These are their stories.
Ever wonder what our favorite Kansen are doing when they aren't busy saving the world? Well, your questions are answered here.
Azur Lane Comic Anthology is a series of short stories featuring many characters from the Azur Lane franchise. The manga started being published on 31 January 2018. In 2020, a sister series, Azur Lane Comic Anthology BREAKING was introduced, which focuses more on newer ships introduced from events.
Because each chapter is written by a different author, consider each chapter a separate continuity of sorts; when adding tropes, do reference the specific volume and chapter. Also, given the nature of this spinoff, tropes listed here should not be listed on the game's main page or subpages barring supporting in-game context.
The manga contains the following tropes:
- A Boy and His X:
- Laffey adopts a baby bunny on Volume 2, Chapter 10, "Laffey and Bunny".
- Volume 8, Chapter 11 focuses on Zeppy and Hiei-chan adopting a kitten.
- A-Cup Angst:
- Northampton feels she's underdeveloped even though Houston points out that she isn't exactly flat.
- Both Maya and Haruna envy their siblings' more buxom figures.
- Baby Morph Episode: Volume 2, Chapter 3 centers on the Commander somehow becoming a kid again. At the end, it turns out that it's actually a robot built to look like him.
- Barely-There Swimwear: This is a given for a manga anthology that cranks up the fanservice based on a game that already features the mature ship girls in revealing swimsuits anyway. A few chapters make them an actual plot point however.
- In Volume 3, Chapter 2, St. Louis forces Honolulu to change into this to better display their Big-Breast Pride for everyone's happiness and to stop being shy when the Commander stares at her. When the Commander walks in on them, Honolulu reverts to being a tsundere and yells at him to stop looking.
- The plot of Breaking! Volume 4, Chapter 9 has Bismarck being given a tiny bikini by Tirpitz that covers next to nothing with the objective of seducing the Commander to prove to him that Ironblood girls are sexier than their Northern Parliament rivals, even though Reluctant Fanservice Girl Bismarck would rather show off weapons and tech to him. She ends up donning it anyway and given how buxom and voluptuous she is, she may as well be naked especially with the bikini straps clearly holding for dear life against her figure. After finding out from the Commander that the Northern Parliament girls didn't do anything sexual to him and that she didn't need to wear it, Bismarck beats up Prinz Eugen who concocted the lie and made Tirpitz get the bikini in the first place, though Bismarck does make a prideful look after the Commander says he enjoyed her botched sexy display anyway.
- Batman Gambit: Volume 1, Chapter 14; the Commander and Akashi intentionally let Ark loose so that the other Kansen will wear the new Skins. However, Akashi makes sure that the price in getting those skins are costly.
- Bears Are Bad News:
- Volume 7, Chapter 10 ends with Yuudachi taking bear hormones and attacking Akashi.
- Volume 9, Chapter 3 appropriately titled, "PANDAmonium" proves how true that trope is.
- Big-Breast Pride: Volume 3, Chapter 2 is dedicated to St. Louis explaining to Reluctant Fanservice Girl Honolulu why she should be happy to be blessed with a big chest for everyone's happiness, especially the Commander's. The chapter ends with the Commander walking in on the two with St. Louis forcing Honolulu to change into a skimpy bikini in order to better display her chest to the world.
- Black Comedy: A lot of the humor centers on the Ship Girls doing illicit things, helped by the fact that many of their personality quirks are Played for Laughs.
- Blind Without 'Em: Raleigh goes through this on Volume 3, Chapter 8.
- Butt-Monkey:
- Purifier is either being knocked around, mobbed etc.
- Mikasa gets this treatment in her focus chapters.
- Cat Fight: Several chapters centers around the Kansen fighting for the Commander's affections.
- Comedic Shotacon: Volume 2, Chapter 3 has Akashi unleashing a little boy Commander on the ship girls, which immediately causes the clingy Shameless Fanservice Girl residents, Atago, Prinz Eugen, Graf and Akagi to start brutally fighting each other over him to be his secretary and smother him in their ample boobs. The final gag is Atago forcing Akashi to give her the little Commander whenever she pleases. This is all Played for Laughs and the Commander is more concerned about getting the perverts to stop fighting than running for his dear life.
- Cosplay Café: The Commander and the Kansen goes through this on Volume 2, Chapter 5.
- Covert Pervert: Despite his usual Only Sane Man status, the Commander is shown to be this in multiple chapters such as Volume 7, Chapter 7 where Sirius finds his lewd magazine collection.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: In Volume 2, Chapter 14; Ning Hai and Ping Hai lampshades this about San Diege's character, detailing much of her flaws much to the latter's chagrin.
- Exact Words: At the end of Volume 3, Chapter 1, Hiryuu mistakes the term "search and destroy" from Amazon as meaning pointing and firing all her guns at the Commander.
- The Faceless: Frequently, the Commander's head is obscured or he straight up doesn't have eyes to keep him anonymous. The only constant is him having dark hair. This trope is sometimes averted like in Volume 2, Chapter 5 or exaggerated in Volume 7, Chapter 11 where he's completely blank and just an outline.
