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Jan 23, 2019 4:46 AM
#1

Offline
Aug 2012
485
THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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Oh man I can't believe it ends there! I mean sure the US was exposed as more of a Military oppressor than a genuine ally of the world, the cycle of that pretty much met it's end here with literal Nuclear Bombs being the last resort. There is definitely a large dose of Japan patriotism in this though, I mean calling the sub the Yamato? Yeah... At least the Yamato crew had good intentions and instead of defecting to Japan they were going to ally with them and work towards true World Peace. Though really I'm not sure how one single Submarine even with the threat of Nukes (that they don't have) could achieve that. In a real world scenario I would see this turning into WW3 honestly with the US going to war with Japan and while the rest of the world was watching the 'autonomous' Yamato exposing the US' actions and violating the peace treaty it still would unlikely change the views of other superpowers and move us to world peace. If anything it'll just give the likes of China and the Russians a chance to take the US' place. Not like China or Russia looks to kindly on Japan anyway.

Anyway I'm not really sure what I'm talking about anymore haha

Overall I really enjoyed this, there was some great action throughout. Submarine action when done properly has the ability to be insanely tense and this was good with that at times. It definitely seems to be inspired by the Hunt for Red October, though Silent Service wins for being way less cheesy but loses when it comes to silent sonar tension if you get what I mean. This OVA could have done with way more of those moments, but like I said the action we got was really good.

8/10
Dec 11, 2022 8:12 PM
#2

Offline
Sep 2020
672
I really liked this, short & sweet and very thrilling/suspenseful. Shame it ended on a cliffhanger as I was hoping for a real showdown between the 2 sub captains.

The overt Japan patriotism and bastardizing of America didn't bother me, and the philosophical/political stuff was done well. I wish they had shown some of the defectors' families thoughts about it all, I can't tell if they would've been publicly shunned to exile or hailed as heroes.

9/10
"You can't decide the future, but I'm going to re-educate you in the past!" - Erna Kurtz
Sep 27, 2023 6:10 PM
#3

Offline
Aug 2022
498
I wish I could share the enthusiasm of the previous users who posted on this thread, but I simply could not.

At first glance, one may get the impression that The Silent Service is a Japanese anime inspired by The Hunt for the Red October.

For me though, this OVA is less Tom Clancy and more Michael Bay in terms of realism.

This OVA feels more like "The Rock (yes, the one with Nicholas Cage) on a submarine." Unlike that movie though, if you ask me this OVA takes itself way too seriously.

Any student of international relations, geopolitics, and the like will be thrown off by the amount of absurdity that happens in this supposedly grounded series. For starters: Japan allying with what can be considered a fundamentally armed and mobile version of the Principality of Sealand? Nani?! [Facepalm]

The lack of worldbuilding in this OVA hurts it immensely, that it is hard to suspend disbelief on certain political decisions made throughout the series.

Unlike other naval anime such as, say High School Fleet, The Silent Service does not have the benefit of taking place in an alternate reality where all of the events in the series doesn't come across as silly.

It doesn't help matters when characters feel one dimensional. Kaieda comes across as a petulant, rebellious teenager hiding in the veneer of a professional submarine captain who has a massive temper tantrum that risks upsetting world peace just because... America bad? While America ain't no saint, the OVA fails to present a convincing case to general audiences not seduced by the allure of Japanese jingoism (or anti-American sentiments) why Kaieda's cause is worth sympathizing.

The Seabat has so much plot armor that by the end of the OVA, it managed to escape from its pursuers without a single casualty.

If there's one great thing about the OVA, it would have to be the art design for the warships and military equipment. Props to the animators for giving them an authentic feel. Too bad they were wasted on a dumb plot where it took a mere 4 torpedoes to sink a modern day US aircraft carrier. (For comparison, the real life fate of USS America proves that it would take more than 4 torpedoes to bring down an American carrier.)

I would have given this OVA a free pass if it was some schlockfest in the vein of 1980s action flicks by The Cannon Group. But it ain't!

TLDR: Don't let the grounded aspects of this OVA fool you. This OVA is as realistic as the 2012 Battleship movie. If you're still interested to watch this OVA, please temper your expectations, and turn your brain off.
Alpha-NineOct 15, 2023 11:02 AM
It’s time to ditch the text file.
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