[Klashikari]

Welcome to the Master FAQ thread for the anime series Kantai Collection -KanColle-.

Thanks to its huge popularity in Japan, many western anime fans are curious about the franchise but due to how the game isn't easily accessible for a foreigner, a lot of questions have arised over time.

Here is an FAQ and kanmusu lists for your convenience.

1) What's exactly Kancolle?
Kantai Collection -KanColle- is a browser game involving moe anthropomorphic version of naval warships from the Pacific War, called Kanmusu (literally Fleet girls / Ship girls). The player takes the role of the admiral who is responsible of the fleet management. Several tasks are performed like forming fleets, sending kanmusu to sorties/expeditions, tuning them with equipement and modernization etc.
While there isn't any specific plot whatsoever, players have to fight against a mysterious enemy known as the Abyssal Fleet. The game is split in worlds that contain several maps, and the goal is to clear the maps by deploying Kanmusu there. Pretty much like the concept of the Kanmusu, some maps (moreso in events) are also references to naval battles of the Pacific war.

As the admiral, the player has very little control over the combat system, as fights are dictated by your ships type/stats and RNG. However, the player contribution is quite important prior sortie since they can make critical decision such as choosing certain Kanmusu type for the sortie fleet, as well as equipping their fleet with the appropriate armaments or modernizing them. This is why the game is often described as a "management game" instead of a "tactical game".

The game is online since 23rd April 2013 and recently reached the 3M users cap.
Currently, the game has an oustandingly large cast: 167 unique characters as of 11/18.
They are designed by 21 different artists, and voiced by 34 seiyuu.

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2) Why is it so damn popular anyway?
There are a lot of factors to consider. While I'm certain a lot of people caught wind of it because of Shimakaze's design popping everywhere, especially during cosplay events in Japan, it is more complex than that:

Spoiler for Non exhaustive list of the factors contributing to the popularity of the franchise:

-Not difficult to play
While its interface isn't completely user friendly, the game has no complex gameplay whatsoever. The tutorial itself doesn't last more than 10 minutes, and there isn't any intricate input required either.

-Time investment
KanColle is a browser game, not a mobage. As such, it doesn't use any stamina system that would force players to play in order not to waste stamina points. Depending how the player is invested in the game, they can either play several hours per day or only a short period once per week. Due to its lack of immediate need of player input, it is possible to do other things while doing usual quests and other actions with little to no consequence, assuming the player knows what they are doing of course.
The game system doesn't punish players who play very casually, and there isn't any core element that would force players to play more. Even the events are set on long periods so players can take it easy.
And speaking of the events, it is still possible to get the "event exclusive Kanmusu" later on if one couldn't clear the event maps and so on.

-Absence of "pay to win"
Unlike many free to play games, KanColle hardly incite players to make microtransactions whatsoever. While there are paid items, most of them have merely a cosmetic purpose or are not really cost efficient at all.
In general, any player can get the most powerful ships without spending any real money on the game, and item purchases do not give an edge to beat certain challenges.

Of course, certain features, such as dock expansions, are often bought for convenience sake. But these do not give any advantage whatsoever.

-Characters
Even right upon its release, KanColle had a very large and unique cast, with basically no clones in term of characters. They have distinct design and personality with a potential of appeal for a very large audience.
Not only it obviously has its appeal for moe fans, but these characters do have their design, personality and quirks based on the original ships which also appeal military Otaku. In fact, a lot of jokes require history knowledge about the Pacific War in order to understand them.

-Collection
Following the characters' own quirk, the large cast contributes also a feature that is particularly well received in Japan: collection.
Like any other game about collection, some girls are rarer than others, which also give a certain lasting appeal.

-Seiyuu
As stated already, the characters are voiced by many seiyuu, and some of them are quite popular to boot: Touyama Nao, Fujita Saki, Higuchi Yuuka, Sakura Ayane, Taketatsu Ayana, Endou Aya, Horie Yui, etc...
All the girls have at least 30 unique lines for actions taken in the game, which contribute even more to their personality.

-Permanent Death
In KanColle, everything isn't bright and sunny. After all, Kanmusu are fighting against ruthless and unknown enemies who are also using lethal armaments.
Under certain circumstances, it is possible for a Kanmusu's HP to drop to 0, and therefore sink. This mechanic is pretty much a permanent death similar to Fire Emblem series: once a Kanmusu is lost, she cannot be revived at all.
While the triggers for such occurence are known and some counter-measures exist, the risk is real and falls directly under the responsability of the player, as sinking a Kanmusu is not dependant of RNG at all.
Of course, it is possible for players to drop/craft the fallen kanmusu (assuming she is available with such means), but they would have to start from scratch as the new kanmusu is merely a "fresh copy". This means they have to grind her back from lvl1 and re-equip them.

