High School Fleet

You know, if there’s one title from the top of my head with a misleading promo poster, then High Fleet Girls would be the first title this year to be named. Initially, the series was promoted under the title ‘Hai-furi’ before the revelation that it’s more than just about “cute girls doing cute things”. Much, much more. Before starting the show, I think it’s also important to understand the background and setting of the story. It takes place in an alternate modern world although events from 100 years ago (shift in tectonic plates) has changed much of Japan. The country attempts to preserve territories and establishcostal colonies and cities. The primary focus of the story is about the Blue Mermaids, a group that is tasked to keep the sea safe and is also apparently every female student’s dream job. The series starts off quickly and reveals that a girl named Akeno Misaki (nicknamed “Mike”) with a big dream. She enrolls at an academy known as “Yokosuka Girls' Marine High School” with the goal to join the Blue Mermaids. For the first episode, the show establishes that Akeno and her crew faces unexpected circumstances as they are accused of mutiny. Furthermore, Akeno becomes the captain of the destroyer ship Harekaze. Make no mistake though, the show has a rather serious vibe despite the misleading atmosphere. The crew faces against battleships armed with real firepower capable of destroying them. Furthermore, Akeno is a newbie with lack of experience and tries hard to earn the respect of her crew. In essence, the show makes it clear that it’s no joke and pushes the idea of naval warfare to a level that you may not be prepared for. Among the crew, there is a variety of characters. One thought that crossed my mind is how the show can fit characterization with so many. After all, introducing all the girls at once seems like a mistake because there’s nothing in particular that makes them stand out individually besides the main protagonists. Most of them seems to have generic characteristics as well ranging from being stubborn, class clown, nervousness, etc. It’s also hard to ignore the similarities between this and Girls und Panzer especially with how talent is developed from both series. In some ways, the show does a neat job at making each episode relevant with its premise. In other ways, I have to say that the character cast is perhaps just too big for its own good. Either way, you’ll probably find some characters from the series to be more noticeable than others. Besides Akeno, we have Mashiro Munetani, the deputy captain of Harekaze. Unlike Akeno, she seems more like the serious type that takes everything a bit too straightforward and even has a case of allurophobia. Then, there’s quiet girls like Shima Tateishi with elite gunning skills, Mei Irizaki with her passion to fight, Kouka Nosa with a theoretical mind, and timid Rin Shiretoko with decent steering abilities. They make up the bulk of the characters’ screen time so keep in mind while watching their roles. What I also find insightful about the show is that it divides the Blue Mermaid crew well with division to make each of them unique. For instance, there’s the Bridge of the crew with their central command objectives, the combat unit with their fighting talents, navigation division with their abilities to navigate under any circumstance, engineering department for construct and repair, and Logistics for aid in operations. The point is that the show doesn’t neglect any part of the Blue Mermaid crew and makes each role important to ensure the team’s success. On the downside, there isn’t much concrete characterization. The sheer amount of characters for this one cour show just seems a bit too much and perhaps the most characterization we’ll get is between Akeno’s childhood with her friend. Between the story and the slice of life feeling, High School Fleet feels more like a marine school/military hybrid adventure. The show makes it clear that Blue Mermaid is in danger at times especially when combating other ships (the most prominent one being the infamous Musashi). At other times, it feels like a school floating on water. This is because of the inner storytelling that goes inside the ship with the girls living their dream job. They want to have fun while working so on occasions, there will emerge “breather” episodes to show their lifestyle. At other times, they must be prepared for what’s ahead. That is, one particular part of the story baffles me with the way it’s executed when it involves peculiar experimentations. I’m all in for surprises but that took me by storm, almost like the way that Akeno is taken by her unexpected role. For some, this could drive away viewers from further pursuing the series but for others, it may also spark more interest. In retrospect, High School Fleet is one of those shows that you’ll have to expect the unexpected. It’s an anime original first and produced by TMS Entertainment. For artwork standards, it’s fairly well done in terms of ship designs. This is important because it gives more viewers interest to see how they work. I’m also impressed by the way Harekaze is designed with its 12.7 cm/50 Type 3 naval gun turrets and MK 16 naval guns. The 5"/54 caliber Mark 16 and Mark 37 also looks surprisingly realistic. In terms of character designs, it’s generally moderate with a decent effort and budget poured towards making the girls look adorable and professional. Remember, there are at least 30 girls on just one ship alone! Like most shows that takes almost exclusively at sea, expect fan service with an even inevitable “beach episode”. However, the show itself excels the most at combat choreography. Even the night battles gives a strong impression of what naval warfare about. And in essence, the series knows how to expand its limits to make the fights believable. On the subject of soundtrack, the show is crisp and knows what it’s doing most of the time. This is especially true for the intense battle orchestrated OST that really gets the adrenaline pumping. Character voices are also accurately portrayed to reflect their personalities and expressions. Remember, these girls are practically part of the military so it’s interesting to see how they react under extreme circumstances. The voice mannerism does just that. OP and ED theme songs are catchy as well that gives the marine vibes and cool atmospheric feeling. High School Fleet is like the love child of Girls und Panzer and Kantai Collection. If you’ve seen either series, then you may find yourself quite familiar with this show. Still, as an anime original, the show has its own merits with the storytelling, characters, and overall style. For the majority, the show is perhaps a refreshing idea by taking cute girls and put them on a warship for their adventure. For others, it may be more of a forgettable attempt to revolutionize the female gender role. Still, I’d give this show a try because it’ll be an experience that sails with high spirit.

