First Impressions / Hai-Furi

「追撃されてピンチ！」 (Tsuigekisare te Pinchi!)
“In a Pinch During the Pursuit!”

I was actually sure whether the first episode of Hai-Furi was going to be a fake-out, with the cliffhanger being retracted with a nonchalant ‘just kidding’, so I suppose it’s simply due diligence to at least cover a second episode of Hai-Furi to confirm that, yes, it is as serious of a business as the cannon fire made it out to be. This is a good thing, as the extra layer of plot will help distinguish Hai-Furi from a show like Girls und Panzer, which while quite good was also relatively light atmospherically. While an anticlimax would actually half amuse me, it would also half disappoint, and the chances of some actual intrigue going on increases by the episode.

Episode 02, following a loose trend for episode 02s, actually adds a bit of slack to the tension in order to get into the unpleasant but necessary labour of exposition, which basically means characters talking out loud about things they already know, and making a point of addressing all the members of the minor cast by name—names that I will unfortunately probably still not remember, despite their effort, for the cast be legion, and grows with time. As last week, I’m hoping that the emphasis will be mostly on the bridge crew if only to make me feel less senile, and that seems likely for now because some extra backstory was devoted to Deputy-Captain Munetani Mashiro (Lynn), who would somehow grow from sweet girl to resident tsundere. Turns out, she comes from a proud naval tradition, which should make the Harekaze’s mutiny for both her and her mother extra delicious. It also means that the Harekaze is probably not without allies in the Blue Mermaids’ command structure—unless Hai-Furi intends to get doubly dark.

My initial impression is that Hai-Furi leans heavily towards the idealistic side of the spectrum and so would probably not get too dark, even with an intrigue plot, but I can’t really say that with certainty. Questions still abound, both in the setting—is Japan the only country that the seas are trying to reclaim, why are high school girls entrusted with warships equipped with live ammo, why antique warships when they have shinier toys?—and the general tenor of the show. On the one hand, the mood inside the Harekaze is fluffy to the extreme (this is the kind of warship where a bath installation is a good idea, apparently), while on the other hand we have to assume there are prepubescent girls using machines of violence and destruction to shoot at their classmate (and probable defecting captain). What kind of show is Hai-Furi intending to be? The ‘Fleet’ of High School Fleet I understand, the ‘High School’ less so. This could easily have been a straight war plot, even a period piece, starring grizzled sailors instead—but then where would we get the yuri-shipping? I would actually characterise Hai-Furi as less capitalising on the inexplicable warship craze of Kantai Collection, and more capitalising on the undying high school girl craze of Japan.

Well, what we’ve got for now has been quite entertaining, so overall I don’t really have major concerns. I think Hai-Furi is an easy recommendation for all fans of war and ships and warships (look, stats! I’m sure for some that was the most arousing of the fanservice scenes). And the sci-fi(?) and intrigue may give it even wider appeal than that, as the plot continues to thicken (ill-omen alert), like a starchy sauce. Girls und Panzer managed to juggle its high school slice-of-life and its armoured combat fairly well, and I expect Hai-Furi capable of the same. The nature of the amalgam will be most curious.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「Ripple Effect」 by 春奈るな (Haruna Luna)

56 Comments

  1. Unexpectedly intriguing…

    I’ve been waiting for this post (didn’t read it yet – want to see if we draw the
    same conclusions).

    Talk about the cute girls doing cute things with very serious situations, these
    past two episodes have it nailed. In a way, I’m really glad it did not turn out
    to be some (realistic) training exercise – that would have been lame, at best.

    I really liked how we were drawn in to something that seems very dark and
    mysterious – and they’re doing a good job of painting the story from the girls’
    perspective. More questions and very few answers (if any) yet.

    Things are happening not because of some silly circumstance, but they’re
    applying their skills / training and taking her leadership and not just standing
    around being cute or crying about the turn of events. People were hurt
    (dunno about the ship that sank and if those girls were injured as well).

    So far I like where this series seems to be headed. So far it’s a balanced mix
    of fantasy / comedy / and some serious mystery, IMHO.

