「大艦巨砲でピンチ!」 (Daikan Kyohō de Pinchi ! )
“In a Big Pinch with a Battleship’s Big Cannon!”

I’m guessing that starting the episode with the Harekaze packing up the festival is a signal for the temporary suspension of the fun and games as the plot puts on its serious facing going into the finale. That said, I wasn’t expecting Hai-Furi to launch straight into the climatic confrontation with the Musashi, which has managed to sneak (as battleships do) back north to trigger the final confrontation early. Not that the last boss doesn’t deserve two episodes, but I was expecting Hai-Furi to clean up the other loose ends i.e. four other rogue ships first before tackling the big bad battleship. Turns out, there’s other housekeeping that Hai-Furi wanted to do first. Getting the Musashi’s side of the story is good, if only to explain why the sane survivors haven’t starved. I won’t lie; I would have preferred cannibalism. I get the feeling that the Musashi’s story could have been expanded into an interesting survival horror, derailing the plot be damned.

Mostly, though, Hai-Furi needed to wrap up its character drama, though I could have sworn was actually already wrapped up. I suppose we should have expected more of it considering Scotty is the only one on this ship who’s got it together, and she’s crazy. And it’s not like I think it’s inappropriate for the Ship Mum to have one last bit of self-doubt before she flings her flimsy little destroyer against the giant battleship—it’s in keeping with her (and Ship Dad’s) character development so far. I just wonder about the level of melodrama. This is where the High School and the Fleet of Hai-Furi intersect, because I’m guessing that in an actual military outfit Captain Mike would be considered to have a conflict of interest, be unfit to command, and would promptly relieve herself of it. At the very least, I don’t approve of the bridge broadcasting all its troubles with the rest of the crew all the time; they should have cut the mic long ago. Command should always show a united front, so those they lead never has to second guess them. The point, I guess, is that the Harekaze isn’t exactly a military outfit. It’s a class of high school girls. So they all band together, activate the power of friendship, and then save the day.

I hope the Harekaze doesn’t save the day too hard, though, because we’ve just seen four Blue Mermaid ships soundly defeated by zombie Musashi, and if the Harekaze manages to overshadow the professionals so easily it’d be a bit too hax even for the oddball class. That’s unlikely to happen though, since there’s a lot of potential reinforcements waiting in the wings, and chances are the Harekaze is going to need it. That, some luck, and some wit. This week’s battle was great (by which I mean there were explosions!), but it was mostly just a slugfest. I prefer my Hai-Furi battles with a bit more tactical cleverness, and I expect the Harekaze’s crew to really make their destroyer do work next episode. I look forward to seeing what they pull off.

31 Comments

  1. Aside from the Graf Spee most likely showing up to assist, there is mention the rest of the fleet on its way, though a few hours away.

    Though, this also makes me wonder…are there no other submarines that could be contacted or no aircraft carriers with planes that could have harassed/disabled the Musashi themselves or, at the very least, have been able to keep a constant eye on it so the fleet WOULDN’T have ended up in the completely wrong place like this (the Philippines as opposed to pretty much right next to Japan itself)? I mean hell, it was really just aircraft and submarines that took down the Yamato in 1945, but I guess they need excuses to have things be purely ship vs. ship.

    I do feel the self-doubt drama was overplayed and kind of overstayed its welcome by this point. You’d think Akeno would be thinking of this stuff several episodes ago and that the Festival could have been when she, and others, manage to overcome such problems. Not in the middle of a battle (even if they weren’t the current target of the Musashi). Mashiro should have simply taken command and someone else could have shaken Akeno out of it.

    The way they showed the Musashi’s side of things just felt so…whiplash with how it starts with them seeing the fighting outside and then we’re suddenly right back to when I assume the infection first took place on it. Heck, I didn’t know it was Moeka at first and that it was on the Musashi’s bridge because we never got shown anything except for that one brief little glimpse of Moeka’s face during Akeno’s idiotic attempt to rescue her herself.

