Anime / KanColle

Ready to set sail!^note(From left to right) Front row: Mutsuki, Fubuki, Yuudachi; Second Row: Kaga, Kongou; Back Row: Yamato, Akagi, Nagato.

"Hast thou expended all possible efforts?"

The animated adaptation of the wildly popular browser game.

The oceans of the world are under threat! Strange beings coming from its depths, tentatively codenamed the Abyssal Fleet, are attacking the shipping lanes, wreaking havoc on the economies of countries that are dependent on imports. The only ones that can seemingly stop these things are the Fleet Girls, who are apparently the ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, reincarnated into the present day in the forms of girls and young women.

Fubuki is one of these. Despite being a relative newbie, because of who she is she is thrust into the front lines. What experiences will she have in this time of conflict, and who will she meet that will share the burden of these troubled times with her?

The adaptation by Studio Diomedea premiered in January 2015. The animated primer was first shown during the 1st-year anniversary celebration in Yokohama, before being made available on the Kadokawa's anime channel. It can be watched here.

The second preview, featuring some of the more Slice of Life aspects to be expected of the show, as well as the characters, was streamed on November 7, 2014. It can be watched here.

Crunchyroll now has the rights to stream Kancolle as part of their Winter 2015 lineup. Funimation will release the series on home video, with an English dub, as part of a partnership between the two companies. Said home release on Blu-Ray, DVD, and digital is scheduled for June 27, 2017.

A second season was announced at the end of the first season's 12th and final episode, but has yet to materialise as of 2019. A movie was also announced, which premiered in 2016. It features fleet girls that never made it into the series proper (Choukai, Kako, and Furutaka had been confirmed in the lineup.)

At the end of the 2019 Jazz Festival event, a trailer for the new anime called KanColle 1944: Let's Meet at Sea premiered, focusing on Shigure and the Nishimura Fleet. Text in the trailer indicates this is the second season, but devs later stated that this new anime is a self contained story not set in the previous anime and movie's universe. It started airing on 3rd November 2022, produced by Studio ENGI and will run for 8 episodes.

Compare to Arpeggio of Blue Steel, which also featured Anthropomorphic Personifications of World War 2 IJN ships, and whose adaptation Ars Nova used cell-shaded CGI.

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In addition to those from the main page, this anime provides examples of:

• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: The scout plane in the preview, and several sequences during the battles in later episodes. In the latter case, these also extend to animated conversations between characters, which might have been better served by traditional animation instead. (See Mutsuki talking to Yuudachi in episode 3.)
• Action Survivor: Fubuki. The other girls quickly find out that she's never been in combat, much less received training on her equipment, though the Admiral notices the potential she has.
• A-Cup Angst:
  • After Fubuki bumps into Atago's foredeck in episode 2, she stares at it for at least three seconds.
  • Zuikaku being told about her "flight deck chest" in episode 5.
  • Fubuki stares at Yuudachi's larger breasts for a moment in episode 9 after the latter receives an remodel, before looking down at her chest a short while later. It comes up again in episode 10 when Fubuki realises that she hasn't changed much post-remodel.
• Adapted Out: The featureless player character from the Game, The Admiral, was not made into a leading character or someone with known features; the Admiral is an unseen figure instead, mentioned offhand by others, taking a different approach from other Anime Adaptations of popular works like The Idolmaster and Super Sonico, where The Producer and The Manager were given features and sufficient characterization.
• Alien Blood: Abyssals bleed blue blood, evidenced when a Wo-Class gets shot in the eye by Fubuki.
• All Up to You: When the last Abyssal carrier shows up in episode 12, Fubuki is certain that's the last one they have to defeat. Sure enough, it's the same one she ran into back in episode 7, as the carrier is still missing an eye, and Nagato orders her to take it out, with Kongou as her only escort. This is made a little more jarring by the fact that just moments before, she ordered another group of girls to take out the previous carrier, and now she doesn't just order them to fire a few salvos at the third carrier.
• Ambiguous Gender: The Admiral's gender is left vague in this anime, though the Crunchyroll subs use male pronouns whenever the shipgirls talk about them.
  • In Let's Meet At Sea, the Admiral is confirmed to be a man.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: While the first two seasons focused on Fubuki and the 1st Carrier Division, Let's Meet At Sea instead focuses on Shigure and her role the 1st Section 3rd Striking Force and later Torpedo Squadron 2.
• And Then John Was a Zombie: In episode 12, after MI is concluded in a ship-girl victory, Kisaragi's hair clip suddenly floats to the surface from the depths, implying she had been turned into an Abyssal—specifically, the One-Eyed Wo-Class, with her repeated utterance of "Give it back" while sinking.
  • It is later revealed in the movie that Kisaragi Came Back Wrong while suffering from an amnesia and PTSD, with her movie-only Abyssal form being a Cute Zombie Girl
• Anime Theme Song: Miiro.
• Arc Words: "Hast thou expended all possible efforts?", first asked by Nagato of Destroyer Group Six in episode six and later by Akagi of Fubuki in episode nine. It's a reference to part of the Gosei Meditation, which was recited in the first episode's opening and which graduates of Etajima Naval Academy were expected to reflect on every evening.
• Ascended Meme:
  • Yuudachi's infamous "Poi~". It has a remix, a chart of how many times she said it in each episode◊, Every poi ever, and this final summarization.◊ Even the English dub kept it in!
  • Ditto with Nagato and her infamous invokedFan Nickname, thanks to that encounter with a squirrel in episode 8.
• Awesome, but Impractical:
  • Akagi is said to be the most powerful carrier in the fleet, but she has extremely long repair times, so if she takes any damage, she is out of commission for a VERY long time. Also, she consumes a lot of food/resources.
  • Yamato is the most powerful ship-girl to ever exist. Unfortunately, her resource consumption is so high (rivaling Akagi's), that she is not allowed to sortie except as a last resort, with her notably being one of the few ships still fighting by the end of the climatic battle in The Movie.
• Badass Armfold: Nagato does this while watching over Fubuki epically failing at water skating.
• Battle Aura: Kongou has a particularly lively one in episode 4 when declaring she's going to win the Admiral's heart.
• Beach Episode: Episode 8 takes place at an alternative forward base, which largely takes the form of a beachside hotel. Naturally, this leads to a Walking Swimsuit Scene for many of the fleet girls. However, the actual time spent on the beach accounts for less than 10% of the episode, as it mostly focuses on Yamato.
• Beehive Barrier:
  • The humanoid Abyssal Fleet units are shown to be protected by a circular barrier (which looks suspiciously similar to the Klein Fields from Arpeggio of Blue Steel). Until the barrier is breached, they're more or less invulnerable, as shown by the Anchorage Princess blocking the shots of multiple ships before her barrier is finally shattered by Akagi's planes.
  • Episode 3 shows that the ship-girls are capable of creating a similar barrier when attacked.
• Behind the Black: In episode 12 a group of Abyssals somehow sneak up on Ooi and Kitakami's reunion.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Yamato is gentle, demure, and an all-around nice person. She is also the most powerful ship in the entire fleet.
• BFG: Yamato's 46 cm turrets are nearly as large as she is.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • The arrival of the 1st Carrier Division squad in episode 1 not only saves Fubuki from getting eaten, but turns the battle against the Anchorage Princess around.
  • The Kongou class battleships are this in episodes 3 and 4.
  • The rest of the Assault Force Five girls save Zuikaku and Shoukaku when an enemy Abyssal fleet is waiting for them outside a squall in episode 7.
  • Done four times in episode 12.
    • First, Fubuki, Kongou, Yamato and the rest of the main fleet save Akagi and the carriers.
    • Then, Ooi kicks an I-class in the face before it takes down Kitakami.
    • Then Nagato, Mutsu, the Sendai sisters and the Akatsuki sisters show up, having feinted towards AL before turning back to MI.
    • And then Taihou shows up with a new set of planes when Midway Princess keeps refusing to go down.
  • Abyssal Kisaragi in the movie, managing to assist Yamato and Mutsuki in holding the line so Fubuki can get into the portal and cleanse Ironbottom Sound.
• Big Eater:
  • Akagi's only quirk is her massive appetite. It ends up losing her and Kaga the curry-making competition; she eats the ingredients almost as soon as Kaga manages to prepare them.
