Animentary Ketsudan / Decision - final batch + TL notes
Table of Contents
Episode 1 - Surprise attack on Pearl Harbor
Episodes 2-3 - Battle of Midway
Episode 4 - Blitzkrieg on Malay Peninsula
Episode 5 - The Fall of Singapore
Episode 6 - The Fall of Hong Kong
Episode 7 - High Seas Naval Battle for Malaya
Episode 8 - Battle of the Coral Sea
Episode 10 - The Navy Paratrooper Corps
Episode 11 - The Fall of Bataan and Corregidor
Episode 13 - First Battle of the Solomon Islands
Episode 14 - Kato's Falcon Squadron
Episode 16 - Evacuation of Kiska
Episode 17 - Birth of Kamikaze Corps
Episode 18 - Operation Vengeance
Episode 19 - Battle of Tassafaronga
Episode 20 - Battle of the Philippine Sea
Episodes 21-22 - Battle of Leyte Gulf
Episode 23 - Battle of Iwo Jima
Episode 24 - The End of the Combined Fleet
Episode 25 - The Final Decision
Episode 26 - Manager Kawakami's decision
Preface
Nobody asked for this, yet here it is. We here at Sorcery Party have been eyeing this series for the longest time ever. My personal forays into it date as far back as 2019. So finally, last year some gonzo guy named History Asian “subbed” it and uploaded on youtube. Now, you'd probably think "so much for a poignant write-up," but as the saying goes, I am going to make a long speech today; I haven’t had time to prepare a short one.
As my investigation progressed, this lad had proven himself not just an Asian and a History, but also just as shell-shocked and divine-winded as you'd expect a guy named “History Asian” to be.
Soon after he finished his release, things went really south, as he only did it in piss yellow hardsubs and never shared the softsubs, nor responded to our leaflets or others' attempts at contacting him, and he probably hides in the Filipino jungle to this day. In the meantime, his "translation" gained some traction, bringing to light all the more reasons why, despite being technically subbed, it was yet too soon to consider this series no longer my concern. Therefore I buckled up, brought out of the closet my grandpa's WW2 funny-looking grey trenchcoat, prepared for the worst and delved in.
Two months after HA never read my plea for sharing softs, I figured it's going to be an OCR-powered journey. The task has been carried out bravely by the Third Imperial OCRing Fleet commander, Tesseradmiral wispers. His selfless devotion to this project has been remarkable. Even while everyone was telling him those subtitles are next to worthless, he kept putting more effort into OCRing them, than the HA had probably put into making them in the first place. Why didn't I OCR it myself? Well, I had the indiscretion of asking for advice on doing it right in a public chat at Inka's, provoking mr. wispers to volunteer for it. Or should I rather say he took it as a personal challenge, after finding out the vids HA put up on youtube were a 480p DVDrips, uploaded in 1080p with his watermark occupying half of the screen, paired with pillarboxing on the sides, and subtitles themselves all starting with a ">" and being rarely comprised by less than 3 lines, said by different people, also displayed even on top of said pillars? The very concept sounds tantalazing enough already, ngl.
Once the supply of subs was delivered, it also spent 3 months in my closet because in the meantime, I got myself busy with Taruruuto and the only other person who cares for Animentary Ketsudan - with Haikara-san. When wispers finally poked me about the fate of his work, I got around to looking into it, because I have long ago lost the ability to be productive towards my projects without someone cracking their whip at me.
Do I tell you often that working on a particular sub had taken away the remnants of my sanity? Well, apparently, I do. Thus, I was sure I had none left in me, or else why would I pick up a series like that. Actually, the most based, the chaddest, the manliest, most racist nordic gamer series that gave me sixpack abs just from translating one episode of it. Well, my discoveries were...
History Asian does, forsooth, speak Japan, to some extent and to my shame.