    Hopefully, it won’t fall apart as we get further in…

    mac65
    Reply

    1. We agree in that we both seem to have generally liked what we have seen of this show, but I am in more of a wait and see mindset, simply because Hai-Furi has many pieces and I don’t think we have a full picture of how they’re arranged on the board. As for cute girls doing cute things, I suspect the crew is supposed to grow on you to drive home the, ‘the crew is family, camaraderie on the seas, yada yada,’ thing, but the cast is still a bit big for me; it’s a good thing they have jobs and do stuff because I’m not going to remember them for anything else. It’s going to take time, but I’m willing to give them that time based on what I’ve seen.

      Passerby
      Reply

      1. I try never to take things too seriously, so yeah
        I have a wait-and-see outlook as well.

        They’re laying a pretty decent story foundation,
        and hopefully the plethora of characters will not
        overwhelm or dilute any good story telling that
        may be there…

        Hopefully, it’ll be something worth picking up.

        mac65
        Reply

      2. <oops – too fast on the Enter key>

        In their defense (on) the crew’s size is realistic, IMHO.
        Such a large vessel girled by a smaller number would
        definitely be improbable – so while the cast appears
        large, it is appropriate for the complexity of the ship.

        mac65
        Reply

  4. Dem moe characters… Dem irritating too-damn-serious moeblobs… Dem blahdy exposition vomit possessions… Dem cringy tonal whiplases… Dem annoying voice acting direction chops…

    Scheiß drauf!

    Regurgitation of dominant cultural ideology? You bet!

    AHEM… Scoffing at dying cultural impetuses aside… This show is definitely focusing on the military conspiracy that ‘stalks’ the narrative to no end, which fills the plot with ~tension~, driving me to facewall till the next episode arrives. How lovely.

    In the meantime, I still can’t brain why they’ve got awesometacular jet-skis but still use friggin WW2 ships when WW1 and 2 never even happened to begin with. Methane hydrate sinking your precious little fishing village after the Russo-Nippon ego annihilation? That I can understand, but what this show gave us for a why does not explain the how that begets the why. You feel me bros? You feel me?

    Man, as much as I find a military conspiracy interesting, all these conceptual problems seem to scream at me to shut up at questioning its internal logic, which relatively speaking is hazier than Girls und Panzer.

    I await my Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, only this time it being about plot flies dropping down to hydrate an Aral Sea of a setting-hole.

    Nishizawa Mihashi
    Reply

    1. Holy cow, I can’t believe it. I’m saltier than the Dead Sea when I wrote down that comment.

      Look I like the show production staff no minna-san. But you gotta stop the audience pandering by not overstuffing the dry dock with characterization mishaps and just make it consistently serious. Remember Nippon, you CAN make a serious show while still having an all moeblob cast y’know? Y’KNOW?

      NE?!

      Nishizawa Mihashi
      Reply

    2. I don’t think even a ‘serious’ show should be serious all the time; without rest, tension gets stretched too thin. In fact, sometimes it’s best to have a stark contrast in the show to make the serious business more effective, and drama is better when built up. Sure, I can understand if you may be sick of high school girls and whatnot in anime, but there’s no reason why Hai-Furi can’t use them to the advantage of its plot—query, yes, but with an open mind. It’s clearly a show of two halves (hence the name), and what it means to do with them is still yet to be revealed in full. In this, and also your questions about the setting, I would advise patience.

      Passerby
      Reply

    3. Yeap, consistently serious ain’t the precise way of putting things, but yes, just don’t overstuff the dry dock that’s all. Remember, I like the show but oh boy do its problems yell back at me.

      Nishizawa Mihashi
      Reply

    4. @Nishizawa Mihashi: I don’t think this needs to be “all serious”, and frankly, I have doubts about this working well as “all serious” given the setup. That being said I agree that there are issues with the show. The bit of world-building we got (it wasn’t that much) helped explain some things (e.g. “water-world”), but it still leaves the questions of why WWII warships decades later – not just Japan, but evidently Germany (entire world?) as well given Graf Spee.

