“ELEGANCE – Perchance, Like A Human”
What They Say:
Azur Lane, a combination of all the different Camps in the world, was once successful in repelling the underwater menace, the Siren. Now splintered, they must face a new threat in Red Axis, former allies who crave to wield this otherworldly Siren technology for their own nefarious desires! Who will be victorious in the never-ending war between these battleship girls!?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Enterprise was in a tough spot at the end of the last episode. Her bow snapped in half and she was utterly defenseless. Zuikaku was about to land the finishing blow on her but she was intercepted by one of Queen Elizabeth’s maid, Light Cruiser Belfast. Prinz Eugen warns her fellow Red Axis shipgirls to not underestimate Belfast. She may look like a fool but she’s actually a legendary fighter! It seems these two have a bit of history. Prinz Eugen would love to settle their old score but she notices Queen Elizabeth’s forces consisting of Battleship Warspite, Battleship Hood, Light Cruiser Edinburgh, and Light Cruiser Sheffield closing in on them. She suggests that Red Axis should retreat for now and they do. Enterprise immediately passes out after they leave.
She awakens sometime later in a room and is told what happened by Belfast. Enterprise thanks Belfast for protecting her and quickly leaves without taking any rest. I’m starting to realize that Enterprise is quite the stubborn shipgirl. Just get some rest already! Heck, she won’t even eat breakfast when offered and instead opts to eat some ration bars. Quite stubborn indeed. Prince of Wales and Illustrious continue their conversation from last week. Prince of Wales once again praises Enterprise’s strength while Illustrious still believes that she’s a loose cannon. She also doesn’t want to see her get grounded during the upcoming battles. They decide to discuss this further with Queen Elizabeth. She doesn’t feel that this matter involves her but they convince her that Enterprise is a key component for their victory. Queen Elizabeth tasks Belfast with determining what type of ship she really is.
Belfast finds Enterprise walking around the base and tells her that Unicorn wishes to see her. Elsewhere, some of the shipgirls decide to go to the beach and have some fun. Shipgirls in their swimsuits doing cute things at the beach? I can already sense the excitement from a lot of you. Keep yourselves together! Anyways, the shipgirls are all having a good time. Well, everyone except for San Diego. She almost got eaten by a shark. She sure finds herself in a lot of unfortunate situations. Meanwhile, Enterprise’s group finds their way to the beach with the other shipgirls. Enterprise sits in the sand and watches Unicorn as she plays in the water. What did Unicorn want to talk about? She just wanted to thank Enterprise for saving her! D’awww. However, Enterprise shrugs off the praise and states that she was just simply doing her job. Come on Enterprise, read the mood a little! Unicorn looks out at the ocean and comments how beautiful it looks right now. Enterprise scoffs that everyone says the same thing. She has never felt that the ocean is beautiful. Why would she? All she does is fight on the ocean. It only reminds her of a battlefield and there is no beauty in that. Wow, tell us how you really feel! Though I must admit that I do appreciate seeing Enterprise revealing some of her true feelings. A little bit of character development is always a good thing. Unicorn then poses a question to Enterprise – is she afraid of the ocean? Enterprise doesn’t have an answer to that question. Interesting, very interesting.
Day turns to night and it starts raining. Enterprise seems to be lost in thought and Belfast brings over an umbrella for her. She then bluntly asks her how long does she plan to keep on fighting recklessly? Why does she have no regard for her own wellbeing? In Belfast’s eyes, it looks like Enterprise is actually tired of fighting. She also adds that Enterprise’s way of life is flawed and that someday she will lead herself to ruin. Dang, Belfast speaking the harsh truth! I love it. Enterprise definitely needed to hear all of that. I’m starting to become a big fan of Belfast.
A distress call is sent to the base and a few shipgirls are dispatched. Enterprise decides to join them even though she’s in no shape to fight. Did she not learn anything!? Belfast once again criticizes her recklessness. No use in arguing about it now though as they come upon the aftermath of an intense battle. Enterprise finds two young shipgirl sisters, Light Cruisers Ping Hai and Ning Hai of the Dragon Empery. They explain that they were attacked by the Sirens and that they managed to defeat them all. Well, not exactly. It seems like one is still lingering! The little sister proclaims that she’ll protect her big sister this time. This causes an image of Enterprise’s big sister to flash before her eyes. Hitting close to home, huh? Naturally, Enterprise carelessly rushes into battle and is quickly overpowered BECAUSE SHE NEVER TAKES A FREAKING REST. Luckily for her, Belfast once again saves her and soundly defeats the Siren. She remarks that she now knows what type of shipgirl Enterprise is, a softhearted one.
They rescue the two sisters and return back to the base. Belfast informs Enterprise that she has taken an interest in her. She plans to teach her how to become a proper gentlewoman. That sounds like a herculean task. A confused Enterprise can only muster out a “huh?” in response. I look forward to seeing how this is all going to unfold.
In Summary:
There was considerably less fighting in this episode than the previous two and that’s okay. I don’t mind that they slowed things down a bit here. It gave me a chance to catch my breath! What I really appreciated is that we finally got a little bit of character development. It was nice to see some of Enterprise’s true feelings revealed. Also, Belfast is the best. She tells it like it is and I respect that. I dare say that she may even be my favorite shipgirl at the moment. You heard it here first folks, Belfast is my favorite shipgirl. I regret nothing.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Funimation
