Hi! How are you? I am VERY FINE. Anyway, with the Movement Control Order (MCO) extension and still has the potential to have another extension, I'm planning to publish more post as soon as possible before this MCO ends. To be honest, I enjoy the MCO as I dun have to leave my house that often
anymore at least during the period of the MCO. xD
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Cute lolis girls!!!!! |
So now, with me successfully published the post about
RikeKoi and about
Darwin's Game (and also having a lot more time for myself), it is time to publish MORE!!!! It is time for cute girls out on the high seas...AZUR LANE!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is time. LET'S GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WARNING:-
SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven't watched it and plan to watch it without anyone being the spoiler, please DON'T CONTINUE READING!!!
P.S. If you want to be spoiled, well, go ahead and read it. You HAD been warned. Don't blame me for being spoiled if you INSIST on continuing to read this post.
Introduction
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| Something I found... |
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| BTW, this is the gameplay in the pc Android simulator |
The series, Azur Lane (in Chinese, 碧蓝航线) started as a side-scrolling shoot 'em up video game (and still is, today). It is created by Chinese developers Shanghai Manjuu and Xiamen Yongshi, released in 2017 for the iOS and Android operating systems. I believe that it is inspired by the web game of Kantai Collection. Well, inspiration dun drop from the sky, you know? Anyway, it was initially launched in China and then in Japan back in 2017. Later, they released an English-language version on May 2019 after started open beta back in August 2018. Not that long ago, the game had expanded to the Latin American region, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan on October 4, 2019.
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| Azur Lane Crosswave!!! |
I could have further introduced you to the game. I would rather not even though I personally enjoy the game every much. I could encourage to join me in Lexington server of Azur Lane but it is up to you join any server you like or EVEN starting to play this game. Any further info, please just go and visit the
Wikipedia page and doing more research to find out more. Oh, BTW, this game is so popular that it has been adapted into several manga and novels. AND...it even a PS4 game, called Azur Lane Crosswave, which a 3D game published by Compile Heart.
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| Anime time! |
Anyway, the anime television series adaptation was done by Bibury Animation Studio and premiered on October 3, 2019. They should have finished at the end of December 2019 but they suddenly delay the release of the final two episodes because of wanting to improve animation quality (aka production issues). Wasn't it SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR PRIORITY?! WTF, MAN?!
sigh...whatever. To be honest, it's better than
ImoImo's strategy of "fixing it in the Blue-Rays". Well, it's over. It has been done. Time to let it go...
sigh...OK, let's move on.
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| Move it, move it!!! |
Plot
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| A beautiful island... |
Well, I like to say that the anime's plot is definitely not the same as the game, which is set in an alternate timeline of World War II. The plot has some basis on it but very little reference overall. The characters are basically ships that exist during World War 2 (some of them still exist only in name). They have some or strong references of World War 2 depending on the which shipgirls you are talking about. Anyway, let's get back to the topic. To be honest, it's quite difficult to start this but I will try to do it.
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| Flags... |
The story starts with Azur Lane's base...wait, you asking me something? Oh, what is Azur Lane?
It is actually...an alliance with the U.S., England...oh, sorry. Ahem! Azur Lane is the alliance of Eagle Union, Royal Navy, Eastern Radiance and Northern Union (not in the story of the anime). Anyway, back to the topic.
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| Ooh...interesting... |
At the Azur Lane base, everybody lives happily and at peace with each other. And then, suddenly, the sirens attacked them. The ship girls push them back easily but later, got beaten really hard after the Sakura Empire follow up with a surprise attack. And yes, you know your history well...Good! Nice! Anyway, Red Axis is being announced by Sakura Empire after that surprise attack. Red Axis?
Oh, it is the alliance of Germany, Japan & Ita...what? Oh, sorry, it is the alliance of Iron Blood, Sakura Empire and Sardegna Empire (not in the story of the anime).
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| Ayanami vs Javelin...this is not what I want |
Anyway, ignoring the Sardegna Empire and Northern Union because they are not in this show, the Sirens is actually Red Axis and Azur Lane's common enemies but the different aspirations have split them apart and start fighting one another. Sad...I want all my ship girls to befriend each other. As for the story-wise, it is not easy to describe but I can tell you that the Sirens were planning something sinister behind the backs of Red Axis and Azur Lane. You will see it as you watch it. OK, time to move on.
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| Enterprise...the face of the game. Literally. |
Anime Rating
Story (Rating: 9/10)
The plot of the story mostly revolves around the squabble between the Red Axis and Azur Lane. Of course, there is a secret plan behind all these squabbles. The story is actually not easy to summarize, for me (maybe you can do better than me). Anyway, the flow and pacing are pretty decent. The story is pretty easy to understand although not easy to summarize and having a lot of characters to swallow and digest.
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| Aww...sweet. |
Art and Animation (Rating: 7/10)
The art and animations...there were times where it broke as it were. I remember the part where Akashi ran away with Sheffield and Edinburgh. So, yeah, the not-too-great animation is the reason where the animation studio decided to delay the release of the two final episodes and fix the previous episodes. Wow...the characters are pretty good though and again...it broke sometimes (before the fix, of course).
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| Something is obviously broken there... |
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| Some fanservice there...and a bit of fighting |
Sound and Music (Rating: 9/10)
The opening song is great and gives us the vibe of conflict in the anime. As for the ending song, it is pretty and beautiful to listen to. Also, the ED gives us a sweet and gentle feel to the end of each episode but sadly, I dun listen to this kind of music a lot of times. The BGMs are good and weel-placed, by the way.
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| From the OP sequence. Nice, right? |
Characters (Rating: 8/10)
Since I'm an Azur Lane player, I love this animation, especially the display of a lot of characters in the story. Well, I understand a lot of characters will weaken the show's appeal. The show didn't overwhelm the audience with too much appearance and too unfocused character development, which is good. The story mostly focused on the "starter ship girls" (which consists of Laffey, Javelin, Ayanami and Z23) in Azur Lane and the "face" of the game, Enterprise. Interesting, they paired Belfast with Enterprise in Enterprise's character development. Is this show in any way, relatable? It is relatable as in a sense, war stays the same and with the starter ship somehow able to bring the two sides together with their actions. Wow...I can elaborate more on that next time. NEXT!
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| Aww...cute moment. |
Enjoyment (Rating: 7/10)
I actually enjoy this anime as a player who watches this anime but the sudden delayed release of the final two episodes deducted A LOT of enjoyment to watching it. The show's ending has redeemed quite a lot of enjoyment for me. I could've given a 5 out of 10 for that abrupt stop of new episodes releases. They could've done better, seriously.
sigh...whatever. Moving on...
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| Shigure-sama! Oh, Shigure-sama... |
Overall Rating: 8 (8.25)/10
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