      The technology mishmash doesn’t work well IMO. No planes, but a snazzy I-Pad (and PLEASE do not tell me that the “tracking device” is GPS when there isn’t even a bi-plane around). Even in-universe there are WTF moments with tech. They apparently have modern radar, but it’s the crow’s nest girl, not RADAR, who without even using binoculars, first spots AND immediately IDs Graf Spee from 30km (18mi). I don’t even… IMO another issue is that comedy/serious (not that this is all that serious) integration is not done well. I think that’s part of the issue you may have. IMO, GuP did a much better job with that (even if GuP wasn’t quite as serious as this). Lastly, I agree that the “mutiny” plot in interesting and IMO the main draw for the show.

      daikama
      Reply

      1. Bro, bro, bro, mi hermano daikama amigo, you like totally get me man. Whatchu said is like exactly what I think and feel about the whole show y’know? So much arigatou man, so much arigatou.

        Still, I’m hooked on this show dawg, but just like what I’m about to say for like the third time, don’t overstuff the dry dock. Production no minna-san plis.

        Nishizawa Mihashi
        Reply

  5. This is the post that I’ve been waiting for…

    Few things though –

    https://randomc.net/image/Hai-Furi/Hai-Furi%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2016.jpg
    Regardless what the other forums posts or speculates, her actual full name is Admiral Graf Spee. So it’s no surprise that the lookout ID her as Admiral Spee though Graf Spee is the more recognised name. Anyone caught sight of the signboard that is on her bridge that reads “Coronel”? Seems like a shout out to Admiral Spee’s action at Coronel and Falklands back in WW1 and also Langsdorff express orders to put up the sign of “HALT or I’ll shoot” And no surprise if her home port is Whilemshaven… W207, really? But the pennant 207 has got me thinking. One reader on reddit speculates that each digit represents a ship type and also the nth position of that ship in the navy. I on the other hand, have another speculation. It refers to the USN’s Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) chartsOnly the last number changes according to the pennant number
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Admiral_Scheer_ONI.jpg

    https://randomc.net/image/Hai-Furi/Hai-Furi%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
    I can’t help it but to have this impression that YuriHarekaze was going to do a HMS Glowworm ramming stunt.

    https://randomc.net/image/Hai-Furi/Hai-Furi%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2019.jpg
    This scene… It’s really a shout out to ANY movie out there with SSBNs. Seeing that GuP made plenty of shout outs to war movies of the past, it’s ho surprise that HaiFUri does ot as well. From what we know in movies involving SSBNs, when the 2 keys are used, shit is going to get real. Similarly, the scene where the captain and the XO used the keys suggests that shit will really get going in the series. Any other opinions about this scene anyone?

    https://randomc.net/image/Hai-Furi/Hai-Furi%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2029.jpg
    Another harem member crew joins YuriHarekaze! Welcome aboard!

    About the characters…
    http://imgur.com/411uRod

    But among all the side characters… Assistant Chief Engineer is the best
    https://randomc.net/image/Hai-Furi/Hai-Furi%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2015.jpg
    Yes that tall one

    c2710
    Reply

    1. I don’t think the production staff usually tell the VAs much about the story anyway, save for when they’re suuuuuuuuuuupeeeeeer passionate about their own project 😀

      Nishizawa Mihashi
      Reply

      2. Cue Mark Hamil’s horrified scream of “noooooo!”

        (Mark, the actor of Luke, really was shocked since his script didn’t inform him that Vader is Luke’s father. His surprise was the same as the audience at the first screening of ESB.)

        WellBattle6
        Reply

      3. @WellBattle6

        From what I understand, that’s partially incorrect. (Or maybe this is what you meant?) Apparently the script Lucas gave to the guy in Vader’s suit had another line (“Obi-Wan killed your father”, if memory serves), and only Lucas, the director, and Mark Hamill knew the actual twist. They only told Mark about it a few minutes before he did the scene, though, so he was probably channeling that surprise when he did the line.

        Stilts
        Reply

  7. What Haifuri did a second time here is make me anticipate its next episode. I was hoping this was all just a test their instructor cooked up, but it isn’t. What surprised me too is despite the serious nature of the episode, the BGM(in the first half) and the ship crew’s semi-carefree mood makes me forget their situation is dire. I’m really hoping that distress call isn’t a bait, and nothing serious happens to Moka. I fear they might go the route of best friends fighting each on opposing sides. I’m really liking that girl who acts out exaggerated scenarios (I’ll check her name later). Her covering that girl’s eyes just to keep her from getting scared was pretty funny.

