there you go. Where were we? Oh yes... bombs fall, everybody dies.
more...
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Excellent write-up! 100% agree with your conclusions, although I suspect I enjoyed the filler episodes more. I had forgotten that you predicted the Fubuki/Yorkie faceoff. I have a hard time thinking of the Abyssal carrier as Yorkie now, though...the Abyssals seem more to be some manifestation of WAR or somesuch. Of course, even in that context that carrier, which is clearly a persistent being, is occupying the historical space of Yorktown.
Posted by: Ben at March 29, 2015 08:54 AM (KUNWw)
2
I suspect I enjoyed the filler episodes more.
In retrospect, there was really only one TRUE filler episode: curry cookoff. Eps like "Lets go to Truk" or "The Kongos" are redeemed by either being silly, having lots of Mutsu, or both... and rarely, Mutsu being silly.
But only Curry Cookoff could have been excised from the show's run without important stuff being lost. Yes, I count Mutsu's glorious smile as being important.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 29, 2015 09:49 AM (jGQR+)
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Thank you for blogging Wonderduck, I've enjoyed your posts as much as the series itself.
Now to go listen to Kongou Desu again...
Posted by: Riktol at March 29, 2015 04:23 PM (MQZN9)
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Sorry, I got distracted by the link to the War Thunder Fail Montage.
Montages, really, because that was the 16th and there are a bunch more and wow, watching aerial collisions really doesn't get old, does it?
Anyway. KanColle. Better than it could've been, not as good as it should've been, yet still one of the few watchable series out of the entire season, which... says a lot about the current state of anime, doesn't it?
Posted by: GreyDuck at March 29, 2015 09:46 PM (AQ0bN)
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Montages, really, because that was the 16th and there are a bunch more...
...and I've watched 'em all, plus pretty much everything else on BTG's channel, over the past few months. Plus many of the videos on his friends lists, too.
Nothing but time to kill. Nothing but time.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 29, 2015 09:50 PM (jGQR+)
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1. Thanks for these writeups! I'm not the target audience, but you have helped me keep up with an anime series that is clearly iconic.
2. Maybe you should write a futuristic vehicle racing novel. Guys on the teams, personalities of the drivers, life of the news guys covering it, political stuff happening in the places they visit....
What if they had to travel to different planets within a solar system, or farther? They'd pretty much be giving up normal life for racing, even if their transports went pretty fast. But if they only had a few races per planet, every race being entertaining would be more important.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at March 30, 2015 12:00 PM (ZJVQ5)
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I'm not the target audience...
Banshee, ain't
nobody 'round these parts the target audience for
Kantai Collection.
...an anime series that is clearly iconic.
"Iconic" is such a polite word for it, much the way Heinlein used "individualistic" for his characters.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 30, 2015 02:37 PM (jGQR+)
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March 23, 2015
Kantai Collection Ep11
So it has come to this. Midway. We've known all along that it must be the climax, and after all the waiting, it's here. But will it be a repeat of history as we know it, or will the shipgirls make their own way through the timey-wimey stuff? Only the Production Staff knows for sure, and they ain't tellin' yet. It's a shame some aren't giving the show a chance... I suspect we've got some surprises ahead, and the production staff has earned themselves enough credit to be allowed to take their shot. I'm still betting against the historical ending, but it would be stunning if they pulled it off.
Last episode ended with Fubuki getting her remodel and being named as Akagi's personal escort. We begin this episode with a... flashback? Wha?
Akagi is practically dragging Kaga as explosions occur all around them. Both are badly damaged, quivers empty, flight decks broken, stockings torn, hair a complete mess. It's clear Operation AF has gone terribly, terribly wrong. History repeats, it seems.
Only Hiryu is left standing, while the killing blow for Soryu is about to land. There's nothing to be done for it. Abyssal fighters crowd the skies, each looking to drop a carrier, even a damaged one. Finally, the time has come. History repeats, it seems.
Akagi gets a quick glimpse of her impending doom. Well, I suppose we know how this is all going to go down now, don't we? What's more, her final words are "I'm sorry. Please scuttle me."
I discussed the problems with this tableau back in the Ep02 writeup. Now we get to have it in context.... and with the addition of torpedo trails in the water, to boot. Just as they hit, the screen goes white. Shortest episode ever!
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This is SO in your wheelhouse... You have got to be featherless by now - or well on your way.
Posted by: The Old Man at March 23, 2015 07:05 AM (o6+UC)
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"It's all just a little case of history repeating..."
I admit, I'm keen to see how this ends up. How brave are the writers, really?
Posted by: GreyDuck at March 23, 2015 08:55 AM (3m7pZ)
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How brave are the writers, really?
I think, considering what we've seen from them, the answer is "brave enough." The question is whether the Powers That Be will let them do it.
That answer is "no." It'd kill the game dead overnight. The Production Staff could do it. But they won't be allowed to.
That's a pity.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 23, 2015 09:21 AM (jGQR+)
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Now that we know what the nature of the "ship's souls" that are at the heart of the fleet girls is, I'm rooting for a major deviation from Midway. There are some interesting questions left that I don't think will be answered: are any of the fleet girls aware of the actual history of their namesakes? Only Akagi and Nagato are shown as having some indication, but they clearly don't understand. Do the Abyss also know any of this? Or are they operating under the same influence as the fleet girls?
It's a shame this series had to be tied so tightly to the game; the writers actually have something good here.
Posted by: Ben at March 23, 2015 11:15 AM (S4UJw)
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Now that we know what the nature of the "ship's souls" that are at the heart of the fleet girls is...
Do we? I think that's still up in the air...remember, Akagi's dream doesn't match up to either Real Life History or what's happening in the show. Nagato's having a feeling. Don't get me wrong, the "ship's souls" theory is a sound one and is probably correct, but the events of this episode doesn't confirm it.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 23, 2015 12:19 PM (jGQR+)
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You know how discovering that the
Yamato wasn't in one piece of the ocean floor didn't affect how the wreck was depicted in
Space Battleship Yamato? I think that's what we're getting with Akagi's dreams: the insinuation that the
Akagi was attacked and scuttled; how it actually happened is unimportant. Beside which, you're looking at how a "ship girl" is interpreting what the "ship's soul" is telling her...how could a ship girl take that kind of thing literally?
Posted by: Ben at March 23, 2015 12:49 PM (S4UJw)
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You know how discovering that the
Yamato wasn't in one piece of the ocean floor didn't affect how the wreck was depicted in
Space Battleship Yamato?
SBY debuted in 1974. The wreck of the
Yamato wasn't found until 1982, and wasn't confirmed until 1984. Before then, it wasn't known that the ship was in pieces.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 23, 2015 02:29 PM (jGQR+)
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Well, yeah. I meant like in the movie.
Posted by: Ben at March 23, 2015 03:40 PM (EdhH3)
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2199 would probably be a better example: they disregard the actual disposition of the wreck to portray something similar to the original series.
Posted by: Ben at March 23, 2015 05:13 PM (DRaH+)
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Great, now I'm envisioning a weird cross between Kancolle and All You Need Is Kill. Groundhog Midway...
(Which... would allow for The Bad End without having it as a Bad End, come to think of it.)
Posted by: Avatar at March 23, 2015 09:03 PM (zJsIy)
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2199 had the pieces used as camoflage for the new Yamato they were building.
Posted by: muon at March 24, 2015 06:25 AM (XIprt)
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Yes, but the wreck was depicted as mostly intact and upright. The guns were even fired.
Posted by: Ben at March 24, 2015 08:34 AM (DRaH+)
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So, would you say that after 11 episodes, the series has finally reached its Midway point?
Posted by: Mauser at March 25, 2015 02:38 AM (TJ7ih)
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No, I wouldn't.
Mauser, your puns are really pushing it. Please don't.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 25, 2015 10:53 AM (jGQR+)
Posted by: Mauser at March 26, 2015 03:07 AM (TJ7ih)
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March 16, 2015
Kantai Collection Ep10 (updated)
So I'm running a little late this week, sorry about that. What with
my other hobby starting this week, I sorta had to shuffle the writeup a little farther down the priority ladder than normal. It's okay, though... if I had to, this was the episode to delay. Not that it wasn't important, heavens no, but it's hardly The Most Important Episode Ever. Which is why I'm not giving it my usual 100% treatment this week. Hey, I'M not the one looking to get a major remodel, that's Fubuki's job. I'd be satisfied with a haircut and a closet full of clean towels... I've really got to get to a laundromat, but that means going out into the public eye, y'know? Before I get into that, though, let's get going on the Episode 10 of
Kantai Collection!
We begin with shots of Foobie training and a not-a-flashback to the end of
last episode, when Our Heroine is told she's being remodeled. Nagato tells her that the Admiral specifically said that her upgraded form was going to be essential for the upcoming battle, and I'd like to say that I called that at the end of last ep's writeup. Go me. Sure, it was like hitting a batting practice fastball, but I still called it. I'm in a win-win situation here. Either they go with Foobie Saves The Day, or they go with History Repeating. I'd enjoy either result, though the bloodbath would take guts indeed. Back to current day...
