KanColle: Itsuka Ano Umi de

The dawn of a decisive battle nears in Leyte Gulf against the Abyssal Fleet, the mysterious enemies that occupy the sea. As the only ones capable of fighting them, Kanmusu—young girls possessing the souls of warships—reorganize in preparation. The Shiratsuyu-class destroyer Shigure is assigned to the First Striking Force, Third Section—also known as 1YB3H.

Unfortunately for Shigure, 1YB3H consists of the remaining few Kanmusu and serves as a diversionary fleet. Needing to confront the Abyssal Fleet head-on, it may well be their first and final mission together. Even so, Shigure refuses to let the enemy take another comrade from her. As they advance toward Leyte Gulf during this suicidal mission, the members of 1YB3H must support each other and persevere to prove their worth as competent ships.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Shigure Main

Tanibe, Yumi Japanese

Mogami Main

Suzaki, Aya Japanese

Yamashiro Main

Fujita, Saki Japanese

Fusou Main

Fujita, Saki Japanese

Kongou Supporting

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Hibiki Supporting

Suzaki, Aya Japanese

Haruna Supporting

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Yamato Supporting

Taketatsu, Ayana Japanese

Hamakaze Supporting

Komatsu, Mana Japanese

Kitakami Supporting

Ootsubo, Yuka Japanese

Kasahara, Shuuzou Producer

Andou, Keiichi Producer

Miura, Kazuya Director

Imaizumi, Yuuichi Sound Director

Reviews

Jan 3, 2025

kactaplb

Recommended

What makes a show truly good? Is enough to simply have impressive animation, detailed world building, or good pacing?

Before diving into that, let's establish a few basic points. Kancolle 1944 is not a sequel to the original anime or movie. Instead it's set in it's own seperate shared universe. 1944 assumes the viewer has played the browser flash game extensively, is familiar with the entire cast, and has specifically played the Battle of Surigao Strait event. There isn't even a honest attempt to fill in the gaps with exposition or recaps, like so many other shows try to do.

Unfortunately, this approach causes nearly every ... grading criteria to suffer as a result. The story's pacing feels simultaneously rushed and padded, with characters literally repeating each other round robin fashion and at other times skipping entire battle sequences. The animation quality mirrors this, where clever storyboarding hides the obvious lack of animation budget.

So if a show is lacking in almost every area, can it still be considered good?

Yes. The anime succeeds at what it set out to do: serving as the ultimate tribute to the game's most dedicated fans. It is simply incredible how the anime seamlessly included nearly all the game mechanics in a natural way. Everything from the events, battles, night operations, dock repair, modernizations, and so much more. The anime choosing to animate the game's Battle of Surigao Strait event was an excellent choice since it was a milestone in the game's history. The event had an almost anime like quality to the final boss battle, complete with special CGs and voicelines. The anime captured this quality and really nailed the "final blow" mechanic to sink the boss.

The show has a quite depressing tone with a much more historically accurate Japan in the final stages of WW2. Therefore, having Shigure as the protaganist is also the most fitting choice. Her portrayal in the anime, marked by PTSD, symbolic rain voice lines, survivor's guilt, and a lingering sense of hope, mirrors both her in-game counterpart and real life history beautifully. Her character arc aligns perfectly with the show's emotional conclusion. A conclusion that probably doesn't make any sense unless one is familiar with the above.

Kancolle 1944 is undeniably a flawed show. But this was a perfect send off. Thank you Tanaka and C2, for introducing me to over a decade of Kancolle, shipgirls, and WW2 history. Rest in peace, Shigure. I hope to see you again on calmer seas.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Mar 29, 2023

valiantslakr

Mixed Feelings

As an OLD fan of the Kantai Collection/Kancolle franchise who HAS played the original browser game using a bunch of plugins for non-japanese players, and watched the original anime and movie, this anime is just...baffling from every conceivable angle. Kancolle's popularity has long faded since it's golden years of 2014-2015 or so, and Kadokawa never bothered localizing the game officially, nor did they ever think to reinvigorate the franchise with a rebooted game to compete with the likes of Azur Lane and such, so a "season 2" after so many years is so baffling, and the fact that they decided to do a completely reimagined ... setting from the original anime, with a much "darker" tone.

The fact that this tries to "recreate" actual naval battles from WWII that Japan historically lost in, and plays it completely straight with a somber tone despite the ridiculousness of "Shipgirls"/Kanmusu and Fairies is just jarring. Many fans like myself have greatly criticized the original anime doing this, while praising the more cutesy slice of life episodes, which is what any Kancolle anime should have been. YET, this anime doubles down on the dark tone, and with the incredibly boring Shigure as the main character.

Speaking of Shigure, I have no idea why she was chosen as the main character; perhaps she was the director or producer's waifu or something. Her incredibly softspoken demeanor works in a supporting role but is soooo boring as the lead. When Battle-Beaver finally shows up (Yukikaze), it becomes painfully obvious how much better she would have been in the MC role.

Bah, sorry for the ranty review, but TL;DR, the animation is decent, albeit with some awkard looking CGI on some of the abyssal fliers, but story, tone, and characters are completely baffling, and at the end of the day, literally, "Who asked for this?!", on top of the ridiculously long delays.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Feb 10, 2023

SoaringPegasus

Not Recommended

Preliminary (6/8 eps)

Kancolle 1944 is a disappointing show. Despite having only eight episodes, the slow pacing of the show wasted its great potential. The story and setting were bouncing around with a lack of explanation, causing confusion and frustration. Furthermore, the animation was clunky and low-budget, which only added to the disappointment.

In contrast to its colorful prequels, the show was hinted to have a gloomy atmosphere in the trailers, and it did start off with a depressing battle that depicted the dreadfulness of the shipgirls in late (fictional) WW2. The battle was well-executed with great music and atmosphere, but the episodes that followed were a massive let-down. ... The pacing dropped significantly and the show dragged on with filler episodes. I don’t know why the story kept progressing so slowly even though it only has EIGHT episodes. Moreover, the lack of dialogue in these fillers also made the show dull and unexciting.

Furthermore, the show went back and forth with its timeline and setting, making it difficult to follow. In episode four, we were shown that the show took place in the 1940s, but then Shigure had strange memories that came out of nowhere without any explanation. Anyone watching the show without prior experience with the game would be extremely confused.

As a long-term Kancolle player, it is with sadness that I must say this show is not worth watching. I was drawn to the unique theme of a gloomy WW2 anime, but the poor execution really wasted its potential. The only redeeming factor of the anime was the excellent soundtrack. I hope the last two episodes can change my mind, but delays after delays made this season a let down.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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