I have to say it's extremely annoying that anime series like this and "Kyokujitsu no Kantai" has received next to no attention. I hope one day this will be fansubbed.
"A Blu-Ray release of the entire series is also in the works, with the first set scheduled for release on August 3, 2011.[24] The second and third sets are scheduled to be released on November 25, 2011 [25] and February 24, 2012."
It's DVD release has missed the raw providers (or alternatively fansubbers either aren't interested in this), but since it's going to be re-released (probably along with it's spin-off,Kyokujitsu no Kantai.
Seriously, someone has to provide raws now. And subs too. Konpeki no Kantai has manga, anime, novels and even some games related to franchise, yet it has so far been totally ignored.
So I watched up to the third ova and this is special, not for very good reasons tho:
It definitely stands out not only within the medium but also as a J.C. Staff production, it's almost impossible to believe it was made by them.
For a 1993 anime, it's rather well animated, it doesn't look that good by today standards and motions aren't that fluent either, but the character designs are great, simple and not very memorable? Yes but also realistic and I find them great for that.
As for the backgrounds, they don't look that good when fights are taking place, skies and water aren't that well made, on the other hand, the interiors of the submarines and other locations are very well drawned. Also as expected from a '90s anime everything that has to do with machinery and stuff looks great, very detailed.
The special effects looks dated by today standards but for that time they were very good.
The sound design on the other hand is rather weak, both sound effects and soundtrack feel like they belong in an arcade game rather than an animated product, the latter don't quite fit with what is happening at the time on screen. Voice acting on the other hand is very good, serious, mature, every voice fits perfectly, nothing to complain here.
As for the actual story, well, as you can guess from the premise, it's plain ridiculous, and it feels like an average american war movie, full of military and nationalistic propaganda, in this case japanese of course.
Super Japan is way above America in weaponry and its generals are far more capable and smarter than their enemies thus they win every battle, yep, right, 'cause that what happened in the actual history right? I know it's fiction but come on, the events are changed completely and the battles are both boring to watch and so one sided they become a chore.
And the pacing is slow, the series is not really complicated in themes nor it shows the other countries (thus far) so there isn't much content in every ova yet. Out of the 45-50 minutes each episode has, you are watching distorted events and long descriptions of weaponry presented by the most boring narrator ever. You thought LOGH and the Chimera Arc narrators were boring? Wait until you hear this guy.
Then you are left with one sided battles with unexciting performances and fought by characters you don't care about because they are not memorable in the least, as the series keeps jumping from one to another without showing much about anyone besides very basic interactions amongts them.
So yeah it wasn't a good beginning. Will I watch more if the group keeps releasing them? Sure but because the title is rare and unorthodox, not for its quality itself, I have The Silent Service for that, it gives you much more content and in a much better way with the same amount of ovas this show has right now.
I would agree. Having read some of the many, many manga and doujin about this subject,Great Blue Fleetis a massive Japanese masturbation fantasy; how they right the wrongs of World War II, avoid being humiliated and broken by America, and lead the world into a new era of benevolent fascism.
And yes, it's exactly as shallow as CaptainKenshiro says. The basic premise of the series is Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's survival and reincarnation after being shot down over Bougainville in 1943, and being sent back in time to his days as a junior officer during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. From then on
oh boy..
..he awoke to find himself trapped in the past, driven by an unknown force to change history for the better, and hoping each time that his next leap.. would be the leap home..
The anime has none of the depth (lol) of the print versions, and basically turns into a non-stop stream of absolute, crushing victories enabled by the Japanese ultranationalist master race'swet dream - submarine technology ~40 years ahead of anyone else, real electronic computers in the 1940s, and from then on an ever increasing parade of technology always 2 steps ahead of anyone else on the planet.. Oh, and as an afterthought they wiped away basically every trace of the arrogant, ignorant bushido-driven blundering that defined the Japanese war effort in the very first episode, like mopping up a spilled drink. Eventually they even go so far as to take on the real monster of World War II, a Mister Hilter, I believe.
See, those funny little yellow monkeys are alright, aren't they?
Yeah, it's an interesting exercise in arrogance from the 1990s but fundamentally it wants to beLegend of the Galactic Heroes, while having none of the subtlety and elegance. It even imitated LoGH being drawn-out for an ENTIRE DECADE to complete the original OVA series, being dribbled out piecemeal on VHS and LaserDiscs for years, the way Bandai still thinks is appropriate for Gundam series today.
