Kantai Collection ~KanColle~ – Episode 7 – A Glimmer of Hope

At first, it appeared that Fubuki was on the roll until an unexpected attack caused Kaga to sustain a lot of damage while she protected Zuikaku. As the first mission of the operation nears with no instant heal bucket in sight, what will they do?

From the look of the surprise attack, I don’t blame Fubuki considering that the attack was hard to detect to begin with. Still, I have a feeling that Zuikaku might be showing some feelings for Kaga after she protected her from the attack despite going too far ahead. While she didn’t sink from the attack, the fifth squadron now has one less member for the mission. Fortunately Shoukaku was able to take Kaga’s place so it can proceed. Even so, I still felt sympathetic towards Fubuki for having to deal with an accident that could have been prevented. Still, it’s fortunate that the accident didn’t have a negative effect on Zuikaku as she recalls something that Kaga said while the mission was being carried out.

During the mission, the focus is clearly on Zuikaku and Shoukaku as they launched planes for recon for intelligence. Thanks to the information, Shoukaku was able to get rid of one of the enemies and even disable some of their ships. Unfortunately, they were caught off guard and she got severely damaged by the enemy’s attack.

While it’s heartbreaking for Zuikaku to see her sister possibility sinking from the sustained damage she received, fortunately that didn’t happen. It seems that some of Kaga is finally rubbing on her when Zuikaku remembers what she said about a “small glimmer of hope.” With that, she took her sister into the squall and afterwards, managed to launch some planes. While some got shot down, she managed to land a hit while the other members of the squadron finally came to help them take out the remaining enemy ships. In order words, Kaga’s advice managed to get her out of a dire situation.

While the enemy flagship managed to escape while being severely damaged, I think Zuikaku will finally thank Kaga when she returns. Her advice made it possible for Zuikaku to get out a tight spot while saving her sister. Perhaps from this, the two will finally get along with each other instead of fighting. Aside from that, this mission also shows that the Abyssals aren’t stupid enemies after all given that they seen though part of Fubuki’s plan of leaving two aircraft carrier girls out in the open. Not only that, they were able to catch up to Zuikaku and her sister. Still, I’m glad that the mission was a success even though I was on the edge of my seat after Shoukaku got severely damaged.