Our story takes place on a far-away, unknown blue planet where 71% of the surface is covered in water. One day, strange beings from another world known as ’Sirens’ appear. Humanity needs to rise up and fight against this threat, so they form four branches of a military known as Azur Lane:

Respect freedom: Eagle Union
Honor glory: Royal Navy
Extol Solidarity: Iron Blood
Trusting Bonds: Sakura Empire

This unification of human wisdom has given birth to the concept of ‘cube’ which is the power of iron warships that young girls are endowed with. At times brave, at times beautiful, and at times dynamic, the ability that these girls possess goes beyond military allegiances and allows them to not only put a stop to the advance of the Sirens, but it allows them to drive back the Sirens.

Then, due to a difference of opinions on what to do with the Seiren’s power, the girls split. Iron Blood and the Sakura Empire form their own union, known as the Red Axis, and break away from Azur Lane.

In order to monitor the development and movement of the Red Axis, the remaining members of Azur Lane create a base out on the vast ocean and consolidate their military power. The situation has reached a breaking point. No one knows what lies in store for these girls...

Azur Lane is pretty much a hit or miss. Just like Kantai Collection, it’s an anime created to advertise an extremely popular Japanese mobile game that features machine-girls based on famous battleships. For that reason, the plot is quite thin when compared to other action anime, but it has a more than interesting cast of beautiful and sexy girls to make up for such an average story.

This is a war between two factions that once fought together against a stronger foe, so politics here are rather complicated if you’re not well-versed in the Azur Lane lore, and 3 episodes are not enough to present all the girls and their personalities/motivations. If you enjoyed shows like KanColle and Strike Witches, Azur Lane’s gorgeous designs and softcore ecchi scenes will take your breath away. If you need something with more substance than eye candy, then do yourself a favor and go watch something else.