....and Nagato's got a problem. See, she's got the Admiral's notebook of what to do for the coming battle, but the most important piece of information, the location, is in code. It just says to "strike Abyssal base AF," but not which base AF is! There are three possibilities: north, the Aleutians; South, someplace less-than-obvious to my history-laden mind, and Central. Nagato is doing recon-by-fire, sending small fleets out to each location to see which one gets shot at the most. By her logic, the one that's most strongly defended is AF.
Fleets have already been sent to North and South. The newly reconstituted Torpedo Squadron Three gets the Central area, which contains island MI. Orders are to get shot at, but not draw the entire Abyssal fleet down on themselves.
Mutsu!
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Fubuki: Competent badass, or clueless punching-bag? Only the writer of each episode knows for sure, as they put pen to paper!
Posted by: GreyDuck at March 16, 2015 07:12 AM (AQ0bN)
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Both. She's a moe yuri shonen hero.
Posted by: Ben at March 16, 2015 10:55 AM (S4UJw)
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Your post is incomplete. You didn't put in a picture of Fubuki in her wedding dress.
I felt that was the most telling part of the episode, clearly we are watching a dramatization of one player's game, not a re-enactment of history like people keep claiming.
Posted by: Riktol at March 16, 2015 03:24 PM (MQZN9)
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Your post is incomplete.
My post is exactly as complete as I wanted it to be. If you feel you can do better, you're welcome to do so.
Taking the time to explain the whole "marriage" functionality of the game was more work and effort than I judged worth doing. And, since that scene was a retelling of a dream and not an actual event, it's hard to figure it as a "dramatization of a game."
I could be wrong, though.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 16, 2015 03:37 PM (jGQR+)
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I don't think it's a dramatization of a player's game as much as it's a synthesis of the intended game experience.
Posted by: Ben at March 16, 2015 04:03 PM (neool)
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It's... kind of terrifying in some kind of mystic sense, though. "I saw you in a dream in a wedding dress! Therefore you are to
command our fleets, o my shipwaifu."
Though it's already been remarked that Fubuki is probably doing a better job at it than Yamamoto or, for that matter, Nagumo... and I'm convinced that Duck had it exactly right regarding which history books Fubuki has been reading in her spare time. Fubuki doesn't have Victory Disease - the Abyssals are a big scary alien threat that they don't have a handle on. Fubuki is perfectly happy to tell the carriers to run an adequate search (though she gets less guff about it since in Kancolle-land that doesn't seem to translate into a weaker strike.)
Further, they're going in to hunt the carriers from the get-go... though of course Kancolle is pretty abstract about what would constitute a landing or invasion, no? It ain't that kind of game, after all.
It'll be interesting anyway.
Posted by: Avatar at March 16, 2015 07:37 PM (zJsIy)
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Okay, granted that most wedding dresses today are styled a lot like evening dresses, and the wedding industry profits hugely by never having to tailor sleeves.
But seriously, guys, that was a sparkly evening dress and an evening tiara. If that's supposed to be her wedding dress, Fubuki is doing her wedding on the cheap, not that there's anything wrong with that.
(And it's not a wedding reception dress, because those are red.)
Of course, if we were really doing WWII-recreation, Fubuki can't have a Western-style wedding dress (unpatriotic), and she can't have an evening gown with that much loose cloth in it (rationing). White wedding gowns were still not universal even in the UK and the United States, and during the war, most girls just got married in their best dress.
Of course, there is the famous war option of making a dress out of parachute silk, but I think you'd need an awful lot of fairy-sized parachutes to get enough silk for a parachute t-shirt, much less a whole dress.
So I guess my point is that the Admiral has awful weird fashion sense in his dreams. The real dream message may have been that Fubuki is the destined Belle of the Ball, or the destined Eliza Doolittle.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at March 16, 2015 10:48 PM (ZJVQ5)
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Actually, that would explain a lot.
The Admiral thought "Fubuki = Doolittle = raid leader."
Actually, the dream was a precognitive death warning, telling the Admiral to "Move your bloomin' arse!"
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at March 16, 2015 10:56 PM (ZJVQ5)
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I really don't think the writers are re-doing WWII. Even if they were, they haven't done the groundwork necessary to sell it. This has been a constant complaint I've had throughout is that, since they clearly *arent* redoing WWII, why are they using Pacific battles as a template and sticking so close to how those battles played out?
Posted by: Ben at March 17, 2015 08:16 AM (DRaH+)
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You missed the point. That dream wasn't the Admiral in the early 1940s having a dream; the Tokyo skyline did not look like that back then, man. That was the modern-day Admiral, he who is playing Kancolle-the-game, dreaming about his waifu in the modern day, and then going in and playing the game like that...
I think the big key is this - the anime isn't worried about the rest of WW2 because it's about to end. They don't have to think about "well, wait, how do we make it so we keep winning but then keep fighting for event areas closer and closer to Japan?" (and that's something the game will need to deal with sometime too, y'know...)
We'll find out tomorrow, or failin' that, a week later.
Posted by: Avatar at March 17, 2015 07:46 PM (zJsIy)
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You missed the point.
So now I've got two people telling me how to do my writeups?
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 17, 2015 08:11 PM (jGQR+)
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I believe that _I_ was being told that I had missed the point. Which I probably did, given that I started talking about fashion irrelevancies and then headed out to wacko-land.
It is pretty hilarious how the Tokyo Tower continues to show up everywhere in anime.
So what time is KanColle set in, in its own universe? Obviously not WWII, because they're ship spirits in modern girls. But are we talking far future Earth, near future Earth, or AI who don't know they live on a server and are fighting against the alien viruses Reboot-style?
The baths working so fast -- that definitely argues far future, I would think. Unless it's magic, in which case magic has definitely leveled up in the KanColle world. I guess it could be roughly modern times, but I don't really see women today being comfortable walking around in public in those crazy outfits, unless all ship spirits are reincarnated in Japanese cosplayers who believe in skimpy outfits. So it must be very alternate universe.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at March 17, 2015 08:30 PM (ZJVQ5)
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Yeah, I'm happy with the writeup. Also I approve of F1 writing. So it's like, no matter what you're writing up, unless it's Rio, I win! (and even if it is Rio, I can't look away!) My fault for unclear pronoun use though.
Honestly, I like looking into the deep hidden stuff behind various shows, but I don't think Kancolle is suitable for it. I could make the scenario work if someone asked me to do it, but I'd have to put in a lot of detail that frankly ain't in the game or the show, and nothing's convinced me that the writers went to the trouble.
Posted by: Avatar at March 17, 2015 10:26 PM (zJsIy)
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"...nothing's convinced me that the writers went to the trouble."
That's the scab I keep picking at.
Posted by: Ben at March 18, 2015 08:48 AM (DRaH+)
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Ah, but the joy of fanfic and WAGuess is that you can make it work anyway!
Amusingly enough, early YA writer S.E. Hinton has revealed that she's been writing fanfic of her own stuff and putting it out in non-official fanfic groups under a fannish name. (Although at that point, I don't know why she wouldn't just release a book of short stories, unless she's under abusive contract.)
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at March 18, 2015 05:58 PM (ZJVQ5)
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March 07, 2015
Kantai Collection Ep09
There are moments in life that an adult has to deal with, whether they want to do so or not. These moments are called "obligations," and not following through with them is a very bad thing. At work, in one's personal life, and even in something as floofy as a blog, one's word is your currency throughout your life. That is why I had to give FedEx hell when their delivery man decided that dropping my package at the leasing office for Pond Central's complex was fine, as opposed to even trying to deliver it to my door. Sure, there was nothing preventing me from going the four blocks to the office to pick it up... except for the principle of the thing. I apparently got the delivery guy in serious trouble, but c'mon.
Do Your Job. Follow through on your obligations.
Which is why I am here right now writing about the newest episode of
Kantai Collection when I'd rather be doing nearly anything else.
I thought last episode was fluff, and lord was I was right. It did have the advantage of being wonderfully
Mutsu-centric, and that right there made it fun for me, so it had that going for it. Which was nice. This one, though... from everything I had suspected was going to occur, this one was making my stomach churn. As it turned out, what I suspected was going to be bad wasn't... but then the show took an unexpected turn. So why am I still muttering here instead of actually doing the writeup? I dunno. Just because I follow through on my obligations doesn't mean I enjoy it all the time. Well, so it goes... being an adult sucks sometimes. And with that thought ringing through your mind, let's get on with the show!
We open with the command ships gathered together, discussing the results of the latest simulations now that the entire fleet is gathered at Truk. Much like Mutsu said last week, the odds are overwhelmingly in their favor if they push Operation MO now. Nagato, no dummy herself, agrees and will speak to the Admiral about it right away. Things are wrapping up when another shipgirl rushes in... there's a problem with one of the destroyers!