History Asian does not, alas, speak any England whatsoever, all of his subs are the simplest in production google machine translations, without a bit of attention for the output. But at least, I can sometimes reverse-engineer his lines back to Japan and deduce the exact words.
Also, nothing wrong with watching the episodes in production order, but if you wanted more immersion, here’s the alternative order that respects the chronology of depicted events:
As for the series itself…
Episode 1 - Surprise attack on Pearl Harbor
Our judgement has been correct on account of this series deserving attention and a good translation. Partly because we both value the rare and odd, doubly so historical, fourthly so historically accurate, educational, unique and off the beaten track. Party because we both attend the same far-right clandestine cell of the Glory of Imperial Japan adherents. And here, we see the most honorable example of an animated documentary movie that your history teacher might as well put on during the class whenever she feels like courting the PE teacher instead of attending to you. Hell, it is sometimes even more accurate than the history books. I've been watching some documentary the other day where the host said "FDR was advocating battleships over aircraft carriers" which is a whole lot of bollocks according to my sources and the first episode of this anime [Smith, Jean Edward (2007). FDR. Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6121-1].
Conversely, the 7 planes shot down by friendly fire from AA facilities over Oahu, were not the entirety of relief forces sent from Enterprise, as the anime version states it, but only a part of the group comprised by 17 SBDs.[Shepherd, Joel (2003). "USS Enterprise CV-6: The Most Decorated Ship of the Second World War"].
This is something not related to translation, but probably should have been included in the series called "Animentary: Decision," centered around how important it is for a commander to take a decisive and quick action during a crisis - "Report of Action, Sunday Morning, December 7, 1941." by "LIEUTENANT COMMANDER JOHN S. HARPER, U.S. NAVY, DAMAGE CONTROL OFFICER AND FIRST LIEUTENANT, U.S.S. West Virginia":
At this time, water commenced to pour down the trunk leading to central station and the watertight door to that trunk was closed and dogged. Certain men banged and hammered on the port door from the trunk leading to central stating that there was water filling the trunk and wanted entrance into central. In as much as we still had communication and counter-flooding seemed to be taking effect, I refused to allow my men with me to open this door and directed the men outside to try to get through Plot and around to the starboard side in order to enter through the starboard door which was not yet leaking water. At the same time, I directed repair II to attempt to open the armored hatch above the trunk in order to let these men escape. Repair II reported back that there was about three feet of water above the hatch and they were unable to open it. I believe that these men were lost, as I am quite certain no further personnel entered central through the starboard door[https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/logs/BB/bb48-Pearl.html#EnclA].
The Japanese admiral in this episode is Chuuichi Nagumo:
It should be noted that the attack at Pearl Harbor was devised by another Japanese admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto, who had effectively been setting the course for Japanese Pacific expansion. Chuichi Nagumo, however, was not sharing Yamamoto’s enthusiasm towards this operation, despite being appointed a supreme commander of Kidou Butai - the First Mobile Fleet, hence his reluctance to launch a third wave of attack. We will have a chance to get a closer acquaintance with both Nagumo and Yamamoto already in the next episode, depicting a disastrous Battle for Midway.
Episodes 2-3 - Battle of Midway
As I promised, in those two episodes we see not only Nagumo, but also the Architect of the war on the Pacific - Yamamoto Isoroku:
(Also him from episode 8: )
The chad American admiral in the episode 3 is Raymond A. Spruance:
(We won’t see him again until the Episode 24: )
Episode 4 - Blitzkrieg on Malay Peninsula
In this episode, the Japanese general playing the main role is introduced explicitly, so meet Tomoyuki Yamashita:
Sanya Harbor on the Hainan Island mentioned in this episode is located in occupied China. Other convoys taking part in the operation also set off from occupied French Indochina.
The sun rises at Yamagata - the break-up of this code, referring to the planned outbreak of the war: “sunrise part” was obviously refers to Japan itself, in the sense that its sun will soon rise over all of Asia. Yamagata is a province name, beforehand arranged to convey a set date, along with a bunch of other provinces. All this was intended to conceal the true meaning of the message from the yankees, listening to radio communications.
