>>(It's an amusing touch that most of the submarines have suntans. All
>>that cruising around at shallow depths in tropical waters...)
>
>Yeah, it's what makes U-511 stand out more before she's refitted into
>Ro-500, how pale she is from operating in North Atlantic waters.

I have to say, only slightly apropos of this, that some of the "casting" choices in the game are a little suspect. I mean, one of the submarines I'm seeing a lot of fan art for is I-8, a boat that was infamous for its crew's habit of committing atrocity-grade war crimes on survivors from ships they'd sunk. Now, I realize that the modern Japanese attitude toward WWII Japan's war crimes record is... unique... but dang, you guys. Was the joke about her having made a trip to Germany really worth that level of baggage?

>>Gosh. They may have to start including ships from Allied navies at
>>some point. That'll presumably involve some tension in the showers. :)
>>
>>"Hi, Oklahoma here. You'll keep them God-damn carriers away from me
>>if'n you know what's good for you, Admiral."
>
>Nah, if you want a real source of tension, wait for Allied subs to
>start showing up.

Oh dear. With (as previously discussed) their regrettable American-submarine names. And their torpedoes that don't work.

I find myself inevitably picturing that bitchy carrier (Kaga, I think?) inquiring of a group of the new American arrivals, "So, I'm curious. Why are you S-class submarines called 'pig boats'? Are you gluttonous, slovenly, or some combination of the two?" And then there is an almighty fistfight. Kaga could probably take a few, but there are 51 of them. :)

(The S-boats would also be sensitive about their wide sterns. Needlessly so, as it happens, because they're quite well-proportioned and stable, but still, it's that kind of show.)

>No, the cruelest joke was played on Isuzu. She could be refitted
>early (lvl 12), came with a unique radar that could be equipped by
>other ships, and added +5 anti-air to any ship that "consumed" her
>during modernization. This led to many admirals "Isuzu farming" just
>for the radars.

That was pretty mean. Still, I have a hard time shaking off that one fanart I saw of the group of Maru-yu cowering in a corner, crying, "Admiral is going to feed us to the battleships! We're not food!" Poor Maru-yu.

Fortunately, the TV series at least seems to be taking the view that the ship girls are individuals (unlike in the game, where you can apparently have a dozen ships that are not just Isuzu-class, but are in fact Isuzu). (Although that does mean it's even sadder when one gets sunk, because you know they can't just work the RNG until they get her back.)

>>As an aside, the KanColle version of Kirishima is on my short
>>list for UF hybridization, on account of a) I'm fond of the Violent
>>Brainiac archetype and b) she's not a sociopathic stuffed animal,
>>which would frankly give her a significant edge even if she
>>wasn't a hot librarian with 104 out of 100 in firepower. :)
>
>I'm right there with you, Kancolle Kirishima is also one of my
>favorites.

They seem to do battleships better over there. I mean, Fog Haruna's shtick with the memorizing words is cute, but the KanColle Kongō-class as a team are just a lot more fun. And Hyūga, but then, Fog Hyūga annoys the crap outta me anyway, so almost anybody would be an improvement there. :)

(It'd be one thing if Fog Hyūga was really as crazy as she seems. Then she'd still be annoying, but at least you could write it off as, oh well, the poor girl's damaged. The fact that she's pretty obviously just using her eccentricity as cover for being a huge jerk is offputting.)

>>One assumes it was, therefore, a carnival.
>
>Indeed, that was one of her lines. And can I emphasize how thankful I
>am that the manga did not go the way of the anime? Because she is
>just too adorable to be a puppet.

I know, right? Most of my take on the Arpeggio characters in UF does come from the anime, but if and when Maya shows up, she's not gonna be a Predacon shell program. That was just nasty-ass writing. That was a full-dress hey-fuck-you.

>>A meeting between those two would be like a theoretical face-to-face
>>between the personification of the original-series USS
>>Enterprise and her counterpart from the Mirror Universe.
>
>It would be interesting...right up until Kancolle Kongou
>dragged her counterpart off to join her for tea time.

"You and your sisters are excessively boisterous. It's unseemly. Beneath the dignity of fast battleships." "Ha, you sound like Nagato now. Have some of this cake, it's awesome."

>>Someone should warn Corwin... He does seem to be starting a submarine
>>shelter.
>
>Corwin's beginning to develop his dad's habit of bringing strays home
>every time he goes out on an adventure.

It's not our fault! We just have that kind of face.

Also, Nova said:

>>The canon contains a number of jokes regarding IJN ships that crashed
>>into other IJN ships; everyone's a bit wary of Mogami in the hallways
>>around the Naval Base, for instance, particularly her sister ships.
>>(They're not actually hostile about it, it's more of a "look
>>out, here comes danger" running gag. :)
>
>Inazuma is the worst offender in this category, rising to the level of
>"superstitious curse"- there have been 4 ships named Inazuma so far,
>and 3 of them have had major collisions (first one sank as a result,
>2nd one sank another destroyer, 3rd one destroyed her bridge and the
>bridge of the ship she hit).

"Hmm," said Ty Lee, without looking up from her book. "I know you probably just picked it because it's Kokugo for 'lightning', but based on what I'm seeing here, your big universe stage name is really apt."

Also also, back at the very beginning Nathan said:

>Also, TBS Nagato is so cool. I have such an enormous
>crush I don't even care how pathetic saying it makes me look.

Your main problem there is that you'd have to figure out a way to work around Mutsu. And there's a lot of Mutsu to work around, know what I mean? :)

--G.
Don't worry, though, I'll help. She's borderline, but there's somethin' about Mutsu. :)
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
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