Someone has moved Pippin's lightness slider waaaaay far to the right. She's all glowy and washed out. The other girls are somewhat taken aback by this, of course... small errors aside,
Kantai Collection has been a well-animated show, something like this just shouldn't happen. The usual reasons for her glowing are trotted out...it's
true love, it's
aliens, it's bad fuel so she might
explode. Her humors are out of balance, we'll need to apply the leeches.
Fortunately for everybody, including us (leeches, ugh!), Nagato and Mutsu arrive and while visibly surprised, clearly recognize what's going on. They tell Pippin to go to the factory right away... all the destroyers look concerned. Remember that game mechanic I talked about some episodes ago, where you can use unneeded ships for spare parts and improvements to other vessels? Is P-for-Poi about to be sent to the breakers??? Does Akagi need repairs, and if so, do we get to see shipgirl-on-shipgirl cannibalism?
What's
wrong with me?
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Man, Doolittle never did that much damage. These Abyssals know how to bomb! (Of course it's easier when you can do low-level bombing because you're utterly indifferent to the survival of your little demon-plane thingies...)
There's now essentially zero chance that we're not careening towards Midway. I honestly think that your scenario is pretty likely - Fubuki is already running off concepts that weren't developed until afterward and it's quite probable that she's just a better admiral than Nagumo was at this point. Also, it takes a heck of a lot less time for the carriers to spot and launch a strike.
It's entirely possible that they're going to do Midway straight up, which would still be pretty damned courageous of the writers and would be deserving of a tip of the ol' hat.
Finally, there's one additional alternative. Something that would be awesome beyond the Actual Midway Ending. It's a damned long shot, something I'm only thinking is even possible because of meta knowledge about the game and even then it's not so much "knowledge" as "wishful thinking plus educated guessing". But it would be so awesome I don't even want to say it, in case it jinxes it!
Posted by: Avatar at March 07, 2015 03:24 PM (a38fD)
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It's entirely possible that they're going to do Midway straight up,
which would still be pretty damned courageous of the writers and would
be deserving of a tip of the ol' hat.
I think it'd be the bravest move I'd ever seen in pretty much any mass media production, period. You think Anno's hatemail after
NGE's ending was bad? That'd be nothing in comparison to what would happen here. I've said all along that I'd love to see it occur, though I don't think it will.
Ep10 will be upgrading Foobie and preparing the fleets. Ep11 will be sailing to Midway and the opening of the battle. Ep12 will be the middle and end, both of the battle and of the show. OR Ep11 will be all of Midway, and Ep12 has them picking up the pieces of the defeat.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 07, 2015 03:50 PM (jGQR+)
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It's *possible* for the production staff to do Midway in a straight forward manner, but I think it's highly unlikely. Plus, I would bet we still have one or two episodes of filler. If they don't then, this will probably be a short series. I don't see how they could pull of three straight episodes of battle...they haven't put enough detail or budget into running a full half-episode of battle so far.
Avatar, if you have some insight from the game that may indicate what's going to happen, I would put money on that option. So far, that's been the answer to everything: what happens in the game.
Also, is there any way you can share the info without feeling like you're jinxing the show?
Posted by: Ben at March 07, 2015 04:06 PM (S4UJw)
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Oh, I didn't mean -in- the game. I do know that they registered the trademark for Kancolle over here several months ago, though.
Posted by: Avatar at March 08, 2015 02:18 AM (a38fD)
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It's a damned long shot...
they registered the trademark for Kancolle over here...
Just as Yorkie the Abyssal looms over the disabled Foobie Fleet,
Yorktown-chan and
Enterprise-chan pop up and beat her into the waves, allowing Frodo to get in the final shot.
Yeah, introducing the US Navy to the game would be...
interesting, if nothing else.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 08, 2015 09:36 AM (jGQR+)
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From the game perspective, it solves the "gee we need new ships" problem for a long time. Obviously they've already more or less got the whole IJN in there. They brought in the German fleet, but... that's kind of limited for the obvious reasons. Bringing in US ships (and maybe even some Aussie or UK ones?) means they are unlikely to ever run out.
And think of the in-joke opportunities! You think that Kaga and Zuikaku spark off each other, wait until Kirishima and San Diego are in the same room...
Of course the simpler explanation is that some company is working on a translated Kancolle version and that's it. Not bad news in and of itself!
Posted by: Avatar at March 08, 2015 03:56 PM (a38fD)
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Bringing in US ships (and maybe even some Aussie or UK ones?) means they are unlikely to ever run out.
A light at the end of the tunnel. Hope is reborn! That would be so much more awesome than just doing Midway right...
Posted by: Ben at March 08, 2015 05:53 PM (JP4JT)
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Yeah, introducing the US Navy to the game would be... interesting,
if nothing else.
(I alluded to this briefly in a previous comment, but I'll flesh my ideas out here.) As odd, and maybe a bit disturbing, as it seemed to me to see a series with WWII warships anthropomorphized into attractive women and teenaged girls, what was
really disturbing me about this series was the Abyssals. The Abyssals are (a) hideous beyond words, and (b) (apparently) playing the role of the US Navy; this IMO sails uncomfortably close to the ugly portrayals of Americans in Japanese WWII propaganda.* Having US shipgirls join in the battle against the Abyssals would ease my mind greatly on that account. (However, it wouldn't surprise me--or bother me, for that matter--to see some milder stereotyping, i.e. the US shipgirls turn out to be all brash, vulgar, overconfident, tall, blonde-haired, and blue-eyed, with huge appetites and even bigger boobs.)
*Mind you, ugly propaganda (with a side order of casual racism) was typical of that era in history, and the Americans certainly dished it out as well as taking it.
Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at March 08, 2015 05:56 PM (gt7kt)
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Sorry for the double-comment, but I hit post a little too soon, and didn't think that last bit through.
However, it wouldn't surprise me--or bother me, for that matter--to see some milder stereotyping...
It wouldn't
necessarily bother me to see some milder stereotyping, of the we-tease-you-because-we-like-you sort; if they stray too far to the America the Boorish side of the
Eagleland tropes (caution: TV Tropes link), then I'll get annoyed. (And "brash" and "vulgar" may have been a bridge too far on my part; let's say "boisterous" instead.)
Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at March 08, 2015 06:42 PM (gt7kt)
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I made the mistake(?) of going to an imageboard site and I discovered that apparently there are more abyssal characters, who where listed as something like Airfield-chan and Seaport-chan, or something. The tagging was not entirely clear....
Frankly, after seeing some of the fan art, getting wiped out at Midway would be a blessing.
Posted by: Mauser at March 09, 2015 12:21 AM (TJ7ih)
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It's all in the artists' renditions of them. They range from "Cthulhu saw them and now needs a change of pants" to "d'awwww". (The "Northern Princess" seems to range into d'awwww territory really easily - little cute girl playin' with her captured Zero, heh.)
Hoping I haven't gotten anyone's hopes up. I still agree with Duck that Japanese Victory at Midway is the most likely result at this point.
Posted by: Avatar at March 09, 2015 03:29 AM (a38fD)
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Seriously, not even the Arrow pilots are safe on the imageboards. I couldn't look away, the horror, the strangely arousing horror!
Posted by: Mauser at March 09, 2015 07:06 AM (TJ7ih)
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Huke did the designs for the Abyssal ships, and they tend to be creepy-sexy. He also used his motif of a flame (usually blue) coming out of the left eye that he did for Black Rock Shooter, which the anime recreated for the Wo-class aircraft carrier above.
There's debate about what the Abyssal fleet is. The Wo-class carrier has Abyssal Hellcat fighters and Hell Divers like the
Midway Princess, but despite being named after USN aircraft, they weren't used at Midway. The
Battleship Water Demon seems to be a dark reflection of Nagato, down to her sinking lines. There are even
Abyssal torpedo cruisers, and only the IJN used that type. If the theory about them being ships from both sides that have become lost to anger and grief is true, then the anime might have the
Kisaragi return as an Abyssal ship (maybe the Destroyer Princess) and the ship girls find some way to redeem her.
Mention of the
Yamato reminds me of something. Why haven't the IJN fans commented on the new
Space Battleship Yamato series? There were positive reviews of the live action movie here and on Chizumatic, but not the new anime. They even hextupled the number of female characters (from one to six) so it's not such a sausage-fest.
Posted by: muon at March 09, 2015 08:11 AM (XIprt)
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Speaking for The Pond, I have no interest in that anime. The movie was a fun way to kill a couple of hours, but I have no intention of devoting a major slice of my life to a series that I've never liked in the past.
Just because the
Yamato is in it, doesn't make it of interest to WWII historians.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 09, 2015 08:39 AM (jGQR+)
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This one just didn't make a lot of sense to me. Every few minutes I found myself thinking, "This must mean something to people who play the game, huh?"
Ah well. Sticking with it out of morbid curiosity, at this point...
Also: Of all the doodles from that source you could've picked. Ouch, I need to restock my brain bleach supplies now.
