「赤道祭でハッピー!」 (Sekidōsai de Happī ! )
“Happy at the Equator Festival!”

This week, Scotty has gone completely insane, which means there’s nobody to keep the Harekaze together for this episode of Hai-Furi. One can certainly feel a general lethargy in both the cast and the plot, though this does seem to be a self-aware choice on Hai-Furi‘s part, with this the only episode so far where the Harekaze has not been ‘in a pinch’. I suppose Hai-Furi has been pushing out mostly serious episodes for a while now, something which it cannot seem to sustain, like somebody holding their breath, and now has to take a big gasp of goofiness before it’s good to go again. We’re in the calm before the storm right now, it seems, before the Blue Mermaids go all out on Operation Perseus, though on my part I consider any episode of Hai-Furi where nothing explodes to be filler.

To be fair on Hai-Furi, besides the zombie warships plot, it has also concerned itself with things that generally goes on at sea (showing off research, perhaps), though some of it is more interesting than others (the rescue episode was standout, the sea mines somewhat less so). Superstitions and sailors go hand and in hand, which is not surprising in a profession where traditionally survival involved healthy amounts of luck. To be becalmed and stranded in the open seas was every sailor’s nightmare, and many bizarre rituals evolved to win favour with the fickle weather. Keeping a cat, whistling up the wind, offerings of shoes and oil to the seas—the firmly land-bound can scarce understand the strange religion that their seafaring brothers separately developed (and it was almost always ‘brothers’—letting women on ships was unlucky, the irony). These are all Western seafaring traditions, though, and the ones I’m familiar with; I don’t much know what the Japanese did, and don’t think they even had the large vessels capable of long-distance voyages (though being a string of islands, Japan had plenty of sailors). If you’re interested in Japanese rituals, then Hai-Furi is good for those, though it does get weird after a while once the festival devolves into a party with a standard random talent act. The end effects reminded me of those variety shows that the Japanese seem to love, and if you enjoy those then this episode may work for you. On my part though, I treat them with the same disdain I treat all reality TV. Perhaps a gaijin like me will never understand the appeal.

This wasn’t an episode entirely devoid of purpose, I suppose. It’s probably the last chance Hai-Furi will get to give its crew personality, and to that extent it did what it had too—a character only needs one quirk to be potentially memorable. And character development is not for nothing, and we got a fair bit of that here. In particular, Kuro and her captain really needed to sort out their tension before the end, and there’s nothing more tried and true than violence. That said, I don’t know if letting a crewman act on urges to brutalise a superior officer makes for a healthy command relationship in the long term. Hopefully, the opportunity to vent her frustrations physically was all she needed.

Also hopefully, now that Hai-Furi has indulged in its fun and games it will really put its girls through the grinder in these last two episodes—especially now that they’ve all sang a song together and feel good about themselves. It’s the Principal of Narrative Sadism. Hai-Furi is certainly well set up for a big finale. With five ships still at large, there should be plenty of action to go around for operation Perseus. And the Musashi will make for a worthy final boss.

28 Comments

  1. a very light and fluffy episode. but this seems like the calm before the storm.

    just a point out, musashi was sank on the philippine territory so i got a feeling that musashi in this anime would be sank too, and with a good beating for sure. WoW players would surely love to see this scene in the next episodes.

    and… wow biggest surprise. the ship’s doctor is just 12 years old? i thought she was intentionally a midget but heck… and she was in university in that age? fcking genius.

    so anyway, if so, her classification is TRUE LOLI then.

    Jeffers
    1. Well I understand your point. Most would have mistaken her for being the oldest because, the past episodes, She shows the aura of being the oldest and acts the most mature in the whole crew.

      TheLastIdiot
  2. It seems that the Corvette ship (Harekaze) is under Repair now eh…and while they had it, the people there seem to have some relaxation in a form of a festival right in a equator itself…hmm, it seems like this kind of festival seems ancient but yet…forgotten!

    https://randomc.net/image/Hai-Furi/Hai-Furi%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
    Ah, The Philippine Islands (Sea)…That would Definitely the Place for the Final showdown…
    or something…

    Namaewoinai
      1. And thanks to Shinto’s all the gods are real policy worshipping Neptune when away from Japan for good luck is completely fine. 🙂

        In Shinto basically Japanese gods are in Japan and run things there, the traditional gods of other places run their places. For truly major gods that god has different avatars depending on where you are, in example the supreme god of Japan is also a Buddha and the Christian god and so on.

        This everyone is real is basically the policy of the other world Shamanist religions who have formed a association Shinto by far the largest one, so they can all get along because each groups gods are local not world wide.

        RedRocket
    1. Crossing of the line ceremonies are common on western naval vessels when crossing the equator. Plenty of videos on Youtube of this. They are meant to be a day of fun while noobs to crossing the equator are initiated by veterans as the sea god king Neptune oversees it. As these events are usually run by people with rank, participation is mandatory.

      So when I saw the lack of enthusiasm for King Neptune’s festival early on, when the Chief of Engineering didn’t look happy, for some reason I heard her saying in a Vadar like voice “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

      BakaRanger
  3. It’ll be somewhat amusing (in a self-deprecating way) to see “Goryo” and “Monching” (perhaps even a third Hamilton-class cutter to show that they did the research) try and go up against the Musashi if it enters Philippine territorial waters. If they’re kind enough to add the quadruple Harpoon missile launchers (Maybe converted into launchers for lightweight torpedoes?) to those ships, that’d be nice…

    Then again, I really hope it doesn’t come down to that scenario… Pretty much the reactions I had to Musashi apparently heading for the Philippine archipelago ranged from “Oh crap” to “Yep, the Musashi in this ‘verse is gonna sink in the same place where the real-life Musashi sunk…”

    @Passerby:
    Show Spoiler ▼

    On the lighter side of things, I wonder why the crews of the Akashi and Mamiya decided not to join the line-crossing ceremony? Did they already hold their own?

