Hello and welcome to another side blog the blogs between the blogs. Do you like the ocean? Do you like ships? Do you like moe girls? If the answer is yes to 2 out of three of these questions then you’re in luck because today we’re looking the Kantai Collection. Kantai Collection while not a bad anime didn’t really draw me in as much as I would have hoped. The voice acting was good, the battles as well, the story decent and easy to follow, and there’s a good laugh here and there. But where the anime falls short is with it’s characters. A lot of these characters are interesting but we never get a chance to explore them or their personalities which is a shame. Still, the series does have a good concept and it did get me interested in the game. So when it was announced that a second season would be premiering in the future I was okay with it but before a second season would arrive we would be treated to a movie. Coming out in 2016 the Kantai movie bought back the original cast and everything. It did well at the box office making 560 million yen and got praised by both fans and critics as being quite the emotional story. Lets get ready to sortie and take a look at the Kantai Collection Movie.
Now the movie opens up after the events of episode 3 so if you haven’t watched episode 3 yet I highly recommend you stop reading right now and go watch it (actually, if I’m being completely honest, you should watch the whole anime before watching this movie). We start off with a night battle between some new fleet girls known as the Mikawa Fleet and Abyssals. The fleet girls manage to win the fight and even manage to sink the Abyssals’s transport fleet (ultimate domination). As they prepare to leave a new fleet girl emerges from the ocean (congratulations, it’s a ship) and it’s Kisaragi (she’s alive). Once Mutsuki hears about this she rushes to the Shorthand Isles where their base is currently set up and to be fair we get an emotional reunion between the two friends (aka secret lovers). However, the big ships suspects something is off about her and decide to keep a watch on her secretly without telling the others. While on the island a few of the girls hear a voice coming from the ocean (the ocean is calling them back to battle) and the big ships figure out that the voice is coming from the center of an island where a lot of ships once sank and decide to investigate it. But before they can make plans Kisaragi loses it and accidently attacks a part of the base (girl, I’m not made of resources) which has her spooked as now she’s afraid she’ll attack the others (killed by friendly fire, easily the saddest and most frustrating way to die).
Kaga and Akagi tell Fubuki, Mutsuki, and Yudachi that Kisaragi can’t stay with them because she’s going to turn into an Abyssal (say what now?). Kaga tells them the truth about fleet girls and Abyssals (oh I have been waiting for this), they’re all one in the same (well, fan theories out the window now). We find out that Abyssals once started out as fleet girls but once they sunk a part of them longed to return. Their desire to return transformed them into an Abyssal and their hatred for the living turned them against the fleet girls (wow, deep). How does Kaga know all of this? Because she used to be an Abyssal herself. Kaga once sunk in the past and was resurrected as an Abyssal where she fought against the fleet girls, lost, got sunk, and came back as a fleet girl. Kaga and the others now theorize that when a fleet girl gets sunk by an Abyssal they become one. However, if an Abyssal gets sunk by a fleet girl they become a fleet girl (so basically, they’re all fighting against each other). That means that the only way to end the war between the fleet girls and the Abyssals is to completely eliminate the other side entirely all while making sure you don’t get sunk yourself and add to the enemy’s numbers (doing a constant perfect run. Easier said than done). If Mutsuki wants to save Kisaragi she must kill her waifu (such cruelty. But great for ratings). The next day things get bad as the ocean in their area begins to change color into a crimson red (so you guys do have blood. All this time I thought they bleed oil). This is bad because not only is the water damaging the ecosystem (nature matters), but Abyssals are coming from it (in numbers), the water damages the equipment of the fleet girls if they stay in it too long, and it’s expanding to their area (this is the set up for a great climatic battle). At the center of this sea is the voice that everyone has been hearing and if they don’t do something about it soon it’ll reach their base in about 3 days. On top of all this the Abyssals are also making their way to the voice and at their current speed they’ll reach it in less than 3 days. With time not on their side they have to think quickly and come up with a counter plan before it’s too late. The only think they have to go on is Fubuki, who’s equipment didn’t get damaged when she entered the crimson water which means she has some connection to the voice (well she is the main character so. . .yes). With only this, Nagato decides that this is their best counter plan and they form an all-out squadron to go on the offensive where the goal is to get Fubuki to the center of the crimson sea and destroy the source. As all of this is going on and everybody prepares for the mission, we see Kisaragi’s transformation into an Abyssal is slow but surely coming (um shouldn’t we lock her up or something? I mean, wouldn’t it make sense to just lock her up and when she turns into an Abyssal we can blow her to hell thus turning her back into a fleet girl? I know it sounds dark and cruel but it’s better than having her run around freely and kill someone or escape).
