Zipang

I would have never watched this if my internet hadn't had some connection issues. To my huge surprise from the very first episode it already caught my interest and I ended up watching 7 episodes without a break.

I personally want to give title "Cliffhanger" to this anime. Like 90% of the episodes ended up with a cliffhanger... Don't get me wrong, I actually loved this. I kind of regret it aired before I started watching anime, because this anime had enormously huge variety of topics to discuss. Every episode was very different from the previous one and many turnarounds happened. I was sometimes even confused ... so who's right and who's wrong, who's the ally and who's the enemy... Great mind games (not as great as Code Geass and Death note tho) were played during the episodes and it was almost impossible to predict what will be their next move.

Basically this anime starts with 21st century's battle ship leaving the port for some training exercises and encountering some sort of anomaly that sends them back in time to 1942 year (60 years ago). This was the time when Japan were in a war against USA. The next 26 episodes of this anime is how the whole crew struggles to avoid any contact with the people from those years so that they wouldn't change the history.

However, can you actually avoid everyone when you are in the middle of a war? Obviously not...you need food, fuel and other things to survive... and this is were the fun begins... The battle ship from 21st century has such advanced weapons that are enough to destroy the whole USA army (it's realistic, in 60 years weapons do advance that much). Moreover, they know the whole history of this war. In other words they know every movement of both Japan's and USA's armies and what were the turning points of war and just basically they were overpowered. However, they didn't want to participate in this war at all, this was not their war, so this what makes the anime so great... Just how they try to avoid any minimal contact with anyone and what happens when they finally get spotted by both Americans and Japanese people...

The realism of this show was incredible if you don't think about this "time travelling thing". Zipang did a good job portraying the moral issues and how they were dealt with within the crew and their opponents/allies. However, those 26 episodes weren't enough to finish the series. They ended up on another big cliffhanger. Of course, there is manga, but... the disappointment of not having a sequel is huge.

If you were the captain of a highly advanced Japanese warship sent back in time to the Second World War, would you change history to bring victory to your people, or would you do everything to preserve the way of life you knew in the 21st century? The crew of the Mirai are torn, as they grapple with this very question, watching the legendary Yamato slink by them in the fog. "Zipang" is less about time travel and altering history, than it is about accepting the reality around you. While many hold out hope for a return to the "present", many others ... decide that they have no choice but to make the best of their situation, even if that means serving an emperor-worshiping dictatorship. The true drama comes from those characters who try to straddle the line between those extremes, finding that neutrality is a difficult position in history's most devastating total war.

In-between well executed naval battles (who doesn't want to see a modern Japanese warship take out several waves of American fighter planes, followed by their aircraft carrier?) you'll be entertained by the machinations of the Imperial army and navy, as they try to figure out what the Mirai is, and what its mandate is. Is it a secret project of a rival country? Something from another branch of the Imperial military? Seeing 1940s-era warriors (many of them historical figures) grapple with such concepts as guided missles is both amusing and moving. Indeed, these weapons seem like godlike miracles from a fantasy world, and I'm sure we'd be similarly baffled by future technology from the year 2100.

While I can tolerate the merely adequate art, I ultimately found the story the most disappointing, specifically towards the end of the series. I felt a lot of questions were left unanswered (in a rather typical "life goes on" sort of way). There was little hint left as to what would happen, leaving the feeling that the series simply ran out of money and just opted to roll credits and pack up.

Ultimately, this is an anime designed for war geeks, although anyone with an appreciation for history will be intrigued by the moral issues dealt with by the cast, a group of characters who are interesting in their own right, but largely serve to fill the roles made by the historical debate. It is a solid concept that carries this series, though I imagine in more capable hands, this could have been a masterpiece.

A modern naval destryoer from Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force is sent back in time via some sort of quantum anomaly to the battle of Midway. For 26 episodes they struggle with where their loyalty lies, do their best to protect themselves without killing anyone and without doing anything that would change history.