This mechanic naturally make players care about their Kanmusu, even moreso in combination with their personality and rarity.

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3) Isn't that an Apologia dedicated to Japan imperialism and the likes?
Far from it. The developpers of KanColle are known for being interested in the ships alone.
This is quite evident as the game gives a lot of details regarding the ships, but battles are never portrayed as a "fun thing to do" nor there is any mention of "nippon banzai" and the likes.
Also, the vast majority of the Kanmusu do not enjoy war at all, and the "Great Empire of Japan" is never mentioned. Even "Japan" is only mentioned once as a mere country, and there is arguably no glorification of the country nor any antagonization for the Allies, who are actually present as allied ships just like the Japanese ships. In fact, more often than not, the game pokes fun at the weird tactical/ship design decisions done by the Japanese.
The game doesn't have any peculiar political message behind its conception and presentation, and it quite obvious since it only refers to history from a trivia and technical perspective.

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4) Do I need to play the game to understand the anime?
No, but many points might fly over your head since the adaptation is not destined for complete newcomers. You can still understand the overall plot if you have watched series like Arpeggio of the Blue Steel - Ars Nova, but bear in mind it is quite different, so don't expect it to be a "moe carbon copy". I'm referring to Arpeggio as a series with some shared features, nothing more.
Knowledge of the Pacific War sure helps to understand some quirks of certain characters.

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5) What is the anime about then?
Simply put, it follows Fubuki, a destroyer who recently got transferred to the naval base. The story focus on her everyday life as a kanmusu, which isn't completely peaceful as an unknown enemy is threatening the seas. As Fubuki is learning and practising in order to become a reliable ship that can protect everyone, she will have to take part of battles against the Abyssals with other kanmusu.
The series is intended to balance the Slife of Life and the fights, which were confirmed to be set as the following ratio: 70% SoL and 30% fights, the latter being more numerous over time, particularly at the latter part of the series.

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6) Isn't that simply Strike Witches and/or Girls und Panzer but with ships?
Yes and no. It indeed does involve girls in a military environment with a much less gritty presentation than their respective source.
However, please bear in mind that unlike SW and GuP, the characters ARE the ships (and not girls piloting/equipping the said ships parts), which means that their design, personality, quirks etc are roughly inspired by the original ship (i.e Kongou speaks gratuitious Engrish because she was built in England).

This also means that the series delivers some jokes that either require game knowledge or history knowledge about the Pacific War. This point is the main reason why the anime is a bit hard to grasp, since the presentation and execution are based on the aforementioned knowledge, which makes immediate understanding a bit harder than SW and GuP, as the latter deliver their overarching plot without direct references to the planes/tanks.
I recommend watching at least the first three episodes as many events and interactions will shed light to the obvious similarities and stark differences between KanColle and SW/GuP.

Please note the overarching plot of the anime is plainly explained with the narration at the start of episode 1. There is nothing more to add considering the franchise context, so it is mainly a matter of whether you appreciate the characters or not.

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7) Destroyers, Light Cruisers, etc... I don't have much warships knowledge. Any quick description for them?
Here is a quick description for the different ship types present in the anime from history and game context. I've added their naval classification just in case.

Spoiler for Ship type descriptions:

*Destroyers (DD): these are small warships that boast high maneuverability while being not resource heavy. They were used as escort for larger vessels or convoy, serving as first line of defense. Because of this, they are the most numerous type of ships in any navy, and this is also why most characters in Kancolle are Destroyers.

Game wise, Destroyers are pretty much like their real life counterpart, being mostly not too expensive to deploy or repair. They are fragile, but it is compensated by their high evasion and the cheap repairs. Also, while they don't boast high firepower, they become extremely effective at night. They are also used for route requirements.



*Light Cruisers (CL): these are small to medium warships which are often used for scouting, raiding or escort. They are bigger than destroyers and thus, their range of actions is a bit larger, being able to make more independant actions. Due to this, they were often the flagship of a fleet for the IJN, especially for torpedo squadrons.

Game wise, Light Cruisers are more or less "bigger destroyers" with every stat being higher, although they have less evasion and are a bit more expensive to supply and repair. Similarly to destroyers, they shine during night battles.



*Torpedo Cruisers (CLT): these vessels are "advanced" forms of Light Cruisers, mainly armed with torpedoes, more accurately the mighty Long Lance oxygen torpedoes that were engineered only by the IJN. Their power and very long range were intended to be used during night battles to catch the enemy ships offguard.
Every Kuma-class Light Cruiser was supposed to be remodeled: Kitakami and Ooi were converted to Torpedo cruisers and while there were preparations to do the same for the remaining Kuma-class (Kuma, Tama and Kiso), the plan was aborted because the war shifted to aircrafts domination at that time, making this strategy ineffective. Soon after, Kitakami and Ooi were reconverted to transport ships.

