Kantai Collection: KanColle – 02 – 04
Hooray for baths!
It’s aboat time I talked about Kantai Collection aka Waifu Collection as we call it on Metanorn! I love this series because it has been a lot of fun and to my surprise I think it has done a great job of showing everyone watching that it can do a wide variety of themes from dramatic, comical and even some serious things or has that ship sailed long ago for you? I kind of feel after episode one people already wrote it off as a try hard clone of Arpeggio of blue steel without making it past the first episode, anyway let’s dive right into the fun with these three episodes.
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More than Moe Battleships
Time to get in ship shape~
I don’t know how people truly feel about following the weekly adventures of Fubuki especially after seeing her slow down her team in the first episode, but episode two showed her training and giving it her all even though Sendai, Jintsuu and Naka seemed to be pulling her in different directions to help her train which ill admit had me laughing my ass off! Like when Naka had the bright idea of using “idol power” to help Fubiki get stronger? Yeah that was a bit crazy; however the true purpose of that episode was to show everyone that sure Fubuki might be a screw up with little to no combat experience but she has what it takes if she trains hard and learns a bit from the other girls. For the most part I think they have done a surprising job of showing us her progression instead of using anime magic to say that she magically leveled up in one week and now she is a hotshot battleship or do we want that to happen? I know for most of us these kinds of characters appear in just about every season, but over time they slowly become stronger with each passing episode much like Kaneki of Tokyo Ghoul or Shinchi of Parasyte! I know those are kind of random comparisons but hey it works! So what do you feel about Fubuki has she grown since episode one in your eyes or does she still have a long way to go?
Serious Ship Stuff
Rest in piece Kisaragi.
Now to discuss episode three which I can guess either left you shocked and surprised or maybe it had a different effect on you thanks to having that stupid death-flag being practically shoved in our faces because Mutsuki kept hinting about it throughout the episode. Personally it came off as a bit shocking when Kisaragi was killed off or sunk if you want to keep it battleship related, but again the fact that Mutsuki kept on commenting every few minutes about how much she loved Kisaragi gave away that SOMETHING bad was going to happen! Also I discovered a fun little fact on the MAL forums about the third episode that the creators of Kancolle actually worked in the real world history of the sinking of the Kisaragi and W island or Wake Island.
Kisaragi was sailing away from the engagement when it came under air attack by four F4F Wildcat fighter planes from Wake armed with 100-pound bombs. One Wildcat, piloted by Henry “Hammering Hank” Elrod, dropped his bombs on Kisaragi’s stern, which was packed with depth charges.
So yeah I guess if you know your war history you probably already know which girl won’t survive! I know I am a total noob when it comes to real world history, but maybe we can learn things together? Sadly I don’t think anyone will really care all that much about Kisaragi’s passing since we barely got to know her or were you still sad? I know I was because of how Mutsuki talked about her and that poor girl was kept in the dark for a bit until episode four which finally gave her some closure for now. I have a sneaky feeling that we haven’t seen the last of Kisaragi because I bet she will turn into one of the Abyssal fleet girls or is that way too dark for this series? I seriously wouldn’t put it past Kancolle to do something like that for a OH MY GOD reveal later! Anyway I hope we get some kind of reveal about the true origins of the Abyssal Fleet.
Comical Gold
Kongou was such a goofball.
While those two episodes focused on Fubuki’s progression and truth that these fleet girls can be sunk in battle I will say episode four shifted into high gear comedy levels thanks to the crazy Kirishima, Haruna, Hiei and Kongou even though I think we can all agree that Kongou stole the episode along with my personal favorite Shimakaze who was just being super cute. I guess it also helps that Kongou and her sisters all are voiced by Nao Touyama who always does her best Japanese-engrish mash up with just about every other character she plays or did she come off as being generally annoying? I suppose that is a simple matter of liking the voice actress and not the character? Anyway that whole episode had me laughing so damn much! I just loved how CRAZY the four sisters were as a team and with the silly side mission of finding Shimakaze was very entertaining to watch! I kind of hope Shimakaze will be more involved in future episodes, but I know the goal right now is to have Fubiki go on random missions which forces her to spend time with all of the characters.
