So, what is the outcome of the battle? Will Akagi meet her fate?
From the looks of it, my predictions were correct. Fubuki and Kangou managed to arrive at the last-minute to rescue them. From the looks of it, the plan the girls put forward was meant to trick the Abyssal since mostly everyone shows up to give them a final blow. Not only that, we finally get to see Nagato and Mutsu in action for the first time after doing things behind the scenes, which is nice.
As for the battle itself, although the CG clashed with the 2D in this battle, it was fun to watch the girls beat the crap out of the enemy ships. While watching the Midway Princess regenerate herself was frustrating because of the HP regeneration on the field, at least the girls managed to defeat her in the end. Overall, I’m glad that none of the girls sank in this battle as the Admiral comes out from hiding.
With that, they have finally announced a sequel? I kind of expected that since the ship girls haven’t defeated the Abyssal for real yet. Not only that, it seems that Fubuki failed to realize that she just defeated Kisaragi who turned into an enemy ship.
Aside from that, the finale was a mixed bag with several things left unaddressed with Taihou’s involvement being superficial at best. That said, I still enjoyed it even though it could have been better.
Final Thoughts
I have to admit that the anime adaptation of Kantai Collection have done a good job getting me interested in the franchise as a whole despite Kadokawa pushing the Vita port back to late August. While there were a lot of enjoyable moments, I felt that they are overshadowed by forced drama. Most of it felt the same with Fubuki getting upset when something unfair happens to her. To me, they should have handled her character development more linearly rather than have the events play out erratically for her.
At the end of the day, while there is some inconsistencies with the pacing, several things not being addressed and Yuudachi’s Kai Ni appearing out of the blue without showing how she got there in the first place, you have to realize that making an Anime adaptation of a story-less browser game is very difficult. Because of that, I can’t be too harsh on that regard. At the same time, it could have been better. Sure, the animation has its issues when 2D and CG is mixed, but I think that this show can learn a thing from The Idolm@ster (especially Cinderella Girls) on how to make a good and enjoyable video game adaptation that doesn’t necessarily have a concrete plot. Hopefully, the production team will listen to the feedback from the fans and address these flaws in the sequel.
Overall Rating: 8.4/10, B, Good
Three OTPs confirmed in the books, Nagato showing the world why she is best woman and why Mutsu loves her so much, and of course Ooi’s “Kitakami love” powered justice.
Poi evolved because she’s Poi.
Yep and I’m surprised that Nagato and Mutsu never got sent out until now. I guess the Admiral wants to save the best for last.
Flaws aside, I still enjoyed the show.
“Not only that, it seems that Fubuki failed to realize that she just defeated Kisaragi who turned into an enemy ship.”
WHAT. The Abyssal has such a setting?
…
Well, I just re-checked the ending and did noticed Kisaragi hair accessory after also re-checking her character design. If this is going to be a thing in the sequel, it’s going to be an interesting dynamic.
It’s a theory since nobody knows how they got a hold of her hair piece, something that they unexplained… To be fair, the browser game does not explain much about the Abyssal except the fact that they are enemies.