Kantai Collection Episode 9: Kai Ni-poi?!

My poi can’t be this cute!


Holy… are you serious?

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Kancolle 9 Img016Poi! I was worried I wouldn’t like Yuudachi Kai Ni, but she’s so cute! I did hear it would be a drastic change, but wow! It’s practically a different character design, and she’s changed to the extent that it feels weird thinking she’s supposed to be the same character before and after remodelling. Like an evolved Pokemon. Yuudachi may still be Yuudachi, but at the same time she kind of isn’t – her outfit is classier, her proportions have changed and her hair now features red ends and two cute tufts. In essence, she feels more mature, and I think that’s what they were going for with this – she’s even started using fewer pois, which her admiring pettanko audience picked up on. Of course, Yuudachi is now a lot stronger than she was before, which makes her enough of a formidable military asset to justify an immediate transfer into Carrier Group One. My initial thoughts were that this is how Nagato would be prompted into proceeding with Operation MO, but to my surprise the kanmusu were already at an overwhelming advantage to being with! Which meant that a kai ni was an extra bonus instead of being pivotal to their plan. As such, I’m sure the idea was that Yuudachi would have rekt them irreparably beyond repair, and everyone would be able to return home safe and sound.

Kancolle 9 Img026At least, that was the idea. This shitty teitoku really is incompetent, and I’m not referring to his decision to cancel what would have been an easy victory with Operation MO, although the case for doing that is debatable as well. Rather, what I really didn’t get was what he did to Fubuki, and that’s not just because he made her go from being absolutely adorable to the most depressed she’s ever been throughout the adaptation. Why would you send her back for recon purposes? Why would you get a flagship of a fleet to do it, and disband the entire fleet at the same time? That makes no sense! The initial restructuring was already questionable enough, and there were entire episodes spent exploring and developing the relationships between the girls in Mobile Unit Five – I’d started to really like the dynamic they had! I still ship Kaga x Zuikaku! I still love onee-sama! Teitoku can’t even claim that he made his choice as a pre-emptive action against the possibility of an attack, because what could Fubuki have done by herself? Also, he may or may not be dead now, after a certain Wo-class decided to take revenge. Given that we’ve never seen him and probably never will, I don’t think it’ll make too big a difference.

Kancolle 9 Img033My heart went out to Fubuki this episode, and as you can imagine I was just as confused as she was as to why things turned out the way they did. Everything was going so well for her – she was getting stronger, and she recently really grew because of her experiences with Mobile Unit Five. And then all of a sudden, Yuudachi-chan gets a kai ni and the downhill slope starts. It’s not Yuudachi’s fault at all, but Fubuki must have felt devastated nevertheless to hear that Yuudachi would be given a spot in the coveted Carrier Group One – not only because it’s essentially the ace fleet, but also because it’s the one her beloved Akagi-senpai is in. And Shimakaze was surprisingly perceptive in pointing out how strange it was that Fubuki wasn’t the first kai ni target. It was so sad watching her break down in onee-sama’s arms ;_; It’s great that she got better quickly, and is actually getting the remodelling she deserves. They’ve spread it out fairly evenly across the episodes, but she has in fact been working really hard as the short flashbacks indicate. All that will finally be rewarded!

0 thoughts on “Kantai Collection Episode 9: Kai Ni-poi?!

  1. I think (emphasis on “think”) that the recon assignment was simply part of the journey back, and not the admiral’s purpose in recalling her. The final orders Nagato was reading came out of the Admiral’s book of orders and such, after all. I believe Fubuuki was called back in order to give her her remodeling. As for why that would require her to be recalled… perhaps because she hadn’t hit the same glowy-stage as Yuudachi did yet? We don’t actually know details of how Kai Ni works in the anime, so I have to shoot a bit in the dark here, but since the admiral DID leave orders for Fubuuki to be remodeled it seems to make sense to me that that would be the reason he recalled her.

    Operation MO was cancelled because the strategic situation had changed. It would have been foolish in the extreme to have the girls charge in to smash and occupy a base only to have their own bases turned to rubble behind them.

    Now, on to the POInt of the episode. Yuudachi’s Kai Ni transformation is one of the most famous among Kancolle fans because of how distinct each the stages are from each other. Kai Ni appears to add anywhere from three to five years on to her age (and the appropriate physical growth to go with it), changes her eyes to red, changes her outfit completely, makes her personality more confident and aggressive (intended to be a result of the Solomon Islands campaign and the heavy fighting and victories she achieved there) and gives her (when maxxed out) the firepower of a heavy cruiser.

    Poi poi poi poi poi…

    1. Spot on with the latter two parts, fellow fan. Spot on. As for your first part dealing with Kai-Ni, it seems as though it can either happen manually or naturally. Mind giving your thoughts on my theories about it in the post below? You seem to know as much, if not more about Kancolle than I do.