  • Yamato turns out to be an even bigger one than Akagi. When the two of them are at the same table, a truly massive pile of food is seen, and they empty out a pot of rice about half the size of Yuudachi. However, Nagato tells Fubuki it's because she uses so many resources that they don't want to use her very much.
  • Episode 12 reveals that Kaga actually eats more than Akagi. Which is true in the game.
• Bishie Sparkle: Fubuki's initial impression of Kongou in episode 4, after having been saved by her a few times. It quickly turns into a Broken Pedestal, however, once she realizes how wacky Kongou gets.
• Bittersweet Ending: Let's Meet at Sea ends with the Ship Girls facing their imminent end with dignity and grace as they fight the Abyssals until their last breath in the final battle, and Shigure wiping out the Abyssal carrier fleet with just one torpedo strike, getting caught by the explosion in the process. However, while the war ended with either a Pyrrhic Victory on both sides or no contest, the Ship Girls who were sunk, including Shigure herself, didn't turn into Abyssals due to their lack of negative thoughts (such as regrets and grudges) and instead came back to life later (through Reincarnation) as ordinary civilians in the present day.
• Black Comedy: Kitakami's sheepish reaction in Episode 11 when she remembers that Ooi isn't there to help protect her from incoming torpedoes.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The Destroyer Trio are this: Fubuki (brunette), Mutsuki (redhead), and Yuudachi (blonde).
• Bloodier and Gorier: Some Ship Girls do bleed during fights in the movie, such as Hiei's left eye is nearly busted wide open, Sendai got hit in the gut, and Yamato takes too much damage to the point where she almost passed out, or even worse, sank. This also carries to Let's Meet at Sea as well.
• Bloodless Carnage: While played straight in the series, averted in the movie and Let's Meet at Sea.
• Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Kirishima and Naka act as announcers for Episode 6's curry competition, though it's made clear that the former is a Lemony Narrator while the latter lampshades the hell out of Kirishima's antics.
• Box-and-Stick Trap: Haruna uses this in an attempt to capture Shimakaze by using a magazine with pictures of Kongou. Unfortunately, they capture Hiei instead.
• Breather Episode: Episode 6, Destroyer Team Six's day-in-the-limelight episode. Made a lot more funny with the serious atmosphere of the opening stinger: Nagato doing the infamous Gendo Pose while contemplating on the next mission - the Naval Base Curry Contest. May also count as sort of a Bizarro Episode, as it's sandwiched in between action-heavy episodes and is in no way related to the main plot.
• Brick Joke: A very impressive Shown Their Work. Carrier Division 1 (Akagi, Kaga) and Carrier Division 5 (Shoukaku, Zuikaku) really hate each other. Why? Because, during World War 2, the latter lacked experience but had all the latest equipment, while the former had all the experience but barely any of the latest tech. Over the course of the anime, Kaga and Zuikaku are intentionally put together throughout the anime, and when Kaga takes a shot for Zuikaku, suddenly Zuikaku has respect for Kaga. Come Episode 12, which is modeled after the Battle of Midway, Shoukaku gives planes to Kaga at Zuikaku's request.
  Kaga: Suddenly, I feel very angry.
  Akagi: Me too.
• Broken Aesop: In episode 10, Fubuki is training harder and taking more risks than usual because she wants to be remodeled. As a result, she isn't getting enough sleep and nearly gets herself sunk by Abyssals during a scouting operation. Mutsuki urges her to take better care of herself, as she's not proving anything and will only hurt the people that care about her if she gets herself killed. Fubuki apologizes and realizes Mutsuki's right. Fast-forward to the end of the episode, when Fubuki engages in some live fire training with Akagi and Kaga and nearly gets herself killed...except now Mutsuki is actively cheering her on. On top of that, Fubuki gets her second remodel afterwards.
• Broken Pedestal: Fubuki towards Kongou, but it's Played for Laughs. She initially thinks Kongou is a cool, mysterious badass, like Akagi. Turns out Kongou's a wacky ball of energy that mixes random English words into her speech. Fubuki's idealized image of Kongou cracks after the first impression. After she's told Kongou acts like this all the time, said image completely shatters in Fubuki's mind.
• Brother–Sister Incest: A complicated example. Kitakami and Ooi have all but been directly and bluntly stated to be a lesbian couple, which is complicated because they are sisters. Well sister ships. The anime and game are both inconsistent about whether or not ships of the same class can be thought of as sisters as humans would define the term or if its more metaphorical than that.
• Bullet Catch: In episode 4, Kongou punches a shell aimed at Fubuki out of the air.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer:
  • The Kongou-class Battleships might be a bunch of loopy goofballs, but that doesn't mean they can't kick serious ass when they need to.
  • Shimakaze is a lazy, forgetful and immature child. She's also one of the most skilled Destroyers in the fleet.
• Butt-Monkey: Yuudachi is subjected to very unlucky moments, particularly during the classroom scene in episode 2.
• Call-Back:
  • In episode 10, Mutsuki brings up Kisaragi's sinking after Fubuki pushes herself a bit too far, and in episode 11, Mutsuki goes to Kisaragi's memorial to pray.
  • In episode 9, Yuudachi comments that there are so many targets to choose from. In episode 11, she remarks that she doesn't like having so many targets present.
• Career-Ending Injury: As a metaphor to warships sinking in real life, any Ship Girl who is too injured to continue fighting would be honorably discharged from duty, as seen with Shiratsuyu (in a flashback), Fusou, Yamashiro, and the majority of the Nishimura fleet in Let's Meet at Sea.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • In episode 11, Nachi mentions that the fleet bound for AL has orders that are not to be opened until later. In episode 12, we learn that the orders were to divert to MI to reinforce the ship-girls already there.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • The escort fighters Shoukaku and Zuikaku give to Fubuki and the others in episode 7 end up helping to save Fubuki's group from a second Abyssal fleet ambush. They help to shoot down several Abyssal planes while Fubuki and the others concentrate on the Abyssal's Wo-class carrier.
  • An unknown girl in shadow is shown in a quick scene transition shortly after Yamato gets ready to launch in episode 11. It turns out to be the Carrier Taihou, who comes to assist the others girls in the next episode.
• Chucking Chalk: Ashigara does this to Kisaragi when Kisaragi mentions that the reason Ashigara's in such a foul mood is because she didn't meet any men at her last mixer.
• Cel Shading: The battles are half this, half traditional hand-drawn animation.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Ooi is very attached to Kitakami. The only reason she doesn't qualify for straight-up Yandere is that she hasn't actually hurt anybody. Yet. Well, no one on her side. In Episode 12, when a destroyer attacks Kitakami, Ooi appears and kicks the destroyer, throws it into the air, and blows it up with her gun.
• Cliffhanger: Episode 11 ends on one, with the assault fleet being led by Akagi getting ambushed by the Abyssals. The episode ends as a bomb gets dropped on Akagi.
  • Cliffhanger Copout: The next episode starts with the cliffhanger, but instead of Akagi getting bombed, the Abyssal is shot down instead.
• Clothing Damage: The fleet girls suffer this when hit by enemy fire, if they don't get sunk first.
• Cloud Cuckoolander: All four of the Kongou Sisters are rather...odd. To the point where, while Fubuki blindly thinks Kongou is The Ojou and gives her Bishie Sparkle in her dreams, once their entire nature is shown, Fubuki eventually gives up on comprehending and runs with it.
• Comically Missing the Point: In episode 4, when Kongou holds an impromptu concert in an attempt to draw Shimakaze out of hiding, Naka shows up and challenges them to a music idol duel, thinking that Kongou is challenging her idol status. While Kongou and Hiei stay behind, Fubuki, Haruna, and Kirishima continue searching for Shimakaze.
• Cool Big Sis: Kongou, both to her actual sisters and the Destroyers.
• Cooldown Hug: Kongou gives one to Fubuki, after the latter has a panic attack in the middle of a battle and nearly sinks. She does it again after Fubuki learns that she's being sent back to the Naval District.
• Cordon Bleugh Chef: Some of the items on Cafe Mamiya's menu, including Curry Chocolate Parfait and Ujikintoki (sweet green tea syrup) Spaghetti. It seems that the regular desserts are pretty good, though, judging by how often the main trio are seen there. This may be a Shout-Out to the infamous real-life Cafe Mountain (warning: machine translation) in Nagoya.