    And that’s one of the problems for me with this series; aside from a handful of the girls (Akeno, Mashiro, Mina, Kaede, Macchi, Minami, Ren, Kouko, and Maron), I have no idea who any of them are, even their names. Something like Girls und Panzer sort of “sorted out” the Oarai girls with their various group identities and so it became much easier to remember who was who once you thought of the group. Here, while a number of girls do perform different functions on the ship, most of them are relatively normal outside of the more obvious quirky ones.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    1. No planes they don’t work in this universe. Short ranged missiles work but missiles are not using aerodynamics to fly. Only lighter than air ships and they seam limited to scouting, maybe less lift from gases used than our universe. No satellite either it seams, no planes or space any they at WWI level of ship finding except that computers make it so you don’t have to have rooms of people doing the math and tracking functions for displays.

      RedRocket
  2. Well, good to see that the Musashi Captain is not alone this entire time, this isolation can make someone going crazy

    And yes, i wait for the finale cake. yes this is a Anime about Highschool girls doing things on old WW2, not Military cadets doing their duty (or not)

    At last they found their resolve for the big finale. everybody shoulders the life of the others on their shoulders

    “Scotty” was the MVP this episode

    Worldwidedepp
    1. also, the entire time they forgotten that they have Radar, now we have some screen with them.. They even have over the horizon radar, but not on this Ship… Oh well, perhaps this is all preparations for the finale

      Worldwidedepp
  3. I’m still confused why the modern ships fire all those torpedos, that seemingly do absolutely nothing xD. I now they don’t want to hurt the students, I know they have to fail because plot, but really, stop wasting ammunition!
    It looks cool though 😀

    I’m curious with what kind of ship the principal will show up, if she arrives on time.

    And Scotty is still the best^^

    Arthur
    1. The torpedoes being fired from the modern ships are small ones meant to home in on submarines. They have much smaller warheads than the big heavy hitters fired by submarines or WW2 era destroyers.

      The plot armor would be that no modern anti-ship missiles exist.

      Longhaul
  4. So they explained how the survivors are… well, surviving, but does that mean the ones under the control of the bad rats need no sustenance?

    Also, the drama seem to come out of nowhere, but I guess that’s teenagers for you, and the previous battle was the first time the ship suffered any considerable/real damage with possibility of casualties…

    Jyazen
  5. So the Big ship (Musashi) is not on the Phil Sea anymore, but instead it went through main land (The Capital and the Academy), That was kinda shocking but yet so fickle…But meh, who needs historical reference anyways!

    And if the Corvette (Harekaze) Crew is the Mayonnaise (and mustard, and perhaps ketchup)…The Captain Would be
    Show Spoiler ▼

    So…Next week is the Final Episode huh…Well, It Going to be an epic (?) or sort of!

    Namaewoinai
    1. @Namaewoinai: FYI – Harekaze is a destroyer (DD) – supposedly Kagerou-class, not a corvette. Corvettes are the smallest class of warships with a frigate (and arguably destroyer-escort (DE)) above corvettes but below destroyers.

      daikama
  6. i think the harekaze have just lost a good amount of fire rate by changing to two 5 inch but single turrets. i am not a naval reservist nor a miltary seaman but imho, their previous main batteries of two dual turrets of 3 inch? are better because you can deliver much more shells and more shells = greater chances of hitting the target.

    well unless this 5 inch single turret upgrade of harekaze are like from the arleigh burke class destroyers that offers better firing rate and more firepower (due to heavier shells)i would think different.

    Cannibal
    1. This is the main gun currently installed on the Harekaze. At first glance, I thought those were the main guns used by the Fletcher-class destroyers, but the longer gun barrel told me otherwise.

      Anyway, those guns actually did see use in the JMSDF’s post-war destroyers, the Akizuki-class (1959) and the Murasame-class (1958).

      Incognito
      1. hmm i am reading that it uses armor piercing shells in the link you provided.

        if so, it could be the “best” gun for the job with musashi’s thick armor. but still being a single turret their firing rate is much lower than before (unless there are some “hax” on that single turret like better accuracy and stuffs) but oh well, maybe it will be torpedoes as the finishers all over again just like in WoW.