    Incognito
  4. I liked the first half fine. I thought it was over when the engineer was seemingly satisfied and that the second half would be about something else, but then it just kept going. I really don’t think we needed to see every event at this festival. There should have been a B-plot or something.

    Jetman
  5. André
    1. Often shaving the head is included, saw video of mixed sex group where everyone shaved their head on that ship.

      I would have loved it if the girls at least mentioned that idea. 😉 I think a lot of them would be cute bald. 😉

      RedRocket
  6. 2 things that totally stood out for me would by the After School Navigators act

    https://randomc.net/image/Hai-Furi/Hai-Furi%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2027.jpg

    Which totally ship wrecked on of the galley personnel’s Love Live…. (Pun intended)

    And also Musashi’s final known heading past Ulithi Attol towards Phillippines

    https://randomc.net/image/Hai-Furi/Hai-Furi%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2007.jpg

    20/10 that they will make contact with her in the Phillippine Sea and 100/10 that the final show down will be at Leyte Gulf

    Velvet Scarlantina
  7. Eh, comedy SOL episode is comedy SOL episode. A breather before the final battle(s) is fine. Still pure SOL comedy = quite subjective as to how good/entertaining it all was. Personally, the series “comedy” has not worked well, and the second half skits particularly did nothing to change that. Maybe it worked for the “home crowd”. The skits did remind me of GuP BD 06 OVA (which in complete contrast, I thought was great). Aaaanyway, a very “just there” episode for me. One thing I liked was the BluMer staff noting that they “mustn’t be outdone by students”. No, you shouldn’t, but too late to un-ring that bell. Well, it’s the thought that counts I suppose.

    So we’re left with four DD (Suzukaze, Amatsukaze, Isokaze & Tokitsukaze) & Musashi to “defeat”. With 2 episodes to go, it’s pretty darn clear who Harekaze will be up against. Frankly, a DD vs. DD battle, if done right, should be quite exciting, but equal opponent doesn’t fit the bill for a final boss battle. Almost certainly in vain, but I’m hoping that for the final battle we can do away with fantasy shooting and the rest of that. Just bloody go at it in at least a quasi-realistic manner, and I’m perfectly willing to suspend disbelief on injuries.

    No one is getting killed or seriously injured in this show so whatever. Besides, are not these ships “mostly automated” with substantially fewer crew than would otherwise be? Musashi’s a big ship so torps can explode in areas that are vacant. Again – whatever. Don’t care. Just give me a decent battle without all the hamstrings of “not allowed to hit the other ship” or “the engines don’t work right” on top of magic gunnery, etc. It seems that Harekaze won’t be going alone against Musashi in “Operation Perseus” which is a good start IMO, but lets see if that in fact ends up being the case. Also, still can’t rule out Graf Spee as cavalry to the rescue either.

    daikama
    1. If Harekaze haven an Master Ace Accuracy Gunner on their Ship, then they can try to shoot Musashi’s main long range tower. But then inside are peoples, but the Harekaze got shoot in this place, or at last make these Long range tower useless. Blind the crew with an “distress flare” shot, or they modify some Ammo shell that create an intensive light (burning magnesium), that would blind the lookouts for some time, time for them to close the range for boarding. but for greater effect, this should be done at night

      Worldwidedepp
    2. 1. Let the Musashi spot you
      2. Make sure you get all “eyes” attention on you
      3. create the Smoke screen
      4. that will intensive the “eyes” on the ship
      5. before they leave the Smoke screen, shoot this flashbang on the spot they except the ship coming out of the smoke screen
      6. voila, they should succeed in flashbang all important eyes for some time
      7. ?
      8. Harekaze can launch their Scooters speeders to board their Ship
      9. This episode should now running similar like boarding the Graf Spee

      possible event:
      1. while try to get near or out of range from Musashi, harekaze got hit and take in water, without casualties of course
      2. while harekaze become to heavy (water leaks make the ship heavier) to dodge the shoots

      Part 1:
      3. Musashi shoots
      4. Harekaze is about to get hit!!!
      5. Graf Spee aperes and deflect the shoot!! (yeah something like Kancolle with the air carrier and fubuki)

      pasrt 2:
      3. Graf Spee shoot at Musashi (do not forget also her weapon range!)
      4. Musashi let Harekaze out of focus and aim for Graf Spee
      5. from history books Graf Spee took also many hits and “survived!”
      6. Graf Spee do an full turn but stay in their max weapom range (Should be lesser then Harekazes. remember? Spee’s main weapon range?)
      7. Graf Spee plays the bait until Harekaze run out of Musashi’s range, then Spee run out of range, too

      in the meantime, the boarding crew do their Job

      this is my brainstorm for the “how to raid the Musashi!”

      Worldwidedepp
      1. uh.. perhaps its saver to hide this all in a spoiler.. i hit Submit to fast again…

        header:
        My Speculation for “how to raid the Musashi!”

        then hide the rest, pretty please

        Worldwidedepp

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