The contrast between modern Japan and that of the 1940's is stunning. It is a critical look Japan's militaristic government at the time, at war in general, and at hard moral questions.

Although I feel the facial character designs could have been a little more realistic, they were refreshing ... in that they didn't try to make everyone beautiful. The technical drawings of the ships, planes, uniforms, and weaponry is extraordinary. There were have bound to have been errors, but I didn't notice anything glaring.

Its thoughtfulness and realism isn't for everyone but it is one of my all time favorites. One word of warning, the final episode does not tie things up with a bow but leaves you wondering. There is a manga but I haven't taken the time to track it down.

This review will include some spoilers about the 1st few episodes in order to make a constructive criticism of the story and the characters. I precise that i have not read the manga.

Story:

This anime is the japanese counterpart of The Final Countdown movie, instead of an American battleship sent into WWII, this time a Japanese ultra modern cruiser, the Mirai, is transported to the battle of Midway.
The 1st turning point is the decision of the crew is to save the life of a Japanese officer, the Lt Kusaka who had drowned in the actual timeline.
The anime then focus on the survival of ... the crew of the ship, since the crew obviously need supply and quickly begun to rise a crucial question: what do the crew of the Mirai should do?
Should it avoid to alter the time line of this universe? Should it stay fidel to the Japan?Should it save as many live as possible, and how, should it fasten the end of the war or prevent any more casualties?
And what Kusaka will do after discovering the fate of the Japan?
We have at first a lot of question raised, and the anime seemed gave us a very encouraging start
However the anime just seemed to delay the answer and only partially skimmed over those questions during the whole time, much to my regret. The second part of the anime especially seemed lackluster whereas there is no proper ending given to the anime, since the manga is much longer than the anime.
Also one of my regret is that "Zipang" skipped the crimes of war committed by the Japanese imperial army whereas it was a major aspect of WWII and it definitely could have been interesting to confront the current Japanese identity and its' past one.

Art: the art was rather OK, especially considering the time this anime was released, the style of the character is rather serious which fit with the tone of the anime through they somewhat look similar, the sea and the imperial navy are really well depicted. The animation was also a good point of the anime and the people passionated by the war of the pacific will enjoy the battle scenes.

Soundtrack: I admit i don't have clear memory of the OST since i've watched this anime quite a long time ago, but the Mirai battle theme is among my favorite anime OST and definitely fit with a particular scene making it really epic.

Characters: The weak point of the story, just like the story they have a rather superficial development which could have been much better. The crew of the Mirai always seems to be without strong personality and their decisions are often childish and lacks proper reflexion from the beginning to the end. Some historical characters are introduced, Isoroku Yamamoto especially which is by far the most interesting character with the lt Kusaka.

To conclude, as a friend of mine said, this anime could really have been a masterpiece, but actually failed to be one primarily because the lack of depth of the anime. While not a bad anime it is just a rather average one and could deserve the curiosity of the watcher since the topic is quite an original one.

Summary:

The story begins as Mirai, a newly constructed improved Kongou class missile destroyer and one of the most advanced ships of the Japanese Self-Defence Force, and its crew of more than 200 people departs from Yokohoma Base to Pearl Harbor. However, a strange phenomenon occurs as they are on their way to the Pearl Harbor and the crew becomes shocked when they see Yamato, the strongest ship of Imperial Japanese Navy from WW2, and other WW2 ships like Nagato,Akagi etc. They realize that they are no longer in post-war Japan of 21st century and they are sent to 1942— to the middle of Battle of ... Midway no less! So begins their struggle to survive in an era and country that completely foreign to them.

Story (9/10):

The story is the strongest point of Zipang. It is unique and enthralling. First of all let me warn you about one thing. Although nearly all of the series takes place in warships and battlefields, battle scenes are really few albeit satisfying. So if you are expecting battles and bloodshed, Zipang is not anime for you. Story is about the crew of Mirai struggling to get out of this era and searching for a way to survive while not intervening in the war to not alter the history. Yet, it is of course impossible for them to survive without supplies and fuel for their ship and not to be noticed as a strange ship that isn’t ought to exist in WW2 era.

