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Kantai Collection - Fanfic Idea and Recs

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"Match day!" To the uninitiated eye, I carried a beautiful-detailed but otherwise unremarkable waterline model. An eight-hundred-eighty-seven foot warship rendered in ten or so inches of injection-molded plastic, turned aluminium, and photo-etched brass.

"Match day!" I had another dozen or so models in my bag—each swaddled in closed-cell foam to protect their delicate metal masts and barrels. They were all beautiful models of course, but that was all the were. Display pieces, little trinkets to add interest to a room.

"Match day!" A bag of dice rattled in my duffel as I trotted up to the sign-in table. Not just dice, but loads of dice. Polyhedra with agency and wills of their own. The loyal ones were in a nice drawstring bag next to my pre-sorted token collection. The others were baking in the sun in the back of my car until they'd been suitably chastened.

I set the model in my hands down for a moment. An Iowa-class in hand-painted measure 32 bristling whit gunmetal flak batteries. "Mutha-fukin' match day!"

"Will you shut up?" I snapped. To the uninitiated eye, I was yelling at an inanimate piece of plastic. But I could tell from the understanding look in the match director's eye that he saw her too. The spirit of USS New Jersey—or at least my model of her—rendered in miniature.

Unfortunately, her diminutive scale did nothing to reduce the capacity of her lungs. Or her smug sense of self-importance. So what if she was the first model I'd gotten? Or the only one who always got to ride in my arms and never in my duffel? It doesn't give her excuse to be such a little shit. "Make me."

"No pie for you," I said.

"Hey!" She crossed her little arms in a pout. I made the mistake of leaving a pie out when I was working on her rigging. In the time it took me to let the dog out, she hadn't only made her way over to the counter but also managed to clean the dish entirely before she passed out in a pie-induced food coma. It was the beginning of the end. "You wouldn't."

"I would if you roll all blanks again," I said, offering her my hand so she could climb back up to rest splayed-leg on the brim of my hat. She liked being my hat, I still hadn't figured out why.

"That was one time," she snapped. "And believe me, we hazed the fuck outta those dice."

"I think what you did technically counts as a war crime."

"Heh," Jersey giggled to herself. "So who are we up against?"

"Iron, you remember him?"

Jersey nodded and almost fell off my head. "I hate him."

"What? He's nice."

"Yeah," said Jersey. "But his flagship kept following me around with a ruler saying my skirt was too short."

"So you hate his list."

"Oh yeah," said Jersey. "Unless you can figure out how to beat it."

She had a point. Iron's list was on paper nothing special. A collection of standard battleships plus just enough light cruisers to shoo away any destroyers looking to put fish places where fish are not meant to be. But in practice, it had all the durability (and agility) of a large hunk of concrete dropped in the middle of the table. Iron didn't so much win as he allowed others to loose. It was annoying as hell. No room for the dashing maneuvers Jersey and her sisters loved. "Don't think he's here though."

"He's late again?"

I glanced at the match director, who offered a conciliatory shrug. "Yeah."

"Wanna play a pick-up until then?" I asked.

Jersey nodded. "Yeah, let's go abuse some newbs!"

"Jersey!"

"But… like all kind-like and shit."

"Better." I walked to one of the side tables were players waited for their slot. There were a few games already going, but Jersey and I found a place. A new kid with just the starter box and a few minor expansions. His girls were still wearing their factory-fresh paint schemes with the trademark mushy barrels of plastic gun batteries. Still, they looked happy to be on the table.

"Wanna play?" I asked. Jersey just smiled like she'd seen a meat made out of pies.

"Sure," he said. "Still learning it though."

"No worries," I set my bag down while Jersey slid down my arm to help unpack. "Jumper, by the way."

"Anon," he said and started unpacking his far less organized collection of small plastic boats. One battleship—Nelson preening herself as usual—a few cruisers and a motley collection of destroyers. I'd need to downgrade my list to match, I didn't have many ships but my American battlewagons gobbled points, especially when upgraded.

I eventually settled on just Jersey and Alaska, with one Fletcher each for cover. Iowa, Mo, and Whisky stayed by the sidelines with pompoms they'd found online and ordered before I was able to hide my wallet.

"Um…" Anon thought for a second. "You go first, right?"

"Yeah," I said, getting out my movement tool. "I activate New Jersey—"

"Hell yeah!"

