OVA 4 is essentially a video showing the six teams who joined as of the release of the fourth volume dancing the Anglerfish Dance all around the town. It's quite nice, albeit not enough to stand on its own. With that in mind, the rest of this entry will discuss OVA 3.
OVA 3 begins on the Oarai school ship, with Anglerfish Team eating on benches in a small area that looks out at sea. Hana asks why schools are built on ships. Saori is about to answer, but realizes that she's never thought about it. Mako points out that the reason for that is common knowledge, Miho says that schools are built on ships these days, and Yukari mentions that they used to be built on land, which Saori finds hard to imagine. Mako mentions that all elementary schools (e.g. the one Miho and her friends attended in Little Army), and explains that it's because elementary schoolers can't operate ships, with Hana adding that children need to be close to their parents at such a tender age.
Naturally, Saori asks why they would go out to sea in the first place, and Yukari says that to adapt to a globalized society, develop talents and foster independence. Miho observes that the first person who founded an educational ship did so out of their own pocket, and Yukari says that the results led the way to many other ships. Mako says that this is for the benefit of heavy industries, and the others elaborate that it's for the sake of steelworks and shipbuilding. Miho points out that they've been in existence since the age of sail, with Hana noting that there were some 400 years ago, and Mako pointing out that according to Caesar (it's somewhat difficult to tell whether she's talking about the Oarai student known as Takako Suzuki), there were some in Caligula's time. Yukari says that oceanic countries like Venice had them, and points out that England was the one that led to the design that is used today.
Saori's amazed, and asks about her own school, which Mako says was built soon after WWII. Saori's amazed by its age (which is brought up briefly in Episode 9 during the discussion of shutting the school down), and asks what Miho has heard, and Miho, despite contributing to the discussion, doesn't know much about this school. Since none of them have seen much of the ship apart from the commonly shown areas, Saori decides to go exploring, starting with the highest point.
The five reach a building that, to Hana, looks larger up close, and go about the task of getting in. Saori, despite being the one to suggest this, is intimidated by the climb, and Mako asks if there's an elevator. Miho, opening a guide book, says that there isn't an elevator for normal use.
The reason for Saori's discomfort becomes apparent when she places a hand on her skirt and asks Mako, who's immediately behind her not to look up the skirt. Mako doesn't see why this is a problem, saying that they're all girls, while Hana, who follows after Mako and is bringing up the rear, wonders if Saori doesn't want to show something to others.
The group, with Yukari taking the lead and Miho just behind her, reaches the top of the steep flight, only to be informed by a sailor that those stairs are for going down. Somewhat surprised by this, they ask where the stairs up are, and the sailor says that the stairs going up are always on the left side, telling them to be careful. It seems as though the way things work in fiction is often demonstrated by someone running afoul of the rules.
The group are curious why this is the case, and Yukari says that it's so that traffic up and down is orderly in case of emergencies, so that two groups won't be competing over the stairs. The group gets sidetracked thinking about the people going down jumping over the people coming up.
They reach the top, and see the open-air observation deck, which gives them an excellent view of the ship. The only one who doesn't enjoy it is Mako, who sinks to her knees, Blue with Shock, as she's afraid of heights, even if they're third after her grandmother and ghosts. The others are concerned about her, but she soon recovers.
The group is amazed at the size of the ship, which houses 30,000 people. Not only are there students and faculty, but also the many people who work on the ship. Larger ships can have up to 100,000 people, and Miho describes Black Forest as one such example.
The next stop is the bridge of the ship, which is manned by students from the Naval Studies department. Apparently, there are several different departments for students; the General Studies department (Miho and presumably all the other main characters), the aforementioned Naval Studies department, and the Meteorology Department (which apparently is at Black Forest but not Oarai; Miho is quickly learning just how different her new school is from her old one), Intelligence, Fashion Design, Nutritional Sciences (ones Hana lists off), Engineering, Fisheries Management and National Sciences (ones Mako lists off). As one might expect, Miho is amazed to see all the divisions, and I am as well, since they're not divided along the lines one might usually think of.
Speaking of which, you may recall that Miho and her classmates (Hana and Saori, among others) is in the first division, while Yukari is in the second division. I heard that Yukari has problems of some sort with her studies, but didn't hear much more about that.
Apparently, the entire ship is crewed by students, including one of Mako's classmates from middle school. Miho's pleased that Mako has an old classmate there, and Yukari's a bit envious about how she doesn't know anyone in Naval Studies; it makes sense given that the former left her old school behind, and the latter never had any friends before meeting Miho.
Yukari leads the others downstairs to the operational committee offices and crew canteen. Miho asks if the Student Council President is responsible for all of them, and Saori, as if to say yes, says you wouldn't expect it just from looking at her.
