Haifuri: High School Fleet – 02
What are you waiting for!? Got it? Aim and Fire!!!!!!
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…It looks like things might get a bit worse before they get any better for the good ship Harekaze… |
The Maiden Voyage
Old shrine, new airship
I love how they split the scenes up here. It gives us a great deal of scope; the world looks and feels big and so does the sweep of the action, even when it’s all still. We start with the school principal learning that her “leftover ship” has muntined, and cannot quite come to grips with that. Now they aren’t coming out and saying who the principal is but just a glance reveals that she is pretty much Unlucky Shiro Munetani’s mother. But still, great way to mix up scenes and show how these characters become or are isolated. The principal by information, the crew by the sea, and then Masahiro herself in her belief in her own misfortune.
What a mother is all about…
Also , the third of those scenes give us just a tiny bit of world-building, especially concerning the Munetani family. Now much like Strike Witches or GuP (not that much of a surprise, given the show’s – talked about last episode – authorial pedigree) Haifuri looks to take place in an alternate universe; but as we discussed last episode, one that is still largely contemporaneous.
What a Blue Mermaid is all about…
Now a great many of the big changes are still being withheld (and I say kudos to that), but one that we are made aware of is the the Blue Mermaids are meant to be a peace-keeping force that evolved from a practice dating back to this world’s version of the Russo-Japanese War; that practice being that women on ocean going vessels would act as a symbolic peace-keepers.
Not a bad conceit for a alt-universe (and this is fiction, so let’s keep any assumptions about real world geopolitics on the low volume, OK?). If we go with that and our history still tracks to this show’s one on a few points, then Japan’s transition to a maritime force is pretty intact. I also like how the conversation took place at Suwa Shrine near Nagasaki; that reminds this history buff of near where Portuguese landed – which in this alt may or may not have happened?
The Balance of Fortune
Unlucky and Lucky
Now a great deal of the rest of the episode was spent building on the what we have come to know of the crew. Now while we do get some choice tidbits about how battle prepared they are, and that rather intense engagement did test their mettle, with this type of show you need something a touch more laid back to get all the dimensions of the character. It was a nice touch do display this with some pretty keen direction to connect girls to their roles to their places on the ships.
Also, they did sneak in some plot while all this character stuff was going on. One) The bridge crew came to the conclusion that the school (separate from the military?) won’t make any contact with them until they investigate; and it’s already a given that the principal has a daughter on board, that will make things interesting to say the least 2) they will not attempt to use modern telecommunications to contact anyone, even on the ship, as that is a dead giveaway 3) the only way to travel by air is via airships? there are no planes?
…this writer is up for comments about this…
But for the bulk of this episode, it’s the action that sells it, and sells it very well. I was pretty much on the seat’s edge and cheering the girls on. I love some of the little details, that just added so much to the fast pace. The name Admiral Spee. How much Bridge Secretary Kouko spouts her theories and knowledge. There was how quickly they came up with a decent and workable plan based on their areas. There was both the captain and co-captain officially unlocking the live ammo (reminding us they’re accused of mutiny and they only used a training-dummy torpedo). And I especially love how Chief Navigator Rin performed admirably under pressure; with her co-captain breathing down her neck every step – chill Mashiro!
You have to earn that blonde…
But most of all I like how Akeno felt she needed to leave the ship, doing what all great fictional captains do, and the real life ones just don’t. Which is to rescue a cute girl….
The Secret is Blueberry Jam
I didn’t catch the cat paw carrots until just now…
It’s Friday! Must be curry night then. That’s another detail from naval life. You have set meals each day of the week to remind you what day it is; life on the sea can get monotonous I guess. That’s also a legacy from our history’s Japanese navy, as they adopted a form of Indian curry tailored to British tastes, complete with plenty of meat and potatoes to combat generations of vegetarian isolation. Cooks would take pride in modifying the recipe for a specific ship. For our girls, blueberry jam is such a precious little detail it made my heart swell.
R&R
It’s just the recipe for after a daring rescue and beating of the Admiral Spee. They even used meal time to remind the audience that some people are still on duty and this kari kari isn’t so fuwa fuwa after all. So along with a hefty dose of fanservice, that rounds out this show’s experience very well doesn’t it? But all is not comfy and cozy just yet. They have no idea who they’ve brought on board. She could have a half dozen crazy reasons for abandoning her ship; doesn’t mean she’s an ally.
Also, this show cannot resist that tight close up of a ship’s bow and it’s captain’s face along with very limited information to make a cliffhanger, can it? What’s happening in the Asuncion Islands, so far from home and can the Harekaze make it? Despite it being personal, can they afford not to?
Moeka doesn’t want to says it’s….
Admiral’s Extras
I got more pics for ya!!!
