It's 2015: Is this how Showa-era Imperial Japanese Navy will be remembered...

[Perrine]

Is this how the Showa-era Imperial Japanese Navy will be remembered by young Japanese mostly born in in the Heisei era (1989-today) ? 

Carrier - Akagi, Kaga
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyzbaNIEOwA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS_JrTxcbB0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABZN292gvRo

Destroyer - Fubuki, Yuudachi & others
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BQ23SvULIc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGuTWiEhuA0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gssnchm8cbw

Carrier - Shoukaku, Zuikaku
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHvBAWns1oc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZqTxSFjuiI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaTei1vpp14

Battlecruiser - Kongou-class  (Kongou, Hiei, Kirishima, Haruna)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdXG_fKkJI4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptSV4Zx-MsE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3EfPUxw_jc

"Yamato"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rorRp9tzngQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah16JK_PotA

[Volron]

Comments in that first link for the Akagi got a chuckle out of me. lol

[mbailey]

Sad really.....

Hopefully they do a better job of teaching their students then my School district does ours.

Every year for 9yrs I've asked my kids if they are learning about ww2/ww1 and every year the answer is no.....shameful to say the least

[darkzking]

i think i like these ships a little better

[Perrine]

I like how Kongou and Yamato (later in the show) are "accurately" portrayed 


also, link to the rest of this blockbuster miniseries starting with ep1
http://www.crunchyroll.com/kancolle/episode-1-hello-commander-668415

[pipz]

I have to admit I do not understand Japanese culture. 

[Rich46yo]

Hopefully they do a better job of teaching their students then my School district does ours.

They dont.

[Karnak]

They dont.

Another forum I was in had a Chinese guy complaining about how the Japanese history books for high school only had 10-15 pages on WWII.

10 pages in 8.5 pages more than my high school history books had on WWII, and of all of my classes I can't remember a single one getting to WWII before time ran out on the semester.

[Perrine]

^

I guess the mentality there is why put more time studying the past when they have something more important to do like maintaining their spot in the top-3 OECD rankings in math, science & reading.  I also heard they brought back Saturday school because Japan was slipping in the math/science/reading OECD rankings a decade ago.

[Volron]

WW2 is a touchy subject for the Japanese.  I recall reading somewhere that in the beginning of filming for the Japanese side of Tora! Tora! Tora!, that the Japanese director was making it comedic, and in no way serious.  He was replaced I believe.  You can actually see a bit of this in the part just after Fuchida (played by Takahiro Tamura), lands on the carrier after getting his written commendation from Yamamoto.


So I am not surprised that this is how they go these things.

[Mister Fork]

Ok, I'm watching this, and as a Gen-xer, I'm 100% blubafuddered WTFH this is. I don't get it. I cannot relate to how a person, is an airplane, but a person, or a destroyer who is a person - or some cute looking big eyed Japanese Anime character.  It makes no sense.  The storyline is not correlating with the action, and the representation that they're actual WW2 machines, well... I'm kinda stumped.

Some please, tell me what I'm looking at and what it represents...

[Dragon Tamer]

Ok, I'm watching this, and as a Gen-xer, I'm 100% blubafuddered WTFH this is. I don't get it. I cannot relate to how a person, is an airplane, but a person, or a destroyer who is a person - or some cute looking big eyed Japanese Anime character.  It makes no sense.  The storyline is not correlating with the action, and the representation that they're actual WW2 machines, well... I'm kinda stumped.

Some please, tell me what I'm looking at and what it represents...

What you're looking at is a personification of WWII era naval craft in what I'm assuming is an attempt to make the story more interesting for viewers.

I can't say that I'm a fan of what they did, but I do vaguely follow it. I'm not sure what compelled them to personify the "characters" the way they did, but they did.

Without even going too far into it, the show has lost some points with me because they are taking a subject (that I feel) should be taken seriously and taken it very likely. Maybe the story makes up for it, but I'm not too keen on watching it to find out.

[Motherland]

Is this how the Showa-era Imperial Japanese Navy will be remembered by young Japanese mostly born in in the Heisei era (1989-today) ? 

You've got a strike witches avatar, the is a bit disingenuous to say the least

Ok, I'm watching this, and as a Gen-xer, I'm 100% blubafuddered WTFH this is. I don't get it. I cannot relate to how a person, is an airplane, but a person, or a destroyer who is a person - or some cute looking big eyed Japanese Anime character.  It makes no sense.  The storyline is not correlating with the action, and the representation that they're actual WW2 machines, well... I'm kinda stumped.

Some please, tell me what I'm looking at and what it represents...

There's a really big demographic overlap between military gear porn and regular porn. Anime studios just aren't bashful about combining the two.
Some of the most successful animes (at least animes that are successful in the states, can't speak to Japan) operate on a simple combination of fan service and accurately drawn smallarms or technology. Like Strike Witches or Ghost in the Shell.

I never understood teaching battles and generals and campaigns to high school students. Things that cause wars and the results of wars are one thing, the effects that things like the holocaust and the atom bombs had on civilian populations and world politics are one thing. If you don't have an interest in military history (which is a really niche subject without bearing on wider society) these things are completely worthless. They're pointless in a general education, public school setting. Making kids memorize generals makes kids hate history.

[Rich46yo]

Ok, I'm watching this, and as a Gen-xer, I'm 100% blubafuddered WTFH this is. I don't get it. I cannot relate to how a person, is an airplane, but a person, or a destroyer who is a person - or some cute looking big eyed Japanese Anime character.  It makes no sense.  The storyline is not correlating with the action, and the representation that they're actual WW2 machines, well... I'm kinda stumped.

Some please, tell me what I'm looking at and what it represents...

They make war films like we make war films. Depictions of complicated,conflicted men doing what is asked of them and if any war crimes are committed its because "war" itself is a crime. In Asia its different then here cause an apology and admittance of dishonorable behavior really means something there. Its a Loss of face. In America we apologize automatically, most of all these Bozo's we put in office. They will apologize automatically for a vote.

Watching films made in Japan and Germany and you dont see a lot about war crimes. Hell they are made for the home audience and nobody is going to pay to see that. These goofy cartoons seem to glorify IJN vessels. What they forget to depict in them is it was mainly Naval marines responsible for the rape of Manilla even tho we hanged an innocent IJA General for it.

I have a cousin who teaches High School in Hiroshima of all places. The nuking of Hiroshima is covered very well but all the Jap atrocities, and they were every bit as bad as the Germans, aren't taught at all. In fact WW2 doesnt get much air time in their schools.

[BaldEagl]

I just watched all of those and thought they were very well done if not totally accurate.  I wish I had an imagination like that to unite seemingly disparate images into an entertaining depiction of national pride the softened realities of war.  As I said, I'd argue the accuracy as presented but Japan did have one of the world's most powerful naval forces at the time.  As to how people on differing sides view history I imagine people honor the fallen and try to find something to take pride in and, in this case, the Japanese navy in WWII isn't a totally bad option to hang your hat on.