    Zhinvu
    Reply

    1. Well, it could still be some sort of convoluted test, though it’ll be more stupid of a twist the longer this goes. I think the real test of what kind of show Hai-Furi intends to be will be what happens to Moeka.

      Passerby
      Reply

      1. I’m still hoping it’s a training exercise too. Though the fact that their headmaster/principal was informed of the mutiny and she was pretty shocked makes me think it’s all real.

        Zhinvu
        Reply

  12. Much like Kabaneri fills the AoT void, Haifuri looks like the attempted solution to the Kancolle adaptation void. The problems which plagued Kancolle are dealt with exclusively here, including a nonsensical plot, little to no world building, characters defined only by their catch phrase, and a rigid adherence to slice of life (no matter hard Kancolle tried, its seriousness came off as cheesy and naive). Haifuri looks to possess a coherent plot embracing grimdark elements, complemented by background material explaining just what the hell we are seeing. Although the show arguably still has too many characters, at least the central (bridge) ones are receiving slow development and fleshing out. As I said previously, if something can be moe-fied consistently it will be popular, with the degree of popularity determined by the execution. Haifuri for all intents and purposes appears wanting to take advantage of Kancolle’s failure in seizing its potential.

    I am looking forward to see where this show goes, because so far it’s tickled a nerve left dormant since GuP ended. I don’t even like warships (I’m a tank man through and through), but I’ll be damned if the interest is not slowly building here. Warships and moe, who knew it could work this well 😛

    Pancakes
    Reply

    1. I personally didn’t feel much of a KanColle void, in that I didn’t at all felt like I needed more of it, but I see where you’re coming from. Let me nitpick a bit and say that slice-of-life doesn’t preclude seriousness, rigid adherence or otherwise. Life is full of serious obstacles. I think tone-deafness is a separate issue.

      (I’m more of a tank person too, and I see Hai-Furi as more Girls und Panzer than KanColle)

      Passerby
      Reply

  13. I’m calling it now that the all the active enemy warships were turned from semi-automation to fully autonomous after they docked at the training island. Their crews were taken prisoner, and the captains got locked up on the ships. The autonomous control of the ships would explain why the littoral class warship of episode one had slower aiming speed and turret traverse speed than normal as noted by Munetani, and would explain in the after battle scene of episode one why the instructor is the only person on the bridge. The reason why our cast has been declared mutineers, is because Japan’s fleet, in this timeline, was fully converted into a peace fleet after the war, with women running the ships explicitly to show the world that Japan will never use them in an aggressive war. With our cast being declared a rogue ship, Japan will be forced to mobilise it’s fleet into military mode, which could pave the way for its fleet to be used to invade other countries when a new government is formed/takes over/gets elected through vote rigging. This assumes that Japan’s fleet is one of the largest in the world due to its need to adapt from land to sea based life.

    WellBattle6
    Reply

  15. It seems they put quite a bit of thought into the backstory here. One point I haven’t seen mentioned is the comment about flight not being possible without hydrogen or helium which means balloons and blimps only. No aircraft carriers, no planes, no missiles etc. They can argue the landing pad on the modern destroyer was for airships instead of helicopters.

    It will be interesting if they comment on the state of world politics as cutting out the world wars means they can pretty much make up anything they want and it is plausible. For example the US without the world wars would never have the political emergency needed to overturn the policy of isolation and non intervention that governed prior to the world wars.

    Teb
    Reply

    1. The lack of heavier than air flying machines is subtle enough that you don’t notice it until you start looking. Like in the flashback when the camera pans up to the city, there are all of those blimps.

      Longhaul
      Reply

    2. I too would love to see the state of the world at large (as I do for most speculative fiction, really), but unfrotunately I don’t think they’ll spare much time for geopolitics with only one cour. The student they picked up, though, is supposed to be a German exchange student, I think, which may be interesting.

      Passerby
      Reply

    3. If I’m not wrong,

      no heavier-than-air aircraft -> no aircraft carriers -> massive battleships are suddenly relevant again!