Arthur Percival:
Silver Ring battalions - it was a colloquial name for Japanese bicycle infantry, used by newspapers of the time. Ginrin is literally “silver ring/wheel/hoop” and it refers to the wheel of a bicycle.
Toyosaku Shimada:
8th Australian division commander Gordon Bennett…? (Questionable because the character doesn’t have a moustache and had not been explicitly introduced by name, only by rank):
In this episode, the narrator mentions Ryujo Maru, the amphibious assault ship. I don’t know what makes it so special for the Japanese to warrant that, but you can read more on it here.
Episode 5 - The Fall of Singapore
Nothing much to say about this episode, so here’s some more from my collection:
Episode 6 - The Fall of Hong Kong
While working on this episode, I stumbled upon a certain insane project on the matter, which I just couldn’t help mentioning here. This is the attention to details that our team has been striving for while working on this sub.
On this map, if you tick the “Faces of war” on the left and find “Toichi Wakabayashi” on this map (about the third name from the top, or just Ctrl+F it), you’ll see the exact location for the initial engagement that takes up a good chunk of this episode.
Lieutenant Toichi Wakabayashi himself:
This episode, unfortunately, made me realize, that although the attempt is commendable, this anime is doing a mediocre job as a documentary. It only shows one side of the conflict (often intended to present the Japanese in a slightly more positive light), often only one part of the battle (even if it’s a key one), doesn’t disclose any details, instead filling episodes with a lot of “action”, comprised by very limited animation, sometimes even showing a single animated scene multiple times per episode (to which, I can’t really complain as it means less material for translation on my part).
In their defense, though, during the original broadcast, a supplementary eponymous magazine, providing more details and historical background to the events of a corresponding episode was also printed monthly.
Why this episode, exactly? Preparing to TL it, I stumbled upon this breathtaking Canadian documentary, which is by all means how a proper documentary should be done, and it stands in no comparison to Animentary.
Major General Christopher Maltby:
Episode 7 - High Seas Naval Battle for Malaya
Sir Henry Robert Moore Brooke-Popham:
Vice Admiral Sadaichi Matsunaga (not entirely sure on this one):
Admiral Sir Tom Spencer Vaughan Phillips:
(Although he is rather more recognizable on this one frame from episode 5: )
On December 10th 1941, he chose to go down with the Prince of Wales.
Episode 8 - Battle of the Coral Sea
Vice Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue:
Rear Admirals Chūichi "King Kong" Hara and Takeo Takagi:
By the way, Hara somehow appears on Haguro in ep20, even though he was supposed to be trapped in Truk by that time. Just kidding, they probably reused the cel:
Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher:
And among those two, one could be Rear Admiral Aubrey Fitch and another - Vice Admiral Wilson Brown:
But with those three, there’s no telling for sure because as you could see, the animators haven’t been very particular in drawing low-rank characters here, especially non-Japanese. Unfortunately, none of those three has a moustache or a protruding chin, which are the only details respected by the studio and none is introduced directly. At the same time, the very supposition that the animators had every US admiral’s photo on-site in 1971 is questionable, so they may have been winging it completely. Might be entirely unrelated people too.
Having finished this episode, you might find yourself thinking “So, what was this all about? What was the point or the significance of this battle?” Well, there was seemingly none, and after all, not all battles are supposed to be pivotal or heroic. The battle of the Coral Sea was essentially one big carousel of stupidity about how two fleets were running in circles for four days straight, having lost one another in-between three pines, with losses being ultimately equal on both sides (one flattop together with some small fish) and the only result being the Japanese side cancelling Operation Mo.