    2. That would make sense. If it was planned beforehand, then yeah that does justify his actions. He could have said something though! She had to go through all that suffering and sadness for nothing! Although she was comforted by onee-sama so hehehehe

      All of Yuudachi’s changes are great, apart from the slight drop in the number of poi’s. It goes along with the whole ‘growing up’ thing I guess! Can’t wait to see what Fubuki Kai Ni looks like-poi!

  2. Ah! Even better than last week’s episode! My ability to name them as they come on to screen has improved too! All right, 3 things:

    1. KAI-NI POI! (apparently “poi” is supposed to mean “like”, and reflect uncertainty like her using sails caused for the US at Solomon Islands)
      What a blast that was though! Akagi already hinted that they’re considered Kanmusu from birth. Now we see two types of Kai-Ni manifesting:
      a) “Naturally” as with Yuudachi, whom we expected would receive her Kai-Ni
      b) “Manually” as with Fubuki, and I really did feel there was a chance it’d happen.

    I also expected Kongou to show Yuudachi the ropes of getting used to Kai-Ni, but perhaps the two will have to assist Fubuki next week. In any case, Kongou was ever the Onee-sama caring for our special destroyer so. Glad to see our girl put up a storm of a fight to cool off her burning feelings. I mean, damn, she passed out.

    The only reason I didn’t expect Fubuki to get her Kai Ni in association with this week is because, well, it kind of leaves Mutsuki out. Granted, she probably cares about Kai Ni the least and will get it eventually if not in the anime.

      Now does Fubuki’s case mean she’ll have to have help getting used to it, or is she also naturally ready for it now, but being the of the latest/special destroyer class is negating the glowing of Kai-Ni readiness? I mean, imagine fighting with that glow on you until you could take the next step forward… I know the world’s being built slowly, but it’s still interesting to ponder these things.

    Also, whatever could have been the final drop in Yuudachi’s Kai-Ni experience pool? I don’t think she had it as rough getting to Yamato’s island. Part of me is amused with thinking that Yamato’s impressive display of power is what did it at last, as it was just the day before the sign of Kai-Ni manifested 😀

      Gotta’ love Yuubari being the prototyping fanatic that she is. Hopefully she comes up with some sweet upgrades for more of the fleet in terms of equipment! Teitoku knows they’ll need it with Black Wock Shooter now upon us, who looks more armoured than in the game’s art! It’s like she got a Shin-Kai-Ni: more armoured shoulders, waist, staff and a pure blue energy enveloping more than her eye 😮
    1. Is Fubuki’s a different type of Kai-Ni? I guess teitoku sounds like he’s planned it out manually for her given that she’s not ‘glowing’ – probably representing a certain level or something, which you might be right in Yuudachi reaching after going out with Yamato. I found myself thinking some awkward thoughts on exactly how the remodel process actually works… I don’t think we’ll ever get to know. We never see Akagi eating bauxite after all (anything other than normal food actually) and they were already stretching it a bit by representing ‘healing’ through baths. I shall just assume it’s like Pokemon evolution, where they glow and just… change.

      I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought Wo-chan looked like BRS! Is it a Kai form? I thought her eye was due to Fubuki shooting it out, but she does look… stronger, somehow. If it really is a Kai, is there an enemy teitoku somewhere out there?

      1. Fubuki’s Kai-Ni definitely suits her and you could almost say the anime has foreshadowed what it specializes in ever since Wo showed up. The nice thing about Kai-Ni’s is that they’re all rather distinct, even though “uniform” powerups like Super Saiyan is great for the spirit of unity.

        Perhaps Fubuki’s Kai-Ni equipment will be ready, but she isn’t personally and will “grow” used to it through an intense next battle? I could see that. She might even finally get to try out that Diamond Formation with Yamato and Mutsuki, although, it may happen after her growth. I wonder who’ll take Yuudachi’s place in that and who will fill in the space behind Yamato, hmm. We’ll see.

        Maybe… maybe bauxite is the seasoning? 😛 Rather than salts and peppers, or in addition to them? Haha, the baths were a decent compromise since docking brings with it a sense of water. However, I’m still curious about the fact that the scale in the change room had some really high weight measurements. I don’t think anyone would be put off by the Kanmusu either being larger than a normal human, or having modified bodies.

        All ‘Common’ Shinkaisei-kan have ‘Normal’ and ‘Elite’ forms, then some have ‘Late’ forms or more commonly ‘Flagship’, and sometimes after that ‘Flagship II’ and ‘Remodeled Flagship’ (Kai). All Kai forms have that blue blaze from their eyes. I honestly thought there’d be a smaller, yellow blaze within it due to Fubuki shooting out her eye. Oh, versus the in-game art, Wo’s headcrab also has 3 guns on each side rather than two.

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