Azur Lane Episode 1: Learning from your predecessors

Without a doubt, Azur Lane stands as the odd one out among the anime I’ve chosen to cover this season. Bokuben S2 and Babylonia all seek to adapt from their original material but Azur Lane is in a weird position where it’s an adaptation but it’s taking its own spin on things off the foundations laid down by the game. This is because the game’s plot hasn’t progressed since its release, apparently explained by the developers that their efforts were focused on making every server caught up with content. So while noble a reason, the game’s plot has been sitting at Chapter 3 out of 13 released chapters and the plot has so far been just a reenactment of WW2’s Pacific Theater while Events have delved into the other half of the plot involving alternate timelines and the baddies known as Sirens, who tamper with history and give hand-outs to other enemy factions to use their technology, all the while cackling in the dark about how everything is going “as planned”.