Posted by: GreyDuck at March 09, 2015 09:41 PM (AQ0bN)
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March 03, 2015
Kantai Collection Ep08
Running late this week, but fortunately this episode is somewhat fluffy in content so it shouldn't be a problem to write up, right? Weeeeellllllll... maybe not so much. See, there's a lot of Mutsu this week, and it's hard to write coherently when you're dreamily staring at the screen with a dreamy smile on your face and a vast lack of attention to your surroundings. She's dreamy is what I'm saying, and she has the ability to cause mass distraction, at least in your humble scribe. Did I mention that this is a beach and/or swimsuit episode? Boogity boogity boogity, let's go
KanColle-ing!
We pick up shortly after
the end of last episode, with Foobie Force escorting a badly damaged Shokaku to a mysterious location that only Kongo knows about. And who better but a British-built battleship to know the location of the new Japanese fleet base called
Camelot!
Which is a much nicer sounding name than what we usually remember it as, Truk Lagoon. "The Gibraltar of the Pacific." "Japan's Pearl Harbor." Easily the most important IJN base outside of the Home Islands themselves, in real life Truk could do everything but build new ships or do major repairs. After spending a good half-hour to an hour examining terrain maps and satellite photos, I'm forced to conclude that Foobie Force is approaching Uman Island, which is an odd choice of place for the Production Staff to use. To be sure, there was a Japanese presence on the island, a small base on the outcropping on the left of the picture. But the Administrative Center for the IJN was one island to the North, Tonoas. A much larger facility, that, and one that'll match up better with what we'll be seeing soon. Perhaps they decided not to use an actual place where so many soldiers and sailors really died. If so, good call, I'm okay with that.
More importantly, Mutsu told Kongo that there's a new, special ship based there, and that by the time Foobie Force arrives, the rest of the Naval District will have relocated. The two carriers resolve to head directly to the repair bays, while everybody else is... um... everybody else.
Mutsu!
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A couple nights ago, while browsing through many a site unmentionable and better that way, I encountered an artifact most curious. A volume, penned and drawn by a couple of notable porn artists, who on this occasion had settled for some light cheesecake as a side to something rather more substantial. It appears to be a guide to naval combat for people who got into the game but don't actually know how any of this stuff works. Shell types and sizes, arced fire, the gun loading process, the inner workings of a torpedo, diagrams of mini-submarines, scout planes and search patterns, the use of the arresting wire... I mean, I can't read a word of it other than some of the numerals, but it's kind of fascinating anyway.
It turned out there were two volumes of it. Cute stuff for what it is. Very much too bad there's no translated version, but let me know if you want to take a look at the Japanese version.
Posted by: Avatar at March 03, 2015 03:44 AM (a38fD)
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Yeah, I could tell that was the Yamato by her big... guns....
Posted by: Mauser at March 03, 2015 05:13 AM (TJ7ih)
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Mutsu baiting Nagato was pretty much the one really good thing about this episode...
Posted by: GreyDuck at March 03, 2015 08:23 AM (AQ0bN)
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The 18.1" Shan Shiki shell seems thoroughly scary but rather poor doin's, thanks to Japanese lack of proximity fuses.
It can take a substantial chunk out of a formation of aircraft if you guess right as to where they'll be when it gets there, but the sky is big and if they know of the threat they'll be maneuvering. Supposedly the militarily useful
burst is a markedly forward-directed cone-like shape of 20 degree solid angle and the better part of a km length.
With a proximity fuze rather than pre-set detonation, things get more interesting -- but I'm guessing you could actually put a much higher rate of proximity-fuzed antiaircraft fire into many more places, still with plenty of range and altitude capability, by using the ship's secondary battery. (The VT fuse scaled down to the 5" guns that most USN ships had at least a few of.) That way you can preserve or otherwise employ the big guns and still have good air defense.
Thankfully the real IJN never got those fuses...
Thoughts?
Posted by: Ad absurdum per aspera at March 03, 2015 06:17 PM (cQAlw)
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Uncle Ad, if the IJN had had prox fuzes, they wouldn't have needed the Type 3 shell in the first place. The idea of a 18.1" diameter shotgun barrel is awfully fun, though...
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 03, 2015 07:34 PM (jGQR+)
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It's hard enough to build a proximity fuse using vacuum tubes that can continue to operate after having been fired from a 5" DP gun (which is what the Americans did). I can't imagine how you'd make one that could survive being fired from Yamato's 18 inchers. (360 Kg of cordite, baby, in the propellant charge!)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 03, 2015 08:00 PM (+rSRq)
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 03, 2015 11:38 PM (jGQR+)
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The game has the type 3 shells as especially effective against "installation type" bosses, based on RL airfields. Did the IJN use them against those targets?
The wreck of Yamato's sister ship, the Musashi,
has apparently been discovered by Paul Allen. Unlike the Yamato, it was mostly intact. I wonder if she'll show up later?
Posted by: muon at March 04, 2015 06:41 AM (XIprt)
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Muon, yeah, I wrote about the Musashi being found
a couple hours before I posted the writeup for Ep08. It's literally the post below this one. I'm sure she won't show up in the show.
No, the Type3 shell was strictly an anti-aircraft round; that was the only point to it.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 04, 2015 08:17 AM (jGQR+)
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Yay! Great writeup!
The old-school anime injoke was the bit where Yamato was standing looking out at the sea sadly at night, and all of a sudden they started in with the wailing female vocalization music, a la Space Battleship Yamato.
To be fair, some swimsuits work that way, but only if you apply a lot of stickum and double-sided tape. And you can't swim or move much.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at March 06, 2015 08:52 PM (ZJVQ5)
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Well, probably it's really "a la that Imperial Japanese Navy song about the Yamato Spirit that the Space Battleship Yamato theme song is reminiscent of," but it made me laugh.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at March 06, 2015 09:10 PM (ZJVQ5)
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There isn't really a good anti-runway shell, is there? I mean, by the standards of WW2 aviation, for a fighter base, you really just needed a level field free of obstacles. I know the Germans spent a lot of bombs on British runways that just got filled in after (and Churchill reminding everyone to make it look like they were still cratered up, heh!)
Posted by: Avatar at March 06, 2015 09:56 PM (zJsIy)
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Henderson field was shelled by the Japanese, including battleships, and they used fragmentation shells.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 06, 2015 10:07 PM (+rSRq)
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Airfields in that area weren't just cleared ground, because of tropical rain storms. If the field turns to mud, you can't use it. The Americans had big mats made of steel that the CB's put down and welded together, to cover the entire length of the field.
If one of those got damaged, they'd cut it off and replace it.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 06, 2015 10:10 PM (+rSRq)
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February 22, 2015
Kantai Collection Ep07
For reasons I can't put my finger on, I've been reluctant to do this particular writeup. No, it's nothing having to do with the episode itself: it's very much a
Kantai Collection episode, with no great surprises or anything. It may have something to do with my right knee feeling like it's packed full of fish sticks and chunks of metal, meaning that spending any amount of time in my computer chair is a little painful... remember, this is the leg that I
bounced off a row of bricks a few months ago. There's also what feels like an awful case of weather-related malaise. Understand, this winter has been relatively mild, particularly when compared to the continuing nightmare the East Coast has been dealing with. However, Duckford has been grey for pretty much the entire season. It's been grey and snowing, or grey and cold, or grey and cold and snowing, and only rarely has the Burning Orb of Light made itself visible in the sky. I don't think I'm susceptible to
SAD, at least not like some people, but I'll be darned if the symptoms don't match. Ah well, whatever, you're not here to listen to me kvetch about my aches and pains, you're here to listen to me kvetch about
Kantai Collection.
Last episode was the Great Curry Conniption, so what great dealings will Ep07 bring us? An eating contest? Nah, Akagi winning would be too obvious there... ooh! I know! It's the "Mutsu has a light lunch, smiles as she plays with a kitten, then takes an afternoon nap" episode! Yes, please! (sigh) Y'know what? I'm not even gonna guess, lets just jump right in, see where that gets us. Raise anchor, all ahead slow, allons-y!
Ah! It appears that RKO has picked up the production duties of the show, very good. I can't help but worry, however... those guy wires look awfully slack considering their job. The last time I saw guy wires that, the mast in question was being disassembled, a task you literally could not pay me enough to do. Still and all, the antenna at the top must still be working, because the Naval District has received a communique.
A communique via morse code, no less. Actually, I assume it's actually Wabun code, the Japanese version of morse, but as I understand none of the factors involved, I have no idea if I'm correct or not. For some reason, this lack does not particularly bother me at the moment. Anyway, the message is that Operation MO is approved, and that they are to provide a carrier fleet and a support fleet... and here is where my emergency brakes kicked in, because Operation MO is better known to us here in The States as the Battle of the Coral Sea... we gonna see some stuff go down.
Literally, if lil' miss Abyssal Carrier up there has anything to say about it. I can't help but notice that there's a startling resemblance between the Carrier and The Librarian at times. They both wear hats, the facial structures are the same, they both can do the flashing blue flames of power from the eyes... uncanny. It goes without saying, of course, that I've never seen the two of them together in the same spot...
more...
