Azur Lane: The Animation is an anime adaptation based on the Azur Lane game. It is directed by Tensho and animated by Tensho's Bibury Animation Studio. The series aired from October 3, 2019 to March 20, 2020.
When the Earth's oceans are attacked by a mysterious alien force called the Sirens, four major nations, Eagle Union, the Royal Navy, the Sakura Empire, and the Ironblood form the "Azur Lane" military alliance to combat the Sirens using shipgirls, girls fused with naval warships. Eventually, the Sirens are defeated, but a rift forms between the factions, with the Eagle Union and Royal Navy coming in opposition against the Sakura Empire and Ironblood, where the former factions wished to use humanity's own strength to defeat the Sirens as opposed to the latter factions' willingness to use the Sirens' own technology to defeat the Sirens.
Licensed by Funimation, both the sub and dub can be viewed on their website and Hulu. See Preview
here.
This anime provides examples of:
- Accent Adaptation: The English dub has the Royal Navy speak in a British accent and the Ironblood fleet with a German accent. This is averted with the Sakura Empire since they share the same American accent as the Eagle Union.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
- Enterprise compared to her game self is notably this as at the start and at the end of episode 9, she's seen holed up in her room eating rations and other pre-made food. The cause? Yorktown's maiming. In contrast, Game!Enterprise only reaches a similar bad state (ready to go into a suicidal charge) after losing both sisters, seen in the "Solomon Ranger" event. And while Belfast has some difficulty talking Anime!Enterprise out of her state, in the game, Saratoga does so with more ease.
- Unicorn has some D-Cup Distress, which isn't seen in the game.
- Adaptational Badass:
- Kaga, in particular, can summon a giant fox that almost killed Unicorn if Enterprise didn't intervene, with her Blood Knight qualities are more emphasized here in contrast to her more subdued self in the game. Akagi can perform a similar trick with a flaming dragon.
- Enterprise is badass enough in the games, but she managed to one-shot Kaga and almost killed her if Zuikaku didn't interfere. However, due to being worn out from the battle, this is downplayed.
- While Belfast has some history, like going toe to toe with a battlecruiser, it's surprising to see her take on the katana-wielding Zuikaku with just her bare hands.
- Adaptational Curves: A number of ships are seen being a slightly yet noticeably curvier than in the game, Enterprise, Akagi, Kaga, Laffey, Unicorn to name some.
- Adaptational Sexuality: Because of the absence of the Commander, it's not too surprising that the girls are either depicted as not having their romantic orientation being brought up at all or be rather distinctly lesbian. Most notably, Akagi is clearly shown to have a much more intimate relationship with Kaga than in the game, even directing her Yandere behavior towards her in the absence of a Commander. Lesser cases being Atago being more skinship friendly with Takao (much to Takao's distress) and Prinz Eugen mildly harassing Hatsuharu. It's hinted that Akagi's relationship with Kaga is just a ruse on the former's part to make the latter go along with her plans.
- Adaptational Wimp:
- Certain ships get taken out easier than others. In particular, San Diego, a ship that would normally be effective against Akagi and Kaga, got taken out offscreen and she's shown as one of the first casualties onscreen. She's seen whining about her ship later.
- The small fleet consisting of Northampton, Helena, Arizona, Long Island, Hammann, and Hornet are all easily defeated (with exception to Hornet) offscreen by Shoukaku and Zuikaku, and even Hornet's shown barely hanging out as she's dodging most of Shoukaku's planes. Even after reinforcements come, Hornet herself is shown being too worn out to fight.
- This is actually something of a game callback. The six ships form a game-legal fleet: three Main Fleet ships (Arizona, Long Island, Hornet) and three Vanguard ships (Northampton, Helena, Hammann). What's more, all six ships are Rares or Elites readily available early in the game (Long Island is a Starter Mon). It's a newbie fleet. No wonder Shoukaku and Zuikaku took them apart.
- Adapted Out:
- There's no mention or appearance of the Commander, who is a major character in the game. The closest to one shown is a manjuu reenacting Pearl Harbor.
- Both Bulins are absent from the anime, although they both make cameos in the final episode.
