Sensou Douwa: Chiisai Sensuikau ni Koi wo Shita Dekasugira Kojira no Hanashi

Sensou Douwa (War Tales or War Fables) was a series of TV specials by Shin-Ei Animation that ran annually from 2002 to 2009. In chronological order:

• 2002    Umigame to Shounen (The Boy and The Sea Turtle)
• 2003    Tako ni Natta Okaasan (The Mother Who Became a Kite)
• 2004    Chiisai Sensuikau ni Koi wo Shita Dekasugira Kojira no Hanashi (The Tale of the Ginormous Whale That Fell in Love with a Little Submarine)
• 2005    Boku no Boukuugou (My Air Raid Shelter)
• 2006    Yakeato no, Okashi no Ki (The Cake Tree in the Ruins)
• 2007    Futatsu no Kurumi (Two Walnuts)
• 2008    Kiku-chan to Ookami  (Kiku and the Wolf)
• 2009    Aoi Hitomi no Onnako no Ohanashu (The Tale of the Blue-Eyed Girl)

Orphan has already released The Boy and the Sea Turtle, The Cake Tree in the Ruins,and The Mother Who Became a Kite. Today, we're releasing Chiisai Sensuikau ni Koi wo Shita Dekasugira Kojira no Hanashi (The Tale of the Ginormous Whale That Fell in Love with a Little Submarine), and that brings us to the halfway point in the series.

Once again, the show draws upon a short story by Nosaka Akiyuki, but this time, the tone is somewhat different, a bit lighter. The human protagonist is a boy named Hayano Kota. Boys as young as 15 and 16 are being drafted into the Japanese navy, and Kota is training to be a pilot (presumably a kamikaze pilot). However, he's totally inept, and he ends up being transferred to a coastal-defense submarine. There he crosses paths with the other main character.

This second protagonist is not a human but a whale - specifically, a sei whale (sardine whale) that Kota names Kusuke. Sei whales are the third largest whale species, after blue whales and fin whales. Kusuke is a particularly impressive specimen, 20 meters long - and that's his problem. Female sei whales are supposed to be bigger than the males, but no female is as large as he is. As a result, he is lovelorn and lonely, scorned by the females who want mates that are smaller than they are, and scammed by dolphins and orcas that want him to stop eating all the sardines in the area.

Swimming to Rainbow Sea for the annual mating gathering of the sei whales, Kusuke encounters Kota's submarine and mistakes it for the object of his desire, a female sei whale that's bigger than he is. He starts courting "her", which involves vocalizing, bumping bodies, and generally playing. But the noise attracts American anti-submarine forces, and the mating game takes a potentially deadly turn - for the whale, for the submarine, or both.

Up until the last act, Chiisai plays like a comedy (hence, the playful translation of the title). Kusuke is dumb but earnest, convinced that he has finally found a mate. Kota, pining for a girl onshore, tries to convince himself that sacrificing his life for the glory of the Empire is the right path, but he really just wants to be friends with Kusuke and go home. But war is no respecter of the desires of either whales or humans, and the ending is somber.

The original story is much sparser than the anime. The whale is unnamed, and the only described human character is the sub captain. The story is set after the surrender, but the captain refuses to accept the news and tries to continue the war. That brings about a final hostile encounter with American naval forces, and the love-struck whale is caught in the crossfire.  

One historical note: Kota's submarine isn't an actual Japanese sub type. The original story describes the sub as "half again as long" as Kusuke, that is, 30 meters, and the anime shows a crew of five. However, second-class Japanese subs were much longer (47 meters and up, with a crew of more than 25), and midget submarines were much smaller (under 10 meters, with a crew of only two). 

The voice cast has only a few well-known names:

• Takato Yasuhiro (Kusuke the whale) played Artemis in the Sailor Moon franchise, Gluttony in original Full Metal Alchemist, Russia in the Hetalia franchise, Kase-bake in GeGeGe no Kitarou (2007), and many featured roles, often as animals.
• Miura Tomu (Kota) has no other credits.
• Orikasa Fumiko (narrator) played Oseki in Hidamari no Ki (an Orphan release), Kuchiki Rukia in all the Bleach properties, Mikan in Atashinchi, Yuzuki in Chobits, Karin in the Stratos 4 properties, Ikuku in the Massagu ni Ikou OVAs, Aoba in Jinki Extend, Seras Victoria in both versions of Hellsing, Nicoletta in Restaurant Paradisio, Riza Hawkeye in the original Full Metal Alchemist, Lotte Yanson in Little Witch Academia, and the heroine Okonogi Yuuko in Dennou Coil.
• Kikuchi Yuumi (Kota's crush Yoshie) had only a few featured roles.
• Kusao Takeshi (the fast-talking Orca) played the lead roles in Junk Boy and Fujilog, the title role in Babel II, Trunks in the Dragon Ball Z franchise, Sakuragi in Slam Dunk, Lamune in NG Knight Lamume & 40, the teenaged Tezuka Osamu in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari, Daichi in Singles, and the icy director Kurume Kenjirou in Smash Hit!; the last three are Orphan releases. He is still active, appearing in the recent Major 2nd.
• Narita Ken (Dolphin B) played Sesshoumaru in the Inuyasha franchise, Seimei in Loveless, and Byakuroku (the snake demon) in Amatsuki, an Orphan release.
• Tahara Aruno (sub captain) appeared in Apfelland Monogotari and Bremen 4, both Orphan releases, among numerous other featured roles.
• Shioya Kouzou (instructor) played Kaji-kun in Stop!! Hibari-kun! (an Orphan release) and Konaki Jiji in GeGeGe no Kitarou (1996), among numerous featured roles.
  

The director, Yasumi Tetsuo, helmed more than half of the Sensou Douwa specials.

As with previous episodes, kokujin-kun translated, and Yogicat timed. Skr provided the evocative English title. I edited and typeset. BeeBee, Nemesis, and Uchuu QCed. The standard-definition raw is a webrip. It's marred by an onscreen text for the entire running time. The text is simply the series name and the episode title, but the title is long and therefore distracting. I have no idea why it's there.

Chiisai Sensuikau ni Koi is not as bleak as the previously released Sensou Douwa episodes, but it's still a sobering reminder of the toll war takes on willing participants and bystanders alike. This continues to be an outstanding series, best taken one episode at a time. You can get the show from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.