Since the crew of Mirai are the officers of the Self-Defence Force, they basically have never seen war let alone killing someone. The were trained to save lives— not taking them. And they desperately try to do the thing they were trained for while fearing that their actions may change the future and make the future they have come from non-existent. This contradictory feelings and actions are what makes Zipang beautiful. They want to save people, yet who are they going to save? The Japanese soldiers who follows the orders of the military government? Any people they can save? Will the history they know change if they save them? Different people will give different answers to this questions according to their ideals and situation.

spoiler:

The only thing I didn’t like in the story is that it doesn’t end with a clear ending. A lot of things are left unanswered, and nearly nothing in the plot got concluded .

Art (5/10):

The art is the weakest point of Zipang. Characters look really similar. The ships and sea was beautifully drawn but the anime emphasizes the characters and their psychology and not the ships. If it was a show concentrated on naval battles, I would give no less than 8. Yet it is not.

Zipang as it is a historic and realistic anime, doesn’t have the usual colourful hair,eyes and big eyes from the usual anime shows.

Characters (6/10):

Although the crew’s situation and their decisions are really impressive, there are no person that stands out on his own. Kadomatsu Yosuke can be called as protagonist somewhat but even he is very forgettable. The only main character I like is Kusaka because he is a really shrewd opponent and his ideals which are too different from of Kadomatsu’s makes the characters do heating debates. Apart from main characters there are a lot of historic characters like Isoroku Yamamoto or Ishiwara Kanji. I personally liked the historical characters more than main characters (except Kusaka).

Sound (6/10):

Not bad, yet not impressive either. It doesn’t make you feel heated up in battle scenes, or sorrowful in tragic moments.

Enjoyment (8/10):

I finished the anime in a week and never got bored. Each episode makes you curious about what they are going to do next. And historical side-characters who makes great effects on the storyline comes one after another.

Overall (7/10):

Zipang is a good anime and I recommend you to watch it. The story was great except the thing I said in the spoiler above. However, I think it could have been done far more better. I give a 7/10 to Zipang.

This original little work offers up an alternate history of events from World War II when modern members of the Japanese SDF find themselves time traveling back to the time period aboard their military's latest destroyer ship, the Mirai. The modern warship's presence in World War II Japan brings about some interesting subjects to explore with the time travel plot device. The members of the Mirai's crew find themselves at odds at points over how much they should intervene in the major naval battles fought between Japanese and American forces as their involvement effects future events in their present timeline, as well as having their ... moral beliefs challenged as they come at odds with the wartime mentality commonplace with many Japanese soldiers during the war while the SDF's organization is primarily self-defense in modern Japan. The show also explores what one would desire if they came to know of all the major events that shaped their country in the future shown through Kusaka's knowledge of such events when he is brought aboard the Mirai in the earlier episodes of the series and whose actions put him at odds with the ship's commander Kadomatsu, as well as tensions rising between the Mirai crew and prominent members of the Japanese military due to the knowledge and advanced technologies that the ship and its crew have on them.

The series is quite believable in focusing on key details of Showa era Japan and the events faced by Japan's navy during the time period in World War II showing some prominent military and political figures, famous Japanese battle ships, the technologies employed and some of the major battles fought in 1942. It shows as much believability as well in showing off the modern weaponry and technological advances that the Mirai have on them.

The visual presentation to Zipang is a bit of a mixed bag. It offers up some good-looking CG rendered shots of various naval ships and planes though they stick out quite prominently from the regular animation seen within the series. The character designs are a bit below par in quality for a mid 2000s anime as details on them were a bit plain, simple and rough. On the plus end, scenery shots are vast with good details and believable in showing the prominent features of Showa era Japan, as well as having moments of fluid movement in battle scenes coming from missiles being fired and having planes engage enemy ships.

