Anime Review: Kantai Collection

Anime Review: Kantai Collection

Introduction:

Welcome to the 71st installment of Bf+Gf Anime Review where you can find a double-sided review that aims to help you decide if various anime are worth watching! Let's get into another review for the Winter 2015 Anime Season with Kantai Collection! (Warning this review contains some spoilers).

"Experience the majesty that is Kongou!"

Synopsis:

Kantai Collection is a twelve-episode Sci-fi, Military, Comedy based off the mobile game of the same name. The series tells the story of female anthropomorphized versions of famous Japanese battleships. These girls with armaments reminiscent of their namesakes battle against the forces of the abyssal fleet, female anthropomorphized monster battleships that are rising from the deep sea, seeking to destroy mankind. Fubuki, our star character, is but a new recruit to the Kantai Fleet. She joins the Third Torpedo Squadron which is preparing for its first major sortie against the enemy. Along with the many other girls of the Kantai Fleet they must repel the Abyssal Forces with each new sortie and find time to have some whacky adventures on the side.

Note: Kantai Collection is available for streaming at Crunchyroll.com.

"Prepare for excitement! Danger!"

Review:

Tom: Kantai Collection is an exception to the norm for me. Most of the time I don’t give anime adaptations of video games much of a shot unless I’ve played the game series previously and even then I tend to steer clear. But with Kantai and its bizarre and wholly Japanese premise I just had to check it out and see for myself how this turned out. And you know what? I actually think it did an amazing job of adapting a mobile game and turning it into an entertaining anime. Not only did it manage to find fun ways to incorporate or reference the in game mechanics but it also managed to really flesh out the characters and story.

Linny: The show does indeed do a great adaptation of such a bizarre game and concept, offering a depth and variety one wouldn't expect from its origins. They do such a great job of inserting game mechanics seamlessly into the show's story and of turning real life facts about the battleships into characterizations for the girls. I love the various costume designs and varying personalities and of course, the lack of overt sexual exploitation of the female cast.

"And romance!"

Tom: The anime really fleshes out the massive cast of girls, although only a handful get meaningful amounts of screen time and emotional development (understandable when you have a total cast of at least thirty girls.) and many of the character’s designs are wonderful, giving off loads of personality. And because the cast is so large there’s someone for everyone. Linny and I particularly enjoyed a number of the supporting cast, with the character of Kongou and her liberal use of english words and poorly-emphasized Japanese phrasing to be just the best kind of fun. Sadly, not all the girls are fun. There’s a handful of bland characters and a couple who are perhaps outright annoying. Not to mention the lead girl herself is actually rather boring.

Linny: Gawd, is she boring or what? She was so bland and generic that it almost put me off the entire series. It made it hard for me to care about her, which is bad since she is supposed to be the protagonist. Thankfully, I had other cast members like Kongou to rope me in, and Tom's devotion to Kongou-san as well. And though I said this show isn't overtly sexual, it does have a whole lot of moe. Anyone with an aversion to moe should stay miles away. Oh and yes, it has the stereotypical devoted lesbian-not-lesbian girl in love with her senpai. Don't say I didn't warn you!

"But true."

Tom: It is indeed pretty moe. The opening theme is a great indication of the tone, because even when the show does deal with death and other serious problems it never gets all that dark and generally episode to episode feels peppered with fun. I actually love the opening theme, finding it to be the right amount of happy energy without drifting into the type of high-pitched squeaky “wee wee!” J-pop vocals that I tend to steer away from. It’s a much more agreeable song and J-pop for a more massive audience.

Linny: The show seems to have put in a decent effort towards its CGI animation and it was a pleasant surprise to watch the CGI blend so seamlessly with the traditional animation. I'm not completely against CGI but I do not have the patience for shoddy CGI either. So I have to give the show props for working hard on its CGI animation and usage.

Tom: The CGI is what probably made this show doable in the first place. Without it there wouldn’t be a Kantai Collection anime is my guess. And for what the CGI does it does well. In the preview I said that the CGI was of such high quality I couldn’t tell the difference. Sadly that doesn’t remain true as the CGI’s quality changes from episode to episode. It never gets bad but at the same time it rarely manages to marry the 2D images perfectly and that is a bit of a shame.

"But you're... ships don't... Damn talk about objectifying yourself =/"

Linny: At the end of it all, I'd be lying if I said I didn't dread watching the upcoming second season a little. I don't hate the show. It definitely has its merits but it's just a subject matter I struggle to get into. But it's definitely a show that has had a lot of love and work put into it and a must watch for anyone even mildly curious about the game or the premise. I even ended up going crazy for one of its characters despite usually having to brace myself before every episode. I'm hoping anyone who checks the show walks away with something to treasure about it like we did. For all the work put into the story, the music, the characters and the animation (even if I never got into its premise), I award this show a 7.5 out of 10.

Tom: All in all I found this to go above and beyond adapting the mobile game of the same name. They took the game and worked very hard to make something that wouldn’t just appeal to fans of the franchise and I think they succeeded. A second season is apparently already on the way and while I’m not sure where exactly it will go, there were perhaps hints in the final episode that not everything was as straightforward and final as we might have thought. Overall I’ll be awarding Kantai Collection an 8.0 out of 10. I enjoyed it a lot and while it certainly isn’t perfect it really is quite amazing for what it is.

Combined Score: 7.75 out of 10

"Kongou is many things. But great cook she is not. =("

Thanks for reading our review! Tomorrow expect a review for Shirobako! See you Sunday!