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High School Fleet
Episode 4

by Paul Jensen,

How would you rate episode 4 of
High School Fleet ?
Community score: 3.8

When you're out at sea, the only thing scarier than enemy battleships and submarines is, apparently, running out of toilet paper. With the Harekaze's stock of several essential supplies running low, Akeno takes a few members of the crew on a side trip to a floating shopping center. They're able to buy most of what they need, but an encounter with several Blue Mermaid officers causes the group to panic and run away. Things get equally stressful back on board the Harekaze when four ships start closing in. Tama, the ship's normally quiet artillery officer, goes completely berserk and takes a few shots at the other vessels before Wilhelmina knocks some sense into her. The other ships turn out to be on a mission to resupply the Harekaze, and their captains inform Akeno that not everyone back home believes the official story about their ship going rogue. The key to the mysterious string of incidents may lie in an odd-looking hamster that the crew found floating in a box in the middle of the ocean.

High School Fleet spends most of this episode building up its world and giving us more information about the overall plot, which will probably be a good thing in the long run. In the short term, however, the slower pace and lack of any major action makes for less exciting viewing than we've seen in previous weeks. There are some brief moments of tension when Akeno runs into the Blue Mermaids and Tama flips out on the bridge, but that's about all we get. Much of this episode feels more like a competent but unremarkable slice of life show than an action series. Even the visuals seem to relax a bit, with the animation quality dipping briefly here and there during the slower scenes. At least the ridiculous floating mall looks cool.

The more relaxed pace would be fine if the characters were able to pick up the slack, but the cast isn't quite up to the task. The crew of the Harekaze continue to be a generally likable group, but none of them are really distinct or complex enough to make much of an impression when they're not being shot at. The humor also takes a turn for the generic when the girls aren't talking shop. We get a little more character development for Mashiro in terms of her connection to the rest of her family, but most of it is just old news about the pressure she's under. This episode remains harmlessly watchable even in its slowest moments, but it lacks some of the impact that helped earlier episodes stand out.

The good news is that the script continues to show signs of good decision-making in terms of story. As the most laid-back member of the core cast, Tama is a natural choice to go all red-eyed and crazy after touching the weird hamster critter. The contrast between her normal and altered personalities is greater than it would have been with any of the other characters, so she works well in showing off the effects of the mysterious phenomenon. I'm also encouraged by the signs of cooler heads prevailing within the school in regards to the report of mutiny on the Harekaze. Instead of milking the premise for extra drama, the series is making the story more believable by having people act like reasonable human beings. High School Fleet seems to be pretty good at avoiding any potentially big mistakes as it works its way through the plot.

Considering that the show was going to have to slow down and start explaining things sooner or later, a less exciting episode like this one was probably inevitable. You can't just keep blowing stuff up forever and expect the story to go anywhere interesting. Still, moving away from its specialty of naval action scenes doesn't do High School Fleet any favors, and I can only hope that the show doesn't get too bogged down by exposition.

Rating: B-

High School Fleet is currently streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Daisuki.

Paul Jensen is a freelance writer and editor. You can follow more of his anime-related ramblings on Twitter.


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