All hands on deck!!! High School Fleet or Haifuri (which will be what LA will be calling it from now on) is another "girls doing cute things" this Spring 2016 however it's not focusing on misfortune, bread or motorbikes, but naval warfare a la Girls und Panzer. In terms of characters, considering the huge cast, you'd think that the development to these girls are minimal at best and sure that is true as the majority of the characters gets something of a "running gag trait" however considering the screentime and teamwork needed in naval warfare, their screentime is plentiful. The majority of the character focus goes tothe captain, Akeno Misaki voiced by Shiina Natsukawa, the vice captain with bad luck Mashiro Munetani voiced by Lynn, the German stowaway Wilhelmina Friedeburg voiced by Hiromi Igarashi and Misaki's best friend Moeka China voiced by Sora Amamiya. However where the character development goes to are the entire Harukaze's teamwork thus the relational teamwork helps with the naval warfare of this anime. AAAnd if your wandering, LA's favourite characters were a tie between Akeno and Wilhelmina. Now why the naval warfare instead of just naval fair?, this anime actually has a Cerberus syndrome early on as this anime has a mystery element to it making this "girls doing cute things" rather dark and intense but still having the atmosphere of a moe anime. The battles?...is actually the best thing about this anime and reminds LA of Girls und Panzer in this sense, sure the battles that the Harekaze cast isn't off the rails like Girls und Panzer did, but to be honest they were on the borderline of doing utterly insane naval moves, not insane, more "innovative". The animation by Production IMS, is overall above average, from the character designs being "moe" and bright typical of the girls doing cute things anime genre but the battles are pulse pounding and gorgeously animated (sure it has CGI on the naval ships, but the CGI hardly ever irked LA). The voice acting range, well we have mostly "moe" voice actors, ironic due to the contrasting naval warfare, however there are some notable voice actors LA needs to point out, those being Hiromi Igarashi as Wilhelmina, not only because of her shy tsundereness, but her German accenting was rather outstanding, on the other hand we have the impressionist bridgehand navigator Kouko Nosa voiced by Yuuko Kurose as well as the ever-genki Maron Yanagiwara voiced by Natsumi Takamori the chief of the engine room came out as a standout and Natsumi Takamori took out as LA's favourite voice actor in Haifuri because of that. The ending gave a bittersweet yet impactful ending, the final battle was awesome with all regards with a small plot twist making that final battle even better, the yuri undertones helped immensely too. The bittersweet moment of the ending felt like a salute to the Harekaze as a character though. Overall the ending was just great. LA will be quick about the conclusion of Haifuri, if your a fan of Girls und Panzer and want something VERY similar, then watch Haifuri as that is the naval warfare equivalent of Girls und Panzer just with a mystery element to it. If that statement interests you, Haifuri is set to sail for ya!

I love this anime, I love it. This is definitely one of my favorite anime of all time. I have rarely found such kind of enjoyment in anime, I enjoy anime, but this kind is very different. The story is very engaging, looks like the girls mutinied and are being designated as a rogue ship and is being preyed on by multiple ships attempting to neutralize the "threat" they possess, this was some real hype stuff, dunno, I just felt it. It was really fun with the story, but while I found the infection part pretty corny, I still did enjoy it a lot, being aturning point for the story, it was very fun! Art, ok, I get it. The artstyle of these girls are very, very cute. I know that's the point of the anime but it's really adorable. The animation is also top tier, CG girls were used in the anime, but only if you look close enough to notice. For the soundtrack... I can't believe I would have a song stuck in my mind for months!!! Haifuri OP introduced me to TrySail, easily became my favorite girl group or band or whatever you call that. High Free Spirits is very, very, very, catchy. It is too catchy it should be a crime. One of the best openings I've seen and heard. I love Akeno's character, it's so cute, and then when she and her Deputy Officer chilled down, they easily had the best partner feels, and also that torpedo officer and the fire direction officer (sorry I forget names), also that secretary girl, all of them have really fun personalities, I love it. Enjoyment? 10/10 Of course, I really enjoyed this. Overall, if you love military things with cute anime girls, you will definitely love this. If you're in for the plot, you might enjoy this, if you're here for fanservice, or ecchi in a way, there aren't any, but if you're just looking for some lighthearted cute show? I don't think this is the right one, it does have some really hype up scenes and tense moments. But if you're just generally looking for anything to watch, I highly recommend. 10/10

Story: 3/10 The story was all over the place. I thought it was going to be a typical schoolgirl anime with ships and they would go on missions, but then they have to fight a virus?? It felt like they were making it up as the story progressed and they were trying to drag it out. Art: 9/10 I loved the art. It was consistent and the ocean looked very realistic, which was a nice touch. I also liked the designs of the ships, although some of them looked very similar. Sound: 6/10 I liked the opening song and the battle music, but that was it. Character: 3/10 Too many characters. Ifelt like they tried to focus on too many at once. I didn't like Misaki as a main character. She was too indecisive and only cared about saving Moeka. I'll give her a pass, though because it didn't make sense how the school made first-year students the captains of some of the ships. How would the higher-ups know if they're ready to be leaders or not? It's obvious that she wasn't fit to be captain of the Harekaze. Enjoyment: 5/10 I only enjoyed the action scenes. Overall: 5/10 It was okay. That's all I can say. The anime tried too hard to be a moe and action anime at the same time and it didn't really work. Honestly, I would've liked it more if they focused solely on the action. There's also some drama that I wished could've been more explored upon, but it's either quickly resolved or never developed. For example, there are a few students that questioned Misaki's leadership and there were times where I seriously thought they were gonna mutiny. That would've made the anime so much better. But they didn't and that's disappointing. I would recommend this to people who like action as long as you ignore the stupid parts of the anime.

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