They’re not all coming back home this time.
After being briefed on their upcoming mission, the Third and Fourth Torpedo Squadron were prepared to sortie the following day. Before the big day, Fubuki was worried about her upcoming performance. As she is still shaky upon the waters, she doesn’t wish to hold back her entire squadron. However, Akagi and Mutsuki were able to help put her fears to rest. Mutsuki’s tale of her first days within the Navel District especially helped. Her sister ship, Kisaragi, was always there when she needed her. Mutsuki will happily play that same role for Fubuki. As dawn broke, those assigned to assault W Island took to the seas. Originally, their plan called for scouting out the enemy during the day, then attacking once night fell. Unfortunately, an enemy aircraft spotted them out. Although Fubuki was finally able to prove her worth, they weren’t prepared to take on two aircraft carriers. Fortunately, the Second Fleet was returning from their expedition mission. The Kongou sisters were able to clean house and secure the day. While things appeared to be over, a single enemy bomber approached the Fourth Torpedo Squadron. Within the blank of an eye, Kisaragi was sunk.
Episode 3 spent the majority of its time building up a major death flag, and they followed through til the very end. Before the mission, Mutsuki even told Kisaragi she had something important to share with her once they returned. This is some pretty standard writing, but there’s a big problem here. If you were around when this episode aired, then you know some people weren’t very happy. As the girls are the main attraction, a serious element like this just doesn’t float. As we progress further into this one, you’ll see they attempt to go back to a more lighthearted tone, but the damage was already done. In the end, they made an entire movie just to bring Kisaragi back. A serious story with these types of characters will likely never work, yet I keep seeing it happen even now. I’m not sure when they’ll ever learn, though that’s enough of that. Enjoy successfully landing a shot!
Videos:
There’s still hope, right? We continue to look out into the distance next Thursday.