And yet, there was one aspect in which the Battle of the Coral Sea was singular (if you don’t count “the first ever carrier-on-carrier battle"): up until this point, all Japan-US naval engagements of this war were landslide victories for the IJN. This was the first one in which Americans stood their ground and the Japanese onslaught was stopped.
Episode 9 - The Fall of Java
Lieutenant General Hitoshi Imamura:
Lieutenant General Hein ter Poorten:
Major General Hervey Degge Wilmot Sitwell (not entirely sure on that one - very little info about him on the web and no photos close to the time of the war):
Among the 4 gentlemen below,
The second from the left is obviously ter Poorten again, but the rest are: Major General Pesman , Governor-General Jonkheer Alidius Warmoldus Lambertus Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer (aka the potato man from HOI4): , and finally, Major General Rudolph Bakkers: . I’ll let you decide for yourself which one is which. Huge shoutout to DefraggedHistory for help with defragging this last one’s identity.
A little contribution from our editor Paul to these TL notes: the Dutch are shooting a madsen without a magazine -
Episode 10 - The Navy Paratrooper Corps
Vice Admiral Nishizo Tsukahara:
This episode features a song, considered an anthem of Japanese Paratroopers’ Corps. Paul somehow knew I’d be too lazy to translate it myself, so he borrowed the translation from The Divine Soldiers of The Sky/Sora no shinpei(空の神兵)[+English translation]
At the same time, this episode was the first one resembling your usual anime episode - with a semblance of a plot, consecutive storyline, and life-like dialogues. But that also means the story was made up and that’s why I didn’t even try to find the prototypes for numerous new characters introduced here like I usually do.
Moreover, the narrator in this episode mentions some place that was supposedly attacked at the same time as Timor - “Tarpan.” We never managed to figure out for sure what that mysterious place is, so we assumed the narrator plainly misread/mispronounced the name of Kupang - the capital of the Dutch half of Timor. After all、 クーパン (Kupang) and ターパン (Tarpan) look a bit similar in writing. Funny to think nobody would have gotten a clue it’s a nonexistent place if I didn’t point it out.
Episode 11 - The Fall of Bataan and Corregidor
General Hajime Sugiyama:
This one, I believe, needs no introduction:
Also in this episode, we see this prominent officer from MacArthur’s office. One could surmise that he’s MacArthur’s Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Richard Kerens Sutherland (on the right), but I never found any photo of him wearing glasses, so I won’t be making such a claim.
Lieutenant General Homma Masaharu:
Episode 12 - Submarine I-168
Lieutenant Commander Yahachi Tanabe:
Iainuki - there has to be a better word in English to convey what he wanted to say, but I couldn’t find it. Technical definition of iainuki is the art of drawing one's sword in an instant, cutting, and then sheathing, all while sitting. But if you’ve a zoomer attention span, basically, ainuki is this (forgive me for bringing up a YouTube short as an example, it was truly painful for me to choose the least cringe one).
Episode 13 - First Battle of the Solomon Islands
Another impression of Frank Jack Fletcher (seen previously in ep8):
Vice Admiral Mikawa Gunichi:
In this episode, the narrator mentions a certain “Destroyer Makumaido (McMaid)” that sustained heavy damage during the battle for Guadalcanal. The only destroyer that matches the description we could find was USS Jarvis, which was later sunk in the Battle of Savo Island, therefore I decided to disregard the seemingly wrong Japanese line and wrote her in instead. You’re welcome to check the Guadalcanal naval order of battle for yourself and see if you have better luck finding this elusive USS McMaid.
Also in this episode, the narrator says “to General McArthur’s headquarters in Townsville, Australia”. McArthur’s HQ was in Brisbane, then in Port Moresby, I couldn’t find any proof of him ever being in Townsville, and accordingly, I have positively no clue where did they get this idea from.
Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher:
Episode 14 - Kato's Falcon Squadron
Major General Tateo Kato:
Episode 15 - Rabaul Air Corps
Marshal Admiral Mineichi Koga (no idea why they decided to give him a mustache):
The Sanzu River a pilot mentions in this episode is the Japanese Buddhist equivalent of the River Styx.