• Credits Running Sequence: Fubuki does a brief one in the opening, and a walking version in the ending credits.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Fubuki doesn't think too highly of Kongou after seeing the Genki Girl and The Ditz side of the latter in episode 4. However, when they're in pitched combat, Kongou and her sisters prove to be quite deadly fighters.
• Cry into Chest: After getting reassigned to the newly formed Mobile Unit Five, Fubuki meets Kongou, they hug, and Fubuki promptly breaks down into tears mid-hug. Semi-Played for Laughs, since while it's entirely valid that she's upset about being separated from her friends, it's just as likely that she's upset because of her teammates. She does it again in episode 9 after learning that the Admiral is having her sent back to the Naval District, while her best friend Yuudachi has been remodeled AND transferred to Carrier Group One to be with Akagi, which was Fubuki's dream.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The fleet girls are on the receiving end of one in episode 11, after the Abyssals successfully launch a sneak attack on them while they were focusing on the Airfield Princess standing by at the Abyssals' base. The tables turn in episode 12 once fleet girl reinforcements show up.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: Fubuki starts out as one on the water, having precisely zero experience as a Fleet Girl. She gets better quickly, though.
• Cuteness Proximity: Nagato does this when she spots a chipmunk in episode 8 while bathing. Her sister Mutsu catches her in the act and teases her later about it.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: In episode 11, Kitakami calls for Ooi to help shoot the torpedoes headed for herself, then abruptly realises that Ooi's not with her.
• Darker and Edgier:
  • The movie in comparison with the anime, since there's blood, reduced comedy, and the risk of Ship Girls sinking are high, even if all of them survived (or came Back from the Dead in Kisaragi's case) in the end.
  • Let's Meet at Sea is even more so, with a more serious tone, more graphic violence, and Ship Girls retiring by Career-Ending Injury as a stand-in for warships sinking in real life.
• Debut Queue: Many of the girls are shown in the first episode, but they're not given very prominent roles until later episodes, when Fubuki is assigned to missions with them.
• Demoted to Extra: Given the large cast in the game, this was inevitable. A lot of girls, mostly the destroyers, are seen only in the background, if they're not outright Adapted Out.
• The Determinator: Fubuki makes use of this several times throughout the show, such as during her training in episode 2, and later when Kaga and Akagi test her anti-aircraft abilities in episode 10.
• Deus ex Machina: Episode 12 is brimming with this. Specifically, the girls are heavily outnumbered by the Abyssals, with the Airfield Princess instantly regenerating any damage done to her. When it looks like they're about to be overrun, the rest of the fleet, including Zuikaku and Shoukaku, suddenly arrive to help, explaining that instant repair buckets suddenly appeared out of nowhere. However, when their firepower still isn't enough, Taihou (whose existence was only briefly alluded to in the previous episode) suddenly arrives to provide support, and it's revealed that the Admiral has suddenly returned to the Naval District without any explanation of how they got there or what they did during the entirety of their absence. From that point on, the girls' morale is restored, and it quickly becomes a Curb-Stomp Battle in their favor.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap: Used in episode 7. Kaga is clearly the better carrier compared to Zuikaku, so naturally she suffers some damage just before a vital mission. And to make matters worse, they're out of instant-repair buckets, so like Akagi, she has to wait until repairs are complete. As a result, Shoukaku, Zuikaku's sister carrier, is assigned to the mission instead. Though they're fairly competent, they're not as good as Carrier Group One.
• Dumb Blonde: Yuudachi. She cannot answer one of the easiest questions in Ashigara's class.
• Dynamic Entry: In episode 12, Ooi dropkicks an Abyssal trying to eat Kitakami.
• Earn Your Happy Ending:
  • It takes quite a bit of effort for the fleet girls to finally win at MI in episode 12.
  • Mutsuki and Kisaragi in The Movie. Kisaragi comes back in the process of turning into an Abyssal, managing to remain lucid enough to deploy as herself one last time. In the stinger, Kisaragi is revealed to have successfully been reborn as a Fleet Girl again.
• 11th-Hour Ranger: Taihou, showing up more than halfway into episode 12, as well as Nagato and Mutsu getting into the field.
• Ending Theme: Fubuki.
• Eye Scream :
  • Wo-class is struck in her left eye by Fubuki in ep. 7, leaving behind blue blood and a hollow-looking opening with something glowing yellow.◊ She shows up again in episode 9, then again in episode 12, and her eye is still damaged both times.
  • In the movie, it nearly happens to Hiei
• Failure Montage:
  • Following Fubuki's reassignment to Mobile Unit Five in Episode 5, the fleet, which consists of Kitakami, Ooi, Zuikaku, Kaga, and Kongou, decided to try out their hands at flagship one by one, since they can't seem to agree on anything. Cue a quick montage of each fleet girl getting a crack at it, followed by a massive explosion, then a scene cut to the entire group getting repairs at the docks. This happens to everyone except Fubuki, who never gets to try. When an impromptu attack by the Abyssals forces them to make an emergency sortie, Fubuki reins in the entire group and heads a successful attack, leading the team to name her their flagship.
  • In episode 10, another one occurs when Fubuki is being tested to see if she is capable of protecting Akagi from enemy aircraft.
• Famed In-Story: If Fubuki is to be believed, the members of the 1st Carrier Division, specifically Akagi and Kaga, border on Living Legend status. Fubuki herself is a massive Akagi fangirl, but it's particularly notable, as they're the only fleet girls that Fubuki reacts to in this way.
• Fanservice: When Fubuki and Mutsuki meet the remodeled Yuudachi for the first time, Yuudachi is only in her undergarments for no particular reason. There's also some blink-and-you'll-miss-them Panty Shots and an instance of Wardrobe Malfunction (see below).
• Fighter-Launching Sequence: We get treated to an incredibly elaborate arming and launch sequence for the fleet girls being sortied, which could be described as a cross between the catapult launches from Gundam or Evangelion, and Strike Witches.
• Five Stages of Grief: After Kisaragi is sunk, Mutsuki completely refuses to believe it. She won't listen to anyone who says it, acts as if nothing has changed, and won't look at Kisaragi's empty desk. She skips straight to Depression and finally Acceptance at the end of episode 4.
• Foreshadowing:
  • The opening title has one for the Past Experience Nightmares Akagi keeps having in episode 11. Right before the camera pans on her and Kaga, some quick inserts of battle are shown, with the music changing appropriately for those few moments.
  • In a particularly meta example, the battle in the third episode is based on a map in the game, which was inspired by the real-life Battle of Wake Island. Those who did their history homework would already know that Kisaragi sank in that battle.
  • The episode itself contains a boatload of foreshadowing, including Akagi giving a very profound speech to Mutsuki about how you should always tell the people you love how you feel about them, because you don't know if they'll still be there tomorrow.
  • Early on in episode 9, Nagato is concerned that with the main fleet at the Truk forward base, the rest of the fronts are largely undefended. Guess what happens later.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: An aversion concerning Kisaragi's sinking. Her death hits hard with some of the girls, even long after they've moved on, with big Call Backs in episodes 10 and 11.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: In episode 1, when Fubuki is getting her equipment, the placard quickly flips through the names of the other members of her class before displaying her name.
• Funbag Airbag: While looking for Akagi in the hot springs, Fubuki manages to bump into the well-endowed Atago.
• Fun with Subtitles: Fansubbing group Commie decided to use Russian subtitles (complete with Communist colors) whenever Hibiki spouts a Russian one-liner instead of translating to English.
• Genre Shift: Some episodes go with a Moe Slice of Life Monster of the Week story while other episodes highlight the harshness of war and make it an anime reenactment of the Pacific War. What makes this particular is its frequency to keep shifting between the genres rather than just make one shift and stick to the new one from then on.
• The Ghost: The Admiral is never seen directly on-screen; at most, only their silhouette, or first-person shots from their perspective are shown.
• The Glomp:
  • Kongou's entrance into the Admiral's room involves smashing the door open, a flying leap, and glomp on the Admiral. Well, it would be, if the Admiral were present. Kongou gets Ooyodo instead. It happens again in episode 12.
    • Kongou and Ooyodo also get a Punny Name as a result, at least in the first instance:
    Kongou: "Huh? This isn't the admiral. Oh! Yodo dess!" ("Oh! It's Yodo!")
    Ooyodo: "Ooyodo desu." ("It's Ooyodo.")
    • The pun is unfortunately removed in the dub and in its place:
    Kongou: "Uh—Why did the commander get boobs? They're so squishy!"