Yep, there was quite a bunch to cover for this episode, so I’ll just cut the final thoughts short. I’m seriously loving this show. It’s great when they can subvert expectations and give me much more than I thought I would get going in. There is just enough information to tantalize and tempt theories, and just enough comfy to make it all easier to absorb.
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 261 comments
I wonder that ship (admiral spee) had been taken by Pirates (Unconfirmed Name) Causing A Foreign Blonde lady can escape and seek help…
And as for musashi or Asuncion island, I fear that the harekaze team will face a trap, to either sides…but who knows!
Also…Um, Curry, You mean Seafood Curry? Why Not!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well, a pirate take-over would be possible, or at least in the realm of interesting ideas worth exploring. I’m a bit curious why one good shot turned the old Admiral away so quick…
I’m suspecting a trap myself, as both sets of cliffhangers seems to suggest a rope tightening…
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I’m honestly wondering how long these girls will be able to keep going? I don’t think they would have a lot of supplies considering their excursion wasn’t supposed to be for more than a few weeks I think. Also, as much as I love girl power, these girls are all basically high school freshman who are just starting out. Excuse me if I express my doubt that they’ll be able to handle all the dangers that a battleship can present for a long period of time, while running from people who actively want to kill them.
Can you make a flying ship or even a plane without using hydrogen or helium? How this world never accomplished air travel other than by dirgible, I’ll never know. But actually, the answer is “no”. There is no fuel I know that does not have some form of hydrogen in it, in which you can get a plane or ship to fly. Even electricity, would have protons involved somewhere, and those are basically hydrogen as well.
I’m not sure if it’s sexist to think that simply because a woman is a commander is the commander of a ship that that somehow means that the ship is going to be meant for peace. I won’t make a fuss, since I’m not sure if that’s what they meant, but that statement about the history of the Blue Mermaids did come at me as being a bit archaic.
As far as what’s going on, first the instructor and now this German ship and Moeka? I’m honestly not sure what’s going on and why everyone is going war crazy on some high schoolers. Is it a plot to instigate war? Is it some kind of mental disease? Is it zombies?!
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well as for the daily activities and what they have to accomplish. I just take it as written that they can. If that doesn’t work, then recite the MST3K Mantra until user appropriate levels of relaxation are realized.
I would have thought that someone would have had gliders by now. Now I can think of a story-purpose behind no airplanes; along with why they just don’t come out and say it. If you have a story about tension on the seas, relatively faster ways of travel, such as air-travel can just kill the tension, or has the potential to. “Why don’t they just fly out there and X the Y?” is a question that doesn’t need to come up.
Blue Mermaids RE: Sexist. Answer: Very Yes. A bit of a subversion: More than likely. Why did Munetani-san retire to teaching? She looked reluctant….
As for the general plot? Like Namaewoinai brought up. Very organized pirates?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think you’re worrying a bit overmuch about a ship that flies. It was a weird line from a really weird character who acts out her weird internal conversations. I’d guess that they actually do have airplanes, but having an airplane doesn’t really do anyone any good at the moment. I took it as she wants to just be out of the situation with everyone, back at the school.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…man, i think Kouko’s weirdness is going to bite everyone on the ass sooner rather than later. Everything she says is going to turn out to be true or true enough. She’s going to will an airplane into existence!!!! Unless the character is acting like a double bluff, or a vent for the audience, saying what most will think in such an odd way that it can be put out there and then worked around to keep the plot moving.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
I cheer for the cat! Banzai! Tora! Tora! Tora!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
My guess is that the plot is still going to be some faction of the school is trying to take over and using the losers on Harekaze as the fulcrum of their plot, whether it’s because they’re convenient scapegoats or because Shiro is on the ship. Maybe it’s even a petty revenge plot on the part of their instructor who thought she should be principal instead of Munetani.
Personally I’m leaning toward Moeka’s SOS call as the bait in a trap.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I can see the SOS as the bait, for sure. But I kinda take the rest of what you have here only half way. The why of it going to be the most important part. How this plot gets hatched will get attention. The why will tell us if the attention paid was worth it.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I’m down for a world where only lighter-than-air ships ply the skies. In fact, the next “high school girls do military stuff” anime should have them operating a dirigible. Set it in a world equivalent to pre-WWI in ours and send them flying over darkest Africa, Central Asia or the Amazon region, all little known areas to the wider world at the time, for some reason. Then they could stumble upon a mythic Lost Civilization.
I don’t know if the SOS is a trap or not. It is if things must get darker before they get lighter, but if it’s time for the Harekaze crew to start getting clues as to what is going on it probably isn’t.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I would very much love to see a Lost World narrative update to modern times; something that doesn’t carry the connotations of colonialism with it. So maybe a version of Dirigible Girls would be that thing!
