I have been playing Azur Lane for 2 months and I am hooked! (A Review from a guy who rarely play Mobile Games)

Let me tell you something about Mobile games that I am not fond of it. I am not a fan of it 'cause of the horrible micro-transactions, the waiting time for stamina to recharge and the grinding which can make a person go insane.

The next thing was I love Kantai Collection aka Kancolle for their characters and world building however Kadokawa (The company behind Kancolle) has a very narrow mindset of Kancolle since it started off as a Japan Exclusive browser game (unless you used VPN) and an arcade game by Sega that will probably never get a home release. (I played that game in their Sega Arcade centre and it was pretty fun) Furthermore after the animated movie was released, no news of any media of Kancolle was announced, leaving a lot of fans disappointed and leaving the franchise.

I wasn't really that hard up about Kancolle but disappointed on Kadokawa of not advancing the series outside and inside Japan. Even the PS vita game was not interesting since it is just a lite version of the browser game with limited animations and gameplay.

So sometime later in 2017, two China based companies namely Shanghai Yostar and Xiamei Yongshi created Azur Lane and it took not China but Japan also by storm! It became the top 5 best game of 2017 and an English version was released in 2018. Furthermore Azur lane has become a hot topic in Doujin communities as such many artwork and doujins were released based on it and surpassing Kancolle in terms of popularity!

I am not here to talk about which franchise is better since they both have their positive and negative but rather I was attracted to some of the artwork which both official and doujin artists has created. So after doing research and looking on videos online about Azur Lane, I decided to download the English version on my tablet two months ago and see what the buzz was about.

True enough, Azur Lane opened my eyes and show that a mobile game does not need to have ridiculous micro-transactions and grinding to win your customers like so many Pay to Win mobile games in the market.

Laffey is the Best!

I was given the three main starters to choose from and I choose Laffey because of her cute twin tails and deadpan voice. Then I was given the chance to draw a ship from the Build option using the Wisdom Cubes (which is how you get new ships) and out came Belfast, my first SSR ship and because Yostar/Yongshi has collaborated with Japan, they will able to get several big name voice actress to voice the characters.

In this case, Belafast was voiced by one of my favourite voice actress, Horie Yui (Riko/Cure Magical of Maho Tsukai Precure) and she has been my favourite ship to use and I even got a chance to "Marry" her, granting her a wedding dress skin and power up status.

How about the gameplay? The gameplay is similar to a bullet hell shooter which you control 2 teams (Vanguard/Main Fleet) in a fleet. You can control the vanguard team with a virtual controller and fire their torpedoes when it is ready. The Main Fleet which consists of Battleship and Aircraft carrier, used their airplanes to divebomb and battleship cannons for additional firepower. 

The building ship or Gacha is also user friendly since doing your daily tasks will award the player with at least 2 or 3 Wisdom cubes per day and the chance of getting SSR is 7% which is higher than a lot of similar Gacha games. Even Kancolle didn't have such rates and it is based on investing the amount of oil and materials and hoping for the best.

I just got Yamashiro just today based on this posting.

My First Retrofit -Ranger and she is hot as THICC!

Till to this date of this post, I have more than 40% of ships and more than 20 over SSR ships which to me, I can't never be able to get such rates on similar games unless I pay to win. Even the pay to win will only grant you gems which is mostly used for opening more slots in your dorm (for the girls to rest and gain some experience points) or alternative skins which does not affect the status of the girls. I only pay once just to get Saratoga and it was a one-off thing and it was 9 dollars only so it was not much of a issue. 

So when I went to Japan on April this year, I was wondering if there was any merchandises on Azur Lane in Akihabara and true enough, on the first night there, I saw three big posters billboard promoting the mobile game! Even the upcoming PS4 game is on preorder at a local game shop!

The Upcoming PS4 game coming on 29th August 2019! 

I bought the Mobile Game Soundtrack, Playing Cards, A Fan-Made Card Game and several Acrylic Stands!

At first, I was looking at some shops wondering why Azur Lane has no merchandises until I found out that only Kotobukiya, Akiba Radiokan and Akihabara Toranoana (A book store) are selling their goods and I went all out to find whatever I can get my hands. (It was a good thing I got the 1st Anniversary Art book collection in my local bookstore before coming to Japan since it was pretty heavy) Hopefully when the anime series which is coming out this Summer, their popularity will rise.

Overall, I really enjoy the mobile game and I have also preorder the PS4 limited edition of the game which I hope it is good. (Cross fingers since it is done by Complie Heart)

That's my thoughts of Azur Lane and are you playing this game also on your mobile devices? If you want me to talk more about it, feel free to leave a comment below! Until then, see you in the next post!

Light Novel Review: Kantai Collection Kakuyoku no Kizuna Vol 2

Hello everyone! This is my review of the Kantai Collection light novel series-Kakuyoku no Kizuna volume two!