    Ooyodo: "I'm Ooyodo."
  • Fubuki and Kongou do this in episode 5 after they find out they're assigned to the same fleet. Considering the hostility Fubuki saw from the other members, Kongou seemed like a breath of fresh air and almost normal to her.
• Got Volunteered: Fubuki gets assigned to a lot of the early missions shown. This is partly to get her some much-needed training, partly to introduce the many other Fleet Girls a few at a time.
• Gratuitous English: Seeing as Kongou is from England, she tends to mix in bits of English as she speaks.
  • In episode 6, Akatsuki attempts to say the word "elegant" in English but ends up saying "elephant." In the Filipino dub, this is translated as "elegante" and "elepante", with the exact meanings intact, making this Incidental Multilingual Wordplay.
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • Ooi is extremely jealous of anyone whom she perceives as competing for her beloved Kitakami's attention and affection, up to and including a butterfly landing on the latter's cheek.
  • Fubuki is initially a little jealous at Yuudachi receiving a remodel and upgrade in episode 9. However, she's told that Yuudachi was training a lot in order to catch up to a certain destroyer, implying Fubuki herself. She then instead cheers Yuudachi on while the latter is training.
• Happy Ending Override: Assuming Let's Meet At Sea is a true sequel, then it means that Fubuki's efforts to make peace between the fleet girls and Abyssals is not only a complete failure, but fails to even change the course of the war as the situation in 1944 is so dire that the fleet girls can only barely defend Japan's shores with their greatly diminished numbers.
• Hate at First Sight: The carriers Kaga and Zuikaku instantly dislike each other in Episode 5 after they find out they've been assigned to the same fleet. Fubuki witnesses this firsthand when she enters their room. Fubuki mitigates the relationship at the end of the episode.
• Healing Spring: The "docks" that fleet girls get sent to for repairs are a bath house. This doubles as a regular bath house and a place for damaged fleet girls to get repaired. In this case, the famous buckets are now filled with super-charged bath water, as opposed to food/bauxite. As expected, this is used on Akagi, but that doesn't stop her from being a Big Eater.
• Hell Is That Noise: In-universe. After melting their curry pot with a flamethrower, the destroyers ask Yuubari to make an even stronger pot. However, as she clangs on the pot, the destroyers remark how scary the sound is. (The effect used is the "Scrap" sound effect from the game, and there are two sets of three hits).
  Akatsuki: I don't know why, but...
  Inazuma: This sound makes me really scared...
• Hero of Another Story: Other naval districts have been mentioned. For example, in episode 11, Jun'you, Ryujou and some destroyers were supposed to be borrowed from another naval district for Operation AL/MI.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • Mutsuki and Fubuki following Kisaragi's sinking in episode 3. Mutsuki puts on a cheerful front, refuses to acknowledge Kisaragi's gone, and stubbornly waits at the wharf for her return every day, while Fubuki just stops smiling altogether.
  • Fubuki has a panic attack after getting hit by some Abyssal ships in episode 4. She is unable to do anything aside from watch, but fortunately is saved by Kongou.
  • Fubuki suffers a brief one again in episode 9. She is told her unit is being disbanded and that she is to head back to the Naval District. Because she isn't told why, she wonders if she screwed up somewhere despite all her recent victories.
• Heroic Sacrifice: The Admiral is practically glued to their chair, except when not present. When the weakened Naval District is bombed by the Abyssals, the Admiral adamantly stays put until all of the remaining fleet girls are evacuated. The Admiral's office is also bombed, but they Never Found the Body, so was considered MIA. Ultimately subverted when revealed to be alive in episode 12.
• History Repeats: Discussed in episode 11 when Akagi mentions having a feeling that something is trying to make her repeat something from the past. This is what prompts her to try and have the fleet girls' order of battle changed.
• Hope Spot:
  • One occurs in episode 11, when the Task Force assigned with Akagi assault the Abyssal base and find a lone Airfield Princess on the island. Akagi decides to launch a surprise attack on her, and they do surprisingly well, heavily damaging her. Unfortunately for the fleet girls, shortly after they launch a second wave of planes, they quickly get surrounded by Abyssal forces, who launch their own surprise attack on them.
  • In episode 12, this occurs several times with the Midway Princess. Each time, they think she's taken down, only for her to get back up and launch more planes at them. At the end, Nagato starts to ask if they finally took her down, and Mutsu tells her she shouldn't be saying that.
• Improbably Female Cast: Like in the game, there isn't a single male character despite the military setting (the Admiral's gender in this anime is officially unknown).
• Incoming Ham: Every time Kongou makes an appearance, it's heralded by her booming voice and an over-the-top entrance. Her sisters also indulge in some wacky introductions.
  Kongou: Ad-mi-ral!!! Burning Love!!! [Mistakenly glomps Ooyodo with repeat shots]
• Insane Troll Logic: Kirishima's reasoning behind her plan to lure Shimakaze out of hiding in episode 4 basically boils down to this; according to her calculations, girls like sweet things. However, they like sweet love stories even more. Therefore, getting video footage of one of Kitakami and Ooi's weekly lesbian moments will definitely attract Shimakaze.
• It's All My Fault: Three of the girls do this in episode 7: Fubuki tries to take the responsibility for Kaga getting damaged after she intercepted a torpedo aimed at Zuikaku. However, Kaga then attempts to shift the blame to herself. Finally, Zuikaku says it was her fault Kaga got hurt due to her failure to notice said torpedo during the encounter, and she gets angry at Kaga's explanation of minimizing casualties for taking the hit.
• Last Breath Bullet: As the enemy fleet retreats in Episode 3, the last scout left has just enough time to drop a bomb on Kisaragi before blowing up. Kisaragi is then sunk.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Fubuki, in her search for gaining experience, grabs hold of an Idiot Ball and charges headlong into an Abyssal fleet in episode 10. She seems to have forgotten about all the training and teamwork she learned while attacking the Abyssals in this scene, and she suffers for it.
• Lemony Narrator: Kirishima in the curry contest during episode 6.
• Lethal Chef: Hiei adds something to Kongou's curry dish in episode 6. Whatever it is turns the dish purple, and both girls pass out after tasting a sample.
• Loophole Abuse:
  • Nagato strictly forbids Fubuki from allowing Yamato from going out to sea due to how much resources she consumes. However, nothing is said about Yamato riding on a boat that's being pulled by someone else. Hilariously, Fubuki is unable to move Yamato on her own due to the battleship's heavy weight. Fortunately, Mutsuki and Yuudachi help her. When they take down some Abyssal planes that escaped from another battle, Nagato lets it slide that Fubuki once again disobeyed her, as this gave Yamato some much-needed battle experience.
  • In the Movie, Kisaragi learns that, if a sunk Fleet Girl is then sunk as an Abyssal, she'll return as a Fleet Girl. In one of the most heartwarming moments possible, she manages it.
• Marshmallow Hell: While looking for Akagi in the repair spa, Fubuki ends up with her face in Atago's cleavage.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": The fleet girls repeatedly have this look on their face in episode 12 after the Midway Princess keeps getting back up and regenerating.
• Mercy Kill: In her flashback, a crippled and heavily damaged Akagi orders her escorts to scuttle her, a nod to what happened to the real Akagi.
• The Men First: In episode 9, the Admiral refuses to leave the Naval District until all the ship-girls are safe. As a result, the Admiral's missing when the main force comes back.
• Midseason Upgrade: Yuudachi receives a remodel in episode 9, improving her abilities. At the end of episode 9, Fubuki is told she'll be getting one as well, and she actually gets it in episode 10.
• Military Salute: Fubuki and several other ship girls does a variation of the British Naval salute, having their elbow tucked in as demonstrated by Fubuki in the promotional poster at the top.
• Mildly Military: Though they have some military semblance in battle, the girls typically act like high school girls when in training or in school.
  • Apparently, it is mostly okay for warships to go on expeditions with full gear and at the expense of the base's resources for personal amusement. Done by Yamato and 6th Destroyer Division.
• Moe: In-Universe, Ooi thinks Kitakami is this (and even uses the exact name of the trope) when Kitakami breaks down crying after Ooi arrives just in time to save her from an enemy destroyer.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • Double-subverted in Episode 4. While it does play off the fact that someone just died, it subverts once they introduce the Kongou-class ships. Starting the show from that point, you'd most likely not know that someone just died. Thankfully, it manages to double-subvert this by focusing on more of the fallout from and acceptance of said death near the end.