Episode 16 - Evacuation of Kiska
Honorable death - literally, gyokusai means “shattered like a jewel.” What made it special in this case was that before, the IJA used to only report its successes. Now, it failed for the first time, but still turned the annihilation of Attu garrison into a PR move by coining this new word and idolizing the fallen, because the word was used in the sense “honorable death for a man” as opposed to dying in your bed from natural reasons. This shocked the Japanese public greatly, because gyokusai means “dying in a banzai charge” which reflects the current desperation of the IJA and the nation as a whole and is understandably dramatic.
Rear Admiral Masatomi Kimura:
Daihatsu-class boat was the standard landing craft, used by IJN:
The iconic “Attu Island Gyokusai” painting by Fujita Tsuguharu also appears in this episode:
Lieutenant General Toichiro Mineki (as introduced by the show itself, though that doesn’t feel right):
He could also be the iconic commander from the show’s poster () but that’d be an even longer shot. And that photo is from 1945, mind you. Though there’s also a chance the photo is mislabeled as I couldn’t find any other picture of him.
Episode 17 - Birth of Kamikaze Corps
Operation Sho Part 1 - a bundle of operations “Sho Go” were introduced into the Japanese military after the fall of Saipan, when the defence perimeter had to be moved as far into the inferior as possible - to the line “Okinawa - Taiwan - Philippines - Sumatra - Java.” Part 1 designates the specific area that the plan pertains to, with “1” standing for the Philippines. You can read more on that here.
During the Russo-Japanese War, even the sacrificial ships that went to blockade Port Arthur were ordered to return.
This line probably refers to the incident where the Japanese tried to scuttle five old transport vessels to block the entry to Port Arthur, sealing the Russian fleet inside. More on that here.
In this episode, the show (unfortunately) recognizes the existence of women for the second time. I believe, we are due to take a note of such a memorable event, so here she is, Watanabe Mariko (I couldn’t find any real life photos of her🙁) and their daughter Motoko:
As well as her husband, Lieutenant Yukio Seki:
A fellow kamikaze Lieutenant Kofu Kuno:
Vice Admiral Takijiro Onishi:
Full version of the song, “performed” by aviators in this episode. This time, the translation is my own, as the one in the video is trash.
Yokaren, mentioned in said song, is a Japanese abbreviation for “Naval Aviator Preparatory Course Trainee.”
Next, one of these two officers is supposed to be Colonel Rikihei Inoguchi, and the other one could be Colonel Asaichi Tamai:
Wing Commander Tadashi Nakajima:
come to Yasukuni Shrine - this particular shrine in the Kudan district of Tokyo was chosen by the Japanese propaganda of the time as the place where the spirits of the killed Kamikaze were believed to gather, so the phrase “meet me at Kudan” became common between pilots and in folklore. More on it here. By the way, Seki’s monologue in his plane cockpit is an excerpt from his last will to his family. Full version here.
Onishi’s monologue in the end of the episode is also an excerpt from his suicide note. Full version here.
Episode 18 - Operation Vengeance
The man, the legend, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto himself:
Capt. Thomas H Dyer:
And this gotta be Commander Joseph Rochefort:
Captain Joseph Finnegan:
Rear Admiral Edwin T. Layton (safe to assume they didn’t have his photo):
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz:
Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki:
FDR and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox:
Members of the 347th Fighter Group, Major John W. Mitchell on the left and the rest are probably Rex T. Barber and Thomas George Lanphier Jr.:
As introduced by the subtitles (I haven’t got any photos of Fukuzaki, so here’s Takada, probably?):
Episode 19 - Battle of Tassafaronga (known as “Night Battle off Lunga” in Japanese)
Rear Admiral Raizō Tanaka:
Rear Admiral Carleton Herbert Wright, the undisputed “hero” of the Battle of Tassafaronga:
Captain Masami Ogura, who went down with his vanguard ship Takanami, the only one that’s been sunk on the Japanese side in this battle:
Just like the Gyokusai on Attu, this battle has been immortalised in painting by Yoshio Shimizu:
The song the wounded soldier is humming in this episode is the XVI century poem “13th night of December” by Chinese general Uesugi Kenshin. Full version here.