The next day everyone sails out where each squadron encounters battles with the Abyssals where they really improved on the animation in these battle scenes. A lot of the girls take heavy damage with some even being left in unfavorable positions and the odds stacked against them. But despite all of this the squadron that Fubuki is in manages to make it to the center where they get an assist from Kisragi who despite almost completely transforming into and Abyssal still remembers her friends and protects them (it’s a shame it’ll all change by the end of the movie). Yamato, Mutsuki, and Kisaragi cover Fubuki who manages to make it to the center of the crimson sea and enters a dark portal. Once inside the portal Fubuki begins to sink and it gets revealed that the location they’re in is actually Cape Esperance the same cape where the original Fubuki destroyer sunk back in 1942 during WWII. The original Fubuki sank with regret because it never got a chance to display its full potential or live up to the expectations of everyone around her (it’s true, we sunk that girl quick). But her soul (as well as the souls of other ships who sank) refused to die and wandered the sea until they were finally reborn as fleet girls and Abyssals. However, Fubuki was different from the others. While the others were reborn with their sad memories or remnants of their past lives, Fubuki left hers behind to rot in the sea (and that was a mistake). As a result, these sad memories gained a form and have been the voice everyone has been hearing this whole time (and she is pissed). The Abyssal Fubuki tries to turn Fubuki into an Abyssal but Fubuki refuses (because of friend~ ship~) and the two have a mental battle where Fubuki overcomes her Abyssal self by accepting her (your me and I am you) and this in turn destroys the dark portal making all the Abyssals disappear including Kisaragi where once again we get a very emotional scene between Mutsuki and Kisaragi (they just got back together and now they’re being torn apart again. The next time they meet they’ll be enemies trying to sink each other). Mutsuki vows to find Kisaragi and return her to a fleet girl and Kisaragi fades away smiling and saying goodbye to her friend (who she potentially loves). After this everyone returns to the base with nobody sinking (miraculously, because the death flag was sailing high for some of them. I guess Kisaragi took the hit for all of them). We end with Fubuki getting ready to sail out and vowing to one day bring peace back to the ocean.
Final Thoughts
So how was the Kantai Movie. It’s good, it works on both an emotional, informative, and action level. The emotional level comes between Mutsuki and Kisaragi. Their reunion with each other is heartwarming which makes it all that much sadder when you see Kisaragi slowly turn into an Abyssal and do everything in her power to try and maintain her sanity so she won’t harm the others, or worst, kill them but ultimately losing in the end and forced to leave Mutsuki behind. The informative level comes from Kaga as we finally figure out what the Abyssals are and their relationship to the fleet girls. While not really all that shocking as fan theories did theorize this and even I had my theories as well, to find out that all this time the girls have been fighting against their comrades and friends is shocking to some degree and they now have clear goal on what they need to do in order to end this war and reclaim the oceans. The action level comes from Fubuki as the grand battle in the third act of the movie is well-animated and done well. There’s this level of suspense and excitement as you realize that if the girls sink they’ll be joining the rankings of their enemy and some of them come close to sinking. Fubuki’s battle with herself can also be seen as informative as it shows us that we must accept every part of lives both the good and the bad no matter how tough it can be.
The animation is good as I said before the fight scenes were improved as well as the CGI. The only downside are there’s no character development and the soundtrack really doesn’t leave that much of an impact.
Final Score
The Kantai Movie gets a final score of 7/10. It’s a good movie that works on an emotional, informative and action level. From what I’ve heard the second season is in the works and will be premiering sometime next year which I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next. With the new information they’ve been given I can tell the fights will become more intense and important and I’m personally looking forward to the showdown between Mutsuki and Kisaragi. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
*All videos, clips, and music are not owned by me and belong to their respective owners. All rights reserved*
Thanks for reading. As always feel free to leave a comment in the comment section or send your comments, feedback, or request to iamprojectnitsuj@gmail.com
Also, be sure to support me and the site on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/projectnitsuj
And follow me on twitter for updates and other stuff: https://twitter.com/ProjectNitsuj