  • Episode 9 starts out cheerily with Yuudachi's remodel. Then Fubuki is told she's being sent back to the Naval District. Things go From Bad to Worse from there.
  • In episode 11, after some sombre discussion from Nagato about History Repeats, we cut to Ooi and Kitakami antics.
• More Dakka: Nagato ordering all of the fleet girls to fire on the Midway Princess in episode 12. Several of Yamato's shots also explode into shrapnel, which rains down on the princess as well.
• Mundane Made Awesome:
  • The introduction for Kongou and her sisters in episode 4 is filled with explosions and fireworks. Fubuki just gawks at them with her mouth open, and her idealized image of Kongou cracks.
  • The curry competition comes to a close with Destroyer Group Six basking in Heroic Resolve and Ashigara being painted in a villainous light, complete with Glowing Eyes of Doom, Ominous Latin Chanting, and Kirishima's hammy narration.
  Kirishima: Destroyer Group Six stands up! A battle to decide the fate of the Naval District begins now!
  Naka: Isn't this just a curry contest?! Isn't it?!
• Mythology Gag: Quite a few things are taken from the game, and their significance won't be appreciated without that knowledge, such as...
  • In the first episode, Akagi "sees" via the recon plane, a nod to the line-of-sight mechanics.
  • In the same episode, Yuubari is seen lagging behind a quite distance in a fleet consisted of "fast" speed shipgirls, making her Informed Flaw in the game (she claims that her cruising speed is pretty slow when she's listed as a fast ship) no longer informed.
  • As mentioned in Freeze-Frame Bonus, the placard shown when Fubuki is getting her equipment quickly flips through the rest of Fubuki's class, almost none of whom show up in the anime.
  • The lyrics of the ending theme also namedrop all the Type I Fubuki-class destroyers that have been included in the game at the time of the anime's airing.
  • In episode four, Kirishima's part of the song mentions the compass fairies.
  • In episode six, when Destroyer Group Six is going out on an expedition, the lines they speak are all taken from the game. The expedition failure screen is also just like in the game.
  • The flamethrower Destroyer Group Six use to speed up the curry cooking is the same one used in the game to instantly construct a ship-girl.
  • As mentioned in Hell Is That Noise, the sound that scares Destroyer Group Six when Yuubari is making their new pot is the same one used in the game when scrapping a ship-girl.
  • In the game, one of Shoukaku's lines has her complain about Zuikaku fiddling with her skirt. Guess what happens in episode six.
  • In episode eight, one of the dishes Yamato offers Mobile Unit Five is consomme. One of her hourly game lines does the same.
  • In episode ten, Fubuki is wearing a wedding dress in a dream the Admiral had, a nod to the marriage mechanics, even using her in-game marriage line.
  • In episode 12, Kitakami refers to herself as Super Kitakami-sama, something she does in the game after you remodel her into a torpedo cruiser.
• New Meat: Played quite straight with regards to Fubuki. Not only is she the newest addition to the base, she's never been on a combat mission either, a fact that stuns even fellow Destroyers Mutsuki and Yuudachi.
• The Nicknamer: Kongou has nicknames for most of the destroyers she meets. She shortens Fubuki's name to "'Buki" and calls Shimakaze "Zekamashi". She later adds "Zuki" for Akatsuki and "Raiden" for Ikazuchi and Inazuma together.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • The girls of Destroyer Group Six attempt to speed up the curry cooking in episode 6 by using a flamethrower on it. Unfortunately, they melt the pot in the process.
  • Zuikaku's attempt to show off at being better than Kaga causes her to fail to notice the torpedo heading her way. Kaga intercepts it and gets badly damaged as a result. Unfortunately, this also means Kaga can't take part in the next day's mission. Some of the blame goes on Kaga as well for fueling the resentment, even going so far as to steal Zuikaku's kill.
• Noblewoman's Laugh: Ashigara does one in episode 6 in order to rub her determination into Destroyer Group Six's faces, though they quickly recover.
  Ashigara: Ahahahahaha! You little girls think you can withstand the burdens of my life?!
• Nobody Can Die: In the span of 12 episodes, with the exception of Kisaragi and possibly Shouhou, none of the characters get killed off, despite heavy insistence on the tone being otherwise.
• No Fair Cheating: Shimakaze makes microwaveable curry in Episode 6 in an attempt to pass it off as actual curry, but Naka immediately calls her out on it. Subverted when she promptly eats the curry, causing her to disqualify herself.
• No One Gets Left Behind: In Episode 7, Shoukaku gets assaulted by enemy aerial fire and attempts to pull an I Will Only Slow You Down on her sister. Zuikaku's having none of it and escorts her sister into the middle of a storm, away from attacking Abyssals.
• No Ontological Inertia: The darkness cast over sea and sky by Abyssals disappears as soon as they have been defeated and/or destroyed.
• No Range Like Point-Blank Range: In episode 12, Nagato follows up kicking an Abyssal by shooting it with her cannons.
• Not So Above It All: When Nagato spots a chipmunk while bathing in episode 8, she at first looks around to see if anyone else is there. She then grabs it and starts cuddling it, only to be found out by Mutsu. The latter teases her about it at the end of the episode with the same chipmunk.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Fubuki notices Yamato being forbidden to go out to sea is much like her situation at her old naval station, where she also wasn't allowed to go out.
• Not the Intended Use: In Episode 3, the Sendai-class girls fire at aircraft with their 14cm main guns simply by angling up their forearms, even though the guns are not dual-purpose (ergo, they were for anti-surface work ONLY), nor were Type 3 shells ever produced in that caliber.
• Number Two: While the Admiral is not shown, the Secretary Ship is, and it so far has been Nagato.
• Ocular Gushers: In one of the still images of the curry competition's aftermath, Ashigara can be seen bawling a fountain of tears.
• Off the Rails: In episode 11, after having witnessed the sinking of her historical counterpart countless times in her dreams, Akagi tries to invoke this by changing the fleet girls' order of battle, including the replacement of certain members of the Kagerou-class who led to the carriers being discovered by the enemy in the first place (Whilst steaming at flank speed to rejoin the fleet after chasing off USS Nautilus, Arashi was spotted by the dive and scout bomber squadrons of the USS Enterprise, who followed her back to fleet), and who scuttled her namesake in the aftermath (Maikaze). It initially doesn't seem to be working, as the carrier are still discovered even without Arashi's unwitting blunder, though episode 12 shows that it is possible—albeit with a lot more effort.
• Oh, Crap!: In episode 11, Ooi freaks out about not being assigned to the same fleet as Kitakami.
• Old Maid: She throws chalk at Kisaragi when Kisaragi mentions that Ashigara didn't manage to hook up with any men at her last mixer, and she treats the curry-making contest as Serious Business because she thinks that if she wins, it'll mean that she must be marriage material and will thus finally be able to get married.
• Once an Episode: Every episode has at least one scene with Ooi and Kitakami together, plot-relevant or otherwise.
• One-Winged Angel: In episode 12, the Airfield Princess turns into Midway Princess and gains a Healing Factor.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • In episode 10, Kaga points out how weird it is for Fubuki, who has become obsessed with training in order to get her remodel, to just run past Akagi with only a perfunctory greeting.
  • In episode 12, Haruna and Hiei are surprised when Kirishima does a Glasses Pull.
• Orchestral Bombing: The soundtrack incorporates a full symphonic suite that blares during most of the fights and arming sequences, sometimes mixed with a few techno beats.
• Out of Focus: Mutsuki and Yuudachi get less focus the moment they are taken out of the same fleet as Fubuki. Once Fubuki reaches Truk in episode 8, though, they get back into the picture.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Zuikaku feels this way towards Kaga. As a result, in episode 7, she attempts to one-up the latter and fails to notice the torpedo coming at her, forcing Kaga to intercept it.
• The Paragon: Akagi is respected by all, especially Fubuki, and gives the latter deep and insightful speeches that end up playing a key role in Fubuki's development.
• Past Experience Nightmare: In episode 11, the Downer Beginning is revealed to be Akagi having these.
• Point Defenseless: Zigzagged for both the Fleet Girls and the Abyssals. At times they seem effective, shooting down attacking enemy planes. At other times, it's played straight, and the defensive fire isn't of much use in destroying the planes.
