Though I guess that’s only true if they also have the name Kira, even if being able to walk on water is a prerequisite for being a shipgirl. Well, unless you are Kisaragi.

Blub Blub.

It’s another of those slightly weird episodes in which it’s a little difficult to place how exactly you are supposed to take everything. Ostensibly, this episode calls back to a comment I made back when Kisaragi sank – whilst the show hasn’t been too aggressive about adhering to history in terms of ship deployment, and whilst we never did find out if poor Shouhou actually sank, Kisaragi’s fate did ultimately smack a little of our heroines being potentially bound by a pre-existing fate. These girls apparently inherit the names and souls of historic World War 2 ships, even if it is hard to place what era the show is supposed to take place in, and quite possibly may be destined to inherit the same fate as their namesakes too.

The opening scenes with Akagi’s dreams of prior encounters, leading to the eventual scuttling of her badly damaged self, reinforce this somewhat – the fleet deployment, featuring Mogami and Mikuma, echoes the real-life fleet deployment during the Battle of Midway. Akagi’s manoeuvres following that in KanColle, even if they don’t necessarily make sense, were a deliberate move to not share the historical fleet composition, in hopes of actually making it out of there alive by not following what she was feeling forced into.

To a degree, one has to wonder if the Admiral was explicit in placing Fubuki with Carrier One for that very reason, though I suppose it’s equally likely that he just wanted to bore the Abyssal’s to death. I do have to wonder if World War 2 history is even common knowledge in the KanColle world, though. Maybe this whole thing is secretly post-apocalyptic, with much of mankind’s history lost. It’s not like we’ve seen any non-Ship people after all, and not even the Admiral technically.

Well, at least they aren’t picking on poor Hoppo and stealing her presents…

Of course, as soon as they don’t meet up with Yamato, things get screwed up in a whole new fashion, even if it is a little disappointing that they seemingly took out the Princess quite so easily. I suppose it does give Kongou the chance to play her rightful role by rolling in and saving the day next episode, though, presumably with Fubuki in tow. Probably Yamato and the sudden appearance of Taihou has well, given that she made that apparent brief appearance in the episode.

Ice-cold, KTKM-sama. Ice. Cold.

They did cut part of the skirmish a little oddly in that it’s kind of hard to figure out exactly what happened to poor Kitakami. I’d going to presume nothing, but cutting from her being a little melancholy about Ooi not being there to an explosion is maybe a little misleading.

A question some pose every week, I’m sure.