—|—|—​
"I activate New Jersey—"

"Oh, finally!" Bless her heart, Jersey wasn't used to waiting this long for her turn. Anon was still getting the hang of things, and turns that should've taken ten seconds took minutes. I could tell he was learning though, and he seemed to be having fun. But… well, my oldest Iowa was a impatient as they came. A quick flick into her aft corrected her misbehavior.

"—and fire into Nelsol there."

"Hey!"

"You do kinda look like an oilier," said one of Anon's Cleavelands.

"It's not nice to say such things about a lady," said the seven.

"Gimme an N!" cheered Iowa.

"You three shut up," I said as I collected my dice.

"Wait," Anon perked up. "Shouldn't you be rolling two dice not six?"

I cocked an eyebrow.

"Uh…" Anon thought. "You half it because you're shooting through smoke, then Jersey pulled a three-point turn so she looses one die. Right?"

Jersey preened.

"Normally yes," I said.

Jersey preened harder.

"But I've got advanced Gyros on her so she doesn't loose accuracy when maneuvering."

"And!" urged Jersey. "Get to the best part!"

"And blindfire FCS," I showed him the upgrade deck I'd stacked on Jersey. It was an awful lot of points, but oh so worth it. "So she's not affected by smoke or fog."

"Huh," said Anon.

"Yeah, she's basically broken right now."

"I am the bestest battleship," said Jersey, earning herself a quick headpat.

"So…" Anon look at Nelson's stat card.

"I'm afraid that's it for me." Nelson doffed her hat and gave a deep bow. "Right?"

"Yeah," said Anon. "No way I can absorb that, sorry."

"Oh, cheer up," said the seven. "You did a brilliant job for your first match."

"Yeah, you kicked ass," said Jersey. "Just not as much as me."

"Good game," I offered him my hand.

"You too!"

"Hey!" Jersey barked. "Look who's finally here!"
 
ANIME SEASON 2 ANNOUNCED!!

This is the leaked trailer.


Edit: The video has been taken down.

New reddit link until a more permanent video can be found.



With Shigure as the protagonist, Nishimura Fleet, and Yahagi as a supporting protagonist(?).
 
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NGL, we're literally getting one of the top 10 Anime Battles of 2019 given that the KC anime is gonna have to go head to head (prow to prow????) against the upcoming Azur Lane one. Here's looking forward to the crossover art.

Inb4 Space Girl Fleet comes outta nowhere and RKO's both of them.
 
GnosisEater said:
KC anime is gonna have to go head to head (prow to prow????) against the upcoming Azur Lane one
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On the KC side we have some of the best ships of the IJN.
In the Azur Lane corner, however...

Well, lemme just remind you of the inscription on a famous scorekeeping plaque kept on a certain ship in the Pacific Theatre: Enterprise vs Japan

Need I say more?
 
NuclearBird said:
On the KC side we have some of the best ships of the IJN.
In the Azur Lane corner, however...

Well, lemme just remind you of the inscription on a famous scorekeeping plaque kept on a certain ship in the Pacific Theatre: Enterprise vs Japan

Need I say more?
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Hyping up Enterprise is nice and all, but to a non-English speaking audience, I'm not sure Ent's story would be that interesting. Many would likely be less likely to know the story and less inclined to look up to due to sheer interest.

I suspect Kancolle Season 2 might sell more BD's overall, especially in Japan with the focus on IJN fleets only, and especially if both series animation and plot are around the same quality.

I think Azur Lane also has a smaller userbase, smaller hardcore doujin community, smaller casual doujin community, and other factors in Japan. That might change in the near future, but it seems to be the case for now.

So I feel a lot of factors might make it probable Kancolle does better, though not impossible for AL to do well or better even.


It's not a knock against anyone's interests, just how interests usually fall out.
The general audience most media need to be successful usually have no knowledge of the events (except perhaps some misunderstandings and perhaps wrong assumptions from other pop culture media), and also no desire to learn more.
So they might be more interested if the media relates back to their culture, or perhaps is a mix and super exotic. One reason why self inserts and isekai are popular too among many demographics, they're an extreme form of this.