Synopsis: After winning a major turning point in the previous volume, a new and unknown Abyssal was spotted by the Submarine Musumes and it was reported back to the Admiral. He decided to begin the next phase in their operations and initiated a three night battles to take back a strategic island. However tragedy strike as Hiei who tried to win the heart of her elder sister, Kongo suffered a horrific defeat which scarred her badly. At the same time, Zuikaku and Shoukaku went to meet the Naval's final weapon-Yamato. She refused to fight in the front lines and had one request-to end her life by her fellow comrades...

If the previous volume didn't get you all pumped up, then this volume is full of action all the way. From the beginning of the new operations of how Akagi and Kaga encountered the new Abyssal force who nearly decimated them to Zuikaku and Shoukaku tried to convince Yamato into joining them.

In the anime series, Hiei was more of an annoyance but her love for Kongo was extreme in the novel. She is willing to do anything to win her sister's favor but at the cost of her life. Haruna actually show more concern to Hiei since she was with her throughout the ordeal. By the way, Kongo's attitude is bit of hard love since she doesn't want Hiei to feel sorry for herself and spend the whole volume avoiding her.

Yamato actually have a personality in the novel unlike the anime series where she only appeared in two episodes with little character development. In here, she still retained her memories of what happened in her maiden battle and blamed herself for the lives of those on board her ship. Of course, Zuikaku who is stubborn as a bull refused to give in to her childish thoughts and came up with a plan and I was actually touched on how she and Haruna helped both of them to overcome their traumas.

In the end, this is a great volume with dramatic moments and an awesome finale battle that lasted for more than an hundred over pages. A great follow up to the first volume and a must read if you want to see how Hiei overcame her fears and how awesome Yamato can truly be if she joined the battle early in the war.

Light Novel Review: Kantai Collection Kakuyoku no Kizuna Vol 1

Hello everyone! This is my review of the Kantai Collection light novel series-Kakuyoku no Kizuna volume one! Since I have already watched the anime series, I will be comparing it to the novel version since most people are familiar with the anime series. Furthermore, I am reading the Mandarin version since I knew how to read Mandarin.

Synopsis: The setting is the present day and the oceans of the worlds are invaded by a mysterious force known as the Abyssals. All conventional weapons are useless against the Abyssals. The only ones who can stand up against them are the reincarnation of the navel ships of the past, now young girls with the strength of an one man army. The war has been going on for a while and newly awaken aircraft carrier girl-Zuikaku is the latest to join the fleet. Together with her older sister, Shoukaku, new allies and the Enigma Admiral of the base, how will Zuikaku fare in this new but familiar environment?

If I have my way for the anime series, I will use this novel as it's baseline. From the beginning of the first chapter, you are introduced to the world of Kancolle and how it's operated through Zuikaku's eyes since she is the focus of the story. The Admiral (who finally talk) unlike the anime series gave a run down on the history of the Abyssals and how the technology of the Kan Musume came about.

Zuikaku who is nicknamed "Lucky Aircraft Carrier" due to her past life being unharmed in the sea was all pumped up to help defeat the Abyssals. However her enthusiasm caught up with Kaga and self proclaimed rival, Hiyou after a successful maiden mission. But thanks to Shoukaku and other allies, Zuikaku learn how to be a better Kan Musume and not relying on her past history.

Zuikaku is the typical female lead who is strong and cared for her friends like Fubuki in the series. However she doesn't take rejections easily and even headbutt with the Admiral after one of his decsions is considered suicidal. The Admiral himself is the typical male lead who is a cross between Ogami Ichiro of Sakura Wars and evey hentai male lead who like to tease on every girl that become his secretary for a day.

Shoukaku is lovely as the calm older sister similar to her anime counterpart but more thoughts were given to her psyche since she get a bit overprotective to Zuikaku and almost make the ultimate sacrifice in the novel. The rest of the girls were given more personality like the four Kougo sisters worked well as a team. Akagi and Kaga were like their anime version with Kaga being the straight person but she is the first one who understand Shoukaku's weakness and took the hard approach on her.

The rest of the book also introduce the Submarine Musume which we didn't see in the anime and the appearance of a new Abyssal that took out a big chunk of the fleet. Without spoiling too much, this volume was a great introduction to the world of Kancolle and if you like Zuikaku and Shoukaku as your lead, this is a great start to begin with. I am almost finishing reading the second volume and so far, it is way superior with better characters and storyline compared to the anime series.

Overall, if you get a chance to read it whether it is in Japanese or Mandarin, you won't be bored every step of the way!

Kantai Collection Ep 12 FINAL: Showdown at MI!

Hello everyone! This is my review of Kantai Collection episode 12 and it is an all out attack against the Abyssals!

Continuing from the last episode, Fubuki arrived to save Akagi from the bombers. Yamato and the other fleets has also arrived to aid them. They tried to take down the Airfield Hime but she still haven't went down and more Abyssals forces appeared.