- Alternate History: Twisted even more than the game itself. While the game follows real world history yet takes some ways of altering it a bit, this one has different touch-ups from the game, including choosing to spare almost every ship (nobody dies yet surprisingly, with the closest ones down are an implied-to-be-crippled Yorktown, Akagi in a coma, and Amagi).
- Ambiguous Situation: Even though there isn't a human commander, Manjuus still show up. Particularly, one seems to have the hat that the in-game Commander is associated with.
- And the Adventure Continues: While the Sirens remains the true threat to humanity, Crimson Axis have finally realigned to Azur Lane. Enterprise, who succeeds in resolving her past trauma, becomes the new Commander.
- Ascended Extra:
- Hammann, a ship with no real importance in the plot of the games, has a slightly increased role. She's a Butt-Monkey like San Diego, but is usually one for Hornet's amusement than anything.
- Edinburgh and Sheffield have a really big role compared to the game. Other than being part of the Royal Maids, they also help with spy missions.
- Battle Butler: Queen Elizabeth has Town Class shipgirls as maids, but all of them, Belfast and Sheffield in particular, qualify as this.
- Beach Episode: The third episode has several of the shipgirls in swimsuits having fun in the water. Given some plot relevance in discussing the need of downtime and how Enterprise can’t bring herself to take any.
- Befriending the Enemy: Laffey and Javelin attempt to befriend Ayanami several times, with Laffey notably refusing to fire her weapons at Ayanami, with Javelin being more pragmatic. Ayanami doesn't even argue after her "capture" after the Siren attack, and they're officially friends.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- Sakura Empire's surprise attack is a success, the shipgirls are all on the back foot, and Kaga's giant ninetailed fox kaiju carrier is about to devour a disabled Unicorn... and then Enterprise arrives and singlehandedly turns the tide.
- Enterprise gets saved from Zuikaku by Belfast at the climax of Episode 2 as part of the Royal Navy's reinforcements, which forces them to surrender for now.
- Combined with Just in Time in episode 8; Ayanami is about to fall into a Spacial Rift when she's saved by a combination of Laffey, Javelin and Belfast. Please note that Aya is on the opposing side.
- Book Ends:
- Episodes 1 and 12 has Enterprise challenging the Big Bad.
- The episodes also have the Arc Words, "War never changes". However, the last episode turns it into a Meaningful Echo:"War never changes but we can change as people".
- Bowdlerise: Some of the background conversations, and even some of the main dialogue, gets changed for the dub, primarily due to what makes for acceptable topics of conversation in their respective countries.
- Breather Episode: After the seventh and eighth episodes involving Ash, we get a rather lighthearted episode of Laffey and Javelin bonding with Ayanami (who's a "prisoner of war" after getting rescued). There's slight discussion of the Sirens and Ash, but it doesn't really blend in much with the main plot.
- Broken Ace:
- While she's respected by her peeps and is considered to be a legend, Enterprise feels all they're good for is fighting; furthermore, she hasn't gotten over what happened to her older sister, Yorktown. It's not surprising that she ends up being akin to Ash at times, who also applies.
- Akagi is Sakura Empire's greatest military asset. However, she never got over Amagi's death.
- Butt-Monkey:
- San Diego. Most of her appearances has her on the receiving end of misfortune. The first episode has her perform in a nonexistent concert as Laffey, Javelin and Unicorn, who were searching for Unicorn's Living Toy U-chan at the time, just look as if they don't care one bit. The second episode has her as one of the first onscreen casualties shown after the battle in the first episode, and her name's even introduced as she's face down in the water. She's shown later whining about how her ship got damaged. The third episode shows her getting chased by a shark, where Saratoga has to help her deal with with offscreen. Thankfully, the fourth episode gave her a small break, but she gets misfortune again in Episode 6.
- Hammann is just as bad as San Diego, as many scenes she's featured in shows her getting beaten easily by enemy forces or just for Hornet to mess around with. She maybe even worse than San Diego in this regard as when the latter got her small break above, the former somehow gets roped in to helping Ning Hai and Ping Hai with their business, to her annoyance.
- The Cameo: Both Bulins and Bismarck make short appearences in Episode 12.
- Cardboard Prison: You wouldn't know Ayanami is a prisoner of war. Admittedly, neither would you know Akashi defected from the Sakura Empire either. Neither of them spend very long in any kind of prison.
