KanColle Movie

The alien Abyssal Fleet continues to threaten humanity, and the Kanmusu—girls endowed with the spirits of Japanese warships—are mankind's last hope. With their ongoing struggles, the Kanmusu are almost certain to sink below the waves into their demise. The Mutsuki-class destroyer Kisaragi is one of the unfortunate ships to meet such a fate.

However, following a successful night raid, the Eighth Fleet's Kanmusu spot Kisaragi alive but unconscious, floating to the sea surface. But the anomalous situation and Kisaragi's strange behavior leave Kanmusu cautious of her. Furthermore, the other ships start to hear mysterious voices and come across crimson waters that damage their equipment. Strangely, Fubuki, the lead ship of the Fubuki-class destroyers, appears unaffected.

As Fubuki and the other Kanmusu tackle the unusual occurrences around them, the harsh reality of their existence and the Abyssal Fleet begins to unravel. Even so, the girls must keep facing forward to liberate the sea and protect those they cherish the most.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kaga Main

Iguchi, Yuka Japanese

Fubuki Main

Uesaka, Sumire Japanese

Akagi Main

Fujita, Saki Japanese

Mutsuki Main

Hidaka, Rina Japanese

Kisaragi Main

Hidaka, Rina Japanese

Kongou Supporting

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Shimakaze Supporting

Sakura, Ayane Japanese

Hibiki Supporting

Suzaki, Aya Japanese

Yuudachi Supporting

Tanibe, Yumi Japanese

Haruna Supporting

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Motonaga, Satoshi Producer

WEST GROUND Producer, Theme Song Composition, Theme Song Arrangement

Amano, Shouta Producer

Kudou, Daijou Producer, Planning

Reviews

Aug 7, 2019

Nep_tan

Recommended

I just remember Kancolle had a movie.

I will start off with that I wasn't really into Kancolle main series since the original source was a web base game. Note that I really like old time battle ships and tanks.

After watching the movie, I will say it actually adds a lot of world building to a game that doesn't have a story. I can't really give details but give the movie a shot. You probably will like it.

If I remember correctly the PV threw me onto the wrong path on how the story will play out.

Bonus points for adding more cast like (Chokai, ... Tenryuu, Kako, Furutaka, Kinugasa, Aoba) with parts that add to the action.

Animation~
There is CGI but it was rendered where you probably won't notice it as much. And probably didn't think it was really CGI. The battles were more fluid with many awesomes scenes that I can re-watch again.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jan 4, 2018

AwesomeDudex3

Recommended

Hi, hello, greetings. The Kancolle Movie that was just recently released for wider audiences. Now, it should be noted I am a massive Kancolle fanboy, playing the game for almost 3 years, and knowing majority of the characters and backstories, I will try to keep a fresh unbiased perspective on this movie. And unlike my previous review of the series, I will structure this review differently, into what I liked and didn’t like, what worked and what didn’t. Without further ado, let’s dive into it.

The Good

Narrative Goal
One of the problems I had with the anime was the lack of an overarching goal. The girls ... would fight the Abyssals, but like why? Why are the Abyssals attacking and what is the end goal of all this? The movie fixes this problem by addressing who are the Abyssals. They pull some Puella Magi Madoka Magica stuff by giving the Abyssals a tragic origin story related to the ship girls themselves. Don’t want to give spoilers, but because of a clear and established goal, it gives us the audience a reason to cheer these girls on, albeit even if it is a vague reason.

Fubuki
Fubuki was one of my favorite characters from the show because she was one of the few that got any actual development and characterization. She grew into a competent ship girl, able to hold her own against an Abyssal and work well with a team. Fubuki in the movie had some interesting development as it ties into the origins of the Abyssals. It is a rather big plot point not only in the movie, but to the series as a whole. It works because it established Fubuki’s role in the story as this beacon of hope for all the ship girls and the goal at hand. This further develops Fubuki’s character as a whole, and I appreciate what they are doing with her character, even if it is grandiose in scheme.

Mutsuki and Kisaragi’s Relationship
Mutsuki was another favorite of mine as her development in the series opened up some sense of reality for the ship girls. She was rather fond of Kisaragi, so her “death” in the anime was extremely impactful. Kisaragi’s return was an extremely endearing scene. Just seeing these two interact gave excellent development to both Kisaragi and Mutsuki.
Further into the movie, it is revealed that Kisaragi is actually an Abyssal, or is slowly starting to grow into one. This ordeal creates a challenge for both these characters as Kisaragi tries her best hide her secret while trying to be the role model for Mutsuki, and Mutsuki has to again slowly accept the reality they are living in and accept the fate that has befallen upon her. Moments like these really give characters some depth.

Kaga’s Experience
I don’t want to get too in-depth into this but I feel like this should still be highlighted. The situation Kisaragi is in is not the first to occur. Kaga has gone through a similar situation, becoming an Abyssal upon sinking as ship girl. However, being shot down as an Abyssal somehow revived her a ship girL. This plot point becomes really important to the goal of the movie as it ties into the grand scheme overall. Her experience not only gave some decent character development, it gave some nice interactions between Zuikaku, who at first was ignorant to the situation but later grew to understand what was going on, and the main three, Fubuki, Yuudachi, and Mutsuki. Although her time was brief, Kaga still played a relevant role to the movie as she did in the show.