Episode 20 - Battle of the Philippine Sea
In this episode, they mention Omori, the 3rd Air Fleet commander. This was supposed to be Sueo Obayashi, but they misread 林 for 森.
Full version of the “Flower Girl of Shanghai” / Changhai Hanauri no Musume song that sailors yell in this episode along with several different performances of it.
Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher (safe to assume they didn’t have his photo or even knew his age; moreover, it was unthinkable at the time for a senior surface ship officer to wear any facial hair):
(We’ll meet him again in #24: )
Surprisingly, this is the first appearance of Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa in the series:
The Magic Fuse Shell that the narrator mentions in this episode is none other than proximity fuse, a truly fascinating piece of technology.
Naniwabushi record - here’s more on it. Also an example of naniwabushi performed by Hirosawa Torazo, whom they mention by name.
Episodes 21-22 - Battle of Leyte Gulf
I’ll have you know the article for this battle is the 88th longest in all of Japanese wikipedia. My browser would literally freeze whenever I parsed it for obscure info.
Vice Admiral Inoguchi Toshihira, Captain of Musashi:
4 and 2 make up the word for burial robe - pretty liberal translation. This whole repainting sequence refers to a popular myth: because shi (word for 4, as captain Inoguchi was the 4th one to occupy this office) and ni (word for 2, as the XO was the second one in this position) make up the word shini (death), and because Musashi was often repainted at the time for better protection against fire, the crew used to joke that the new coating is actually her burial clothes (shinishouzoku). More on it here and here.
Admiral William "Bull" Halsey Jr.:
As the saying goes, in the Ganryujima duel, Kojiro was the one attacking against the sun - full story here. Briefly: in 1612 (year 17 of Keicho era), Miyamoto Musashi dueled another swordsman Sasaki Kojiro at a small Island of Ganryūjima. You can probably guess who won this one, considering you never heard of that guy Kojiro. The caveat is that this duel is covered by such an impenetrable shroud of differing accounts, anecdotes, and speculations both from Musashi’s disciples and his adversaries, that making heads or tails of it became completely impossible (even to this day, this is actually the one most famous of Musashi’s duels).
For example: Kojiro cut Musashi’s headband and his trousers, but Musashi himself left the duel unharmed. The small issue is that Kojiro was wielding a long-ass nodashi sword, against Musashi’s normal-sized wooden sword he carved on the way from an oar.
Long story short, I can by no means confirm or refute this statement. But well, that wouldn’t be even the first myth of this episode. The reason the captain brought it up was because this time the American naval bombers from Taffy 38 were attacking Musashi from the east, with the sun behind their backs (pure Sun Tzu for you). By the way, the namesake of Musashi was the eponymous province, nothing to do with the samurai one.
Vice-Captain Executive Officer Kenkichi Kato:
At this point into the series, I discovered that somebody already compiled and accounted for all the characters in it. Here’s a more professional look at this document, if you’d like to know more, for whatever reason.
Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita:
Rear Admiral Clifton Albert Frederick "Ziggy" Sprague:
Hits were also scored on the other 4 ships of Taffy 3, who were trying to set up a smoke screen as best they can.
This is where the show becomes rather dubious as a documentary. I tried my best looking for a way I could’ve misinterpreted this line, but I couldn’t find any explanations than faulty original writing: in this battle, not 4 but 7 ships of Taffy 3 weren’t mentioned previously, plus destroyers Raymond, John C. Butler, and Dennis were completely unharmed. And then the narrator never even bothered to mention aircraft carrier St. Lo, which was stragiht-up sunk.