Besides the general audience, this is true for niche fans as well. A book club I know has a military history and mil fiction sub group, and of that group, most of them know of things like HMS Hood and Allied ships at Leyte Gulf and Midway and the like, but don't know much about IJN or have much interest in that. Like I think only a handful of them know what the ship Shigure is for example, and of those, only an even smaller handful (of that small handful that even knew of the ship at all) think the ship was notable or interesting. It's just how interest trends typically fall out.
Though there are a few hardcore history 'fans' in the club interested in details of all ships.
And a few other fans of IJN only, but those are smaller in amount. There are more people with an Allied focus only in western book clubs from what I've seen.
Some are interested in IJN, more are interested in Allied navy or both.

I'd imagine for many fans in their domestic interests might have more interests in ships like Nisshin or Minegumo for example in the current event. Nisshin and Minegumo from fan forums I've seen seem more popular than Johnston for example. Nisshin for example is a guaranteed drop so everyone has one, is done by a popular artist in a sort of stereotypical traditional Japanese style that is popular, and has a unique voice tone and speech pattern to match. She's also got a very solid stat line for an AV seaplane tender, with a torpedo stat and special skills better than many combat ships in game. So there's a lot of reasons she interests many people. I'm actually a little curious why they chose Nisshin over the other AV to be the one with a solid stat line. She doesn't have as much history due to being sunk relatively quickly as some others, the technical design for the ship isn't exceptional from analysis I've seen, and she also never actually engaged in surface combat, and didn't do too great evading air strikes either. So her history accomplishments don't seem that great, unless I'm missing something major after looking at both English and Japanese sources. Like, why her and not Akitsushima? It doesn't really have to have a reason, and it could just be for game balance, but I'm curious if it has an additional reason.
Johnston by comparison has less cultural connection for many, and less domestic fan people seem to know about her or are interested in her. I've seen her personality called one note, and she's only got a few references to her final battle, and no other references to other parts of her history. So she's not appealing in art, voice, or personality to many fans. Her stats are also not exceptional, so she doesn't interest stat fans much at all. She's got a lower torpedo stat than Nisshin for example, a logistical seaplane tender/transport that never had torpedo launchers and never actually engaged in surface combat. Her history also doesn't seem to interest many domestic Japanese fans. That's why I think Azur Lane anime might not do great. If it does focus on Enterprise without an IJN co-lead, I think many will be less interested in it. Enterprise, Johnston, Fletcher, and other ships will likely have less interest to the Japanese audience (if people even recognize the names at all), which is the main BD market. I'd be very surprised if foreign BD sales ever out sold domestic BD sales. No famous voice actor to draw in fans either. Super star power (a bankable star) is very much a thing, though I'm glad that the did give a new voice actor a shot for her role, however it likely means Johnston will not be too popular.

I'm sure Enterprise in Azur Lane will get some interest and some domestic sales, but nowhere near as much as the amount of people interested in Kancolle Season 2 and Shigure. My predictions is that more people will be interested in Shigure domestically and care more about her.

For domestic sales.
Some will be interested in AL, but more will likely be interested in KC S2, barring something unexpected happening.

Within KC, I'm a little surprised at HMS Nelson's relative lack of popularity. She's not the least popular ship, but definitely one of the ships with the least amount of interest and passionate interest. She introduced a powerful skill system with solid stats, but Nagato was later given the similar skill and arguably does her Nelson Touch better.
However, I would've thought Nagato's Big 7 claims would help drag her to popularity even if many aren't interested in her by herself.
Though it wasn't the case, Nagato is more popular by far than Mutsu and both are much more than Nelson.

GnosisEater said:
It's more likely to be "Enterprise vs H.P. Lovecraft's Vocaloids" with AL tbh.
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The Siren and Abyssal stand in are to go a more generic 'evil' to fight for both sides, but in specific engagements both the Siren and Abyssal stand for specific things.

Granted, both Sirens and Abyssal characters can be rather one note at times in characterization, obsessing over on single aspect instead of other events of the ship or battle they symbolize or represent as a metaphor.

Though Sirens also have that explicit sci-fi plot backstory.
 
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Enterprise, might be the main character but Saratoga and San Diego doing the idol/ magical girl route is the STAR (Unicorn can join in too! Even Comes with magical animal partner! )

And extremely low expectations for S2. Anyone want to put money on if we'll see an allied shipgirl or even a Bisquick?
 
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The youtube link was taken down earlier today. I've replaced it with Death Usagi's reddit post which contains the same video.