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Absolutely agree: the show is telegraphing the inclusion of Midway, but there is *no way* Midway can be presented in any way that resembles the actual battle.
Posted by: Ben at February 22, 2015 01:08 PM (S4UJw)
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If they showed Yorktown being damaged but withdrawing, did they show Lexington sinking?
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 22, 2015 03:14 PM (+rSRq)
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They did mention that one Wo-class was sunk. Didn't show it though (well, a bomb went right into her creepy hat-thing's open mouth, then it cut away...)
They're gonna re-fight Midway, aren't they? Broken codes -and- a two-phase recon pattern earlier than it ever happened in the war. Fubuki... Fubuki, you read Shattered Sword, didn't you?!
Posted by: Avatar at February 22, 2015 04:27 PM (a38fD)
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...did they show Lexington sinking?
As a matter of fact, they didn't show Lexy (heh) sinking, but it's referred to. All the "cleaning up" happened off-screen.
Av, it's possible that Foobie read Fuchida's
Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan. He chastises the IJN for not doing a two-phase search in that book... even though it wasn't how they did things at the time, and indeed nobody even thought to perform one... including Fuchida himself. As it was, a two-phase search wouldn't have helped at Midway anyway, since Kido Butai got lucky with the Tone 4 plane.
Posted by: Wonderduck at February 22, 2015 04:48 PM (jGQR+)
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It was a good episode, but it definitely points the arrow directly at
Midway...one can't be blamed for thinking that Midway is going to
be a bloodbath for the shipgirls.
If the show
does parallel the real-life course of the Pacific campaign, pretty much the
entire rest of the series will be downright grim, with maybe a few cutesy-pie filler episodes thrown in for maximum mood-whiplash. (BTW, one might note that hideous, unspeakable abominations would be playing the role of the United States Navy...)
Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at February 22, 2015 08:30 PM (gt7kt)
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Midway (June 1942) was definitely terrible for the IJN, but the next year or so wasn't so awful. It wasn't great, either, but things didn't really go sour until the second half of 1943 when America's new production started coming online.
Between then, the IJN sank Hornet and Wasp and badly damaged Saratoga, and in general gave more than they got in the waters near Guadalcanal until nearly the end. (Though that's where Fubuki was sunk.) After the Americans landed on Guadalcanal (August 1942), the Japanese didn't advance any further but it was also a long time before they started retreating (February 1943).
The Solomons campaign was pretty close to a stalemate for a long time, and the Americans only really started to move forward after their new production started fighting.
Not counting Midway, the really big disasters for the IJN happened much later: Philippine Sea (June 1944) and Leyte Gulf (October 1944), which between them pretty much finished the IJN as an effective military force.
If this show does Midway (and does it honestly) it's going to be painful as hell, but what comes after that won't be merry but it also won't be hell.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 22, 2015 10:40 PM (+rSRq)
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(small correction: it was Enterprise that was badly damaged, not Saratoga.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 22, 2015 10:46 PM (+rSRq)
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I'm operating under the assumption that Midway will be the climax of the series.
Posted by: Wonderduck at February 22, 2015 11:39 PM (jGQR+)
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That would be strange, ending on a catastrophic defeat? Unless they're going to rewrite history?
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 23, 2015 06:17 AM (+rSRq)
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"How I enjoy slice-of-life shows. With bombs." You make a compelling argument there, I must admit.
Part of me thinks they're going to take their historical-allegory thing only up to a certain point, then "rewrite history" to give our POV characters a happy ending.
Part of me thinks they're going to give the old "nice boat" ending trope all new meaning...
Posted by: GreyDuck at February 23, 2015 08:35 AM (AQ0bN)
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That would be strange, ending on a catastrophic defeat? Unless they're going to rewrite history?
I'm guessing it'll be a victory. One way they could do something grim yet still not kill the main characters, would be to have CarDiv2 (Hiryu and Soryu) head to Midway while CarDiv1 goes to the Aleutians. Midway goes bad, but Akagi and Kaga come down and deal with Yorkie, et al.
Carriers are lost, but the Big Two are okay and Midway is a win. I'm not saying they're gonna do that, but it's a way they could pull it off and still fit in the game's version of reality... I gather the Aleutians ("Northern Ocean Hime") is a Boss Battle in
Kantai Collection, the game...
Posted by: Wonderduck at February 23, 2015 10:30 AM (jGQR+)
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I expect everyone to come along for the ride, honestly. Real life Shokaku was put into the yards, Kancolle-wise she'll be out in a day even without a bucket. Real life Zuikaku's air group was shot to pieces, Kancolle-wise we didn't see this happen (and, well, when you build planes out of bauxite and they're piloted by fairies, replacing them is just plane easier...)
They can completely scratch the Aleutians off the hit list. That's two more carriers available.
They can turn their broken codes around, put false data in there... lowers the chance that they'd get caught in mid-strike.
On the other hand, it's unlikely that the Abyssals would have one of their air groups go flying completely in the wrong direction. Honestly, as well, Midway-as-really-fought has a total lack of action for the surface units in a way that would be unsatisfying for fans of the show. For all we know, they'll have things go much more according to the original Japanese plan - they polish off the base, and then a full general fleet engagement follows, Mahan with all the trimmings and a night battle after. (Nobody tell Sendai!)
Posted by: Avatar at February 23, 2015 01:33 PM (a38fD)
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The real Battle of Coral Sea is the first major sea battle in which the fleets never came close enough to see one another. All of the combat was fought with air strikes.
I assume that wasn't the case in the most recent KanColle battle, though.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 23, 2015 01:40 PM (+rSRq)
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Did you miss the part where Fubuki shoots Yorkie in the face, or where I say that "Foobie Force finishes off the rest of the Abyssal fleet", Steven?
Posted by: Wonderduck at February 23, 2015 02:23 PM (jGQR+)
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Sounds like they're already taking liberties with history, since the American fleet didn't get "finished off".
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 23, 2015 02:37 PM (+rSRq)
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"...replacing them is just plane easier." Ba, dum, and pish, Avatar...
Posted by: GreyDuck at February 23, 2015 03:50 PM (3m7pZ)
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We're basically getting WWII ver. 2. What's obsessing me is whether it's intentional or just lazy writing. I'm leaning toward intentional, as I can't conceive of using WWII as template, and sticking as closely to it (from certain points of view) as they have, without intent.
Posted by: Ben at February 23, 2015 04:24 PM (DRaH+)
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...whether it's intentional or just lazy writing.
There's thought behind this show... a lot more of it than we're giving the show credit for, I suspect. One thing for certain, I'm thinking more about this one "after hours," as it were, than any series in a long, long time.
Posted by: Wonderduck at February 23, 2015 05:13 PM (jGQR+)
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In a sense it's still lazy writing; so long as they're taken out any kind of analysis for "reasons for the war" and substituted "because we are being attacked by mysterious monsters," it ain't exactly that deep.
At the end of the day, what's getting Wo-tan out of bed where people can shoot her eye out? We've got no clue; up until this episode we didn't even have any reason to believe there was a mind there at all (and we still don't know if there's a sentient person, but at least she's theoretically capable of facial expression, hm?)
I get why that's an aspect that a Japanese game company doesn't want to dive into, but oy.
Posted by: Avatar at February 23, 2015 09:34 PM (zJsIy)
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The Aleutian Islands Campaign and Midway were both in the Summer 2014 event. The
Northern Princess (Dutch Harbor) is a disgustingly adorable loli who demands the player leave the Zero, a reference to the
Akutan Zero. (In her second form she demands the Reppuu.) This was a two front war in-game, but the anime might have the Aleutian campaign with the setback of losing the Zero and then Midway.
The official 4-koma says the Abyssals are the souls of ships from all sides that are enveloped in grief and hatred, which is their motivation.
Posted by: muon at February 24, 2015 06:23 AM (XIprt)
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Muon, there are at least five (as possibly as many as 10) different manga adaptations, and none of them are listed as the "official" series... indeed, none of them seem internally consistent with each other, let alone anything else.
The game hasn't announced what the Abyssals are, nor, more importantly, has the anime. Until either defines the Abyssals existence, anything is possible.
Please refrain from muddying the waters like that. We had a talk about this during my
HSotD writeup. Don't make me do anything drastic, okay?
Posted by: Wonderduck at February 24, 2015 09:52 AM (jGQR+)
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Well, I'm obviously not the target audience for the show and I do find both concept and execution as disturbing as it's cute. And yet, I watched the new ep today, basically because synchronicity and the red threads of fate demanded it.
(By which I mean that the only Japanese ship I know anything about actually appeared on the ep.)
So I'm very much looking forward to Wonderduck's take on this next one, and I hope he catches the in-joke for those of us who are older fans.
Posted by: suburbanbanshee@gmail.com at February 25, 2015 05:57 PM (ZJVQ5)
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February 12, 2015
Kantai Collection Ep06
There are moments when I do these Episodic Writeups when, quite honestly, I don't want to take the time or the effort. Sometimes its because I'm too busy doing other things, sometimes it's because I just don't want to... and sometimes it's because the Production Staff made something that is difficult to recap just by its nature. That's the case here, with the new episode of
Kantai Collection.