Rear Admiral Robert “Mick” Bostwick Carney (again, some moustache out of nowhere):
Matome Ugaki again:
Episode 23 - Battle of Iwo Jima
March of the Beloved Horse, featured in this episode: March of the Beloved Horse/Aiba shingun ka(愛馬進軍歌)[+English translation](there are several versions with different deliveries, but I like this one).
Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi:
Rear Admiral Ichimaru Toshinosuke:
Major “Baron” Nishi Takeichi, the Olympic gold medalist equestrian:
like in the scattering cherry blossoms analogy - refers to the Japanese saying that was used in episode 17: romanticizing the “Death before surrended” mindset, the soldiers killed in kamikaze attacks/gyokusai/etc were compared to the sakura petals, scattered by the wind.
Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal:
Episode 24 - The End of the Combined Fleet
Garrison commander Lieutenant General Ushijima:
Rear Admiral Yuji Yamamoto:
Vice Admiral Seiichi Ito:
Togakushi soba - a variety of noodles in Japan.
Vice Admiral Arthur C. Davis:
Tokyo Rose - a collective name, given by the US troops to the female hosts of the Japanese propaganda broadcasts. More on it here.
… light carrier San Jacinto … heavily damaged. … light cruiser Burnett … damaged by friendly fire. - now, this is where the show gets a little off track again: San Jacinto was never damaged, though she narrowly dodged a kamikaze attack.
“light cruiser Burnett” though is pure fiction. I couldn’t find any such ship of this or similar name anywhere in the history, in any nation’s Navy. Otherwise, though, this had surprisingly been a very high quality episode, faithful to the history.
Commodore Arleigh “31-knot” Burke:
He also has one of the most interesting nickname origins I’ve ever seen:
"During World War Two, Burke mistakenly led his destroyer squadron into a Japanese minefield. Admiral Halsey radioed to ask what he was doing in a Japanese minefield. ‘Thirty-one knots,’ replied Burke”.
Great White Fleet expedition - more on it here. Spruance served on USS Minnesota, that took part in it.
Episode 25 - The Final Decision
Colonel Oyadomari Chosei:
Head of the intelligence bureau Hiroshi Shimomura:
Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo (probably the one most recognizable Japanese character in the entire show, kinda reminds me of Toda Josei, the character from another documentary show I’m subbing that starts exactly where animentary ends):
Minister of war, General Korechika Anami:
The US intelligence department chief Colonel Harry Cunningham - another character, seemingly pulled up someone’s arse. I couldn’t find a single trace of any relevant person by such name.
Prime minister Kantaro Suzuki:
Major Koga Hidemasa (probably?):
Episode 26 - Manager Kawakami's decision
Well, since this phantom episode doesn’t exist on any home media and barely even exists in any form at all, how about I tell you some more of the “fascinating” trivia about the show that I found on that nuts fansite?
For a variety of unknown reasons, collectively referred to with an umbrella term of “production issues,” episode 26 is an entirely irrelevant interview with Tetsuji Kawakami, the manager of the Yomiuri Giants of the Central League of professional baseball. It has nothing to do with the war, has no animation whatsoever and was apparenly shoehorned into the show under the pretext of his manager’s position also warranting a lot of decision-making.
Be mindful, though, this is just a hearsay - a retelling of someone else’s account, who also probably heard it from someone else.At the time of the original airing, for half a year, a monthly magazine “Decision” was also printed by Kodansha. It featured articles, dedicated to upcoming episodes, expanding on the historical details, providing references and background.
Soon after the original airing was finished, selected episodes of the anime were recompiled into audio dramas and released as vinyl records.
The show’s hallmark opening narrative is parodied in a 2017 anime Action Heroine Cheer Fruits, preview of episode 9.
Here’s a map, explaining where each episode takes place:
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