- Career-Ending Injury: Yorktown. Lots of ships are Spared by the Adaptation, but she's hospitalized for most of the season here. Thankfully, this is averted at the end, where she's shown to have fully recovered.
- Cast Herd: Even with the massive reduction in amounts of characters being focused on, with most others being limited primarily to cameos, there are still roughly 20 characters with significant screentime and thus they appeared in various groups.
- Cliffhanger:
- The second episode ends with Belfast rushing in saving Enterprise from Zuikaku, introducing herself as "a maid passing by".
- The tenth episode ends with Purifier and Enterprise firing at each other with Kaga emerging with Project Orochi, causing cataclysm in the Sakura Empire. It got worse as the following two episodes were delayed for three months.
- Censor Steam: Used to the point of absurdity in Episode 6's extended bath scene. This is completely averted in the Blu-ray version.
- Code Name: Kaga instructs Ayanami and Akagi to use their "Citrus" and "Phoenix" codenames, respectively. However, she doesn't care to use her own codename.
- Comedic Lolicon: Downplayed in comparison to her canon self; in her proper debut in episode 9, Ark Royal manages to keep it professional for most of the episode, at least when she's directly interacting with the Destroyers as she does follow the starter trio in secret. It's not until toward the end of the episode that she reverts to this. She also reads magazines with Destroyer girls on it and in some of her cameo appearances, she's shown in spots with a lot of Destroyer girls.
- Covers Always Lie: The opening for the anime is actually accurate to most of what happens in the first season (even including Laffey and Javelin successfully becoming friends with Ayanami), but the last moment, we see the four nations flash forward, with significant ships showing up (Enterprise for Eagle Union, Queen Elizabeth/Warspite for Royal Navy, Akagi and Kaga for Sakura Empire) ... until the last one shows for Ironblood ... Bismarck. Not only has Ironblood not played a significant role other than Prinz Eugen (keep in mind the only Ironblood ships that have appeared have been the same exact ones that appeared in Prinz's shot in the intro), Bismarck herself hasn't appeared at all in any form - until the very end of the season, where Prinz Eugen mentions about a proposition with Azur Lane to her.
- Cryptic Conversation: Amagi, in what appears to be the Ash-mentalscape caused by the Black Wisdom Cube.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Edinburgh. Her Establishing Character Moment shows her accidentally dropping her glasses from a disguise, which Shiranui points it out. She then happens to ram a Bomb Ship towards Takao, Ayanami and Sheffield in battle, causing a massive non-lethal explosion.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Amagi is clearly this to Akagi, to the point that she's willing to make deals with the Sirens and sacrifice comrades, and likely her own country, for the sake of getting her back.
- A Day in the Limelight: Most of the fourth episode focuses on the Sakura Empire and their side of the conflict. Z23 and Prinz Eugen make an appearance, but they don't really contribute strongly to the plot. The only Azur Lane-related ships that really show up after a five minute scene mostly involving Enterprise, Belfast, Ning Hai, and Ping Hair are Edinburgh and Sheffield.
- Demoted to Extra: A lot of ships seem to be shown to be demoted to background characters or don't really contribute other than just being there. For instance, Saratoga has voiced lines but is mostly a background character (despite being more significant in the games) while her older sister Lexington doesn't have a speaking role, San Diego is mostly a Butt-Monkey who has no real relevance to the main plot of the anime, and most other shipgirls are just simply cameos and background characters.
- Determinator: Enterprise, who is very determined to get things done, even when she should be resting and whatnot. Hell, she prefers to eat ration bars over real food.
- Disney Death: Both Kaga and Akagi appear to die at the hands of Ash-Enterprise in Episode 7. Episode 8 shows Kaga did survive but it's seriously injured, and while Akagi's fate is unknown to the Sakura girls, it is shown she has survived but appears to be in a coma and in the hands of Observer α.
- Early-Bird Cameo:
- Nagato of the Sakura Empire is shown, although covered, during the opening sequence. She's shown in the following episode when Enterprise narrates the four factions, and is shown in person during the fourth episode.
- Hood herself is briefly mentioned during the first episode and is very briefly shown in the opening sequence. She briefly appears in the following episode and is fully shown in the third.