      This has potentially huge implications since all combat will occur at sea level, showcasing naval warfare as the Japanese imagined in WW2, without the OPness of naval aviation sinking everything in sight before the Musashi’s gu s can begin their roar.

      RyC
      Reply

      3. @Ted
        Such a statistic, which I’ll take your word for, is not as useful as it may first appear. Ignoring questions about the carrier to submarine ratio, we must remember that the utility of any specific piece of military hardware goes far beyond their ability to sink ships.

        Passerby
        Reply

      4. @RyC: Assuming no anti-ship missiles (which I doubt this show has), then yes though I took “no planes” more in terms of restricting search ability for Harekaze (ties into the “tracking device” being turned off).

        As for “showcasing naval warfare as the Japanese imagined in WW2”, yes and no. Yes in that at the start of WWII, pretty much every navy still thought of BB (battleships) as the “queens of the sea”. CV (aircraft carriers) were very much new tech – untested new tech. The attack on Pearl Harbor (along with some others) showcased what CVs could do, but it was the Battle of Midway which irrefutably established the CV as the new queen of the sea.

        No, however in that within in the IJN, even before the war started there were strong proponents of CV prior to the war, notably Minoru Genda. Admr. Yamamoto called Yamato & Musashi “folly” (per The Reluctant Admiral) – a waste of resources (and those two ships took a LOT of resources to build). Speaking of Yamato-class, the third Yamato-class BB was converted to the CV Shinano. I think one could viably argue that at the start of the war, the IJN was more accepting of the CV as the new “queen of the sea” than the USN and perhaps other nations as well.

        —————————–

        @Teb: If you include merchant vessels, yes. If just “warships”, then I’m not so sure about that. Regardless, while SS certainly made significant contributions for the USN, CV were still the stars.

        —————————–

        @Nishizawa Mihashi: From this Ep. 01 image, I would think there are subs in the show.

        daikama
        Reply

  17. damn you Hai-furi for keeping me on the edge with “what exactly happened on the Graf Spee and the Musashi?”
    anyway it seems more than one teacher is affected…
    btw, captain abandoning post to execute personally SAR mission is complete opposite of captains duty
    XO is only sane woman onboard… how unlucky!

    ewok40k
    Reply

  18. Somehow I can’t get off my head when they start that cute commands back and forth

    Akeno: Tori Kaji Ippai!
    Rin: Tori Kaji Ippai!

    This is a cute-girls-doing-serious-stuff show doing it right. A bit unrealistic compared to real combat situations (Harekaze maybe partly automated but manned by 31 highschool girls? “gagantous”) but a show is a show and the force is high in this one. Tori Kaji Ippai! Omo Kaji Ippai!

    n30nl16ht
    Reply

  19. Im getting madoka vibes on this show… The plot introduction is like aria so I thought is was a healing anime but it turns out it was a war with cute girls being framed for mutiny.

    Jeffers
    Reply

    1. Total crew: 148

      Well that explains why they have room for a bath. They got rid of crew quarters for over a hundred people.

      Anyway, I dunno about the full automation takeover, but I’m pretty convinced there’s a mass mutiny going on. The automation takeover would explain a couple details, but not all of them. On the other hand, convincing that many people to sign up with the New World Government or whatever also seems a bit far-fetched. I do expect our destroyer crew to hook up with the Musashi, though, because a single destroyer against *everyone* will never survive. Having a battleship to tank a few hits, and give you the firepower you need, makes the “them against the world” setup more plausible.

      The way they deal with the crew/cast is problematic. Hibike had a cast twice as large, but managed to focus on bits at a time to help the entire ‘world’ of the show grow. Girls und Panzer had a similar total cast size, but still made each tank crew feel like a solid enough unit that you didn’t get overwhelmed by so many people all at once. Here, things are a lot more scattershot, and it feels poorly done.

      Going to predict an overall grade of a B. Solid design, but weak execution.

      David
      Reply

  21. i think i found the “redline” of this Anime. The reason why they want to sink and silence them..

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Worldwidedepp
    Reply

    1. that also is the reason for…
      Show Spoiler ▼

      Worldwidedepp
      Reply

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