I will be referring to the game a lot, since I am a player of KC. I am though, a bit passive on it tbh. Much like CoC players. (Waiting Simulator; 2015)
Those who are like "Eh, TL:DR", please, ctrl+f the following for the TL:DR review:
- TL:DR Story
- TL:DR Art
- TL:DR Sound
- TL:DR Characters
Anyways, Kantai Collection. Those who know and play Kantai Collection (KC) should know what the characters are like in the game. Each 'ship', so to say, have their own set of lines that they utter during for example, combat, or idling as your secretary. My problem is, how hard the animators tried to incorporate said lines from the game, into the anime. I love it when Kongo screams "Burning Love!!" when firing shells at enemies, IN THE GAME. In the anime however, it feels so horribly out of place. Not to mention how the Kongo class battleships were portrayed in the anime. Gehh.
Jumping ahead, the story. It only really deserves a 6 in my opinion. They try really hard to make the anime as much like the animated game as possible. Those who again, play the game will also wonder how the admiral has certain ships that are a b**** to get in the game. Not to mention, the game once in a while, hosts events that are correlated to actual events that occurred during WW2. TL:DR Story - The anime pulled one of the bigger events from the actual game and animated it. How it looks and feels to those who don't play the game, I'm not sure. But, those who play the game like I do, will probably make little sense of it.
The art gets a nice 7 here. Again, referring back to the game, the characters that portray the different warships are often done by different artists. Even some characters that receive their Kai-ni (Upgrade), sometimes or rather, most of the time get their in-game art changed rather drastically. For example, Hibiki kai receiving her kai-ni to become Verniy. Her art changes. (Not an anime spoiler, chill). Back to the art, it's a refresher for me, to be honest. Coming back to the game to play day after day and seeing the small amount of progress and then comparing it to the mountain of exp you need to remodel them is a pain in the a** really. So getting to watch this anime and see what they did with the characters is a nice breather. TL:DR Art - It's a nice change of pace to players, and personally, I don't have much against it even if I weren't so used to the in-game art.
The sound also gets a 7. The in-game sounds are so repetitive that I just mute it because f*** me if I'm gonna sit through 3-2 grinding with it. Also, in-game music is the same. For the anime though, there are multitudes of different sounds and music that -kind of- bring the anime across to the audience. There are few, if no times where the anime wasn't moving forward. The music enriches and enhances the anime and really helps it move along. At the same time though, there are one or two times where the music didn't help create the atmosphere needed to for example, present a big, bad guy. A lot of cheery bits, really. A LOT, of cheery bits. TL:DR Sound - The anime's music and sounds are a massive change of pace for players of the game, at least that's what I think. If you don't play the game though, it's still really good. One thing I wish they'd add though, the groaning of metal once in a while would be nice, for example, when they're evading, or getting hit.
Characters in this anime, I have to give a 9. It's my biased point of view, and I refuse to change my scoring of it for any reason at all. My reason for giving this anime's characters a 9 is, simply, because I finally get to see the KC girls become animated. I was pretty hyped when they announced the anime was finally going into making. If I were unbiased, and watched this from a point-of-view of someone who hasn't played the game, there really is very little character development at all. The primary characters, sure, get a bit of development but it doesn't really go far at all. I get a sense that this anime was made to satisfy the hunger of KC players who wanted to see their premium ship waifus become animated. I am, sadly, a part of that group. TL:DR Characters - Fantastic to see them become animated, really. My only wish would have to be to give them each a better background and development. Really, some pretty important ships in the game become background characters in the anime. It sucks. (Here's to wishing your favourite waifu is animated.)
I didn't enjoy the anime as much as I wish I could've, so I give it a 7. I'm not exactly saying that it was s*** either. It was fantastic fun to get to watch the girls become animated but at the same time, I was bummed that they didn't have their original art from the game. I understand that it'd be pretty out-of-place if their art styles differed from each other, so I'll leave it at that. One final thing that really kind of gets me in the nerve. The planes that the carriers, aviation cruisers, etc, are piloted by 'fairies'. Google 'Kantai Collection Fairies' for a preview. Their little chibi characters with slits for eyes and are about only as tall as your hand. Back to the fairies. They are the ones that fly the aircraft presumably, because even the PV of the anime showed so. Right about now, you're probably thinking, 'Oh, what a cute little addition they added!'. Then, you see the aerial combat of the anime and watch as the Zeroes and Torpedo Bombers get shot down by those alien things, THEN the realization hits you. I'll leave it to you to imagine what's happening inside those cockpits. TL:DR Enjoyment - Pretty fun, though the anime does sometimes slap you in the face with hidden brutalities the animators stealthily hid this 'cheerful' game adaptation.
Overall, 7. Really. I've not much else to say about it. My point of view on this anime would really differ from those who didn't watch it but then again, there are people who play the game like I do and just give it a straight 10 because it's an adaptation of their 'assumable', favourite game.