- Fire-Breathing Diner: Volume 3, Chapter 4 has both Shigure and Yukikaze spewing out fire after eating the Dragon's Breath Chili.
- Happy-Ending Massage: Breaking! Volume 2, Chapter 2 has Kumano and Suzuya (later dragging in Myoukou) attempt to give the Commander a sexual "healing" service, with the two dressed in revealing lingerie to emphasize their Succubi and Incubi look. Unfortunately for them, Taihou the Yandere spots the trio, and after a mass Oh, Crap!, just give him a regular massage to not invoke her wrath.
- Happily Ever After: Kaga says this word for word on Volume 7, Chapter 11.Mutsuki: (Being naked thanks to Akagi) I'm not happy!
- Harem Genre: As with the main game and Slow Ahead, the Ship Girls are all after the Commander with a number of chapters dedicated to making advances on him as they compete for his affections. Since the Commander makes physical on page appearances this time around instead of being The Ghost (for the most part) like in the game or Slow Ahead, it's the most direct and proper usage of the trope in the franchise so far. Since the stories are not connected, a number of instances do have a Ship Girl end victorious and Promoted to Love Interest such Akagi in in Volume 7 and Chapter 11 while the next chapter can start fresh.
- I Ate WHAT?!: Volume 8, Chapter 12; Zuikaku enjoys Enterprise's hamburger only to discover that the latter had used turkey.
- Idol Singer: Chapters 14, Volume 2 and 2, Volume delves into this.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: As no one visits Akashi's shop anymore, Akashi begins to feel lonely and creates pranks on them, hoping they would come back and talk to her.
- Insistent Terminology: Beflast is prone to calling the Commander "Master" as per a true maid, which is really noticeable in Breaking! Volume 1, Chapter 9 when she is the only one calling him that over a card game with other Ship Girls.
- In Vino Veritas: Akagi tries to invoke this with Enterprise but other than showing her Clingy Jealous Girl feelings, Enterprise relatively remains the same.
- The Lancer: Belfast in multiple comics is shown to be the direct subordinate and secretary to the Commander in a number of her appearances such as Volume 7, Chapter 7 and Breaking! Volume 1, Chapter 9. The former has also has the other maid ships wondering if she's closer to the Commander than it appears while the latter has even Akagi be fine with her having access to his room due to being his subordinate. Dido also states in the latter chapter that the favors Belfast, much to Chapayev's chagrin who tied him up and forced him to say a change in secretary is nice for a bit.
- Lethal Chef: Queen Elizabeth learns the hard way when you have California make tea using coke.
- Personality Swap: Volume 8, Chapter 2 centers around the Ironblood having their personalities switches like Prinz Eugen and Deutschland becoming Shrinking Violets and Graf Zeppelin having Roon's personality.
- Promoted to Love Interest: Unlike its sister series Slow Ahead, the Anthology series has virtually, if not, oturight no continuity between strips which means that the Ship Girls get this treatment instead of just having to stop at Ship Tease as with Slow Ahead. Akagi for instance gets her happily ever after with the Commander in Volume 7, Chapter 11 while Belfast is implied to have already undergone this trope before the start of Volume 7, Chapter 7 where the Ship Girls note that the Commander and his head maid/2nd in Command Belfast seem too close.
- Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Breaking! Volume 4, Chapter 9 has Bismarck being pushed into wearing a very revealing bikini by the Ironblood girls to prove to the Commander that they're superior to their rival Northern Parliament girls under the grounds that the latter's Ms. Fanservice girls had the Commander in a frenzy. Despite Bismarck appearing to be even bustier and thicker than usual, she still clearly has no idea how to flirt but still ends up making the Commander a nervous wreck with her body, and after accidentally landing on him and finding out that he didn't do anything sexual with the Northern Parliament girls, punches Prinz Eugen for lying to her. She does make a playfully smug face at the end however when the Commander says he enjoyed her attempt at being sexy anyway.
- Reluctant Retiree: Volume 3, Chapter 11 has Mikasa believing that she's about to be replaced with a younger Kansen and trying desepratedly to get a more youthful image.
- Send in the Clones: Chapter 2, Volume 14 has San Diego using super-deformed clones of herself to act as her back-up dancers.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: Volume 3, Chapter 2, has St. Louis discuss this trope with Honolulu where she encourages her to take pride in the fact that the Commander is mesmerized by her buxom body and that women with blessed figures should be glad to have them and show them off. She ends it by making Honolulu put on a tiny bikini for the Commander's happiness, only for Honolulu to revert to her tsundere Reluctant Fanservice Girl self the moment he walks in on them.
- Slice of Life: Like Azur Lane: Slow Ahead!, the series focuses on what the girls are doing when not out fighting. As with Slow Ahead again, the series diverges from the "Cute Girls Doing Cute Things" subgenre, but doesn't even pretend to hide behind the label this time with even more emphasis on Black Comedy, Fanservice and the Commander actually showing up for the Ship Girls to lust after him on screen, with friendship being next to non exiestent as a theme.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Erebus sees Laffey up and about at late night, the latter tries claiming that "she wasn't trying to sneak into the Commander's room".
- You Are Who You Eat: Yuudachi accidentally drinks cat hormones, causing her to exhibit cat-like traits.
