And here we get the breather episode
before what will presumably be the climactic set, It’s possible we
might not launch right back into action; at the least, the common
pacing of AL episodes would dictate we have the first half of an
episode to talk things over before getting into more action. All the
same, there was a lot that needed setting up, so we’ll go through how
the show handled those topics.
First and most basically, some
corrections from what we may have assumed at the end of last episode:
Zuikaku and Shoukaku weren’t just saved from impending death, they
actually got away clean thanks to Ayanami’s save so Ayanami is the
only PoW added in.
On Ayanami’s side, most of the episode
is dedicated to introducing her to the Azur Lane and finally forming
a proper friendship with Laffey and Javelin. It’s pleasant times,
showing us around the Azur Lane port and that other ships such as the
Little Beavers and baseball-crazed aircraft carrier Bouge
(mistranslated as “Borg” though she is) are willing and ready to
accept Ayanami, who fought honorably to protect her friends, as a
decent person. She meets up with previous defector Akashi, who is
doing fine despite the rumors and speculation to the contrary in the
Sakura Empire, and ultimately has a good day… which leaves her
questioning whether or not it’s right to keep fighting. We even get
a reprise of her first meeting with Javelin, Laffey, and Unicorn, in
which she introduces herself properly rather than vanishing as a spy.
The Ayanami stuff was needed, and it
was strong, but unavoidably and unfortunately it did take a lot of
time that couldn’t be spent with any of the other plot lines that are
waiting, most notably Enterprise. In my opinion, it is better to do
one thing well and others insufficiently than everything poorly, but
I was left, purely as a viewer, wanting to follow up a little better
with the heavy side of the plot.
What we do get of Enterprise, though,
is quite decent. She’s clearly backslid thanks to her experience
into her aloof, asocial, MRE-eating ways. Illustrious isn’t pleased
with Belfast’s work bringing her around, and Enterprise’s own
uncertainty has only grown. She doesn’t understand the message
Yorktown left her, and now her own allies are afraid of her as well.
Cleveland, formerly kind of a fangirl, is clearly intimidated and
Queen Elizabeth and Hood discuss over a round of golf how the Siren
plot clearly ties back to her.
I actually like the golf scene because
it makes some valid points about the lore that aren’t usually
explicit but could be (and are here) derived in setting. Namely, the
fact that we don’t know what the real game of the Sirens is. If they
wanted to wipe out humanity, they had easier and more direct ways of
doing it. The way they mess with the world indicates they have some
other aim, but not what it is. Only now, in show, the Azur Lane
knows it has something to do with Enterprise. What are they going to
do about it? Stay tuned to find out!
Stay tuned to find out, as well, just
what the Sakura Empire intends to do. Akagi is still gone (though we
know Observer has her, or at least her body saved for something) and
Nagato is questioning whether to push forward with Project Orochi as
Kaga wants or mothball it like Shoukaku wants. The implication is
that she’ll probably side with Shoukaku. Kaga, meanwhile, is being
goaded on by Observer, Akagi(‘s memory) being used as bait to finish
Orochi the same way Amagi was presumably the bait for Akagi. Suffice
to say that if Nagato tries to disable Orochi, Kaga is going to
object with whatever power she’s got.
Also stay tuned for the Ironblood
forces maybe actually doing something. They appear this episode and
agree (after ‘joking’ about toppling the Sakura Empire while it’s
weak and disorganized) that the time to act is at hand. The problem
is we really don’t know anything about where the Ironblood forces fit
in the Siren-mortal dynamic. Supposedly they’re a major faction of
the Red Axis, with the stated goal of using Siren tech to protect
humanity and the secret status of being manipulated by the Sirens.
On the other hand, in game Bismarck rejected the Sirens in the end
and their continued use of the Ironblood was more as pawns than
anything else. In the show, Prinz Eugen has largely just been
trolling Sakura ships, with one notable scene of attempting to turn
Kaga against Akagi – not at all what Siren masters would want. If
the show has a plan for these ladies, I don’t know what it is,
whether they’ll serve as a critical obstacle, the cavalry, or a third
party. At this point the Ironblood forces are setup waiting for a
payoff, with not much hint as to what that payoff is going to be.
Lastly, we have Enterprise’s personal
front. While it was briefer than I would have liked, I did like her
backslide, and admission that she’s lost and confused, indicating
that she has moved from her early appearances (which had the same
undercurrents but utter conviction, leading to her self-destructive
behavior of pushing herself too hard) despite moving backwards in a
lot of ways. I hope more is done with her, and we actually pay off
some of the weird vision side of what she went through and address
what these experiences might mean to her as a person. Short as it
was, a scene where she talks briefly with the also-questioning
Ayanami might be the best in the episode.
Which brings me to looking forward to
the next episodes. Right now, Azur Lane has been cruising largely in
B territory as an action show, but the ending is of course going to
matter. Going into the endgame, though, Azur Lane does have a lot of
irons in the fire. Recruiting Ayanami has to mean something.
Enterprise needs to get a lot of focus to support her specialness
with character depth. Nagato and the orthodox Sakura Empire need to
make a play. Kaga needs to make a play. The Ironblood forces need
to make some kind of play. We need to find out in terms that can be
parsed by humans what the deal with Orochi is. Observer needs to use
Akagi somehow or there was no point in seeing her recovered. And
those are just the big deals! If you go smaller there should be some
payoff for Zuikaku and Unicorn and a bunch of other characters who’ve
had a role that doesn’t quite feel finished.
Is it too many, though? I don’t think
so, but I do think it might be on the border based on the skill the
writing has shown so far. Having fewer topics to address has still
been too much for some shows, but other better written shows have
handled more. Azur Lane, I think, can pull it off as long as the
writers know what they’re getting into and take the proper care.
It might also help that not listed in
the things they need to do is actually win. By addressing Project
Orochi, the status quo in the universe is probably going to shift one
way or another, but I don’t think we actually need an end to the
Siren War or a fully closed story. So that’s a little bit of mercy
there.
We’ll find out soon enough just how
well they manage.
Enterprise “Owari da” Count: 1
(Someone pointed out this should have been a “War never changes”
count. In retrospect, yes, and I might go back and make that
counter.)
Game Lore: https://harperanimereviews.com/how-much-lore-does-it-take-to-justify-cute-ship-girls-a-prelude-to-azur-lane/
Previous Episode: https://harperanimereviews.com/seasonal-selection-azur-lane-episode-8/