• Post-Processing Video Effects: The introductory portion of the preview has these applied, specifically Tone Mapping (it starts out monochrome, then sepia-toned) and Film Grain, to give it the feel of a wartime propaganda film.
• Power Glows: In episode 9, Yuudachi starts glowing prior to her remodeling.
• Power Up Letdown: Fubuki gets her long awaited "upgrade" in episode 10. Unfortunately, unlike Yuudachi, the only noticeable difference is her cannons are slightly bigger. Physically, she looks exactly the same as before, including having the her original bust size, as compared to her friend, who got a little bit more in that department.
• Precision F-Strike: Kongou occasionally says "shit" in Gratuitous English when something unsavory occurs.
• Putting the Band Back Together: In episode 10, Torpedo Squad Three reunite for a scouting mission.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Mobile Unit Five. When your fleet consists of a Psycho Lesbian and her quiet, levelheaded sister, two fleet girls who vehemently hate each other, a permanently hyper Cloud Cuckoolander who spouts Gratuitous English every few seconds, and you're the Only Sane Fleet Girl—and a rookie at that—you've got your work cut out for you. Lampshaded after their emergency sortie:
  Kaga: A fleet of two carriers, two torpedo cruisers, one battleship and one destroyer is normally impossible, anyway.
  Kitakami: So, we thought we should go with an impossible flagship, too.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: The Admiral, and Nagato by extension, allow Fubuki a surprising amount of freedom to do things however she sees fit. In episode 7, they ask her if she feels Shoukaku can do as good a job as Kaga in that episode's mission, rather than just delegating it and telling her to take Shoukaku. Nagato also doesn't punish Fubuki or Yamato after they sneak out to sea for a third time, as Yamato has gained some much-needed combat experience in taking down some Abyssal planes that had escaped from an earlier battle.
• Retcon: Episode 11 ends with a bomb falling towards Akagi. In episode 12, Fubuki shoots down the Abyssal planes attacking Akagi before they can release any ordnance.
• Rule of Cool: The arming sequence is basically an accident waiting to happen. But who cares, because it looks amazing anyway.
  • Some fanart pieces out there show how things might go wrong: Fubuki getting smacked by her own rigging, Kaga's flight deck hitting her from behind. Fubuki falling down the launch "button"...
• Sacrificial Lamb: Kisaragi was only shown in short scenes before being killed in episode three, setting the stage for an Anyone Can Die scenario. Said death accordingly haunts the following episode's underlying mood.
• Sad Battle Music: "Loss" ^*"損失" or "Soushitsu" is a sorrowful orchestral piece played during the the more emotional fight sequences, namely: Akagi sinking the Anchorage Princess, Fubuki struggling to beat Akagi and Kaga's live training for her remodeling, and Fubuki's sinking of the third and final Abyssal carrier backing up the Airfield Princess.
• Sealed Orders: Since the enemy has been intercepting their communications, The ship-girls sent to area AL received sealed orders to join the attack on Base MI, setting up their Big Damn Heroes moment.
• See the Whites of Their Eyes: It's probably easier to count the number of times ship-girls and Abyssals aren't within visual range of each other before firing. In episode 12, Nagato and Ooi even go into melee.
• Sequel Hook: The very end of episode 12 promises more to come.
• Serious Business: The curry competition in episode 6, as far as Ashigara's concerned; she turns an otherwise fun contest into a personal matter of incredible proportions due to her belief that getting first place would prove that she deserves to get married already. Take note: Her opponents are technically kids.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: As soon as Operation MI gets mentioned, Akagi loses the quirky humor and goes The Paragon all the way to the end, even pushing Fubuki during a training session with an utterly serious look. This is because she keeps remembering her fate in the Battle of Midway in her dreams and is determined enough to proceed through MI, which includes kicking reason to the curb and doing the impossible in said fight. In the credits, she goes back to being her quirky self, as she is seen eating at Mamiya's.
  • Even moreso in the movie; even Kongou and Hiei drop the ham and moments of levity are few and far between.
• Shoot the Medic First: The Midway Princess keeps recovering in episode 12, despite taking mortal damage each time. The fleet girls then learn that they have to take out the Abyssal carriers, which are providing a Healing Factor to the princess.
• Shout-Out:
  • The Beehive Barrier (as described above) and the introduction telling how the ship-girls are reincarnations of sunken ships (reads a lot like "mental models") sounds a lot like key plot points within Arpeggio of Blue Steel.
  • While trying to find Shimakaze, Kongou suggests blasting music across the entire harbor, and everybody gets in on it. At one point, the Kongou sisters are shown in with Haruna (soft-spoken) on keyboard, Kirishima (nerdy) on drums, Kongou (loud one) on vocals and lead guitar, and Hiei (prefers to follow sister) on bass guitar in the hallway. (The anime takes place in a pseudo-school.)
    • Kongou's mental image of the plan is itself a nod to Japanese Mythology, specifically the story of how the sun goddess Amaterasu hid in a cave (taking the sunlight with her) after her brother Susano'o freaked her out while on a rampage. The other gods eventually got her to come out by holding a festival outside; when Amaterasu poked her head out to see what all the music was about, the gods grabbed her and convinced her to stop hiding.
  • In the prologue to Episode 6, Nagato has her hands clasped in a very familiar way.
    • In Episode 12, Fubuki drinks a tankard of milk like in a similar fashion to Misato Katsuragi.
  • Episode 11's assault on the Abyssal base pretty much plays out similarly to the Battle of Midway that occurred during World War II. The Abyssals' base is even codenamed "Base MI". Episode 12 takes it further by revealing that the key to winning this battle is to sink three Abyssal carriers.
• Show, Don't Tell: Much of the things done on the show are usually shown, followed shortly by an explanation.
  • Carrier girls are awesome in combat, but they take a while to fix if damaged and can't be used if the weather is bad. Akagi is shown getting fixed with an "instant repair bucket", but episode 7 reveals they only have so many of those to use as well.
    • Zuikaku and Shoukaku take advantage of the "can't use planes in bad weather" situation to escape from some Abyssal planes harassing them in episode 7 by deliberately going into a squall so said planes can't pursue them. Unfortunately, the Abyssal fleet is aware of this as well, and they are waiting for the two on the other side.
  • Nagato forbids Fubuki from letting Yamato go out to sea in episode 8. She does it anyway, only for Yamato to get hungry just after she sets foot in the water, then eat even more food than resident Big Eater Akagi. Nagato tells Fubuki that due to Yamato's high resource requirement, they don't want to put her out to sea until they actually need her for a battle.
• Shown Their Work: Lots of details people would dismiss as unimportant are actually historical references.
  • The different-colored splashes from Kongou and Hiei reference the dyes used by their real-life counterparts to mark their shell impacts. In this case, Kongou's was historically red, while Hiei didn't use any dye. The dye markers come up again once the four Kongou sisters come together, and in their introductory group pose, we see the colors for Kirishima and Haruna too: blue and yellow, respectively.
  • The ID bands on the planes launched from Akagi and the other carriers correctly match the right carrier air group.
  • The Type 1 AP shell close-up shows that it is correctly painted as an AP, as per IJN regulations, and marked as a red dye round (from Kongou).
  • The Type 99 800kg bomb dropped on the Anchorage Princess at the end is also colored as an AP bomb, with the grey/white scheme.
  • The Type 91 torpedo dropped by another Nakajima B5N has the correct wooden frame (Type 97 stabilizer frames) attached to the tail end.
  • The practice of giving omamori, like the one that Atago gives to Fubuki for good luck, was common back during the War, though in the real world, it was done by women for their menfolk, whose chances of survival were never a sure thing.
  • Kisaragi's historical counterpart sank pretty much the same way as in this adaptation; she came under air attack by a quartet of Wildcat fighters (essentially what was left of USMC fighter squadron VMF-211, as the rest of the squadron's Wildcats were among the casualties from the initial attack by Japanese bombers), and one of them scored a lucky bomb hit on her stern-mounted depth charge magazine, causing a catastrophic explosion and leading to the Kisaragi going down with all hands.
  • The bomb that sinks Kisaragi is shown to have the distinct stabilizers of the Type-98 Land Bomb (which is used as the first image in the linked article). This is a nod and a wink to the idea that the Abyssals are nothing more than the darker halves of the Fleet Girls, and the Allied armaments used are just a convenient Red Herring.