The series does suffer from a couple minor flaws. Zipang isn't too character-driven as the most focus given to the crew of the Mirai comes from Kadomatsu as he adapts to and understands the condition of Japan in World War II, as well as deal with Kusaka's motives. It also lacks a proper ending as some major events with Kadomatsu and the Mirai crew are left hanging in the show's final episode.

Still though, Zipang did do well in engaging me with its original look into a "what if" scenario if the modern crew of a Japanese naval ship were to enter World War II and handling the various historical and moral complications faced by the crew of the Mirai and the Japanese military of the time period. It's worth a look if you wish to learn more of Japan's history within the Showa era and World War II, with a small dose of time travel thrown in the mix.

If you were to travel back in time and get a chance to change history, would you do it? Would you abuse your superior technology and help your nation, or would you try to save lives?
These are just some of the question crew aboard Mirai cruiser come up with after they're sent (through never explained anomaly) back in time to WW2.

Story [9]:
-> Perfect, unique and intriguing. What I liked the most is that the story isn't only centered on the crew of Mirai, it also shows how that small cruiser affects the lives of others, how it affects the course of war. Lots of sudden ... plot twists and events in this show. Really good. Strongest part of the show.

Art [6]:
-> Just as story is the strongest, art is weakest point in the show. Blocky faces make characters often very hard to recognize, and that's not good. However, beyond that lies beautiful art of both sea and sky. If you can get past really not so well drawn faces, there lies a sea of beautiful screenshots.

Sound [7]:
-> I could go on and on about story and art, but sound is quite a mystery. It's almost unnoticed. Things happening on the screen make sound really secondary, and unfortunately, sometimes during emotional scenes, where sound should "carry" events happening, you won't even notice it's there. Pity, because when you actually decide to listen it, it's great. Bad directing I guess.

Character [7]:
-> Could have been done way better. They're sometimes well explained, but past the two "main" characters nobody gets almost any development. Mark here would have been even worse if not for the variety of characters appearing. They're numerous and act different and "real", and kudos for that, but development is again, almost non existent.

Enjoyment [8]:
-> Most of the time the premise of the show is enough to carry this show really high and make it enjoyable, but sometimes there's nothing happening for a while, and those parts were boring, TO ME! This category is subjective.

Overall [7]:
-> Really fine and quite interesting show which lacked in some areas, but did very well in others. Unfortunately ending left a lot to be desired, but that's not so bad. 7 for this show is just. I can't really recommend this show to everyone, but I can say I'm not sorry I watched it, if for nothing else than for its story.

In the 21st Century Mirai, a JSDF naval destroyer embarks on its training drill in the Pacific Ocean alongside other escort ships only to be swept up into the chaos of a storm. As the escorting ships disappear among the mist caused by the storm, the crew of Mirai discover they have been sent into the the Battle of Midway in 1942. Concerned with not interfering with the path of history, the Mirai crew maintain passive in the battles until Kadomatsu, Yosuke tries to save an Imperial Japanese Lieutenant Kusaka, Takumi and makes the riskiest decision of sharing classified information to Kusaka unintentionally changing history. ...

Story: 6/10
Although the story ends without a proper ending like the Manga, the world of Zipang is large and very detailed. It highlights many different historic figures and locations of interest during World War II. However, the story progress occurs repetitively where the crew of Mirai underestimate how people during World War II would respond to their 21st century destroyer. In the story, Mirai constantly keeps a passive stance which results in several casualties and damages of their own crew and ship - where the general consensus was to ensure safety to the crew. Also, at this point the general consensus was to prevent meddling into historic affairs yet the MC Kadomatsu went ahead and shared historic information with an axis lieutenant and let him walk free despite explicitly saying he'd need to stay on board Mirai. There are many plot holes or change of focus such as preventing historic meddling or ensuring crew safety which makes Mirai's logic redundant. As this occurred the story lost touch and spiraled into a chaotic domino effect as soon as Kusaka left the Mirai. The story is pretty interesting but it was logically challenging.

Art & Sound: 6/10
2004 art style was pretty detailed and surprisingly had nice CGI aircraft and battleship models. The animation wasn't fully there but it's to be expected of an ancient relic of a show. It still somewhat rivals current day equivalent in visuals such as GATE or Outbreak Company.