In other news, we have a surprise new art of Shinano by her concept artist, Youki.

 
sapphirenebula said:
The Siren and Abyssal stand in are to go a more generic 'evil' to fight for both sides, but in specific engagements both the Siren and Abyssal stand for specific things.

Granted, both Sirens and Abyssal characters can be rather one note at times in characterization, obsessing over on single aspect instead of other events of the ship or battle they symbolize or represent as a metaphor.

Though Sirens also have that explicit sci-fi plot backstory.
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I dunno fam, the sirens at first seem like vague eugenecist evil but there's something more cryptic about their backstory than what most are aware of and it's hinted that there are divisions in their ranks. Some think they're actually preparing for something far worse than themselves.
 
GnosisEater said:
I dunno fam, the sirens at first seem like vague eugenecist evil but there's something more cryptic about their backstory than what most are aware of and it's hinted that there are divisions in their ranks. Some think they're actually preparing for something far worse than themselves.
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That Alternate Enterprise may be a herald. That entire base complex GONE due to one ship with conventional weapons! And the fact the ending battle has her all but erase a siren force in moments
The fact they keep the time loop going can't just be for continued growth via conflict, even handing out toys for the humans to use this time implies this isn't remotely close to the first redo.

So why keep going it when you know the outcome? Is it them trying create something that will kill them but why?
 
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So had a thought for SI (I blame this) - fairy captain SI, SI basically runs as a captain on the ship (and the fairies are actually legible with other things than "Hey" in fairy mode), but also can run the ship self (though, probably the two can be a bit separate at times for narrative causes).

Okay, rough plotting and outlioning...

So KC - Göta Lejon (Light Cruiser, 7 automatic 6" guns in three turrets (3 guns in A, 2 each in X and Y) - rate of fire is 10 rounds per minute for surface targets and higher when doing AAA - stagger firing and you get 1 shell a second (or higher) sustained, HE cancer). Was finished post war, but ordered and laid down in '43. First cruise config means sans radar (was fitted later post '50 rebuild, so possibly Kai). Fully bombed up including mines on the after deck.

Show up inexplicably in Pacific ocean - possibly nearby Philippines or Indonesia, alternatives or suggestions on specifics are welcome.

Initial focus in getting a navigation fix and location - range is ca 8Mm, 310 hours of cruising at 14 knots, which depending on where in the pacific is bad news if you don't find friendly ports or unrep. Also issue is ammo and supply situation - too many sea mines (and these being mines intended for use in the Baltic littorals probably not much use in the deep pacific) and questions on how to source ammo for the 6"-ers. I've seen notes that British and American full auto 6" tended towards unreliable, but no such notes for the Bofors m/42, which I'd read to indicate that (teething problems sorted out), they ran well when cared for and supplied with proper ammo - over 2000 shells fired in the final Swedish cruise of Göta Lejon for instance. (But proper ammo is what's going to be hard to source.)

Initial bit of cruising as a commerce raider, mostly be ineffectual sans radar and spotter plane... Probably a lot of running away from bigger ships (or groups of equivalent/smaller), swatting at any planes that dare into range and then running away from swarms...

Find an island, camp out, observe traffic (possibly repeat multiple times), spot patterns in abyssal convoys and plan a raid - swim out near the path of the convoys and wait sans rigging, then up and nix the escorts from rear aspect with aforementioned HE cancer, rush in and wrangle the transports, boarding action and looting at sea, run them aground and surround them with a minefield and get away before help arrives. Possibly repeat.

Go over acquired intel, ID what's likely an enemy base on an island, sneak up on it, ashore by way of swimming or kayaking onto the far side of the island, commando style, send crew out to recon in the underbrush... Hunker down a couple of weeks just gathering intel and pilfering supplies (particularly after spotting some Abyssal cruisers pilfering supplies from the bases stashes). Possibly pick up some Abyssal traits (pale skin, glowing eyes?) from surviving on abyssal supplies. Spot an internment camp, and plan a bug out - set some fires and some explosives, sneak the prisoners out of the camp and into the water and off.

Regroup with the prisoners - thinking bunch of Dutch shipgirls (De Ruyter and some Admiralen) and possibly HMAS Sydney and plan cruise back easiest route bypassing enemy fleet activity towards a friendly fleet base (ie: for plot related reasons go to Japan) - to save on fuel, one ship steaming and towing the others sans rigging in kayaks...