Last week saw the creation of a new fleet and Fubuki become its unlikely flagship. This week?
(shaking head)
Let's get this over with.
We open with...
Nagato is brooding over some tough choices she's going to have to make in the coming days, which is her unfortunate duty as Secretary of the Fleet. Yeah, yeah, that's nice... more importantly, Mutsu's back and feels sad that her sister refuses to share the burdens. Truly, Mutsu is wonderful. An episode of her reading a novel and sipping tea would be welcome, Production Staff. Just a thought.
Destroyer Division Six, fresh from a foraging expedition, discovers a sign proclaiming that it's time for the Naval District Curry Contest! The Imperial Japanese Navy, and for that matter its successor the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, had a long-time relationship with curry, dating back all the way to the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in and around 1902. Indeed, every Friday was (and is) curry day in the ships of the fleet. In this case, the contest-winning curry will be the recipe used for the next year. Well, hell, sounds like a plan to the DesDiv6 girls! They quickly decide that they'll enter the contest. It'll be a cinch!
Except that British-born Kongo is going to enter her special spicy English-style curry. Oh yeah, other people are going to enter, aren't they? CURRY FIGHT-O! Look, I like me some curry, but not super-spicy.
We've had this conversation before. Give me a mild curry, not one that'll punch my teeth in just for eating it.
Definitely don't give me Ashigara's "wild hardcore ultra-spicy curry." Why anybody would want to inflict that sort of damage on themselves is entirely beyond me, but I know they're out there. I also know there are people who don't like lima beans, which to me makes no sense: they're totally innocuous, it's like not liking plain rice. It may not be all that tasty, but it's not going to be offensive. And how can people dislike grilled cheese sandwiches? It boggles the mind, but there are people out there who don't like grilled cheese sandwiches. I'm not talking about grilled cheese with stuff on it, like tomatoes or mushrooms or ham or whatever, I'm talking about a simple, plain grilled cheese sandwich. With a bowl of tomato soup. How can you not like that?
It is a puzzlement. Don't get me wrong... I digs me some ham & cheese melts like a
LeTourneau L2350 loads trucks, but not when I'm wanting a grilled cheese sandwich.
more...
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The Sankaku Complex comment on the episode was that this fanservice episode was sure to be a welcome respite from the hardcore action and drama that the series was garnering a reputation for.
Someone is smoking the spicy curry.
Posted by: Ben at February 12, 2015 11:13 PM (DRaH+)
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That's the bay leaves. Well, some kind of leaf...
As far as the close-up of eating goes, this season's Koufuku Graffiti is essentially a show that's about nothing but generating those moments. Seriously, the entire animation budget is used up in those parts as girls stuff delicious foods into their mouths. (not really - the show doesn't look bad exactly, but the show does kind of go into an extremely-detailed over-bright "are you aroused yet?" mode for those scenes...)
Otherwise pretty light slice of pie, er, life.
Yeah, this ep of Kancolle was plain forgettable. Though I did laugh at Shimakaze's boil-in-a-bag curry entry...
Posted by: Avatar at February 13, 2015 01:10 AM (ZeBdf)
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Mmmm, looking at that first picture of Mutsu... Nice Hull.
As for Curry, how about some Little Prince goes to New York Curry, it's supposed to be mild.
Posted by: Mauser at February 13, 2015 07:07 AM (TJ7ih)
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Best possible version of the Gendo pic, there. It's SO TRUE.
An episode where you're required to have meta knowledge to get half the jokes. Le sigh. Le double sigh.
Posted by: GreyDuck at February 14, 2015 01:27 AM (AQ0bN)
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Have there been any references to the Kaiten suicide torpedo? In game, the shipgirls request not to be equipped with them.
Posted by: muon at February 16, 2015 06:26 AM (XIprt)
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February 06, 2015
Kantai Collection Ep05
Another week, another episode of
Kantai Collection for our enjoyment! The important question, of course, is how can they top
Ep04's weirdness and Mutsu-service? Will we get the fabled episode of Mutsu doing nothing in particular? Will there be plot development? Or will there be silly? Come, my friends, let us venture forth into Episode 05!
What? A headquarters shot without Mutsu? Booooooooo! Undoubtedly she's outside, enjoying a pleasant walk along the harborside while kittens and unicorns frolic nearby. Oh, and Nagato has just told Torpedo Squadron Three that they're being dissolved immediately. To the acid baths with you! She goes on to say that they'll be reassigned to other fleets... oh. Wrong type of dissolve. I have to admit, this annoys me as he who doth scribe these writeups to no end... they're breaking The Fellowship! Frodo (F-for-Fubuki), Merry (M-for-Mutsuki) and Pippin (P-for-poi) will be no more. Now I might actually have to be creative, and nobody really wants that, do they? Nuh-uh, not if you're smart you don't.
The hobbits have one last moment together as they pack up their troubles in their old kitbags and smile, smile, smile. Frodo, as is her wont, is doing the whole "they're breaking up the fleet and its all my fault" thing, and Merry is being all "oh for the luvvapete, the Admiral is just reorganizing, you moistened bint," and Pippin is like "whatever, just get me out of here, you never liked me anyway." And she's got a point,
that "poi" thing got out of hand fast. Still, Fubuki is getting all sad and stuff until it's pointed out that she might be put into the same fleet as Akagi.
I cannot tell you the amount of inappropriate thoughts going through Frodo's head at this moment. Pippin has the right of it, however, when she says that Fubuki's kinda creepy. Lights out finds all three destroyers unable to sleep, and a walk along the wharf in the moonlight ensues. They turn out not to be alone.
The coven complete, they ritually sacrifice a light carrier and use her blood to draw arcane symbols upon the ground. Quiet chanting can be heard for throughout the base, drawing many fleetgirls to their windows in mixed consternation and horror. "Iä Hastur cf'ayak'vulgtmm, vugtlagln vulgtmm. Iä Hastur cf'ayak'vulgtmm, vugtlagln vulgtmm." The blood is mixed with two egg yolks, half a teaspoon of pepper, half a teaspoon of chopped green onion, some flour, then mixed with mashed potatoes. The resulting glob is divided, shaped into circles, dipped in beaten egg and rolled through sifted breadcrumbs, then fried in peanut oil until a golden brown. Makes up to 10 croquettes and summons Hastur, the Unspeakable One, Him Who Is Not To Be Named. As opposed to Fernando Alonso, HWMNBN.
As the moon turns red in the sky, yet reflects normal light, gasps of fear and the slamming shut of windows can be heard. And coming from somewhere unseen, the plaintive voice of a young child can be heard like a dirge: "Hey, mister... can I have my ball back?" As the surface of the water begins to roil and froth, we shall mercifully draw a veil over what occurs next between The Fellowship and Hastur, and skip ahead to...
more...
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Now *I* want to learn how to make a towelbunny!
Posted by: Mauser at February 07, 2015 06:07 AM (TJ7ih)
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*This* episode has you saying "this doesn't make sense", while *I* am saying, "this is more like what I expected." Weird.
I really liked this one. It was the first episode that didn't really have a single thing that took me out of the story, and as a whole it flowed nicely. I guess the one real complaint would be that they didn't show enough of the battle, but it's pretty clear that
Kantai Collection is meant to be about fleet construction and the personalities of the fleet girls.
Or at least it is in *this* episode. In the next episode I wouldn't be surprised if they establish a forward base that is later attacked by Abyssals that results in the loss of several not-appearing-in-this-anime battleships.
And this all goes back to the point I was making the other day: are the writers doing this on purpose, or is this just pure laziness? Nothing, from a writing perspective, has been brilliant, but they handled the unifying plot device as well as could be done.
Posted by: Ben at February 07, 2015 01:48 PM (DRaH+)
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The only part of the episode that didn't make sense was the fleet composition. Three high-value targets and two rare torpedo cruisers with more potential shipkilling ability than any dreadnought screened by a single destroyer? Bah.
Posted by: Wonderduck at February 07, 2015 08:43 PM (jGQR+)
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Yeah, but I don't expect them to get "screening" right in a show like this anyway...
Posted by: Avatar at February 07, 2015 08:59 PM (ZeBdf)
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Dude...
What did you do to that Merry in that screenshot?
Posted by: GreyDuck at February 07, 2015 10:27 PM (AQ0bN)
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...nothing. Nothing at all.
Why do you ask?
Posted by: Wonderduck at February 08, 2015 12:00 AM (jGQR+)
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I thought towel-animal-tying was a cruise ship thing. What's a military vessel doing tying them?
Posted by: Mikeski at February 08, 2015 02:40 AM (lO+tS)
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Maybe she learned it from Yamato? (grin, duck, run very fast)
Posted by: Avatar at February 08, 2015 05:23 AM (ZeBdf)
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Oooooh, clever deep knowledge reference from Avatar! I award him five geek cred points.
