The Silent Service

The Silent Service (Japanese: 沈黙の艦隊, Hepburn: Chinmoku no Kantai) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kaiji Kawaguchi. It was published in Kodansha's Weekly Morning manga magazine from 1988 to 1996 and collected in 32 tankōbon volumes.

This article is about a Japanese manga series. For other uses, see Silent Service.
The Silent Service
Cover of the first volume
沈黙の艦隊
(Chinmoku no Kantai)
Genre
Manga
Written byKaiji Kawaguchi
Published byKodansha
MagazineWeekly Morning
DemographicSeinen
Original run1988 – 1996
Volumes32
Original video animation
Directed byRyōsuke Takahashi
Written bySōji Yoshikawa
Music byAkira Senju
StudioSunrise
Licensed by
Released December 18, 1995 – January 25, 1998
Runtime30 minutes
Episodes3

The series was adapted into an anime television special and original video animation (OVA) series by Sunrise. The special and the first OVA were later spliced together and released in North America into a single volume by Central Park Media.

The manga won the Kodansha Manga Award in the General manga category in 1990.

Plot

During the Cold War, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force jointly developed a nuclear submarine with the United States Navy. On its maiden voyage, the captain of the submarine declares the submarine to be an independent state, "Yamato". The Captain of the Yamato is a man called Kaieda and he attempts to attend a UN summit in order to be recognized as an independent nation. However, many forces such as the United States Navy and the Soviet Navy try to stop Kaieda and his crew from reaching New York.

Characters
Shiro Kaieda (海江田四郎, Kaieda Shiro)
He was captain of the diesel submarine 'Yamanami'. Later, he was selected as captain of the first Japanese nuclear submarine, 'Seabat'. During a test with the U.S. Navy, he orders his crews to fire a torpedo against the U.S. Navy submarines and sneaks away from the area. Later, Kaieda declares that his submarine is an independent state and he names his state 'Yamato'.
Hiroshi Fukamachi (深町洋, Fukamachi Hiroshi)
CO of the Japanese Diesel submarine ‘Tsunami’. Friend and rival of Kaieda. Kaieda and Fukamachi graduated from the National Defense Academy of Japan in the same year. Fukamachi was a captain candidates for the new nuclear submarine ‘Seabat’. He tries to figure out what Kaieda is up to.
Yamanaka Eiji (山中栄治, Eiji Yamanaka)
Executive Officer of the submarine 'Yamato'. He worked with Kaieda for 10 years. The two trust each other's abilities.
Utsumi (内海)
Navigation Officer of the submarine 'Yamato'.
Takuo Migoguchi (溝口拓男, Migoguchi Takuo)
Sonar Specialist of the submarine ‘Yamato'.

Media

Manga

The Silent Service is written and illustrated by Kaiji Kawaguchi. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Morning from 1988 to 1996. Kodansha compiled its individual chapters into thirty-two tankōbon volumes, published from December 15, 1989 to June 19, 1996.[4][5]

Anime

The manga was first adapted as an anime special by Sunrise, first launched on December 18, 1995 and later broadcast on TBS on March 3, 1996.[6] A two-episode original video animation (OVA) produced by Sunrise was released from September 25, 1997 to January 25, 1998.[7][8]

In North America, Central Park Media's US Manga Corps dubbed the first two episodes,[1] and released them on VHS on July 7, 1998.[9] It was later released on DVD on January 9, 2001.[3]

Video games

For PlayStation

Silent Service Released by Kodansha, September 28, 2000.[10]

For Windows

Silent Service, released by SystemSoft Alpha, May 12, 2000.[11]
Silent Service 2, released by SystemSoft Alpha, October 14, 2005.[12]

Reception

Some international readers and viewers were uncomfortable with the storyline. There were many arguments among international critics that the series is promoting the idea of militarism.[13] The manga was discussed in the Japanese Diet and was popular with the Self-Defense Force.[14]

The manga won the Kodansha Manga Award in the General manga category in 1990.[15] The first 29 volumes sold over 22 million copies.[14]

Legacy

The Silent Service inspired the Korean movie Phantom, The Submarine released in 1999. Especially, the story behind how Republic of Korea Navy obtains Sierra-class submarine and the scene where they use communication buoy cable against the JMSDF submarine.[13]

See also

References
  1. Toole, Mike (September 4, 2017). "Alternate History Makers - The Mike Toole Show". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  2. Fred, Patten (April 1, 2001). "New from Japan: Anime Film Reviews". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  3. Beveridge, Chris (January 9, 2001). "Silent Service". AnimeOnDVD. Archived from the original on November 1, 2006. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  4. 沈黙の艦隊（１） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  5. 沈黙の艦隊（３２）＜完＞ (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  6. 沈黙の艦隊 (in Japanese). Sunrise. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  7. 沈黙の艦隊 VOYAGE 2 (in Japanese). Sunrise. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  8. 沈黙の艦隊 VOYAGE 3 (in Japanese). Sunrise. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  9. McCarter, Charles. "The Silent Service". ex.org. Archived from the original on August 6, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  10. "沈黙の艦隊". Sony Japan. Sony. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  11. "沈黙の艦隊". SystemSoft Alpha Corporation. SystemSoft Alpha Corporation. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  12. "沈黙の艦隊2: The Silent Service". SystemSoft Alpha Corporation. SystemSoft Alpha Corporation. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  13. 박, 형준 (February 15, 2006). 묵직한 해상전투를 그리며 우리를 유혹한다. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  14. Schodt, Frederik L. (June 15, 2013). Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga. Stone Bridge Press. p. 166. ISBN 9781611725537.
  15. Joel Hahn. "Kodansha Manga Awards". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on 2007-08-16. Retrieved 2007-08-21.

Further reading
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