Zero no Tsukaima Futatsuki no Kishi: A whiff of betrayal

When Zero no Tsukaima's first season was still airing, I stumbled across a thread that summarized events in the light novel up to its seventh volume. Since they never took place in the first season's run, and with no guarantee of a second season at the time, I proceeded to forget about most of it.

What did stick with me was the underlying conflict that pervaded the later volumes, which boils down to pacifists against warmongers when set in a comparatively backward and primitive era. This may or may not sound something like the premise of Zipang.

In other words, Zero no Tsukaima Futatsuki no Kishi could have had a promising, coherent, plot, except J.C. Staff has generally chosen service over serious, backing away from the darker undercurrent that began to take hold in the later episodes of the first season.

Sure, service sells and trivializing the overall story with undeveloped side plots has probably turned out to be pretty profitable for all involved, but I do get a sense of frustration having seen even a high-level view of what things could have been. I think I understand a bit what it must feel like for a fan of the source material to watch such a gutted adaptation.

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Zipang: Future Sight

So I'm stonewalled for the next two months until the final release arrives. Still, with a DVD titled Return to the Future, we might suppose that there may yet be some time travel involved. I'm a bit displeased that the final two DVD's have three episodes each, are devoid of extras, yet cost the same as all the others. It's a reality of the cost of physical media that will have to be tolerated for a while yet.

Update: I went ahead and got spoilers. There is no definitive ending, and it's not a life goes on kind of ending, either. I despise you marketing people.

With the last three episodes, it's hinted that war becomes more of a setting for an adventure story and less of a theme or message, should there ever be a sequel. Zipang could certainly use one (manga is still ongoing, too), perhaps in a shorter 13 episode run or OVA.

A lot can happen in the last three episodes and if warranted, another entry will go up after finishing the series.

This control room is pretty. I'd reuse this shot, too.

First off, this series exposes the thinking and military doctrine of Japanese World War II commanders. Suicide instead of accountability; human spirit instead of superior numbers, logistics, and firepower; over-extension and inability to consolidate gains; bickering between the army and navay; these are a few of the elements that contributed to the unraveling of Japan's military machine.

On the flip side, the Americans are portrayed as brash (but there are mitigating circumstances) but invariably confused by the presence of the Mirai and its equally un-orthodox (for the time) threats.

What Zipang is not, is a recognition of Japan's mistreatment of everyone not Japanese. Saying that "all blood is red" and other positive sentiments is great, but there is little depiction of anyone other than Japanese and Americans. Zipang does well to ignore those messy bits, keeping the action focused on the conflict between Japan and America and the avoidance of conflict. And to end the war, Kusaka is willing to give up the colonization of much of south Asia because the crucial resource, oil, can be found - where else? - in China. No sir, Kusaka's ideal Japan is not devoid of imperialist ambitions.

The driving force behind most of the character and story development is the conflict between war-time sentiment and the ideals that followed 60 years on. The crew of the Mirai are frequently held hostage by their mission of self-defence, rescue, and initial struggles to keep history unchanged. Their reluctance to have anyone killed lets them be manipulated by Kusaka, leading directly to the events surrounding Guadalcanal, and they take casualties in a forced demonstration of their anti-air capabilities during an American air raid.

I have the least sympathy for Kadomatsu. He's a tool, basically Kusaka's lackey for the first half of the series, followed by poor decision making in the latter half. Yanagi was evidently unfit for ground operations; his tubby look might have had something to do with that but that was conveniently overlooked. He decided to board the "escort" submarine fully aware that Taki was sketchy as hell, and that the plane must have taken off from a carrier. Even though the crew of the Mirai are continuously burned by their willingness to trust, Kadomatsu is the lead lemming, and should have been overruled by the demonstrably wiser captain on multiple occasions.

The right way is not always the easiest, but while it's commendable that the Mirai adheres to its guiding principals when at all possible, they refuse to acknowledge that they are in Rome. World War II personnel do not know the definition of deterrence, which necessarily grew out of the Cold War's policy of Mutually Assured Destruction. Related to that, no one knew what peacekeeping was, which was only introduced by post-war Canada.

Having never truly appreciated (and mostly never witnessed) the accuracy, range, and destructive power of post-Cold War armament, it's no surprise that the Americans do not back down, and it is only because Kusaka has seen an ASROC launch up close that the Mirai can bluff their way out of a confrontation with the Yamato.

What should you expect to see in Zipang? You get to witness an anti-war message, conspiracy plot, and the success and infuriating mistakes of an inexperienced (and naive) crew aboard a destroyer that should not be equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles. The self-defence imperative is there but is not used as a stick with which to beat the viewer over the head. It's woven into a fairly engaging story, treating all combatants involved with respect.

Just don't expect the Korean labourers at Guadalcanal to receive any love.

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Zipang: Reconnaissance

The last DVD came in shortly after its North American release but I only got started yesterday. The gist of it is that the Mirai, a Kongo class guided missile destroyer, goes back in time, arriving on the eve of the Battle of Midway. For more detail (and spoilers), there's always the Wikipedia article.

I'll spare notes about the actual content for another entry. This one will be on the technicals and goodies. Essentially, there are no extras worth mentioning, unless you count the mouse pad that came with the collector's box. Each DVD comes with OP, ED, and DVD production credits and Geneon previews, and that's it.

No problems with the artwork and animation. There are no pretty characters; it's war after all. CG for ship models and other war pieces blend in well. There were some instances where footage was reused, like in search light signaling, but it wasn't detracting.

Background music either stands out (in a good way) or doesn't. Zipang has one standout theme, played by a saxophone wailing in the night. There's also a strings variation, but the saxophone is most prominent and occurs during combat.

I just thought this image was kind of badly pasted in.

I don't watch with dubs, so no comment there. As for the subtitling, well, I don't know what's par for the course, but I estimate there were more nitpicks than I'd find with a fansub released by the likes of a.f.k, and one would think that no one pays their quality check members.

I've listed the minor annoyances below. I'm not out to be Geneon USA's QC; these were things picked up during a first pass.

Well snap. I seem to be missing one DVD that will be released October 16, 2007. Quite the lack of due diligence on my part. See you in two months!

"Your father was in the marine." — Episode 1. Did he actually say, "in the marines," or mean to say, "in the navy?"

"I'm am no god." — Episode 8. Fail.

"It's name is Zipang." — Episode 13. Its versus It's, but technically both are correct and it is a matter of preference.

Episode 15 intro on fast forward. Not a subtitling problem, but it was kind of awkward. It was a conscious decision, since the audio was in line with the scenes and not fast forwarded.

Near the end one of the scenes in Episode 16 (not the last scene) the subs drop out. Sometimes they do that if what's being said is a recent reiteration, but it's still annoying. There are also some timing errors (I think) where the line may follow before or after it's spoken.

"...the Mirai can still avoid them easily with her speed superior mobility." — Episode 20. Missing an "and."

Episode 21 featured two glaring omissions of subtitles: during a scene involving a prone body, and during the next episode preview.

"Make you get back before curfew, alright?" — Episode 22. Make sure…

"It too late." — Episode 23. There's something missing here, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

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