- As shown in "Last Supper" Steal, the credit sequence introduces a small amount of characters who hadn't appeared anywhere in the first episode (or opening sequence) yet. A lot of those characters appear in the third and fourth episodes.
- Easily Forgiven:
- No one in Azur Lane holds any hard feelings towards Ayanami when she ends up as their "prisoner of war".
- Downplayed concerning Akagi and Kaga. While they will indeed be facing punishment for their crimes, it won't be as severe since Nagato admits that all of Sakura Empire is responsible for letting Orochi get out of control.
- Enemy Mine: When the Siren threat grows worse thanks to Akagi and Kaga, Azur Lane and Crimson Axis put aside their differences for the time being to stop them. They formally join forces afterwards.
- Erotic Eating: The camera zooms in to Prinz Eugen's lips as she licks and eats a dango.
- Everyone Has Standards: When she confronts Kaga in Episode 7, Enterprise immediately expresses her disgust towards her and Akagi for betraying their comrades by forming a deal with the Sirens. It doesn't help with Kaga's cold threat against Akashi which serves only to further fuel the animosity between Enterprise and the two sisters.
- Evolving Credits: The ending credit sequence of Episode 4 adds Edinburgh, Sheffield, Ayanami, Z23 and Prinz Eugen. Episode 7 adds San Diego, Long Island, Vestal, Shoukaku and Takao.
- Fanservice: Befitting the game it's based on, the anime is not lacking in it, be it panty shots, breasts being nigh-exposed, or even eating foods in the right way, there's no lack of it in the anime. The crown jewel of the bunch being the hot springs on the BD release which has zero qualms about unleashing almost everyone entirely topless.
- Foil:
- Enterprise and Akagi: Both are suffering from what happened to their older sisters; however, Yorktown survives, albeit severely crippled, while Amagi perished. These events caused them to enter dark territories; for Enterprise, it was entering a Superpowered Evil Side, while for Akagi, she forms a deal with the Sirens behind her country's back.
- Belfast and Kaga: Both are partners. However, Belfast helps Enterprise to heal from the scars of her past, while Kaga allows Akagi to continue her obsessions.
- Shoukaku and Zuikaku are this to Akagi and Kaga. More apparent with Zuikaku and Kaga who are both defeated by Ash. However, the defeat and nearly losing Shoukaku in the process is what forces Zuikaku to quell her Hot-Blooded attitude and improve herself while Kaga, who believed that Akagi is dead, slowly loses her mind.
- Azur Lane and Crimson Axis: They are both powerful factions but their methodologies in dealing with the Sirens are completely opposite to one another. Azur Lane are comprised of True Companions with all members helping each other while the latter faction is practically an unstable alliance that will eventually fall apart if the constant secrets and backstabbing continues.
- Gratuitous German: A smattering of German words are used by the Ironblood girls in the English dub. This is justified in that they are supposed to be German.
- Hand-or-Object Underwear: Javelin has to use her hand to cover her breasts when Laffey accidentally unclips her strap in episode 2. Right after, Laffey also gets her own left breast exposed that conveniently has a crab covering her nipple.
- He Knows Too Much: Akashi accidentally stumbles upon a Siren ship while minding her own business, making the Observer almost kill her. Due to this, she escapes with Edinburgh and Sheffield, who happened to be infiltrating the base at the time, and defects to Azur Lane.
- He's Back!: After finding her Heroic Resolve through her Ash!Doppleganger, Enterprise finally comes back in full fighting force.
- Heroic BSoD: Enterprise spends several episodes in this state after awakening as Ash.
- Hidden Depths: Unicorn is shown to be a really good artist, depicting her U-chan as a really detailed sketch of a unicorn. Laffey praises her for it too.
- Hot Springs Episode: The second third of Episode 6 turns to this for the Azur Lane faction, where most of the associated girls (including recently-joined Akashi) relax in the hot spring, with an odd choice of censorship...which is entirely averted in the BD release that has zero issues showing nipples on everyone short of Warspite and Queen Elizabeth.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Kaga, to an extreme, towards Akagi. She's a Replacement Goldfish for Amagi, and a failed one at that, and she knows this. She will follow Akagi's machinations without hesitating and will follow them through in her absence as well. Even after the soul-crushing abuse she got at the hands of Orochi!Amagi, she still sides with them because she just genuinely wants to make Akagi happy and figures this is the best way, even if it means facing both Crimson Axis and Azur Lane forces combined, just to protect Akagi and Orochi!Amagi.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: A variation in that Laffey and Javelin actually refuse to fight, just to show Ayanami they want to be friends even if they're enemies, while Ayanami is going "Why won't you fight back!" while beating them down.