Sound was ok, I couldn't help but notice the suspenseful music play every time MC gets involved with Kusaka, it's like a foreshadow of him being a ticking time bomb risking everything to prevent war - even spilling historic and military secrets to convince the superiors.

Character: 6/10
The Mirai characters had realistic personalities as people from the 21st century, they have logical approaches but it doesn't help them on board a powerful ship in the middle of war. They are intentionally risky which leads to their demise especially MC Kodamatsu who, in order to develop the plot went against his crew to release an Imperial Japanese soldier back into Imperial Japan. The characters from the historic world are all arrogant, an intentional development as they are all in the midst of a dangerous war. This makes their personalities shallow because we know that they will call all Mirai's attacks bluffs and suffer in the end.

Overall: 6/10
I wish for the series to get a remaster. Watching it in 2021, it does have a sense of nostalgia in terms of tech and historical elements. If this were to get a remaster it could have a better chance at development. Zipang's ending hasn't been adapted but it is a controversial topic if adapted in the current day. The story and characters were pretty basic in development but the visuals was probably the main attraction of the show.

This is an OP MC Isekai in ship form, perfect for WWII enthusiasts.

A modern JSDF guided missile destroyer gets transported back in time smack in the middle of the Imperial Japanese fleet during the battle of Midway and staring down the battleship Yamato. Though it was just a "measly" destroyer, its modern technology could wipe out the WWII Japanese and American Navy combined.

The story is interesting enough with lots of cliffhangers at the end of episodes. Are the JSDF pacifists, not wanting to kill wantonly and trying to avoid the butterfly effect? Or will they aid Imperial Japan to win the war? Or will we ... see a headline of "lone modern destroyer destroys entire US-Japanese WWII fleet by itself"?

The art is not so great character-wise, but the accuracy and detail on all WWII era ships, planes, and submarines are through the roof.

Characters are emotionally black or white, not much grey area characters as you would expect of such a complicated and convoluted situation.

This blew my mind when I first saw it, as I haven't seen anything like this before, but I give it an absolute ceiling of 8/10.

If you had the ability to go back in time in era where the world was on the brink and entire populations dying would you go back in time to prevent that from occurring even if it means that the future that came after it could be erased forever? That is just one of the Dilemma the crew of the Mirai must tackle in this time-travel/Military Story.

It has been awhile since i wrote a review for anything but since this series left a bit of an impression on me and is extremely under the radar i thought i might give some insight so that others ... might check it out.

So to give a basis of the story, the story focuses on the crew of the Mirai the Japanese naval force newest and most advanced military vessel and as they were conducted a naval training excersize they encountered and anomaly that displaced the crew to travel back in time by almost 60 years into the middle of the Battle of Midway during World war II and along the way rescue a naval officer who should of perished in that battle and thus a series of events unfold that begins to change the course of history.

Well that is the basic premise, i have to say thought it is an interesting take on the genre and whoever wrote this, knew what he was writing as there is a lot of historical detail despite this being and alternate timeline and the fact that focus on heavily on military and political ethics. The thing i find most fascinating is the writers ability to remain quite impartial as to who is in the right and wrong, there is no clear definition and every individual encountered has there own ideas and goals but there characters are well constructed that you can sympathise with each individuals position and decisions so you can just about root for anyone.

The Military combat action is well done and is the military and political dialogue. The Animation is very good it may be somewhat outdated as this was released nearly 15 years ago but not that much and can still hold on its own. The soundtrack is somewhat weak as there is not much of a diverse amount different tracks but it is fine with what was shown. The Sub dialogue is in tune the Dub is somewhat of a mix bag. The Dub has a lot of dialogue that is more in line with what an American solider would sound like or talk and that might be somewhat off putting to hear a Japanese naval officer speaking in heavy southern american accent, it is aright once you get used to it but i recommend the sub for more authenticity.