I still feel things are going to proceed as they’ve set the pace at least til next episode. A bit of set-up, some tension and build up, some combat, etc….But still things will get worse before they get better…
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I think I prefer Airship Girls as the title although Dirigible Girls is also good. The Japanese would probably give it a title like Airship Girls–Fly!!
Well, let’s see what the plot could be. As part of their training they have to make an around-the-world flight and a storm comes up that blows them off course and damages their airship so they have to land in an unexplored area and it goes from there. Maybe it’s an around-the-world race.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Airship Girls makes much more sense, but dirigible is hardly brought up these days, so I should use before we lose it, right?
Hmm, I’d like this show to be seen in the distant, distant…………….distant past; like let’s see if we can come up with some good sci-fi reasons why super-technology exists in it’s, let’s say, Pre-Ice Age era, yet we don’t see any evidence of it today…yet.
In other words, what would a Lost World look like to (from our vantage point) a Lost World…?
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I don’t think it’d have to be set in the distant, distant past to introduce a Lost World. It’s fantasy anyway. So in the Amazon or Congo you could have dinosaurs or in Siberia mammoths and saber-toothed cats. Heck, they’ve recently discovered that in northern Siberia or an island off it mammoths were still around thousands of years later than they previously thought. Or you could have central Antarctica consist of a huge and highly volcanic valley isolated by the miles and miles of surrounding ice. Then you could throw in anything you wanted.
A steampunk vibe is what you’d need–no gas stations in the unexplored regions for refueling, but wood could be found to feed the boiler(s) that drive the engine(s). Then by upping the pace of airship development the story could be set in the rough equivalent of the 1870s or 1880s for most technology with airships being recent developments to explain why much of the world is still unexplored by the civilized nations.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
It’s got to be the Antarctic valley. Which due to its volcanic nature has onsen. Oh, the fanservice practically writes itself!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I came up with a steampunk style airship adventure that I never quite got up and running. It’s divergent point was getting the aeolipile up and running as a going concern, and tech changes from there.
I even had a curse developed from that “Wind’s BAllS!”
Probably not going to have the Dirigible Girls say that, eh?
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
The main problem with the aeolipile, and to a lesser extent any steam propulsion system, is the large amount of water required and the fuel required to heat the water into steam. Probably a deal breaker for an airship. I know I suggested that originally, but I’ve reconsidered. An internal combustion engine using alcohol for fuel is better. Our heroines could have a small distillation system as part of their onboard emergency equipment to make wood alcohol, but it’s a lengthy process since they can only make a small amount at a time. Which leaves them stuck in the Lost World until they make enough fuel to fly out.
So why the equivalent of high school girls crewing an airship? Simple–an airship’s lift capacity is limited with most of it taken up by the power plant and fuel. But the airship still needs a minimum crew size (10? 12?) to fly it so individual crewmembers need to be as light as possible yet still be able to do the work. So our heroines are cadets at the Japanese airship academy on a training flight. Perhaps one or two adult women along–an instructor overseeing them and maybe a doctor.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yeah, I got all magical on the aeolipile’s ass to solve the problem. Fairy Water and Fairy Fire! Doesn’t weigh as much…about as much as a gaggle of mischievous fae; something of a “waste product” in using it as it attracts the buggers like flies to honey. Which isn’t so much a problem of weight as it is…a problem of being a complete pain in the arse. But that was fun to write for a spell.
Oh, it’s looks like you’ve drafted the Rocket Girls in the second paragraph there…
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
While I did think of the crew weight factor without consciously thinking of Rocket Girls as soon as I thought of it I did realize Rocket Girls used the same argument for the same reason. One of my favorite anime, BTW and I have it in my collection.
Okay, I see how you made the aeolipile work. Basically, you’re using elemental magic, specifically fire and water elementals. Works for me since the whole idea of Airship Girls is fantasy anyway. Besides, I like stories that mix magic and technology. Who says they’re mutually exclusive anyway?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Rocket Girls is a keeper, for sure.
Yeah, my ideas on the ‘pile are based on magictek and the like. I like a magic that can be studied, but not in the rote way most fantasy wizards are portrayed. I like magic that is a more personal study, that it does obey rules of cause and effect, but not the same way all the time. Freeky air and fire critters springing from the workings of the airship was my way of introducing a chaotic element.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
You guys, don’t make me think about how mangled “dirigible” would be in Japanese. Just cut that out right now.
And maybe it could be about all the spectacularly poor decisions that were made in the history of rigid airships, like the debacle of R101.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I didn’t know how much I really wanted it in Japanese until you resisted is so much. Thank you for being my flashlight in the murk.
The true art of any creative license is a careful avoidance of such poor decisions. IOW, subvert the real paradigm and insert your own.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
A diligibre?