  • The Abyssals listening in on the transmitted signals between Naval Districts and using the information to set an ambush. In the real world, the US Navy had cracked the Japanese message ciphers early into the Pacific War, and they used the knowledge to turn the tables on the Japanese Navy (at the Battle of Midway, for example). The Imperial Japanese Navy never wised up to their codes being broken until well after the war had ended.
  • In episode 7, which parallels the Battle of the Coral Sea, Shoukaku did get damaged, while one Abyssal/US carrier was destroyed and another damaged. Just like in real history, Shoukaku's repairs aren't finished by the time MI/Midway happens.
  • The overall introduction to Yamato is what happened to the Real Life Yamato. She never did see much action after being built, the battles she did participate in had little involvement from her (excluding her final voyage), and she had an extremely extravagant interior for the time (including air conditioning and a freaking ice maker!).
  • Some fans have complained about Fubuki not getting the correct colour of outfit after her remodel. This is actually historically accurate, though, as her namesake didn't get the red-and-black paintjob until the Solomons campaign, which was after Midway.
  • All of episode 11 is a fairly close reenactment of the Battle of Midway. First, the fleet splits up into two groups to attack Bases AL and MI simultaneously, referring to Japan's two separate operations to attack Midway and the Aleutian Islands. Then, carriers Akagi, Kaga, Hiryuu, and Soryuu attack MI. After sending out their second wave of bombers, they are ambushed by Abyssal aircraft sent from carriers their reconnaissance craft failed to spot, just like in the actual Battle of Midway. In addition, Shoukaku and Zuikaku still haven't been fully repaired from the previous battle, preventing their participation in Operation MI.
  • In episode 12, the use of Airfield Princess as a stand-in, initially, for Midway Princess. As stated on the game's page, Airfield Princess is the personification of Henderson Field in Guadalcanal. However, there's also a Henderson Field at Midway, originally named Naval Air Station Midway Islands. Both Henderson fields share a common namesake, though the one down in the Solomon Islands was named after the one at Midway. Their namesake is Major Lofton R. Henderson, a USMC aviator killed in action during the Battle of Midway.
  • Also in episode 12, the fleet girls need to destroy three carriers in order to defeat the Airfield Princess. This is a clear reference to the three US carriers which were present at the Battle of Midway: the USS Enterprise, USS Yorktown, and USS Hornet.
  • In Let's Meet at Sea, Shigure particpates in what is explicitly the Battle of Surigao Strait. Just like in real life, Shigure along with the 1st Striking Force 3rd Section consisting of Yamashiro, Fuso, Mogami, Yamagumo, Asagumo, and Michisio charges into the strait. Later, they are joined by other ships in the attack force such as Abukuma, Ashigara, and Yamato, with the ships that were historically sunk or damaged also being shown taking serious hits during the battle. Afterwards, while all of the fleet girls in the 3rd section survive, all of them with the exception of Shigure are forced to retire or are taken off active duty due to the severe damage they suffered, mirroring how the entirety of the 3rd Section with the exception of Shigure was sunk during the real battle.
• Sinister Silhouettes:
  • In episode 6, when Ashigara says that she won't be the only opponents DesDiv Six will face in the curry competition, we see silhouettes of the other fleet girls that make up the eventual contestants.
  • In episode 11, we see glimpses of a silhouette of an unknown fleet girl, who turns out to be Taihou.
• Spanner in the Works: During Episode 12, Akagi can't help but remark how, in everything done up until then, at the point where the Battle of Midway "reenactment" goes Off the Rails, Fubuki is somehow important, that she's definitely no ordinary destroyer, and that some higher power has had its own plans foiled as a result.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Zigzagged with Kisaragi: While she did sank in the same way as her historical counterpart at the end Episode 3, she was later brought Back from the Dead twice in the movie.
  • Fubuki too. Much like her historical counterpart, the original Fubuki was sunk at Ironbottom at the start of the movie but her soul is split into two, who would later emerge as the current Fubuki and her Abyssal counterpart.
  • In Let's Meet at Sea, Ship Girls had better luck compared to their historical counterparts, since they would only end up being too injured to fight anymore and retiring instead.
  • Mogami plays this straight. Her historical counterpart sank after colliding with Nachi, shot down by three US cruisers, and then scuttled by Akebono while here, the collision never happened and she survived the battle in Surigao Strait with some bruises as a result.
  • Kongou got this treatment as well, albeit off-screen. While her historical counterpart sank after a submarine ambush, Isokaze told Shigure that she got out of the Abyssal submarine attack alive with only a few injuries and retreated to Taiwan instead.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Kongou's sisters do this in episode 4 during their introduction after Nagato asks when they came in, as Kongou came in by herself.
• The Stinger: In The Movie, Mutsuki, holding a wrapped up onigiri, chases after a revived Kisaragi, who greets her with a smile. Mutsuki then goes to embrace her.
• Summon Magic: Much like in the Itsuka manga, as seen when Akagi's arrows turn into Type 97 torpedo bombers.
• Talking Is a Free Action: Played straight during much of episode 12's battle. The Abyssals are kind enough to wait while the girls talk to each other. In Ooi and Kitakami's case, the Abyssals surround the two girls, only to then be taken out by their torpedoes.
• Take a Moment to Catch Your Death: In episode 3, after the Abyssals have been forced to retreat, Kisaragi sighs in relief. Then one last Abyssal plane appears...
• Taking the Bullet:
  • In episode 7, Zuikaku gets jealous at Kaga being a better carrier and attempts to show off. Unfortunately, she fails to notice the torpedo heading her way, forcing Kaga to intercept it. Though Kaga survives due to the torpedo hitting a non-fatal area, she's out of commission for the upcoming battle, since they're currently out of instant-repair buckets.
  • At the end of episode 7, a Ri-Class jumps into the path of Kitamaki and Ooi's torpedo barrage to protect the Wo-Class.
• Tempting Fate:
  • In episode 11, Kitakami wonders if she'll have nothing to do, then the Abyssal reinforcements show up.
  • Happens several times in episode 12, when the fleet girls think they've won, only for the Midway Princess to regenerate and more Abyssals to show up.
  Nagato: Did we ge—
  Mutsu: [interrupting] PLEASE don't say "Did we get her?".
• Tender Tears:
  • Mutsuki and Fubuki, as they both mourn Kisaragi at the end of episode 4.
  • Fubuki does this towards Kongou in episode 9 after bumping into her while jogging on the beach. She was upset that her unit was being disbanded, and she'd been ordered to head back to the Naval District but not told why. Kongou comforts her as best as she can.
• Thematic Series: Despite still focusing on the plight of the fleet girls, Let's Meet At Sea is notably disconnected from the first 2 anime seasons and film. Let's Meet At Sea follows Shigure and a completely different set of fleet girls, with no acknowledgement that there's any connection to the previous series.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: The fleet girls firing repeated salvos at the Midway Princess in episode 12. Unfortunately, the first few barrages have no effect, due to her being under a Healing Factor power. Once they destroy the Abyssal carriers, however, she is finally defeated.
• Title Drop: Episode 8's title is "I'm Not a Hotel!", Yamato's signature Running Gag and Genius Bonus In-Joke. Yamato says exactly this partway through the episode when Mobile Unit Five comments that the forward base they're in is like one.
• Too Awesome to Use: Yamato is treated this way in episode 8. She is rumored to be one of the most powerful fleet girls, but she also uses a lot of resources, so sending her out is expensive, particularly if she gets damaged. Very Truth in Television. The Fubuki trio get a preview of her combat abilities later when she singlehandedly takes out several Abyssal planes from a distance their own AA guns would have been unable to reach.
• Took a Level in Badass: The various training and missions Fubuki is put on in the early episodes pay off in episode 5 when she gives surprisingly good commands to the other ships in Mobile Unit Five. Her orders allow the girls to defeat the Abyssal fleet that attacks them with no losses on their side. In episode 7, she manages to sink one Abyssal carrier and severely damage another one, while also saving Shoukaku and Zuikaku.
• Training from Hell:
  • Though the Sendai sisters don't do so intentionally, all three of them help Fubuki out at different times of the day in episode 2. So in essence, Fubuki is spending a third of a day with each one, and she suffers from exhaustion shortly afterwards.
  • The girls in Destroyer Group Six go through a variant of this while learning how to make curry. A brief shot focuses on their hands at the contest, showing all of their fingers bandaged up, indicating they cut themselves accidentally quite a bit while cooking.