Overall this is a great series to watch , especially for someone who has an interest in Military, Naval and Time Travel conflicts and i would recommend just about anyone to give this a try. Keep in mind is that while there is plenty of action the story is also somewhat slow paced and dialogue heavy which is fine if you like that sort of thing but if there are people who might find that a bit boring i would not sit this one trough. Give it a try, it is an almost forgotten classic that should receive a bit more attention. :)

Who are your enemies? Who are your friends? What does it mean to be at war? How much is one life worth? What would you do if you could change the past? War & Fighting are a genre that anime are a euphemism for entertainment. That was not the case here.

Zipang is a show that brims with both regret and hope. It's a historical-fiction/action anime; one of the rare few that tackles real-world history.
While there are plenty of tense, thrilling moments make no mistake: actions have consequences.

Much of Zipang is spent answering the aforementioned questions. A crew of a Japanese (SDF) cruiser from ... around the year 2000 finds themselves adrift back in the 1940's during World War II w/ highly advanced technology and armament. How do they survive?

I personally enjoyed Zipang, because, while slow-moving it is not a show in which the protagonists are in a position to judge their actions carelessly. Zipang is a show that leads up to a climax of tough decisions.

On another hand Zipang is a critique of the state of military affairs between Japan & the United States during World War II. Zipang reflects on the attitudes, mentalities, capabilities and the capacities for both benevolence and malevolence.

For those of you that enjoy WWII, alternate history, and maybe some military action, this is a decent anime. The biggest drawback is the fact it was never finished, they just dropped it on a cliff hanger, forcing you to read the manga.

It's an anime about individuals from the Japanese navy that, for unknown reasons, randomly went back in time during the WWII era. Upon trying to be neutral to avoid changing history, the inevitable happens that escalates to them getting in battle. They rescue a man who was very cooperative and kind, but it was decided to allow him to read history books ... that essentially predict the future. Upon doing so, he was inspired to create a new future, a new Japan, which the rest of the crew had mixed feelings about. The rest of the show's drama revolves around that and it's incredibly interesting for it.

It's a shame too, because it was really good, but it ends on a nasty cliff hanger that will never be satisfied without research.

Zipang takes a more realistic look at how a modern military ship from our time would interact with a period in time where the world was fighting itself. We watch as Mirai's crew tries to alter history, and as they scavenge for food. While some parts are off, or inaccurate, it manages to overall potray a lifelike scenario. The characters themselves can be bland, and at times, uninteresting, but its not over the top. Theres no big eyed anime girls to be found, or SDF worshipping like GATE, but rather an actual scenario that could be expected.
Overall, it can be boring at times, but it ... hits just right.

I watched it for the war type battle scenes. Although there weren't many (for a 26 ep series), they were well done and accurate. As one who watched military docudrama growing up, I've seen a few dogfights and bombing flights. Zipang does a good job depicting the ships and planes in combat. I watched subtitled version and did kinda give up on story after a while. It was pretty good from what I did see, but subtitles lost me. Maybe I would score dub version higher, but it was too expensive and this collection was alot cheaper. I was afraid it would get boring and ... it did. Boredom is boredom in any language. Animation quality was good and characters were good and easy to like. Most military fans might like this one, otherwise I don't think the FullMetal Alchemist or Sailor Moon crowd will like this one.

Basically the movie Final Countdown but in anime and worse. Just like final countdown it's just bullshit propaganda. The anime talks about a 21st century's JSDF destroyer leaving the port for training exercises and encountering some sort of anomaly that sends them back in time to 1942 year (Yes it's a copy of the final countdown but the author didn't give the movie any credits). This was when WW2 is still on the way. when Japan were in a war against USA. Some people start saying some bullshit that the single destroyer could change the course of the war which is dumb. Only idiots ... that know jack shit about military strategy and logistics will say that. If you want to know more check out this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=474RR1ETgyk (and if a supercarrier group struggles to do so, you could imagine what kind of weed this author is smoking thinking that the single aegis destroyer could do much impact).