 

Nagato and the rest of the fleets also arrived too and they help to take down the new waves. However the Airfield Hime changed to an adult form and has regenerative abilities. Suddenly a new carrier which is Taiho arrived with orders from the Admiral-To defeat the Abyssals carriers and the Airfield Hime and Oyodo informed everyone that the Admiral has returned.

Fubuki and Kongo took on the One Eye Abyssal carrier and defeated it. With that defeat, everyone fired at the Airfield Hime and she was finally destroyed. However Fubuki could hear a mysterious voice call out to her but ignored it. Nagato finally proclaimed the mission was a success and everyone returned to base not knowing Kisaragi's hair pin surfaced in the water.

Mutsuki and Mamiya welcome back everyone and they took a deserved break. Fubuki went to the top hill and welcome the Admiral...

This episode is expected with everyone saving everyone skins! Fubuki saving Akagi, Shoukaku and Zuikaku aiding Kaga, Ooichi rider kick an Abyssal to save Kitakami, Nagato kicking ass and Taiho appearing as a final reinforcement.

We finally heard the Airfield Hime spoke and it is creepy. (She is voiced by Sakakibara Yoshiko who is voicing Dyspear in Go Princess Precure) and I didn't know that the Abyssals can evolve and regrow limbs. The whole battle felt like a video game with events stacking one after another. Taiho arriving didn't really change the battlefield that much however with the new orders of defeating the carriers, Fubuki battle the One Eye Abyssal carrier and won. Although did the animation staff felt it is all right to kill the carrier off screen? Lazy writing!

Fubuki hearing the strange voice after the battle and Kisaragi's hair pin surfacing on the water could mean the war is far from over. I am thinking that the Abyssals could be learning their ways and the truth of fallen Kan Musume turning into Abyssals might not be a rumor at all. But for now, everyone got some rest for this long battle...

Final Thoughts: Being one of the most popular and busiest web browser game in Japan and having a huge fan base, an animated series is bound to happen.  So when it aired on January this year, the question on everyone mind-Did it deliver? (I will be comparing it with Strike Witches since they have similar themes and plot lines)

Let's start with the plot. The problem with this show is there is no official back story about the origins of the Abyssals and how the girls came to be. Fubuki arriving in the first episode with no reasons or doubt make me wonder why did the Admiral choose her to join the fleet? This caused the writers to just come with the simplest plot line of why Fubuki join the fleet? Because of "REASONS!"

Are the Kan Musume real girls or created from the souls of the once fallen ships? No one really know and no one even bother to explain where their technology came from. In Strike Witches, at least we know the technology was a creation of magic and science by Yoshika's father. Here, we don't even have a scientist like character to explain how all their powers work.

As a result, we have a show that tried not to take it too seriously but fall into the usual anime tropes like the beach episode, the friendship episode and the training episode. The story is clique except when Kisaragi died in episode 3 and after that, no one died in the finale! Sorry Kisaragi, your death is as clique as Jean Grey from X-Men. That voice that spoke to Fubuki and Kisaragi's hair pin is also teasing us for a sequel which we are getting it sooner or later.

What about the characters? Given that it has more than 200 characters till date, it is impossible for everyone to be animated so the writers took the easy way out and choose the most popular characters as the starting cast. I don't blame them for doing that since I will also do the same thing. The problem is there was not enough time to develop the starting cast and decide to to use Fubuki's POV to see the world around her.

Fubuki played the classic plucky female lead who is like the little brave ship among the bigger and better ships. She is not a bad character as she make friends with everyone and prove to be the key in winning their battle. The only problem in my opinion is she doesn't really have a female lead aura and felt ordinary like a supporting character.

The rest of the cast is all right with Mutsuki and Yudachi playing best friends with Fubuki. Akagi is the senior that everyone look up to but has a serious eating issue. Kaga is blunt but loyal. The three torpedo sisters and the four destroyers sisters are comic relief. Nagato and Mutsu should just get a room with Kitakami and Ooichi. Kongo is a female Guy Sensei from Naruto and her sisters are like her back up comedy partners.Yamato is awesome but undeveloped in character.

Even the Abyssals are one dimensional except the Airfield Hime who spoke but didn't make sense to anyone and the One Eye Carrier who is obsessed in killing Fubuki also died off screen which make a bad rival to Fubuki.

As a result, the show is a mixed bag for me. There were some enjoyable parts but this show should be two cour instead of one in order to develop both the plot and the characters better. I even read comments from Japanese fans to replace the entire animation staff for ruining the story. For me personally, it is all right as there are even worse shows than this. (Example: Cross (Cough) Ange!)

At least I like some of the characters and the final episode is pretty fun. (Full of Michael Bay's explosions) If there is a sequel, please develop the characters and have a more interesting plot for fans and non-fans to enjoy it!

Final Verdict: C Plus! If there is nothing else to watch, watch it to kill some time!