Posted by: Wonderduck at February 08, 2015 09:31 AM (jGQR+)
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Ia-ftaghn aside, I managed to both like and dislike this episode. There are plenty of funny bits and Frodo gets to actually be good at something for a change. On the flipside, her competence level (for that matter,
everybody's competence level) seems to be dictated by the need of the plot-like substance in the show. "We need her to be rescued, so have her fall down and freak out a lot. Okay, now we need everyone to respect her, so have her devise a workable strategy and convince these other crazy ships to go along with it."
Sort of how a particular sinking in a previous episode pretty much came down to, "She did good and professional work, then stood around futzing with her hair, so down she goes." Meh.
It's amusing enough to keep watching but I'll forget all about it once it's over, I suspect.
Posted by: GreyDuck at February 08, 2015 04:31 PM (AQ0bN)
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I have to return those geek cred points, as I heard it in the context of Kancolle. (So hey, maybe it is educational!)
Posted by: Avatar at February 08, 2015 09:09 PM (ZeBdf)
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January 31, 2015
Kantai Collection Ep04
It was
only a week ago that
Kantai Collection took a dark and unexpected turn, leaving us to wonder just how the rest of the series is going to go. Now we get to find out, and I'm thrilled to no end! Of course, I'm one of the few as more and more it appears that people are less than impressed with the show. Longtime reader Ben has
an interesting discussion about his dissatisfaction over at his place, based at least in part on an ongoing e-mail conversation he's having with me. He's given the show somewhat more thought than I have... this should come as no surprise to longtime readers of The Pond. Over-analysis is not my forte. Indeed, it would probably prove counterproductive to these writeups. That's not the case for all shows, of course.
High School of the Dead greatly encouraged deeply introspective thoughts, for example... mostly of the "Dear God, why doth thou torment me so" variety, it's true, but still. But enough of this jibber-jabber, let's get to the good stuff! And by "good stuff", I mean the anime. Provisionally.
Mutsuki is pulling Hachiko duty, waiting for her sister to come back from W Island. If I was feeling particularly cruel, at this point I'd link to a gif from
that episode of
Futurama. Yeah, you know the one. I am not, however, a cruel duck, no matter how people may portray me. Well, that and I started bawling like a little baby while I was looking for just the right gif to link to. I'm sure my neighbors upstairs think I'm a morose drunk, crying into my beer at 1:30 in the morning. No beer, no drunk, just Seymour.
The seasons change around her. Spring turns to Summer, which changes to Fall. The snows come in the Winter and the thaw indicates the return to Spring. Through it all, Mutsuki sits on the quay, waiting for her sister to come home. Through the passage of time, the base changes, the shipgirls stationed there change, Admirals come and go, but Mutsuki waits. One day, her eyes get heavy, she rests her chin on her knees, and she goes to sleep. And she meets her sister again.
...oh. Holy crap. I'm sorry.
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Posted by: Wonderduck at
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That "Kongou Desu" video... tried to break my brain, there. Whaaa.
The Kongos (
as it were) (did I ever send you that album? because I should) all voiced by the same actress? DUDE. I mean, sure, in a cast of dozens you've gotta save money somehow, but wowza.
I've not had breakfast yet, and now I'm craving scones. Daaamn youuuu! *shakes fist in air*
When Fubuki spends half the episode being the skeptical voice of (something resembling) reason, you know the show's wandered off into some weird territory.
Is it just me, or did the reunion on the pier have some... odd... animation of body movements going on? A certain amount of rhythmic action that almost, but doesn't quite, suggest something else is happening. I was tilting my head going, "wait, what?" a bit, there.
What an odd little show. I don't dislike it, but I'm definitely sticking with it mainly to see what bizarre shenanigans they get up to next at this point.
Posted by: GreyDuck at January 31, 2015 10:42 AM (AQ0bN)
Posted by: Wonderduck at January 31, 2015 11:28 AM (jGQR+)
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Yeah, I keep right on top of KanColle as soon as possible. Thanks for thinking of me, though
Posted by: DiGiKerot at January 31, 2015 12:31 PM (vrgFm)
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I liked this episode. It put the show's reality back firmly in fantasy, which is a much more comfortable location than somewhere between fantasy bizarre-alternate-reality. I got what I expected from the Kongo ships. Not what I would have done myself, but what I expected the writers to do. The voice acting is a real strength, although it looks like the animation budget is running out, fast. I stepped through some of the frames in the fight scene and it's ugly. Of course you would expect less budget after the first episode, but...maybe the dvd/blu-ray will clean things up.
If they kept the show firmly in the realm established in ep. 4, I think I would like it a lot more. I'm gonna have to rewatch 1 - 4 and try to make up my mind what's going on with the writing. 4 was pretty good, but 4 was also almost entirely written by the pre-existing dialogue in the game. The anime writers just took that, turned it up to 11 and ran. I'm still inclined toward lazy, but there is a nagging question of "how could they not be doing some of these things on purpose?"
Posted by: Ben at January 31, 2015 06:53 PM (S4UJw)
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January 23, 2015
Kantai Collection Ep03
Last week, we had a training montage. Fubuki The Clumsy needed to improve, and fast, before she got kicked out of the fleet. This was, of course, done, because it's not that sort of show, right? Also, a fight was brewing to boot... exciting times ahead! Heck, why wait? Let's get on with the show!
We begin this brand new episode with...
...a flashback to "a few days ago," aka "the end of last episode." Nagato has just informed the light cruisers of Torpedo Squadron Three that they and their destroyers will form the basis of the first offensive against the Abyssals. I'd just like to point out that this scene is just seiyuu Ayane Sakura having a four-way conversation with herself. She actually does the voices for eight of the shipgirls, and you'd better believe I'm looking forward to
that scene. Jump back to now, and it's time for the mission briefing...
...where Mutsuki discovers that her older sister Kisaragi will be in on the mission as well. Yay for family! Also, yay for delays in construction! Mutsuki is/was actually the name-ship for her class of destroyers, but Kisaragi was completed before her sister. Eh, stuff happens.
Cutest collection of warships ever! Good lord, they'll adorable the Abyssals to death. What we've got here is Torpedo Squadron Four, joining The Fellowship for this operation. Briefly, the plan is for The Fellowship to sneak in and attack W Island...
...shown here and please pay no attention whatsoever to the resemblance to
Wake Island. Merely coincidental, that. Anyway, The Fellowship is to sneak in and attack
Wake W Island at night, cause as much mayhem as they can and then withdraw, bringing the Abyssal ships known to be stationed there out after them. Then Torpedo Squadron Four will ambush the Abyssals, The Fellowship will turn around, and the massacre will be total and complete. There's no risk of being detected ahead of time, so all is right with the world. It'll be a piece of cake!
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"Which leads me back to what I asked in Ep01... if the big ships can
curbstomp so damn effectively, why not just send them out and avoid
losing smaller ships?"
What, that would be like having the Space Battleship Yamato firing the Wave Motion Gun right off the bat, rather than waiting until its fighters are all chewed up and the Third Bridge blown off.
Posted by: Mauser at January 23, 2015 02:45 AM (TJ7ih)
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I am the least aware person in the world when it comes to some things. Like, "death flags," I have never gotten a good feel for that.
This episode, though. I smacks you in the face with a ginormous death flag. "Holy shit death flag!" may have been heard throughout the household at one point last night.
I'm still not sure what to make of this show, but... I'm still watching.
Posted by: GreyDuck at January 23, 2015 08:42 AM (AQ0bN)
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I also noticed the death-flag go up, and assumed they were messing with us because it didn't seem like that kind of show,
To be honest I prefered episode 2, because it focused on the SoL bits.
I don't like the combat and I'm not quite sure why, possibly the weird juxtaposition of the
fleet of fog Abbysals and the shipgirls, and also the way the fights are depicted doesn't seem to make sense to me.
Posted by: Riktol at January 23, 2015 04:17 PM (zDlKl)
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Add me to the list of people surprised that they actually followed through with the blaring death flags. If they follow through on a generally accurate Midway...I start to wonder if it's going to be a downer* series where the shipgirls actually lose.
Though maybe they'll do something like inverting the sides for the Coral Sea-Midway section?
*sort of downer? I mean, in actual history I'm glad the IJN lost. And the closer to a documentary-with-shipgirls the series becomes, the more conflicted I get.
Posted by: ReallyBored at January 24, 2015 11:04 AM (n3V1X)
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If the fleet girls lose the war, there will be riots in Akihabara. Or at least online. I don't think there is any way that is the final outcome; what bothers me (one of the things) is that it looks like the creators of the anime want to tie the story at least loosely to World War II. Which means they're going to have to do a
First Blood: Part 2.
Posted by: Ben at January 24, 2015 12:59 PM (S4UJw)
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If the fleet girls lose the war, there won't be any Akihabara.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 24, 2015 08:40 PM (+rSRq)
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Man, that would be amazingly subversive. You'd... you'd have to... the sheer self-confidence that would take... holy moly. You'd out-Tomino Tomino!
I would be in awe.
