[Anime] Arpeggio of Blue Steel -Ars Nova-

[Toku Prime]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30GHXmIyWJk"]OP[/ame]

Due to global warming and rising sea levels in the early 21st century, much of Earth's landmass has been lost. In 2039, fleets of powerful sentient warships, armed with advanced technology and weaponry, mysteriously appear and decimate the world's naval forces. These ships, collectively called 'The Fleet of Fog', impose a worldwide naval and aerial blockade, preventing humanity from both traveling the oceans and to other nations.

In 2056, 17 years after the blockade began, Gunzō Chihaya, a former student of the Japanese National Marine Academy, is the captain of small group of privateers called 'Blue Steel'. The Blue Steel are infamous for possessing a Fog submarine that defected to the human side, the I-401, along its humanoid avatar known as Mental Models, Iona. Due to I-401's technology and Gunzō's tactical skills, the Blue Steel have not only survived several encounters with the Fleet of Fog but managed to sink one of their powerful warships.

Gunzō and his crew are hired by a faction of the Japanese government to travel to the United States, to deliver the blueprints for a powerful weapon, a weapon that may finally allow mankind to fight back against the Fog. The United States, the only country that did not suffer from the blockade, is the only country with the resources and capability to mass-produce the weapon system. However, the Blue Steel will face obstacles on their journey not only from the Fleet of Fog and their human allies, but from other governments and factions with their own agendas. Along the way they will also gain allies of their own from both sides, increasing their chances against seemingly overwhelming odds.

One of the new autumnal crop of military sci-fi anime that nobody seems to be talking about on here, despite being really rather interesting and free to view on crunchyroll.

I've just watched episode four and so far I've found it to be a really fun show. There's a major emphasis on the battles, which are more about using tactics to outwit your opponant rather than just being a 'slugging match'. The battle animation is really beautiful - the "gimmick" of the Fogg vessels is that they appear to be roughly WW2 era battleships, albeit with glowing neon markings on their flanks, but to unleash their more powerful weapons they open up and transform into different configurations. Each ship has a 'mental model,' an android that looks like a young girl and represents the AI mind of the vessel. Iona of the recon submarine I-401 has betrayed her kind (although she believes she was ordered to do so) to take on a human crew captained by Chihaya Gunzo, and their success at outwitting and destroying her fellow Fogg vessels has lead at least one of them to seek out her own human captain (complete with obvious sexual overtones of a young girl in a skimpy outfit who wants a master to give her orders :eyebrow.

Having never seen the original manga, I don't know what's in store or whether it's being a faithful adaptation or not. But it's been a lot of fun and I'd recommend that anybody who likes military sci-fi should check out an episode or two. Is anybody else watching this series?