A bulletin board with crests of many of the schools, including some Oarai faced and some that they did not, is shown; the group passes by it but doesn't comment on it. Their attention is turned to a room with some stuffed animals in it, which they recognize as a Naval Studies student's room. Mako expected to see bunk beds, and Yukari says that with the space, it's feasible to assign single rooms.
Yukari shows them the engineering room, which controls propulsion and controls all electricity. Mako says propulsion isn't enough to generate power, and that there are other means, such as water currents, solar power, air currents and oceanic heat recovery. Saori mentions combustion-based generation, and Hana mentions seismic power generators under roads. The Naval Studies students, responsible for all these, don't have to pay tuition. Saori thinks that it isn't fair, but Yukari mentions that they have to work eight-hour shifts and attend classes. This seems somewhat strenuous, considering that I've heard that the Japanese high schools have more work than American ones. Saori gets the point, in any case, and is grateful for her being in General Studies.
The group passes by the food production facilities and into the water treatment plant, a large and spacious area. Saori wonders why the city is only on the top deck, while Hana points out that if it was inside, they wouldn't have to worry about the weather (with storms at sea, the weather would likely go from an inconvenience to an actual hazard), but Yukari points out that not seeing the sky is "stressful." Saori wonders how they could build such a massive ship (again, it's worth pointing out that Oarai's ship is small compared to others). Yukari mentions that it's a collection of blocks, and the first thing that comes to Mako's mind is Lego-like blocks. Yukari clarifies that they're 300 cubic meter blocks, but that it sometimes makes things difficult to get from one block to another. They wonder how they get from one block to another, and Miho concludes that it must be the reason why people live on deck.
The group comes to a model of the ship, which is at 1:1000 scale, but takes up a large portion of the room. The others are amazed by its size, but Mako points out how flat it is. Yukari says that it has to be, since ships can't dock if the draft- the distance between the water's surface and the bottom of the hull- is too deep. Mako points out that it's smaller than most ships, and the others think of it as like a basin.
The group is getting tired, and decides on a bath, seeing a hot spring just ahead. They get undressed, but then see the student council in the bath. Yuzu advises Momo that the hot spring cures athlete's foot, but Momo denies having it. Miho leaves before she's spotted, and informs the others that the bath is for the student council only, and that the bath for general use is upstairs.
In the bath, a somewhat obligatory Fanservice scene, the group feels revitalized and enjoys the sunset, while Mako stands with her chest exposed, not caring because no one else is looking. Hana asks if other schools are similar, and Miho says Black Forest was larger and very strict, while Yukari says that Saunders, which she infiltrated, was very open. Miho says that the school is "messy and worn," but feels well kept and comfortable, which Saori suggests is "humane." Hana says that Oarai is quite lively. The five girls then enjoy the sunset, and are glad the school's on a ship.
All in all, it was an interesting and informative look at how the school ships work and why they exist, even if they're unlikely to happen in Real Life.
Incidentally, I recently got the English localization of Volume 3 of the manga. The translation is notably somewhat smoother, as Hana's saying "We're not weak enough to rely on a power we don't have" is translated as "Saori, we're not that desperate." Oddly enough, though, Kikuyo calls Miho "My dear Miho" or just "Miho," and speaking to Miho, refers to Shiho as "your mother" rather than "the mistress/madam". Shiho's I Am the Noun moment is modified somewhat, as she says that "the Nishizumi-style defines tankery." On a minor note, it still bugs me that Yukari takes out her anger about the Nishizumi family threatening to disown Miho on Kikuyo, who's nothing more than a reluctant messenger.
There's two somewhat amusing 4koma.
- The first has Saori saying that she saw a movie yesterday with someone, but admitting that it was with her uncle (which makes her the only cast member with a known extended family) makes her depressed.
- The other one has Miho, Hana and Yukari asking Saori to study together for the test as a pretext for eating Saori's home-cooked food, which Hana openly admits and Miho and Yukari agree with as well, making Saori wonder what happened to studying and why she has to cook.
The author's special focuses on Nonna and Katyusha, who had few appearances in the manga, but the artist had fun drawing them, in spite of having difficulty drawing Katyusha's helmet in the right size. The artist says that he tried to keep their personalities consistent with the anime, and given that their dialogue was largely the same, it wasn't too hard.
Pravda's four tanks- the T-34/78 and 85, the IS-2 and the KV-2 are given profiles. An illustration of a younger Miho and Kikuyo is shown at the end, before the author thanks the readers and says that we're getting into the final stretch of the series (Volume 4 contains Chapters 15-21).
Next Installment: During the battle with Pravda, Erwin and Yukari do some reconnaissance, talk about their shared interests, and use all the collectibles that they never thought would come in handy.
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