- Irony: Enterprise's catchphrase, "Owari Da" note is usually associated with her Signature Move, Lucky E. However, in here, it leads to a bad stroke of luck here that her gear broke down, leaving her open to Zuikaku.
- Kick Chick: Sheffield's melee combat moves in episode 4 primarily involves kicks, with one high kick that causes Akagi to blush. The anime staff confirms that what Sheffield's artist MayaG has said before is true: Akagi blushed because she saw that Sheffield is Going Commando; she outright says and demonstrates so to the Cleveland sisters in episode 6.
- Killed Offscreen: Non-lethal, but San Diego happened to be one of the first casualties shown in the aftermath of the first battle. And she didn't take the sight of her damaged ship well.
- Knight of Cerebus:
- The Sirens. They are treated as a legitimate threat and everyone seems to show serious concern whenever they show up. The one Siren we see so far even resorts to killing someone from the Red Axis just because they had accidentally found out about them.
- Ash, the alternate version of Enterprise, is this. When she shows up in episode 7, she one shots Akagi and Kaga, and in the following episode, almost kills Zuikaku and Shoukaku if Ayanami hadn't interfered.
- Know When to Fold 'Em:
- Of all people, Akagi. She warns Kaga against fighting Enterprise, orders a retreat as soon as their objectives are sufficiently accomplished, and even had Zuikaku in reserve to cover the retreat.
- Prinz Eugen chooses to surrender once she finds out the Royal Navy reinforcements are coming in and it's not just Belfast.
- Last Stand: In episode 8, Zuikaku and Shoukaku volunteer to stall the combined Royal Navy and Eagle Union forces, and they almost meet their end at the hands of Ash-Enterprise, had it not been for a last minute intervention from Ayanami.
- "Last Supper" Steal: The ending credits for the anime is a panoramic imitation of the Last Supper, with Enterprise in the middle and various notable shipgirls on the side. It also counts as Early-Bird Cameo for Saratoga, Hammann, Ning Hai, Ping Hai, Yuudachi and Shigure. As of Episode 4, it turns into an Evolving Credits sequence, adding more ships who have already appeared.
- Lighter and Softer: So far, the events of the anime don't recreate the actual battles of war, so many ships that were supposed to be sunk are alive. With the exception of the Sirens, Akagi, Kaga, and possibly some Surprisingly Realistic Outcome moments, the anime is considered to be rather light compared to the game itself.
- Living Toys: U-chan, the unicorn plush that Unicorn carries around with her, is a real unicorn that not only moves but can change sizes. She can even ride on it for battle. Even though it was shown in the game subtly in a Live 2D skin, it's strongly emphasized here. It's even shown eating as well.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: Orochi!Amagi serves as this for Akagi, feeding her illusions of happiness.
- Love Makes You Crazy:
- Akagi's love for Amagi makes her do a Deal with the Devil for the power to bring her back from the dead.
- Kaga will do anything for Akagi. Even when she realizes she's a Replacement Golfish, and a failed one at that, she still goes along with Akagi's plans even in her absence.
- Male Gaze: There are some panty shots here and there. For example, Helena's rear gets exposed by the wind in Episode 2.
- Martial Pacifist: Laffey is shown to be able to fight, but refuses to fight her friends - even if said friend happens to be from opposing nations, which is why she (and Javelin) refuse to attack Ayanami, rather talking down and acting peacefully towards her.
- Mascot Mook: The Manjuus appear in the anime and they're shown helping with the repairs after the battle in the first episode. They're neutral as a species, as some are shown with Sakura Empire too.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Akashi defects from the Sakura Empire because of stumbling into a meeting between Akagi and the Observer Siren and defects to Azur Lane.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Enterprise has this reaction when she snaps back to her normal self after shooting down Kaga and killing Akagi in her Ash-induced state in Episode 7. Then she re-enters Ash state following that freakout and finally snaps back after almost killing Ayanami and seeing Javelin and Laffey rescue her at the last second in Episode 8.