Posted by: Avatar at January 25, 2015 12:31 AM (ZeBdf)
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January 17, 2015
Kantai Collection Ep02
After having been hiding from the weather for the past couple of weeks, I ventured forth into the frozen wastes of Northern Illinois this evening for a lovely dinner with The Librarian. I mention this for no other reason than to make an interesting bit of filler for this, the top paragraph of the Second Episode writeup for
Kantai Collection.
In the first episode, we met half of the entire Imperial Japanese Navy and none of you, my readers, seemed to notice that I used
the opening monologue from the movie Pacific Rim to describe the background the anime presented us with. That made me sad. I only had to change two words, to boot. Perhaps I'm not as clever as I thought I was. In any case, that was then. This is now, and I'm probably even less clever just from the ongoing march of time killing off brain cells. Hopefully not measurably so, but how would I know? I leave that as an exercise for the reader. Maybe one of you will tell me, but I can understand if you don't... after all, it might be more entertaining that way! "Hurr durr...
stupid hair girl stabs dead guy with pointed stick." And I've just gotten distracted fixing a youtube link at that episodic recap and now I've got the soundtrack of
Les Miserables going through my head and I'm going to give up for now and pick this up later. Okay, it's later now, let's get this show on the road! Raise anchor, all ahead flank speed. Damn the torpedoes!
It is not late, it is very early. The sun is not up. Nary a shipgirl is stirring. But yet, here is Our Heroine, Fubuki, out doing physical training. You've gotta put in the effort if you wanna be the best around. Nothing's gonna ever keep you down.
Except for having all the agility of a giraffe wearing ice skates, that is. That and not being able to hit the broad side of a barn from the inside might have something to say about it. Which would make for an interesting show, I've gotta say. Everybody else goes to war, while Our Heroine stays behind. She has to deal with being useless, particularly when the other ships come back damaged... or don't come back at all. She'd feel completely worthless. Then, as the Abyssals make one final push to smash the fleet, she'd be sent out, along with whatever shipgirls were left in desperation. Finally, she'd have her chance to make a difference... to be a hero! And then she falls over, takes a few crippling blows, and is forced to watch helplessly as her friends, her home, and her hopes are destroyed in front of her eyes.
The end.
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Actually, I DID catch the whole Pacific Rim riff. But what can I say about it?
I didn't get any groans posted about the "Ferry Godmother" pun, and you don't see me complaining about it.
Oh, wait.
Well, until now anyway.
Um, was that old lady in the show, or did you just whip that up? And what you would say to someone like that? Call her "Your Ladyship"?
Posted by: Mauser at January 17, 2015 03:51 AM (TJ7ih)
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I didn't get any groans posted about the "Ferry Godmother" pun, and you don't see me complaining about it.
I came very close to permabanning you for that. I'm not joking.
Posted by: Wonderduck at January 17, 2015 11:26 AM (jGQR+)
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Um, was that old lady in the show, or did you just whip that up?
Heh. Someone needs to watch the ARIA franchise.
Posted by: Wonderduck at January 17, 2015 11:27 AM (jGQR+)
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I would go with "something dramatic that loosely ties the real-world ships to their fantasy counterpart." Which would also explain some of my other (very minor) concerns with the show.
I have to admit I went the other direction from you in how I felt about the show: considering it's not particularly deep, I expected frequent action to make up for the lack of mental meat. Plus, I've always had a beef with the Japanese theme of gumption/intention/desire (not that it's unique to Japan) trumping reality. I can *almost* stretch my imagination to map strength exercises/stronger legs to upgrading the longitudinal strength and the balance exercises to adding ballast; but the imagery doesn't really jive with the fact that the actual fleet girl "equipment" is, at least to some extent, actual hardware. Of course, it's *magic* hardware...
Also, if they have
instant healing bath gel, that stuff better be so rare that's what the aliens are here for.
...
I guess it's time I finally watched
Pacific Rim.
Posted by: Ben at January 17, 2015 11:30 AM (DRaH+)
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I would go with "something dramatic that loosely ties the real-world
ships to their fantasy counterpart."
After I wrote this entry, I found someone suggesting the concept that shipgirls are like the Servants in the Fate/Stay Night universe, the spirits of heroic ships summoned and given form. I kinda like that.
Posted by: Wonderduck at January 17, 2015 12:46 PM (jGQR+)
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For the pun, or the comment above (which was totally meant to be taken humorously, not as an actual complaint)?
Posted by: Mauser at January 17, 2015 03:31 PM (TJ7ih)
Posted by: Wonderduck at January 17, 2015 03:41 PM (jGQR+)
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That stuff -is- rare. You have to summon it with real yen, IIRC...
Episode was better than the first one, in the sense that it showed that the writers know they need to characterize the girls and not just have them show up and spit out their one line from the game before blowing something up. (To the point that they were willing to have someone get upset at the constant "poi", though -I- couldn't get away with threatening to pound her into poi with my eight-inchers...)
In the game, there's definitely the concept of "getting dismantled", though there it's "dismantle the copy of the card you found and get resources" rather than "get rid of the girl permanently", so they may or may not include the concept in the show. At least one of the official mangas (I gather there are a few) has, at one point, an admiral directly threaten to do just that to a couple of the ships that won't stop fighting and screwing things up. It's a much more sinister concept if each of the girls is actually, y'know, a unique person...
Presumably there simply aren't any "old" ship girls simply because they didn't have any at all before the Abyssals showed up.
Will they end up sinking anyone, especially any one on screen? Damned good question. There's a lot of speculation about exactly what the Abyssal's ship girls are - are they just "we created them because the ship girl thing was working for the enemy", kind of Arpeggio-style though hopefully with less derp? Or are they, well... salvage, which opens up all kind of deliciously grim plot possibilities? (An even grimmer alternative is that they could be... the traditional enemy force of the IJN, which has remained completely un-referenced despite the frickin' Bismark showing up in the game?)
Posted by: Avatar at January 17, 2015 03:47 PM (ZeBdf)
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Presumably there simply aren't any "old" ship girls simply because they didn't have any at all before the Abyssals showed up.
You just hush. I
like the image of the
Mikasa being an elderly shipgranny.
Posted by: Wonderduck at January 17, 2015 04:21 PM (jGQR+)
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I didn't comment on the Pacific Rim riff because I thought it was too obvious to warrant mention.
Also, I need to re-watch Pacific Rim. It's been a few months.
The show: It does get tiring, the whole "well they're useless but at least they've got HEART" routine. Here, though, our erstwhile heroine has heart AND a near-Wonderduck-level knowledge of arms and armament. She's not useless, just clumsy... which is still an exhausting trope but slightly more tolerable (to me) than the reverse, which is the "great physical prowess but dumb as a post" version.
The Admiral's-POV bit was a bit odd. Supposed to be the 'player' insert/avatar, I guess? Still jarring in an anime adaptation.
Ah well. I'm still on board. (As it were.) It's fluffy fun and hasn't broken my brain. Yet.
Posted by: GreyDuck at January 17, 2015 05:15 PM (AQ0bN)
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My take: remember that this is a culture where the dominant religion is animist. The ships have souls, and get reincarnated (as girls) when they are sunk. Since most of the Japanese Navy was destroyed in a short interval (just 4 years) and the ones we're watching were nearly all early war casualties, then they were all reborn in a period of about 2 years, which is why all of them are nearly the same age now, with "now" being read as 1958, which makes them all teenagers.
The idea of ships having souls is not unique here; there was an episode of Kamichu! about the soul of Yamato.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 17, 2015 05:18 PM (+rSRq)
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I'm not sure I agree with your age/date plan, Steven. For example, the sink dates are split quite evenly between 1942 and 1944-1945 for the
most important characters.
Also the ages... if you're making their birthday when they were commissioned, the
Akagi was commissioned in 1927. Wouldn't that make her 31 in your scheme? Nagato would be 38. And
Kongo would be 45, with her commissioning date of 1913. Oi and Kitakami would be 37. And Frodo, our lead character, would be 31.
If you're saying their clock starts when they were sunk, that would make Frodo four years older than Nagato, 16 to 12. I don't think that flies either.
If you're saying that they're like racehorses and all have the same birthday sometime in 1941, that would work, but then you'd have ships aging before they were put in the water for the first time (
Shimakaze).
I'm fine with the idea of ships having souls being reincarnated, though I'm liking the "Heroic Spirits" concept more and more.
Posted by: Wonderduck at January 17, 2015 11:45 PM (jGQR+)
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I think the girls' ages are derived from their personalities, and the personalities are derived from the ship type, design peculiarities, and maybe battle record. There seems to be a dose of classism thrown in as well; "more important" ships will *obviously* be older and experienced, or just naturally talented. On the other hand, some of the destroyers are actually depicted as younger girls. Although I'm pretty sure in the game these fleet girls were later additions, I thought I saw a few of them in the anime.
I second The Admiral's nodding being a bit jarring. I don't like it when a game or show tells me what I said or did. Maybe that's why I can't get into visual novels.
Posted by: Ben at January 18, 2015 09:37 AM (ksPsw)
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