Extra Battleships
Atago is certainly magical.
Just how I love my baths cheesy.
Seriously ill fight you irl.
Shimakaze is love <3
End thoughts
So for those of us still willing to give this series a watch are you enjoying it as much as me or did you already drop it? I certainly hope you at least gave it three episodes to hook you, but I totally understand if it wasn’t for you. I know I was going to watch the whole thing regardless because I was always curious as to how Kancolle would do as an anime series and so far I LOVE it! Because it has just about everything I want in my anime from those super goofy moments to the OH MY GOD that hit me in the feels and yes even those WTF bits like having magical green bath water that instantly “repairs” the fleet girls? Yeah ill admit those parts have me going WHAT? Also did anyone else notice that there are several voice actors playing multiple girls? Yeah some of them like Ayane Sakura are voicing eight characters or Nao Touyama with six and I have to hand it to them for doing their best to change the voices of each character! That is some impressive skills, so what did you like about these three episodes? I guess we can only hope for smooth sailing on the rest of Kancolle this season!
Sea ya later!
About Foshizzel
Is huge anime fan from Florida! who loves to watch anime and also enjoys drawing and collecting pictures, my favorite genre of anime has to be Mecha, there is just something awesome about giant robots beating the crap out of each other! Other than that type of show, I love a good comedy or action series :D
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I like KanColle, but it keeps doing things to limit how much I like it. It didn’t just put up a death flag for Kisaragi, it brought out the whole Death Color Guard. And then to have her die because she’s worried the wind will blow her hair around? That was pretty awful.
I liked Fubuki’s Montage Power Up. It was done about as well as those things can be. And I liked the “Let’s give her a shot, she’s got the right attitude” part.
I think the show’s trying too hard to get a mission or action in every episode. It ends up trivializing the missions to a certain extent, and it also shortchanges the character development back at the school. All the mission are “girls go out, shoot a bit, and good guys win”. Usually when the overpowered crew shows up, either the Kongou-crew or the Akagi carriers.
I think they’re hurting the show a little bit by switching between Key Animation and CG. It’s just jarring enough on the difference to be distracting. That was one thing that I thought Arpeggio of Blue Steel used to its advantage: the consistent look. I really don’t think the shows are that similar, although I do find myself comparing personalities. We’ll see if it can improve a few things especially with the storytelling.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
True I feel that the death of Kisaragi wasn’t all that powerful thanks to her flag being triggered fast, but at least there are serious consequences to the battle moments because most people felt there was no real “danger” since the girls appear to be having fun during the battle moments.
Yeah Fubuki has to work a bit harder than the others cause shes a noob and I like that instead of going the SAO route where shes godly and talented already.
Well it is a battle ship anime what else do you expect them to do? Ignore the Abyssal fleet and sit around being silly? With any “war” themed anime you have the fight of the week formula because that is the theme of the series so I fail to see that as a complaint or issue, but yeah the other girls always rush in to save Fubuki which is lame ill agree; however I take it as she is learning from the other girls every week.
The CGI vs 2D thing is always the hot debate and I mean just look at Shirobaku they gave us a really great view of why studios would rather use CG scenes than using hand drawn animation.
Personally I don’t think Arpeggio or any full blown CGI anime is anywhere near Pixar or Disney levels, but I guess that is more of a taste of preference and what we rather have! Yeah I know Arpeggio apparently is the “gold” standard of measuring full blown CGI anime because it was generally liked by everyone and to be honest it is a little unfair to compare the two when Kancolle is barely five or six episodes in.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, I might argue that Pixar / Disney has painted the CG movie industry into a corner with their “PixarBlob” art styles. I think the CG in shows like Karen Senki and Arpeggio, and even in Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is doing far more to advance the creative expression of animation in different directions than Pixar has in a decade.