The Meh

Animation and Art
The art and animation style did not change much from the show. Each character is still drawn in a really unique and distinct way. However because of the time constraint, these characters unfortunately become background filler. The animation is nice and consistent, and although it isn’t flashy, it gets the job done.
The use of CGI in battles were a major problem in the show as the models didn’t match the art style the anime was going for. As a result, the transition between hand-drawn animation and CGI was incredibly jarring. On the bright side, CGI was really limited in the movie, resulting in a consistent production and viewing experience.
The background art was nice overall as well, where instead of a naval academy, majority of the movie was set in a random island with some buildings here and there, almost like Truk island from episode 8 in the show. The nice lush green scenery really helps emphasize the bright color palettes of the characters.

Unused or Pointless Characters
As I said before, majority of the characters with unique designs end up as background filler. It is a shame too as a lot of the characters have really amazing designs that can tell a story on its own. As a fan of the franchise, seeing these girls animated will suffice for my enjoyment. However, I really would have loved to see more interactions amongst the different characters.
Speaking of interactions, there are a few characters that stand out and end up getting some screen time.
<insert tokistukaze, amatsukaze, tenryuu, tatsuta>
Although brief, fan favorites Amatsukaze, Tokitsukaze, Tatsuta, and Tenryuu all have minor interactions with Fubuki and the gang. However, they feel out of place in the story because it begs the question “When were these girls ever introduced.” They kind of appear suddenly, in which a newcomer to the series will be really lost to their presence. In the end, they contribute nothing to the overall story, except for Tenryuu and Tatsuta mentioning the strange occurrences from the sea. And like usual, fan favorite Yuudachi really didn’t do much. These girls are most likely here for fanservice, which isn’t bad per se.

The BAD

The Pacing
OH GOD the pacing in this movie is bad. The opening act showed a lot of promise, providing a nice battle sequence, Kisaragi’s rescue, setting the story overall. However, towards the middle act, the movie slows down a lot. While I did enjoy Mutsuki and Kisaragi’s developing relationship, the entire middle act is filled with uninteresting dialogue, tons of exposition, and twists the viewers could already see coming. The movie picks the pace up towards the third act, after the ship girls launch off into battle. While the third act was the more interesting parts of the movie, the entire middle portion of the movie slows down the movie a lot. The problem is that they tried to stretch out each scene as long as possible to fill in that movie time quota. As a result, the movie ends up suffering a bit due to the pacing.

Cop-out ending
While I do appreciate Diomedea giving the series an overarching narrative, this movie obviously serves as a bridge between season 1 and the upcoming season 2. The events of the movie takes place some time after the end of season 1. The transition feels smooth, but this movie can’t stand on its own without prior knowledge of season 1. Because of this, the movie needed to make up for the mistakes of season 1, which was the lack of a end goal. The movie not only had to set up what should have been established in the show, but also had to end in a way to transition into season 2 as well. Lots of series does this, so I have no major gripes with it.
However, the ending really doesn’t conclude anything, as it obviously just builds more for season 2. Not to mention a deus ex machina after credits scene. I am sure fans of the character would be happy, but as a whole feel like one major cop-out.

Conclusion
Overall, this movie is a step in the right direction for the series. It establishes more of the world and story that the show originally neglected. I am looking forward to where this series is heading. As a whole, the movie is a slight cut above the show, with some nice action sequences, limited CGI, some good character development for Fubuki and Mutsuki, and a much needed push for an overarching narrative. However, the entire middle portion is such a slog and slows down the movie as a whole. In the end, it is a decent movie that bridges season 1 and the future season 2.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Feb 9, 2023

Shirogari

Mixed Feelings

Please do note that the movie expects you to have watched season 1 of the KanColle anime. If you watch the movie without watching the anime you'll lack context and things might not make as much sense.

Overall the movie has a pretty okay story. The storyline is way clearer than in the anime and is genuinely interesting at times. There's more character development and worldbuilding going on now which in turn means less slice of life. The naval warfare is a bit better now but still nonsensical and based more on game logic than anything else so don't come here looking for that.

The ... art is okay and does suit the anime. It should be noted that the CG in this movie is way less noticeable than in the anime so if that bothered you before it might be okay now. The voice acting is good and does suit the characters. Several of the characters also have unique voice quirks which can be fun to hear sometimes.

As far as characters go it's still clearly kancolle so there's lots and lots of different ones. There's several new characters that weren't in the anime so if you're looking for a specific one they might be here now. Because of the huge amount of characters, many of them have no real development which is fine. The ones that are significant to the story get enough development and some have interesting backstories.

All in all it's an okay movie. It doesn't do anything very special but doesn't seem to do anything horribly wrong either. If you like the game or enjoyed the first season of the anime you'll probably like the movie as well. If you're not into the game or characters though there's probably better movies you can watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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