- Shoukaku clearly ponders whatever possesses her nation to ever built Orochi in the first place.
- Mythology Gag:
- Ayanami and Akagi's codenames, "Citrus" and "Phoenix", respectively, are actually the censored names they appear with in the game's Chinese server.
- Some of the girls are introduced in shots having a similarity to their default pose artworks, such as Prinz Eugen and Norfolk.
- The anime will find ways to include dialogue directly from the game into the story.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Sure Akagi, go ahead and reluctantly let a Siren kill one of your repair ships. It's not like she'll accidentally join some Royal Navy spies at the time and escape with them.
- Non-Lethal K.O.: Ships that are incapacitated in battle just show signs of damage and need for repair as opposed to being outright dead storywise like the game. That being said, ships have been shown to be hospitalized for a long time, as shown what's happened to Yorktown.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Averted in the dub; the Royal Navy Shipgirls have British accents. Likewise, the Ironblood members have very noticeable German accents. This is played straight with the Sakura Empire, however.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Enterprise admits to Ayanami that they are much alike; both not truly wanting to continue fighting this war.
- Oh, Crap!:
- In Episode 4, when Zuikaku and Shoukaku realize they've been chasing the wrong carrier, meaning Enterprise is actually in the thick of it and is tipping the battle in Azur Lane's favor after being lured away from the battle by Hornet's trickery.
- In Episode 7, Akagi is reduced to a terrified mess after witnessing Enterprise transforming into Ash.
- One-Gender Race: With the apparent absence of the Commander, it seems that there are no male characters in the anime at all. The Manjuus may be an exception.
- Out of Focus: Of all of the four major nations, Ironblood has the least focus so far. Along with not really appearing in the trailers other than a few shots, none of their ships are even in the initial credit sequence (Prinz Eugen and Z23 get added later). However, they have been mentioned, have some emphasis in the opening credits, and even the battleship SMS Bayernnote can be seen during some of the establishing shots of the base in the first episode.
- Parrying Bullets: Zuikaku deflects the gunfire from Enterprise's aircraft using her blade.
- Pet the Dog: Akagi & Kaga to the Mutsuki sisters; they give them extra sweets for being honest.
- Power Limiter: All Kansen apparently have one; Javelin and Laffey deactivate theirs in episode 8 to successfully save Ayanami after she nearly falls into a space-time rip after saving Shokaku and Zuikaku from Ash-Enterprise's bombers.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: The anime adaptation seems to be different than the game itself, such as reducing focus for several characters and even letting a lot of ships live too. It also makes some large changes to lore and how Kansen function.
- "Reason You Suck" Speech: Amagi(Orochi in disguise) verbally abuses Kaga about her status as a Replacement Goldish and a failure at that. Kaga could not respond back and only cries in dismay.
- Recap Episode: There's one between Episodes 6 and 7.
- Replacement Goldfish: Late in the series, Kaga started to feel that she's a failed version of this as Akagi never stopped longing for Amagi. When Orochi, in the guise of Amagi, spells it out loud, it completely crushes her.
- The Rival: Zuikaku considers herself one to Enterprise.
- Scenery Porn: Sakura Empire is shown in the fourth episode, and it looks rather beautifully set up.
- Self-Deprecation: In episode 7, on seeing Enterprise stand on a plane again, Zuikaku asks confusedly if that's something carriers do now.
- Shout-Out: Beyond mythology gags, several items are references to other works:
- The Opening Narration of the first episode is one big homage to Ron Perlman's introductions to each Fallout game."War. Yes, war never changes."
- Episode 1 has Enterprise utter this line, and in Gratuitous English to boot. Ash says it too in Episode 12."Enterprise, engage!"
- In Episode 2, the battle damage at the base has shot-for-shot similarities◊ to the aftermath scenes in the movie Pearl Harbor.
- There's a shot-for-shot◊ recreation of Kisaragi's sinking in KanColle, but Cleveland, the target, survives here.
- After saving Enterprise from Zuikaku, Belfast introduces herself as "just a maid who's passing through."
- Likely accidental, but Belfast basically paraphrases Spider-Man's "With great power, comes great responsibility" in Episode 4.
- Enterprise chasing a missile to destroy it in Episode 12 will be very familiar to Ace Combat players.
