Hey folks. Morgane here. I'm going to start copy-pasting the English translation directly onto these pages here. We're still working on an English version, of course, but I figure it's only a matter of time before someone decided to upload our stuff over here.
As I have commented elsewhere, STEC is the overall organization that oversees the USN ship girl's operations in this parallel world of ours. There's a lot of lore that isn't covered here, but the short version is that our world design is similar to the Cranes light novel, but the ship girls are honest-to-goodness human girls rather than warships given form.
Think guardian angels in the western sense, instead of kami that is commonly found in eastern works.
Arizona is the first USN ship girl designed for Pacific. There were a lot of trivia that we were unable to squeeze in the first book, and several little vignettes (such as a debate between her and Pennsy about who was more musically inclined) was removed due to spacing issues.
She's a nice girl. Mostly cheery, hardworking, and ready to do her part. As STEC notes, however, she suffers from a lack of modernized equipment. This is actually a reference to two inside jokes: a historical one, where the navy was quite aware of the aging USS Arizona, and an inside one, where she is frequently the default abyssal gunnery math target in the RPG supplement I'm writing as a companion of Pacific.
There's a lot of lore that isn't covered here, but the short version is that our world design is similar to the Cranes light novel, but the ship girls are honest-to-goodness human girls rather than warships given form.
I was wondering about that; there are so many fanon takes on what kanmusu are. Thanks for the translations too.
I was wondering about that; there are so many fanon takes on what kanmusu are. Thanks for the translations too.
The English version that I'm releasing for you guys has our world design in a lot more detail. For the Chinese folks, that information'll probably make it into Pacific vol. 2. :)
The English version that I'm releasing for you guys has our world design in a lot more detail. For the Chinese folks, that information'll probably make it into Pacific vol. 2. :)
Why she doesn't have any cannons? A weaponless Battleships?
Why she doesn't have any cannons? A weaponless Battleships?
Well if you read the KanColle manga, the girls can remove their "rigging" especially when not on combat.
Author's commentary:
November: USS Arizona is the most famous battleship at Pearl Harbor, right? I knew the most about her when I first started to work on Pacific, though I still don't know much orz...
Anyways, most people think battleship girls has to be proud, big-sister types with ample assets, so I thought, why not try designing her in a different way? Why not draw a more petite young woman? Thus, Arizona was born.
Morgane (tincancarrier): Considering Arizona's outfit is very similar to that of her sister's, we thought we would add decorative elements that would recall back to Arizona's state history.
Zeroblaze: As a memorial to the actions at Pearl harbor, I always thought that we should draw her a little bronze memorial plaque or something... Or like a little commemorative figurine or something, since in real life, her "gravestone" can be thought of as that memorial that's built.
No no, wait, nice guess, but no. The reason why she doesn't have armaments isn't because she's a commemorative figurine...Trivia
- USS Arizona narrowly avoided being scrapped in 1929 thanks to shenanigans happening in Congress. Even though she was subsequently modernized, she was nonetheless unable to escape the fate of scrapping due to what happened to her during Pearl Harbor. As such, she harbors some psychological ill-will towards any attempts of modernization.
- It is the tradition of the USN to play the Star Spangled Banner at 8:00 every Sunday morning. In addition, USS Arizona had the finest band in all of the navy (though, of course, Pennsy would beg to differ...)
- Her signature voice line is a direct reference to recollections from USS Arizona survivors on the day of Pearl Harbor attack.
- The USS Arizona was once the flagship of many peacetime fleets.
- It is said that to remember their fallen brethren, it is tradition for USS Arizona survivors to ask that their ashes be buried near the wreck of their ship. * Note: The original content was "Type-97 torpedo", but revised later as "Type-97 On-board Fighter(Nakajima B5N)". We have discussed upon this inconsistency after publishing, and this is the final decision.Howdy commander, I'm USS Arizona, the younger of the two Pennsylvania battleships. You looking for some reliable big guns? I've got 'em right here.
Born in 1915, I'm really just an incremental improvement over my Nevada-class elder sisters, and I also used the All-or-Nothing design scheme that was originally meant as a countermeasure against the Brits. Oh, and Nagato, of course.
I spent most of my time in various diplomatic and training missions, including an awesome Shakedown Cruise! When the war broke out, I was sitting in Pearl Harbor. Strange planes with rising sun emblems whizzed past my head, and before anyone knew what was going on, everything was on fire.
My turrets exploded, and I knew I was in bad shape. The last memory I had was that of Admiral Kidd, rushing onto my bridge. I think he was trying to get the wounded off. I ...don't remember much in terms of what happened after that. Sorry, commander!
Additional notes from STEC: Historically, at least 8 bombs landed on USS Arizona in the Attack on Pearl Harbour. The fatal shot was delivered by a bomber of Hiryuu's - *Nakajima B5N. This hit her No.2 Turret. She was ultimately destroyed upon ignition of her explosive magazine. The body and the bridge directly collapsed onto the ship.
The "Admiral Kidd" in Arizona's memory was the first Navy officer to die in the Pacific War. In the attack, Arizona accounts for over half of the casualties. 1177 out of 1398 crews (then number of crews on board) are dead. After the war, as a memory, her wreckage remains in Pearl Harbour to remember all casualties in the war. Admiral Kidd and the other crewmen of Arizona are thus given an honorary medal.
Quiet girl. Hard working. Feels underappreciated as her armaments are comparatively outdated in comparison to her sisters. STEC strongly recommends that her commanding officer take Arizona to see "her" memorial. Since her awakening, her brief but meaningful actions have already warranted a battle star, and STEC would consider it especially fitting if she would be awarded with the same star given to her historical counterpart.
* See Note.