The issue I’m having with KanColle’s CG parts is that the quality of the facial animation visibly drops, and it’s just a bit jarring. I don’t really think that Arpeggio’s was better in an absolute ranking, but because it was so consistent it didn’t break your suspension of disbelief during the show.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I will agree that Pixar and Disney movies have a certain look to them like Big Hero Six looks a lot like their past projects.
I don’t think full CGI is great at the 2D expressions because most of the time it comes off as derpy looking which was one of my issues with Arpeggio, Karen and Sidonia.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Speaking of Knights of Sidonia, its second season is set for Spring 2015.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yep the second half!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
This is something I very much agree on. In these middle days of anime CGI they’ve done quite a bit more in giving the design much more character and individual flair. I can’t even watch the PixarBlobs any longer.
Is it a question of quality in the facial animation, or is it not enough time to match the hand drawn feel…I agree it’s jarring, but I can usually settle down and enjoy it after a few moments….unless it gets more jarring…
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 261 comments
I must admit, I Begin to impress on this one, even though anthropomorphism is not in my taste, I’am kinda bit in touch with it…the first two episodes maybe kinda bit rough, but as Episode 3 it gives some audience some attention, hmmm…i was thinking, Historical Reference perhaps…we’ll
Let’s see i may never know them but…Kongou huh…Despite she is an Half-British and had a (ahem) Engrish Humor, she had a ability to do this, Yup, i see better than that alright.
Second is this One (Left)…I Was Thinking, is she a Half-Russian or something, she always saying like “Khorosho” or something, at least i want to hear some thing like “bhosha moi” or something
Thirdly is this…Hmmm, She is kinda rare in this show, but Hey Not bad for her skills and her…weapons there, huh
And Lastly…Well, that’s one poor destroyer I hope she enjoy the stay to Davey Jones Locker LOL!…OOPS! I really Agress for that…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Not that you were wrong to link them, but I just want to warn folks about the links being to Sankaku Complex. Those images may be SFW, but your work content filter may not like that site at all…
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yeah episode three was really good at showing us some serious stuff and I liked that shift in tone.
RIP links 404 T___T
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
If you want to link, just dl the images and put them up on imgur or something.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
After what Jack Sparrow went through in Pirates of the Caribbean, I doubt she’ll enjoy the Locker.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 261 comments
GASP…UGH…Silly ME! OK! I apologies for the wrong links there, (even the link is not down) I Promise i gonna do a proper one…
Show ▼
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
So far, so good. KanColle is doing an acceptable job by keeping things intriguing. Though my interest in seeing the interaction and growing friendships between the cast is about two notches higher than the naval battles which continue to give a whiplash from going back and forth between standard animation and CG. It’s like a notice is set. The minute a mission/battle gets mentioned, expect a majority of CG with a few cracks of standard when the girls are communicating.
As Highway pointed out, I’m not into the idea of unnecessarily forcing a battle into every episode. It’s not like Ben-To for example which I have to admit did well. The way they do it is already out there. The end result will just make it all look like a desperate attempt to get attention. If there was another means drawing people’s eyes, that would be put to good use.
I couldn’t help but pity Fubuki
and stifle a few laughsas the image of the people she idolized shattered to pieces. All that tension at the thought of fighting beside wasted. Some say this is why one should never meet their heroes. You risk disappointment.POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I liked the image-shattering. People are people (even if they’re the souls of ships). Now, some are a bit silly, like Kongou. And others are even better than you imagined, like Akagi.