Post return organize the group, repair, refit, training and eventual return as an allied fleet group and do similar ops because proven experience - possible team up with USN ships known for ferrying marine raiders/seabees, RN ships known for commando ops (HMS Campbelltown? Sans suicide bomb probably, but with Commando fairies), possibly run ins with German informant Kormoran operating behind enemy lines...
 
...For some reason, I'm thinking that one of your USN ships known for commando raids should be USS Barb/Enrico Tazzoli, who likes to joke that she's a 'Ballistic Missile Submarine' when she dual-wields a Nurbelwurfer (It Wurfs Nurbels) and a 4.5-inch rocket rack. Or maybe she should steal a Type-3 shell and use it as a claymore mine...
 
Vehrec said:
...For some reason, I'm thinking that one of your USN ships known for commando raids should be USS Barb/Enrico Tazzoli, who likes to joke that she's a 'Ballistic Missile Submarine' when she dual-wields a Nurbelwurfer (It Wurfs Nurbels) and a 4.5-inch rocket rack. Or maybe she should steal a Type-3 shell and use it as a claymore mine...
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High-speed transport - Wikipedia

I was talking those gals - not much use for a bunch of high speed transports when there's no marines to transport (yeah, sure, they can transport DD-tanks, maybe... Or they can carry high explosive charges and sneak them in place - hey, when some of your fairies claim to be UDT, you pick up a thing or two).

The Subs are good for sneaky sneaky fishing and snooping, but sometimes you need a force that can sail up to islands at high speed while wrecking shit, hit the beach without slowing (much) and continuing to wreck shit.
Or, if necessary, get ashore all sneaky like ahead of time and wreck shit at an appointed time.
 
Hmmm, well there are a lot of missions calling for 'rat transports' in the game, so fast supply and raider ships clearly can play their specialized role-though if that role is carrying landing craft full of marine fairies, or if they have to personally assault some beaches, that's up in the air. Maybe part of the job is to get in and distract Installation-type Abyssals and attack them from up close or even in hand-to-hand.

But given what Eugene Fluckey got up to on his last mission with Barb, I think that the sub would have been left with a desire to do more shore bombardment and commando raids, and perhaps do a bit of civilian trainspotting while wearing a slightly disturbing smile while looking at schedules and stations and bridges. Okay, she bombarded towns, not fortified naval instalations, but once the 'bug' bites...
 
So the obvious continuation on the logic of having to lead a bunch of converted ww1 destroyers in forward area amphibious long range recon patrols is the girls need seal training, which will also open up the best most stealthy mode of warship infiltration into the AO.

The only prerequisite to something being air droppable (once) is being able to get it airborne in the first place.

Also further means the plot evolves into Kancolle: Black Ops.
Particularly once we introduce Spooky Weird Abyssal Things to the equation.
 
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I have previous stayed away from here despite having ideas but now I just want to put them out there, as a future heads up all I know of Kantai Collection is from fanfics and browsing the wiki. So if you guys find any flaws in my ideas, feel free to correct them as you see fit.

This first idea is one where an SI awakens in the 'body' of the French cruiser submarine Surcouf. This idea would follow the SI as they try to come to terms with their situation as well as trying to get a handle on what ship they are.

My second idea is a Mass Effect × Kantai Collection crossover in a scenario where peace has been achieved between Humans, the Abyssals and the Shipgirls. In the year 2157, the Planet Shanxi was chosen to host the annual gathering in which the shipgirl and abyssal forces of war gather to recall the battles both good and bad for both sides. It was a great misfortune that the Turians launched the subjugation attack while the gathering was occurring and interrupted their meal. This idea begins with the first contact war and then moves onwards in time.

Again everything I know is from fanfics and browsing the wiki, so feel free to flip into these two ideas and pick them apart
 
Red Shirt said:
My second idea is a Mass Effect × Kantai Collection crossover in a scenario where peace has been achieved between Humans, the Abyssals and the Shipgirls. In the year 2157, the Planet Shanxi was chosen to host the annual gathering in which the shipgirl and abyssal forces of war gather to recall the battles both good and bad for both sides. It was a great misfortune that the Turians launched the subjugation attack while the gathering was occurring and interrupted their meal. This idea begins with the first contact war and then moves onwards in
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BOOOOOOOOOOORING.

Like, try something better than that.
 
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