        Cannibal
    2. @Cannibal: FYI – specifically, 15-18 rate of fire for 5″/54 caliber Mark 16 gun using presumably the Mark 42 shell (70lb/32kg) which was more than 2x as heavy as 10cm/65 HE (AA) shell. For RoF, keep in mind that for a single gun, a minimum crew of sixteen men were required with ten in the gun room and six in the handling room. Additional crewmen were required in the lower ammunition spaces. Lastly, 5″/54 mountings used amplidyne all-electric power drives so lets see if the show sticks with that or we get more hand cranks >_>

      daikama
  7. https://randomc.net/image/Hai-Furi/Hai-Furi%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2007.jpg

    Aww…. And I thought the final showdown would be at Leyte Gulf. Anyway, why isn’t there any screen cap of the cat-eared fleet liaison officer!?

    So let’s track back Harekaze’s equipment… She started off with the 127mm guns that the Kagero were equipped with and than she got upgraded with the fabled 10cm guns. That was a wow. Now…

    Show Spoiler ▼

    https://randomc.net/image/Hai-Furi/Hai-Furi%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
    Any why is it that Chief Engineers are always the best and most jovial characters on a ship?

    Few other things –

    I can’t help it but see Task Group Hiraga as Taffy 3 while they went up against Musashi and frankly speaking, Musashi’s gun layers are indeed cracks hot. They practically bracket and straddle their shots.

    cruiser2710
  8. Isonami, is that you? (I mean, there was already a Yuudachi look-alike over at the Graf Spee, but damn.)

    Glad the Musashi didn’t take the expected route, though the main Blue Mermaid fleet positioned to ambush the Musashi now has to double-time to make it back (not exactly an easy task with the distance involved).

    If next episode’s gonna be the finale, I’m looking forward to seeing how the whole thing gets settled. (Who will make the “Big Damn Heroes” moment first? Principal Munetani, or the Graf Spee?)

    Incognito
    1. if they in all combination (Spee, Harekaze and last remain Blumer ship) could at last destroy the Main guns and the other guns, then Musashi become an Dog that can only barf loud. Well she still can ram someone deep to the sea ground…

      Worldwidedepp
      1. @Worldwidedepp: “if they in all combination (Spee, Harekaze and last remain Blumer ship) could at last destroy the Main guns and the other guns…”

        Disagree. Anime wonders asside, lets keep things in perspective here. Musashi’s main gun turret armor ranged from 250mm-650mm (front) or 9.8–25.6″, barbettes 380–560 mm (15.0–22.0″), belt was as much as 410mm (16.1″), and deck armor 250-230mm (7.9-9.1″).

        Not sure what the 28cm SKC/28 armor penetration figures are like (didn’t see them on the site I used), but they fired a 660lbs/300 kg shell. The 28cm SKC/34 – an improved version of the guns on Graf Spee used for the small battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, fired a 728lbs/330 kg AP shell which could penetrate 18.1″/460mm armor at 7900m, 13.2″/335mm at 15km, and 8.1″/205mm at 27,432m. Deck armor penetration was surprisingly low – 3″/76mm at 27.4km (longer range/better angle of decent (along with shell weight) major factors here).

        TL:DR = putting the principal’s mystery ship aside (could the show actually pull out another Yamato-class here?) Graf Spee, and certainly Harekaze, should not be taking out Musashi’s main guns without anime magic (which certainly can happen with this show). 155mm secondaries OK (though I have some doubts on 5″ guns one-shotting those turrets in the anime), but not the main guns.

        daikama
      2. the question is her, what is the Ship of our principal? an old WW2 veteran like the others or an modern uptodate Battleship hunter? with small but armor piercing ammunition. Well we will see

        Worldwidedepp
  9. I wonder when the Captain going on the away mission changed. In the age of sail the Captain normally was on the boats going to the new land or on mission leading the key part of the crew. On original Trek you want the Captain on only mission they might be negotiating with planet leaders it only the rescue or less important away missions that the Captain’s presence was strange for the age of sail. During the age of sail the Captain and crew indulging in the willing local ladies was standard don’t know where the idea that was wrong came from.

    (and coevolution theory even back up humanoids living on earth like planets would be similar to us so Original Trek way more realistic of the age of sail explorations than people have thought.)

    I know for me that a bit more reality would have made this show even better but I have enjoyed it.

