There are a lot of strange anime out there with equally weird concepts, namely when it comes to the "subgenre" of "cute girls doing cute things." This permutation of the moe phenomenon has seen rarely normal young girls cast in extraordinary situations, with the best example of this being Kantai Collection. Starting out as a free web game, the franchise starring anthropomorphic battleships has spawned manga, novels and of course, anime.

The recipe to the series' success lies in both the game's nature and the fandom, the latter of whom have catapulted KanColle into the stratosphere of popularity. With a new season of the anime finally coming out this year, now's the best time to sail the high seas and figure out why cute warships are all the rage.

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What Is Kantai Collection?

kantai-collection-game

Developed by Kadokawa Games and published by DMM.com, Kantai Collection began as a free-to-play online game where players would battle against each other in naval combat. The difference between this and similar maritime games, however, was that the ships in KanColle -- all of which were based on WW2 vessels -- were rendered as cute and attractive young ladies. Their personalities would be based around the supposed demeanor of the real-world ships, and each lady could be customized with all manner of armaments.

With the game's success, it only made sense to expand on the franchise's popularity to uncharted waters. The first such adaptation was KanColle 4 cell comic: Fubuki, I will do my best!, an online 4koma gag series. Numerous other manga would later come out, along with light novels, audio CDs, a game on the PlayStation Vita and an arcade tie-in. There would also be fan-made works in the form of doujinshi, with this level of fan interaction and the series' premise seeing many compare it to indie shoot 'em up Touhou Project. KanColle's popularity has also rivaled franchises such as Idolmaster and the various Vocaloid singers. The reason for this, especially with the anime, is fairly clear.

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Kantai Collection's Popularity Stems from a Love of History and Cute Girls

Kantai Collection

Though it's in many ways revisionist to what actually happened, the historical World War II aspect of Kantai Collection is likely a huge draw for many. Being able to engage in battle with WW2 battleships, however exaggerated, would definitely attract history buff otaku to the original game. Likewise, the fact that the ships are represented by attractive girls would bring in those who otherwise couldn't have cared less about history. It's essentially a female equivalent to anime such as Hetalia in that regard, with cute girls being a universal language. This is likely why, despite the game being released only in Japan, the series has attained a modicum of success in the West as well.

The Kantai Collection anime also probably helped, as the 2015 series is the most mainstream material the franchise has across the globe. This anime adaptation was very successful, which is why the huge length of time between its first and second season is baffling. To be fair, there's been a change in production hands for Season 2 with ENGI -- the studio also behind the Trapped In a Dating Sim anime -- now at the helm.

The new series begins airing in November 2022, over seven years after the first season from Diomedéa, Inc. came out. Given the franchise's continued popularity, this new season is likely to make an even bigger splash than the first, keeping the women warships in the otaku spotlight.

Kantai Collection Season 1 can be streamed through Funimation and Crunchyroll.