shoukaku...I must do my best... for shoukaku toogood bye, and thank you...I'm lonely...zuikaku banzai!But after going through wars, Zuikaku who has lost her sister changed. The "Zu" on her chest is gone and she sails to her place of death as the last of the Kidou Butai. I think her impression changed between this time and three years ago. After her sister is sunk, in human terms, Zuikaku must have grown up from the experience.In Kantai Collection, Zuikaku is often portaited as character who often got ridiculed by the First and Second Carrier Division because she's from newly formed fleet that lacks experience. In actuality, there's about 20 new crew members in all the First, Second and Fifth Carrier Division, and the personnel allocated to Zuikaku and Shoukaku are not that different; so I think the girls from the short-lived Second Carrier Division are just feeling complex.
I also have this tomboy image from Zuikaku, and thus she looks like a cheeky rookie in the eyes of the older aircraft carrier girls. For that reason I placed her as my flagship (lol). Besides, she's a twintail character and she want to bomb the Admiral's room. How cute.The carrier of fortune, Zuikaku, was launched on November 27th 1939 and commissioned on September 25th 1941. In order to make it before the beginning of the war, her construction period is shortened. Celebrated as invincible in her engagements with the US and British navy, Zuikaku participated in the most naval battles among the carriers. She's unscratched until the Battle of Mariana Islands in 1944 in which her sister Shoukaku is sunk. * After the battle in Mariana Islands, she sustained 6 close range shot and one bomb hit.
By this time, Zuikaku is the only survivor among the aircraft carriers who participate in launching attack on Pearl Harbour. At the same time, she participated as flagship of IJN's last fleet in Battle of Leyte Gulf as decoy to draw the allied fleet out and finally sunk in Cape Engano.
Record of this event are aired by NHK in "Witness Accounts - the Soldiers' War" and can be watched in the Website (in Japanese).
After her sister Shoukaku is sunk in Battle of Mariana Islands, a permanent refit is ordered (in Kantai Collection, Modification with colour change). This appearance can be seen in Jinno Masami's "Aircraft Carrier Zuikaku" or for about 10 seconds in Toho's "Torpedo Squad Marching" (Raigekitai Shutsudou).
* Internal shots in the film are from Zuihou.