    RedRocket
  10. Despite the action, if there’s one thing that stood out to me this episode, it was the utterly (IMO) tacked-on character drama. Are you kidding me? First of all, despite going through (supposedly) harrowing experiences from Day 1 including sub attacks at night, BB and CA shelling attacks, rescuing some “ship mall”, etc. a FESTIVAL, is what “bonds” the FL Capt. to the crew? So… I guess ALL that talk before about the ship’s crew as family & such was BS? Sure it sounded good (and got her the Capt. position), but really didn’t mean it until now? I guess that would explain Capt. running off to do her own thing, but some of her “own thing” was to protect/save her “family” crew (sea mines deal) so…

    Also, after all they’ve been through, NOW Capt is scared and doesn’t know what to do. Sorry, but after all the amazing things this ship & crew have done, no. Just no. Remember when you immediately gave precisely the right orders time and time again during several “battles” to dodge shells/torps which were then executed immediately with the utmost competency? Remember when your crew spotted and then one-shot shells out of the sky and torps out of the water at night? Because I DO!

    Again, you can NOT un-ring that bell, especially when it’s been done as often as it has in the past. Sorry, “HS freshman” or not, it doesn’t work (nor does “it was just luck” as an excuse). Terrible, unnecessary last minute character “drama” is both terrible and highly annoying. Are you trying to make me like the main character less, because it’s working. If at all, this should have been done much earlier rather than the whole Capt. abandoning her post crap which you just whitewashed an episode or two ago as if it never happened. Lastly, 99% sure voice tubes do NOT work like that, show! *sigh*

    I bit on the Battle of Leyte Gulf bait so props to the show on the fake out (I guess) though clearly it was going to be Harekaze to the rescue regardless (perhaps plus Dept. Capt’s mom).

    This show treats naval main guns like a video game. Yeah, the 5″/54 (12.7 cm) Mark 16 are better as AP guns than Type 98 10cm/65, but uh, Yamato-class here so still means little. WWII IJN DD’s used TORPS as the main weapon against ships (larger ships particularly) for good reasons. Besides, if you’re going to dispense with overall WWII theme, then why not MODERN 5″ guns? This main gun swapping is just ham-fisted, blatant WWII (sort of) “Easter eggs”, and I tend to actually like this sort of thing. >_> Anyway, I do wonder if those guns will be hand-cranked for… reasons, or stick with the RL power traverse/elevation. They got a new torp fire-control, but LOL. I mean, “Yay! No more complex calculations”… which you preformed perfectly and instantaneously in your head every time before so what’s the difference? Again, you cannot backtrack here.

    “Scottie” (chief engineer) is best girl… kind of. Ill placed food “comedy” analogy not helping, but I do like her. Still, German Girl probably best girl overall IMO.

    daikama
    1. Forgot one thing. Can someone explain to me WTF happened when a later ASROC strike by the BluMers was “hacked” apparently by Musashi’s electronics sabotaging not-rats? I recall that happening before with the boy’s school’s instructors ships, BUT I also seem to recall a quick shot of a not-rat or two crawling over the ASROC tubes (which makes me wonder if that ship was later infected but whatever at this point). As far as I know, there are ZERO not-rats aboard these Blumer ships so… WTF? Sure seems to me like the show just massively amped up the interference range of the not-rats for the sake of the plot. >_>

      daikama
  11. “The point, I guess, is that the Harekaze isn’t exactly a military outfit. It’s a class of high school girls.” This would be a good excuse EXCEPT, you don’t trust live explosive ordnance with people who can’t handle it. It may be a school, but it’s a military based one where they obviously thought the girls were mature enough to send out with a ship load of the stuff.

    At least in the US, where there are private military schools that underaged kids attend for various reasons, including preparing for a possible future career in the military. They are pretty much run along military lines in terms of rank and responsibility. Given that these school girls are being trusted with a real warship with real ammunition, I’d expect a similar military mindset. I certainly wouldn’t trust a live 5″ canon to most of girls from my normal public high school.

    BakaRanger
  12. so the bridge crew of musashi turned “school living club”?
    I actually found their story more interesting than quite forced character drama on Harekaze
    lvl 3 upgrade guns are US ones, as many ship fanatics mentioned already
    Musashi defeating blu-mer fleet was fun though, gotta love old BB defeating ultra-modern warships (with little help from living jammers aka rats)

    ewok40k

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