• Training Montage:
  • Fubuki undergoes one in episode 2 to show that she has potential for being a good fighter.
  • The girls in Destroyer Group Six in episode 6 while making curry.
• Underdogs Never Lose: Played straight in episode 6 with the Destroyer Group Six girls. In this case, though, they're helped by most of their competition knocking themselves out, either due to bad cooking, or to eating the food as they're making it or shortly after it's made. Then Nagato chooses their dish over Ashigara's because the latter's curry is too spicy for her.
• Unexpected Character:
  • While the other Fleet Girls have something to explain their inclusion in the line-up, absolutely no one expected Mutsuki to be among the Destroyers to be included for the show's promos.
  • People probably weren't expecting Taihou either, given that her namesake wasn't launched till well after Midway. Even In-Universe, the characters are surprised to see her, and most don't know who she is.
• Unexplained Recovery: The Admiral's unexplained return in episode 12. Also lampshaded with the Naval District somehow managing to find Shoukaku and Zuikaku repair buckets in time to get them back into the field as reinforcements.
• The Unseen: The Admiral is treated as such where they do exist but they never speak, and the closest thing you get to see of them is their shadow. The gender of the Admiral is actually unknown and never specified; treat the he/him pronouns used in most English subtitles as a neutral pronoun. The reason for the unspecified gender is likely because the Admiral represents the player, who can be of any gender, in the game the anime is adapted from.
• Vader Breath: In episode 6, when Yuubari first appears, she is wearing a welding mask and making this sort of sound.
• Valley Girl: Yuudachi. Her verbal Poi tic is the Japanese equivalent of "like" and the valley girl accent.
• Vicious Cycle: Ship Girls and Abyssals who sank are brought back as the other, with their desire to return to the surface being the driving force both Ship Girls and Abyssals to continue existing. Thus, the Ship Girls are determined to sink every single Abyssal to end the war, which an almost impossible task as there's near infinite Abyssals out there.
• Vitriolic Best Friends: Zuikaku and Kaga are treated as such, as seen in episode 7. Shoukaku points this out to the former.
• Walk on Water: Something that still managed to surprise watchers, despite being the de facto portrayal of how Fleet Girls travel in all the print media on the series so far.
• The War Room: Expected, as everyone lives in a naval base. As shown in the first episode, Nagato (Secretary), Mutsu, and Ooyodo are on duty there during missions.
• Wardrobe Malfunction: In Episode 6, Zuikaku notices that Shoukaku has spilled a drop of curry on her skirt. When she tries to rub it away, she winds up pulling off Shoukaku's skirt with incredible ease. An embarrassed Shoukaku then starts running around in panic, causing them to forget about the curry competition.
• Watching Troy Burn: Fubuki and the others witness this in episode 9, after the Naval District is attacked by the Abyssals due to the bulk of their forces being gathered away from there for a planned offensive.
• We Have Reserves: The Midway Princess releases quite a few aircraft during the battle in episode 12. When they get shot down, she just launches more. And even when the Fleet Girls take out her runway, it later regenerates and yet more Abyssal aircraft show up.
• Wham Episode:
  • Episode 3 shows the first casualty the girls face during their fight with the Abyssals, Kisaragi, who is sunk in the battle that takes place.
  • In episode 5, all of the previous fleets are disbanded, and new ones are formed with a mix of different ship types.
  • During episode 9, Fubuki is told her unit is being disbanded, and she's to go back to the Naval District. However, it gets attacked by the Abyssals just before she arrives. Though there appear to be no major casualties, the Admiral is missing as well.
  • Episode 11 is essentially The Battle of Midway reincarnated. Akagi remembers her inevitable fate at Midway, and it ends on a cliffhanger with Akagi and a couple of other ships in peril of sinking.
  • The movie is no slouch either:
    • Both Ship Girls and Abyssals are actually the same person: if the Ship Girls or Abyssals sink, they'll be brought back in the opposing side and vice versa. Zuikaku reacts at the Vicious Cycle Kaga spoke of in shock and horror, and so does Mutsuki.
    • Kisaragi, who Came Back Wrong, is suffering from amnesia, PTSD, and Abyssal mutation, but she still keeps her sanity (becoming a rogue Abyssal in the process) and is willing to fight against other Abyssals for Mutsuki's sake.
    • The reason why Fubuki can hear strange voices in Episode 12 and her equipment is not affected by the crimson sea? When the original Fubuki sank, her willingness to live causes her soul to split into two. Fubuki then confronted her Abyssal half in a Battle in the Center of the Mind and fused with her after realizing that she's the Ship Girls' "hope", becoming whole again as a result.
  • Let's Meet at Sea Episode 7: If anyone thinks that Kai II variants are the most powerful upgrades any Ship Girl would ever recieve, there is an upgrade above that: the never before seen Kai III upgrade.
• Wham Line:
  • The movie drops the BIGGEST bombshell of the entire KanColle mythos:
    Akagi: And actually, a certain Ship Girl has faint memories of fighting against us as an Abyssal. Isn't that right, Kaga?
  • In Episode 7 of Let's Meet at Sea, the Admiral has a few unexpected words to Shigure:
    Admiral: Your third remodeling: Shigure Kai III.
• Wham Shot:
  • Kisaragi's hairpin floating to the surface in episode 12 after the Abyssals are destroyed, implying she had been turned into an Abyssal. It is heavily implied to be the One-Eyed Wo-Class, with her repeated utterance of "Give it back" while sinking. Later subverted in the movie, where Kisaragi is revealed to be imprisoned inside an Abyssal by the time the Mikawa Fleet found her.
  • Episode 7 of Let's Meet at Sea has Shigure getting an actual third remodeling instead of a Kai II variant.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: In Episode 7, Shouhou gets heavily damaged by Abyssals and is last seen in an inferno, but whether or not she sank is never confirmed, even when the show ends.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Fubuki is told not to let Yamato go out to sea in episode 8 by Nagato. She isn't told why initially, so she tries again at night. Unfortunately, Yamato is hungry, and they go back to let her eat. Nagato then finds out about it, and once she explains how Yamato's Too Awesome to Use under most circumstances, she punishes Fubuki by having her collect clams on the beach for the rest of the night.
  • Fubuki is again subjected to this in episode 10. She gets damaged in the latest skirmish they have against the Abyssals and is nearly sunk as a result. Though she survives because the Abyssal missed its shot, Mutsuki feared that she would have had to lose another friend in the process.
• Woman of a Thousand Voices: Expected and applied in action with the anime, and it is getting even harder to tell the difference. Just to start off, the first episode features Ayane Sakura voicing Nagato, Mutsu, Sendai, Jintsuu, Naka, Kuma, Tama, and Shimakaze, of which three talk to one another and four have lengthy conversations.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Nagato encourages the Destroyer Group Six girls twice in the curry competition when they feel their efforts are going to waste.
• You Are in Command Now: In Episode 5, Fubuki gets thrust into this in the middle of an impromptu sortie, after the Failure Montage proves that no one else in Mobile Unit Five is even remotely capable of directing the fleet as a cohesive team.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Akagi keeps having a recurring nightmare of the Battle of Midway where they suffer a Curb-Stomp Battle prior to the mission to assault the Abyssal base, which it had disturbing simlarities with. She suggests some different girls be assigned to the assault force, trying not to use ones she saw in her dream, hoping to throw off the deadly fate awaiting them. Unfortunately, they still get ambushed by an Abyssal fleet, who seem determined to invoke this trope. The only words spoken by an Abbysal suggest they're doing it on purpose: "Sink... Again and again!" This is subverted in episode 12, when the girls, with a hefty dose of reinforcements, manage to beat MI after all.
• You Don't Look Like You:
  • In episode 9, when Fubuki and Mutsuki try to find Yuudachi in the factory, they don't recognise her post-remodel self. Granted, she's a bit taller, and she does have a different hairstyle and eye colour now.
  • Averted with Fubuki when she gets her upgrade. Except for a slightly bigger cannon in her arsenal, she looks exactly the same physically. This includes her breasts, and she takes a moment to stare at Yuudachi's while comparing them to her own.
• Zany Scheme: In episode 4, the Kongou sisters try various weird methods to lure Shimakaze out. Kongou organises a concert, Kirishima looks for "sweet love" by snooping on Ooi and Kitakami, and Haruna uses a Box-and-Stick Trap.

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