Title (English): Fleet Girls Collection: KanColle
Title (Japanese): 艦隊これくしょん -艦これ-
Animation Studio: Diomedea
Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Military, (Slice of life?)
Episodes: 3/?
Usually, I write a single First Impressions article that contains all of the anime I’m watching in a season, but I’m splitting it up this time. I’m re-visiting Kantai Collection now that a few episodes have past. You can look at my First Impressions of KanColle after the first episode here. How is the ship girls anime doing so far?
In terms of a general story, it is still proceeding in episodic format with about a 75/25 split between moe/slice of life and action. I still feel this anime will focus more on the characters than providing a big overarching story. That being said, Episode 3 has given us a lot to think about when it comes to KanColle‘s future. Perhaps this cutesy, moe ship girls anime will be a little bit more than that given what had transpired in that episode. The fact that they were willing to go that far, opens up multiple paths for them to take. A bunch of theories have popped up on the possible future of KanColle.
*Episode 3 Spoilers Ahead!*
Some say that it would be a one-time event to show off that they are willing to kill off a character, to prove to the action watchers there is something more here. Others chime in and say there will be more deaths/sunk ships ahead, considering it is only episode 3 in an anime that could be two-cour. These people refer to World War II history as their primary argument. If you look at the episode 3, their mission takes place on W Island. W Island is a reference to Wake Island. At the Battle of Wake Island, the Japanese destroyer Kisaragi was sunk in battle. Likewise, in the anime, Kisaragi was killed. If they choose the historical route for this anime, there’s going to be a lot of deaths. The Japanese navy was all but destroyed in WWII, with only a few surviving ships. The more hopeful say that, this will be a one-time thing and that it will help the other characters get stronger as they learn from Kisaragi’s death. Who knows? A week from now these theories could be erased or proven right. Only time will tell.
*End of Episode 3 Spoilers*
Characters are likely going to depend on your taste. With such a huge number of characters, I’m sure it won’t be hard to find a favourite. There’s your standard polite girls, girls with more than one quirk in their personality, the tomboys, etc. I’m personally not a big fan of the game’s art, but I really like the anime’s art. Diomedea knows how to deliver cute girls, or at least they do in the two anime I’ve seen from them (Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, and NouCome). The music is pretty good. The BGM in the action parts especially, is a high point of this anime. The OP 「海色」 (Miiro) by AKINO from bless4, is one of the most addicting OP songs I’ve heard in a while and is easily my favourite of this season. The song seems kind of out of place for an anime like this, but it seems a little more appropriate after Episode 3. I can’t really judge the ED of the anime since every episode has had a different song. I believe the standard one will be 「吹雪」 (Fubuki) by Shiena Nishizawa, which played in episode 2. It’s a good song, but I’m not a big fan of the singing in it, and I like it more for its instrumental composition. It is interesting to hear some of the voice actresses doing so many different roles at once. It is getting a little easier to tell who is who, as characters of the same ship type have the same voice actress. All of the Kongou-class ships are all voiced by Nao Touyama for example (Chitoge Kirisaki from Nisekoi).
With the latest episode proving that turn of events, who knows what direction KanColle is going in. Some people are pleased that they were willing to go that far to help justify it being a good action anime. Others, like me, are a bit more wary now that this has happened. It seems more Western fans are happy with this turn of events, while more of the Japanese fans are unhappy. I’m on the side of the Japanese with this one. I signed up for something relaxing to watch while I have spare time. If it continues too far along the darker path, I may to have to do a rare thing I rarely do when it comes to anime: drop it. However, at the same time, I think it might be good for me to watch something a little bit darker every once in a while. I suppose only time will tell where Kancolle is going to go.
Anyone want to bring up their thoughts on KanColle so far? Do you like what happened in the latest episode, or did it turn you off? For anyone who has not watched it, does this give you an incentive to watch now? Let me know in the comments!