One annoyance I had with CR’s subs for this: “Bucky” is not pronounced the same as “Buki”. I wish they’d used the latter spelling, instead of the former, for Kongou’s pet name for Fubuki.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Among other things, KanColle really seems to be trying to compete with or copy Arpeggio of Blue Steel. First and foremost, the premise of an enemy from the sea that’s driven humanity into a corner. The enemy is called the “Abyssal Fleet” as opposed to the “Fleet of Fog”. Now there are these used names: Kongou, Kirishima and one of girls was called Takao during one of the episodes.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
The names are all going to be the same between the two, because they’re referencing historic ships of the Japanese navy. That’s not one universe copying the other one in either direction. And the Japanese have referenced their WW2 navy in other things as well: Space Battleship Yamato, Strike Witches, probably a lot of other stuff.
Remember that both anime come from something else in the first place, a manga in the case of Arpeggio of Blue Steel, and a mobile game for KanColle. And the name ships are on different sides (good guys / initially bad guys). I think it’s just two things that have similar concepts, not really one trying to compete with the other any more than anime usually compete with each other.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Well what else would you call them? I think any name they use will be be OH CLONES OF ARPEGGIO’s enemy types and yeah since they are battleships of course they are going to be using similar names.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I didn’t know the girls were being referenced after historic Japanese ships. The whole time, I was under the impression they were all randomly given names. After Highway brought that up, I let go of that concern immediately.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
No problem! I tend to jump on the Kancolle Wiki to learn some backstory info on the different girls that I am interested in and I am thankful they have the spoilers blocked.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
LOL really? Bucky vs Buki? I fail to see that as an issue but I am not really picky on subs all that much xD
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The pickiness may surface if you, say, read a manga then there’s adaptation but the subs aren’t spelling out the names right.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I suppose but I just see it as one letter difference its not that big a deal to me and I rarely see that with manga to anime they tend to get it right.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Sometimes if not the names of the characters, it’s the names of the locations that get jumbled up. In the parts of Strike the Blood that introduced the princess La Folia Rihavein, for about three episodes or so, her home nation was spelled “Aldegyr” then later on, it became “Aldigia”.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I barely remember the names of meh the blood cause I only cared about a handful of characters in that, but I guess I can see that as a problem.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Heh, ‘meh the blood’. That’s more characters than I cared about in that show (the number rhymes with “hero”). I do think it’s a little different when you’re talking about the retranslation of loan words. That is almost always fraught with peril. “They said what? Kihoruda? What does that mean? Ohhhh, Key Holder…”
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
OMG I wanted to vault my head into the screen over “Bucky”….it’s just such an obvious miss…
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
-facepalm-
I guess my mind is like well its a nickname so it doesn’t matter to me because I know her name already so a sub error is no big deal LOL
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
It’s more just a bad localization. It’s just that the mismatch between hearing “Buki” and seeing “Bucky” is one of those hard things to get over. Especially cause they could have just typed Buki, and had to make the localization decision the wrong way.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Well, I didn’t quite get it the first time it was said, just a “huh, Bucky?”. Then the second time it dawned on me and I was like, double mad. For scripting they could have gone with “‘buki”, giving a clear meaning…
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Funimation does suck hard at subbing xD
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Nah, this is on CR. I don’t know if they borrow scripts or something, but I’m not going to blame Funi for it.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Unnecessary walls of text!!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
but isn’t it just a nickname that Kongou used? I mean we all know “bucky” isn’t her real name though so why is it really an issue? Like from episode one we clearly know its Fubuki…
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I don’t mind the shift from 2D to CGI because I am somewhat used to it and lets be real has there ever been a GREAT CGI anime series with mind-blowing animation? Not since Advent Children imo! I mean people seem to expect Disney or Pixar levels of CG when clearly we all know that some anime studios just don’t have that kind of budget.
