Azur Lane 08
アズールレーン episode 08

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Edinburgh tends to weary Royal ship-girls while Queen Elizabeth holds court with Prince of Wales, Warespite, Hood, and London discuss the recent fight and its affect on Earth. Their Union allies also discuss the change in climate and spacial rips from whatever the Sirens and Enterprise did. Elsewhere, Javelin and Laffey are trying to find their way back to Azur Lane when they have an aborted encounter with Ayanami. Eventually, they are found by Belfast.

Meanwhile, Enterprise finds herself at a Sakura tree, talking with Amagi. Over with the Sakura fleet, Kaga comes to. The Sakura fleet is as shaken as the Azur Lane one. They want to try to find Akagi. However, none of their Siren ships are working. Further, Shoukaku questions why they haven’t been told more about the workings of the Siren tech. Elsewhere, Belfast encourages Javelin and Laffey to continue pondering the matter with Ayanami. They are cheered and volunteer to help find Enterprise.

Back with the Sakura, Souryuu takes command and over Kaga’s objections, orders a retreat out of the area. However, Azur Lane decides to finish the Sakura due to the dangers of Siren tech. As such, Zuikaku and Shoukaku volunteer to cover the Sakura’s retreat. Azur Lane engages them as they are observed by the Sirens Tester and Observer, who have Akagi. Meanwhile, Zuikaku and Shoukaku elude Azur lane, only to stumble onto Enterprise. Her fighters bomb the Sakura carriers and Siren ships.

The possessed Enterprise is about to go for a finishing blow on Zuikaku and Shoukaku, when Ayanami saves them. However, a spacial rift opens. Enterprise snaps out of it, but collapses. Belfast permits Javelin and Laffey to save Ayanami. Ayanami thanks them for this.

Thoughts/Review

I’m a bit behind, but Azur Lane 08 was certainly worth the wait. And apparently no one has died…yet.

Battle Aftermath

Once again, I like how this series follows up on the consequences of earlier actions. For Azur Lane 08, that was looking at the massive impact that Akagi’s and Enterprise’s actions had on Earth. There were spacial rips opening in the sky, and snow is falling in addition to the oceans freezing up. As such, the area had become very dangerous.

I also appreciate how the battle negatively impacted both side. On the Azur Lane side, we got to see exhausted and worried ship-girls. The Eagle Union ship-girls seem more disorganized than the Royal Navy ship-girls. Nevertheless, they are all shaken, and for Hornet, it is personal since Enterprise is her sister.

That said, the Sakura were no less shaken for the encounter. They’ve lost their fleet commander, Akagi. Kaga is not in good shape. And none of their Siren-tech ships work. I liked how Souryuu made the hard decision to retreat. And I also liked how Shoukaku volunteered to assist Zuikaku to help cover that retreat, even though she does not like the secrets Akagi and Kaga kept from the rest of them.

More Sirens

We were introduced to our second named Siren in Azur Lane 08. This time, the Siren’s name is Tester. Considering how the other named Siren is Observer, these Siren’s seem to have very specific purposes. Indeed, the previous battle appears to have been set up by the Sirens as a test for them to observe.

So, what purpose do the Sirens have for Akagi? They rescued her for some reason. Further, what data are they collecting from Enterprise via the Mental Cube? How does this help their Project Orochi? And yeah, I think this project is a Siren one, not a Sakura one that’s aided by the Sirens. I think the Sirens are just using the Sakura.

Ship-girl List

Here’s my list of ship-girls from Azur Lane 08. (Let me know in the comments if I missed anyone. There were an insane number this time.)

• Eagle Union: carriers Enterprise, Hornet, Yorktown; light cruisers Cleveland, Columbia, Montpelier, Helena, San Diego; destroyers Laffey, Hammann.
• Royal Navy: battleships Queen Elizabeth, Prince of Wales, Warspite; battlecruiser Hood; heavy cruisers York, Exeter, Shropshire, London;  light cruisers Edinburgh, Belfast, Leander, Achilles; destroyer Javelin.
• Sakura Empire: carriers Akagi, Kaga, Zuikaku, Shoukaku, Souryuu, Hiryuu; battleships Yamashiro, Fusou, Ise, Hyuuga; battlecruiser Amagi; heavy cruisers Takao, Atago, Kako; light cruisers Nagara, Isuzu, Abukuma; destroyers Ayanami, Yukikaze, Shigure, Yuudachi, Kagerou, Shiratsuyu, Inazuma, Ikazuchi, Akatsuki, Fubuki.
• Iron Blood: None.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Let me wrap up my review of Azur Lane 08 with some bullet point thoughts.

• Where is this place where Amagi is at? Why did Enterprise see her face clearly when Akagi could not in the previous episode?
• I suspect the kids in the kitsune masks where Amagi and Enterprise chatted were representations of Akagi and Kaga.
• Now that Javelin and Laffey saved Ayanami, what does this mean for the Sakura destroyer? Does she stay with Azur Lane?
• Further, since Zuikaku and Shoukaku appear to have witnessed this, what happens to them?
• Finally, do Azur Lane grab Enterprise and try to find out more about what’s going on?

In the end, Azur Lane 08 ended up being very enjoyable. I think the artwork wasn’t as good at times, but that was only a minor issue.