- The Opening Narration of the first episode is one big homage to Ron Perlman's introductions to each Fallout game.
- Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: Even though the Ironblood are mentioned in the trailers, the only one who really shows up (and for a very short bit) is Z23. Even then, she doesn't get as much focus as the other Starter ships and Unicorn and it's only in the anime introduction we get to see more of them (with Prinz Eugen and Bismarck getting the most focus).
- Slice of Life: Looks like to mix like this from time to time, especially during moments of peace. Specifically, there's some side focus on Javelin and Laffey's friendship and Ayanami's self-conflict with war.
- Solo Duet: Volume 2 of the Buddy Character Song Single collection features two songs performed by Queen Elizabeth and Warspite, both voiced by Sumire Uesaka. Notably, Elizabeth's squeaky voice contrasts with Warspite's husky contralto.
- Spared by the Adaptation: The anime doesn't seem to be based directly off events of the game and therefore, actual naval history, so certain characters seem to be alive when they should have been dead and sunken. For instance, Arizona is alive (although she along with a squadron get beat up by Zuikaku and Shoukaku), while in the actual game (and history), she was one of the first Eagle Union ships to go during the attack on Pearl Harbor. And so far (as of the second episode), Hood is alive and well, despite being the first major casualty in the game, being shot down during the Battle of the Denmark Strait by Bismarck. Yorktown, Enterprise's older sister, doesn't explicitly die here, but she is hospitalized for most of the season, meaning something really bad must have happened to her. In fact, the only character who wasn't spared is Amagi, which is confirmed to be Akagi's primary motivation in the anime, and that's because she was already dead before the start of the series.
- The Starscream: Even though she was never really "loyal", Prinz Eugen gets curious about the Siren Project Orochi and wants to use it for her own gain after Akagi gets put out of commission. However, she's surprised to know Kaga decides to go through it anyways.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: After the first battle, a lot of the ships are shown to be damaged and Enterprise herself is shown to still be worn out from combat. A lot of ships here need time and rest to recover and as shown, her gear wasn't fully repaired, making her almost fall to Zuikaku if the Royal Navy's reinforcements hadn't come in when they did. Also, the small fleet that got attacked by Zuikaku and Shoukaku were not only taken out easily, current reinforcements had to assist them, meaning that they had their hands full in combat.
- Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Belfast's nagging seems to start getting through to Enterprise.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: San Diego's given a small break from being the designated Butt-Monkey starting from Episode 4, where she's just shown enjoying some sweets alongside Saratoga and Cygnet. Episode 5 actually has her taking out a lot of Zuikaku's and Shoukaku's fleet of airplanes alongside Helena.
- Use Your Head: How does Zuikaku manage to snap Kaga out of the Sirens' control? She headbutts her.
- Wham Episode:
- Episode 7 formally introduces Enterprise's Alternate Self, Ash, who proceeds to one-shot Akagi and Kaga. Things start to get worse from there in terms of herself.
- After a rather comfy break in Episode 9, the following episode shows us Project Orochi along with Purifier attacking Azur Lane's base.
- Wham Line:
- Episode 11:Kaga:(to Orochi!Amagi) Enough treachery, fake!Orochi!Amagi: (to Kaga) But you're a fake as well. Amagi died, leaving Akagi behind. Parts of Amagi were passed on to another ship. You know this, Kaga. Aircraft Carrier Kaga, you are a ship that was retrofitted using Amagi's parts. Akagi loved you because she saw a shadow of Amagi inside you, but that is an illusion. You're not even a replacement, you're a colletion of decayed parts, a Ship of Theseus that shall not sail... That's what you are, Kaga.]
- Episode 11:
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Belfast and Enterprise discuss this regarding their nature as to whether they really count as humans; Belfast believes that this is the case, while Enterprise doesn't. Episode 6 seems to lean toward Belfast winning the argument.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Vestal gives Enterprise a huge one after seeing her broken equipment, knowing her recklessness in battle.
- The Worf Effect: Kaga, at the hands of Enterprise, right in the first episode.
- Wound Licking: Akagi licks the cut on Kaga's cheek while healing her.
- Later, Glowworm accidentally cuts herself and Ark Royal tries to do this. Glowworm reacts... how you'd expect.
