Azur Lane Episode 4 Discussion

Hatsuyuki said:


Answers.. ? Answers to what. There is barely anything explained and nothing makes sense from the perspective of an anime only watcher. I have no idea who these characters are, no idea what they're talking about most of the time as it was never properly explained, no idea what the Black Box is supposed to be, no idea what the series is building towards at all ? Frankly if not for the character design and passable animation there would honestly be nothing of value here.

And no, please don't give me the stupid argument "wElL yOu ShOuLd PlAy ThE gAmE iF u WaNt tO UnDeRsTaNd"
A piece of entertainment shouldn't cater to a single specific audience, especially when it switches mediums. Take superhero movies for example, I never read comics but I still understand what they're about and can get invested in them, because they're executed well unlike Azur Lane.

Gorochu said:
Finally get to see Takao. Too bad no Atago. Was Sheffy always this badass in the game? I rarely use her. Might try using her in the game after this.

Rivaled by very few in the field of damage reduction buffs, Sheffield's defensive skill can greatly extend the survivability of almost any given vanguard, especially DD ones (provided she's placed in the middle and her HP has been raised above those she is meant to protect); and she'll do it while still being capable of packing a serious, if swingy, punch.

Hatsuyuki said:
Answers.. ? Answers to what. There is barely anything explained and nothing makes sense from the perspective of an anime only watcher. I have no idea who these characters are, no idea what they're talking about most of the time as it was never properly explained, no idea what the Black Box is supposed to be, no idea what the series is building towards at all ? Frankly if not for the character design and passable animation there would honestly be nothing of value here.

Daemon said:


There's not really much to explain about the characters outside of what the anime showed you. If you want to know more about them, you're better off reading a naval history book or looking them up on wikipedia, because even the source game kind of assumes you already know a bit about these ships and their backstories, otherwise some things they say and do will not have much of an impact. I said in one of the threads before the anime was even aired that the anime would undoubtedly introduce a lot of new characters and barely explain anything about them, and that a familiarity with WWII naval history would be a big help for anyone wanting to watch this anime.

I agree that this anime could do a better job of explaining things, though. The Wisdom Cubes have not been explained at all, and it wouldn't hurt to put in some backstory for some of the important characters like Enterprise, Belfast, Akagi, etc. instead of just assuming that the viewer is already familiar with their service records.

thedestinedblade said:
I never realized Akashi was that cute. After almost being killed, I guess it makes sense for her to defect to Azur Lane.

firemagnet said:
In my honest opinion, this episode gave Azur Lane the footing it needed to actually be something more than a pure fanservice show.

Prior to this episode, Azur Lane's episodes had a particular flow: introduce enough characters with in-game lines to fill up time and construct the minimum amount of logic needed to have something resembling a watchable show, pack in a few fanservice bits here and there, and then stuff all those characters into a big battle with combat more befitting servants like Saber from the Nasuverse than actual ships.

This sort of episode construction, all but un-linked from any sort of cohesive world-building, character definition, or overarching narrative made Azur lane pure fan-service, and decisively inferior to Kantai Collection the Animation in every respect but sheer number of characters. For comparison, by episode 3 Kantai Collection the Animation had chosen to focus on a specific group of characters and had fleshed out their personalities and motivations. It also placed these characters within a cohesive narrative structured around Fubuki's heroic journey that took place in a world which did due homage to the source material, and integrated the game mechanics in a believable fashion. It goes without saying that Azur Lane the Animation had done none of this by the same point.

Episode 4 of Azur Lane thus brought in much needed depth, to say the least. Where characters, particularly those of the "Crimson Axis," had been little better than cardboard cutouts, this latest episode took the time to begin putting real flesh on the bones of the personalities of the characters first laid out by the game;

Enterprise clearly puts service before self to her own detriment, being a model soldier in every respect. We knew this before this latest episode, but we at least begin to learn her preferences.

Belfast becomes more than just a generic maid, and gains a bit of depth through her very logical quest to shore up Enterprise's sorely-lacking mental and physical self-care. Her reason for doing so is obvious: Enterprise is a tautly-wound bow, and one liable to snap under real stress in combat when the going gets tough.

Akagi and Kaga both become a bit more believable as characters, articulating why they fight, expressing personal reservations. They thereby begin their transition away from being mustache-twirling villian-of-the-week-style cardboard-cutouts. Akagi in particular is bound to a Faustian pact with the otherworldly observer, though her reason for doing so hasn't yet been explained well enough.

The real star of this episode where character is concerned, however, is Takao; Her personality clearly evolves from the taciturn soldier of the game into a capable warrior who also serves as an able mentor to those junior to her.

Each of these represents a well overdue addition to Azur Lane's world-building and character building, and at least puts in on something resembling a level footing with Kantai Collection the Animation.


Sadly, it seems Bibury can do fan-service and good animation or actual plot, but not both at once. The animation suffered heavily in this episode, with notable and jarring errors present throughout. Character angling and position was off on some flat surfaces, and scenes were taken from odd angles, resulting in warped facial features. Scene transitions did not flow logically, and in some cases entire sets of frames seemed to be missing, as was most notable in Takao's duel with Sheffield, as well as one particular scene where Akagi and Kaga spoke but their mouths didn't move.

However the most jarring animation error in the entire episode goes to the flatly unforgivable belly-pan for Observer, where her anatomy and proportions visibly distorted as the camera panned upwards. While I suspect the director wanted to impart a sense of being otherworldly and repulsive to Observer, it most certainly didn't come out the way they intended.

This isn't the first time the anime has struggled with animation quality control, but it was certainly the most noticeable, easily surpassing even the worst of Kantai Collection's legendarily bad animation mistakes, and competing with "my sister, my writer" for the cup-holder in the category of inexplicably bad animation mistakes.

Despite this, episode four put Azur lane firmly on my radar, and I'll keep watching it.

owarida6 said:


To be fair - we don't know what the *black box* is either, aside from it clearly being some sort of hybrid of the wisdom cube and siren technology. That's a new thing for the anime. I also have to assume that to learn what it is we might have to - and this may be shocking - watch more episodes

Rolexin_Timex said:
Wasn’t just one person doing the animation because of the typhoon for episode 4?

firemagnet said:


Allegedly because of the typhoon. And I say allegedly because there have been noticeable drops in art quality throughout the series thus far. The shifts in art quality also don't make sufficient sense to be explained solely by the typhoon causing a reduction in staff, because if we look at Bibury's previous work Grisaia: Phantom Trigger, the art quality is head and shoulders above that of Azur Lane's, and approaches the quality standards set by Troyca and UFOtable.

Until I see definite proof otherwise, I'm going to chalk what's going on down to sheer incompetence of storyboard and art direction.

Ckan said:

A movie, some two years in the making, in comparison with a TV anime? Seems about right.

firemagnet said:


We can make that comparison, actually, since that level of quality control is achievable. Take a look a Space Battleship Yamato 2199, for instance.