Again they are battle ships soooooo of course they gotta have the fight of the week its like complaining that Aldnoah.Zero has a mecha fight every week? Kancolle is moe and comical, but in the end its a war themed anime so fights and missions are going to happen otherwise why even make a Kancolle anime? The game is based on battles as well…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hmmm, I say there’s still much left to be done. Yeah, she’s exercising and waking up early to gain a little stamina but it doesn’t look or feel she’s pushing herself hard enough. This is going to be a far cry of a comparison but Fubuki isn’t going through an intense training regimen like Sakura Hagiwara from Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai! There had some undeniable results of training.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Id rather see Fubuki training vs having her as a copy of Kirito aka GODLY at everything right off the bat so I like this change and she is being forced to go on missions with other teams to see how battles are fought.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The latter doesn’t suit someone of her personality at all. The series is putting Fubuki as the kind of girl that has to work for what she wants. It’s as they say: “Experience is the great teacher”.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Right what better way to teach someone by throwing them into the fire? Yeah it is dangerous but the other more powerful girls are there to help her out even though it comes off as Fubuki needing to be saved all the time lol.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
At least it isn’t the kind of teaching Rito (a.k.a Bun-Bun) from Absolute Duo gave during one of the academy’s exams.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Lol yeah her method is IMMA KILL YOU to motivate her students…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Hey, no need to take roll for a dead student. It saves sooooo much time, and makes the day much more efficient!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Another thing that kind of takes me out of the show is that the missions don’t really make much sense. The only reason that the mission from episode 4 was put together the way it was is because “We need more screen time for Shimakaze, and we need to get the Kongou-tachi crew in the show.” And you have to pick Fubuki because otherwise the show doesn’t have an excuse to follow the mission. Just really transparently done, in a bad way.
Strategically and tactically, the show is a big mess. I know the focus is supposed to be on the characters, but it’s one of those things that you could get completely right, and not spend a lot of time on, or you can just half-ass. They’ve pretty much half-assed it.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Fubuki is the main character soooooo she is going to be pushed into every mission and they already made it a point to say that she is “special” so I don’t think it was a push to give Shimakaze more screen time I took it more like they have to show off the other teams and their members.
I think they are doing a great job balancing the funny, serious and emotional parts quite nicely! It feels like were watching two completely different series LOL
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, when I say strategically and tactically, I mean the battle parts: their planning (strategy) and their fighting (tactics). And I’d disagree a little about the balancing. Yeah, they’re making them all be equal, but I think they’re chopping it up too much, so we don’t get the time to get both better character development and better fighting the way you could with a more long-form segment on each one.
They could have even gone with more like Girls und Panzer, where they had battle action in just about every episode, but tied it together across episodes, so they could spend more than 2/3 of an episode on characters, then 1/3 + 1/2 of the next episode on a longer fight. KanColle is holding to keeping the missions finish in the same show, which necessarily limits their complexity and interest as battles.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yeah I guess the battle plan is pretty much “rush the enemy and shoot the hell out of them” and who knows maybe the other teams spend more time planing missions vs the norm rush in and shoot things route.
Well I fully expect them to include episodes where they are at the school or going on a trip or goofy beach stuff later on, but again since they are at war I think they will spend more time in battles than goofing off.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
…I won’t judge badly for more Shimazake screen time…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I think the only real personal complaint I can lodge against the show is: Why is Shimakaze stuck in supporting character? No offense to “Buki”, but she is the flagship I wanted!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I think it might be the fact that Shimakaze is so popular? I know from fanart she was the first one I found and that got me curious about Kancolle, but I completely agree she is far more interesting than Bucky~
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Be careful wishing for more Shimakaze. She’s got “Supporting Character-itis” written all over her. The best thing they can do is keep her and her schtick toned down so you all want more.
Fubuki’s a great main character from a storytelling point of view. You can do so much more with her than you could with Shimakaze or Akagi or any of the others.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I’ll amend. Make her a bit less supporting character. She’s pretty much akin to “censor steam” at this point. You’re asking….why you even here?
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Judging from her first real participation I don’t think she can carry the series because of her personalty type being the scatterbrained not being serious about anything mentality until food is involved.
Fubuki works yeah I mean she might be kinda dull to most of us, but I suppose it is her story.