Game wise, Torpedo Cruisers are very effective as they are able to equip Type A Ko-hyoteki, a minisubmarine that allows them to launch a pre-emptive torpedo which occurs right after air strike but before the first shelling phase. This feature allows them to sink or critically damage an enemy ship before any non carrier ships can attack, reducing the number of threats in a very efficient way. Since they still have Light Cruisers stats (albeit with much stronger torpedo stats but punny AA stats as a drawback), they are cost effective snipers, capable of sinking or critically damaging enemy ships, even Battleships. However, they are also very fragile and even more weak to enemy aircraft attacks than the other light cruisers.



*Heavy Cruisers (CA): these are medium warships that are focused on long range attacks while maintaining high speeds. The difference between Heavy and Light cruisers is mostly their gun caliber according to the the Washington Treaty. That said, while Heavy cruisers are sort of "better armed", Light Cruisers were much more beneficial due to being easier to maintain.

Game wise, Heavy Cruisers are much stronger than Destroyers and Light Cruisers, capable of dealing decent to great damage against medium/armored units. While Destroyers and Light Cruisers can only equip 3 equipments (save 2 exceptions), Heavy Cruisers can equip 4 of them which dramatically change their damage output depending of the equipment set. Also, they are pretty resilient with a much higher HP and armor value compared to smaller ships. Of course, their supply requirements and repairs bills are much more steep than the former two ship types, and they cannot attack submarines. Similarly to destroyers and light cruisers, Heavy Cruisers potential is even more notable at night.
Note that there is a variant of this type, Aviation Heavy Cruiser (CAV) who are a bit less powerful and less resilient, but gain the ability to launch bomber seaplanes, making them able to assist in initial air strike and attack submarines to a certain extent.



*Battleships (BB): these are large warships that are considered to be the most powerful vessels due to their battery consisting of high caliber heavy cannons. Although they often served as symbol of power, they quickly lose their prominence to aircraft carriers due to the importance of air superiority during the war. Also, even though they were powerful capital ships, they became more and more vulnerable to much cheaper weapons like torpedoes and mines, which shifted nations strategy during the Pacific War.

Game wise, they are the most powerful kanmusu, dealing major damage to any surface warships while sustaining punishment from most Abyssals. Conversively, they are pretty gluttonous in term of resources for both supplies and repairs. They also have a special feature: if there is at least 1 battleship in battle (be it a Kanmusu or an Abyssal), there will be 2 shelling phases instead of one.
While they have an impressive firepower, they don't have any major power boost at night unlike the other 3 ship types.
Note that there is a variant of this type, Aviation Battleship (BBV) who are a bit less powerful and less resilient, but gain the ability to launch bomber seaplanes, making them able to assist in initial air strike and attack submarines to a certain extent.



*Aircraft Carriers (CV and CVL): these are medium to large warships which served as sailing airbase. They all have a flight deck and facilities in order to arm, resupply, desploy and recover aircrafts. These became the primary capital ships during the Pacific War as air supremacy dictated the tides of battle. As they were very expensive to build, they had to be protected at all cost. This also explains why the Battle of Midway is the most disastrous battle for the IJN as losing Akagi, Kaga, Hiryuu and Souryuu completely destroyed their chances to even regain the air superiority during the war.

Game wise, Aircraft Carriers are very important to seize air superiority/supremacy which gives multiple benefits such as allowing Cruisers and Battleships to trigger special attacks, dealing more damage while limiting damage from enemy aircrafts. They also have an additional attack compared to other ships, which is the initial airstrike right at the start of the battle, before the pre-emptive torpedo phase and the shelling phase. However, not only they are quite expensive to deploy and repair, they also have shortcomings in battle: their accuracy during regular shelling phases is a bit iffy, and they cannot attack if they are half damaged or if the battle occurs at night.
There are 2 type of carriers: standard (CV) and light (CVL). The latter is, as its name suggests, less expensive to maintain but is more fragile and less powerful. However, unlike the standard carriers, light carriers can attack submarines.

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8) Is it me or some characters sound a bit the same?
From the very beginning, the game developpers have assigned a seiyuu not just for a character but for a specific class (for instance, Kongou, Hiei, Haruna and Kirishima are all voiced by Touyama Nao). This makes sense, since ships of the same class are often considered as siblings as they are sister ships. Note that this rule isn't always true and that many kanmusu of a given class do not share the same seiyuu.
That said, even with that setup, there are still too many characters, so certain seiyuu were asked to do several kanmusu classes altogether (taking the aforementioned example, Touyama Nao voiced the Kongou Sisters, but also the Takao Sisters, some ships among the Ayanami-class etc).

Since the characters got their popularity due to their design, personality but also voice, the anime staff kept the original seiyuu cast.