Anime Film ● Review: The Silent Service

Very Average Joe
Jun 20
3 min read

English Title: The Silent Service

Japanese Title: 沈黙の艦隊 [lit. silent fleet]

Director(s): Takahashi Ryosuke

Screenwriter(s): Yoshikawa Soji

Studio: Sunrise

Released: 1995

Runtime: 1h 36m

Starring: Tsukayama Masane, Mugihito, Otsuka Akio, Tokumaru Kan, Ueda Toshiya

My Verdict: Visually excellent. Intriguing premise. Entertaining enough military action-thriller with politics even if it is far-fetched.

● Based on the popular manga of the same name written and illustrated by Kawaguchi Kaiji published from 1988 to 1996. There is also a 3-episode OVA (1997–1998) as well as a live-action film (2023). I have not read the manga or seen the other adaptations so this review is of the anime film only.

● The film begins with a collision between a Russian submarine and a Japanese submarine that leads to the latter’s demise. It is soon revealed that the Japanese crew faked their deaths in order to take on a secret assignment: to operate a new nuclear-powered attack submarine named the Seabat which was jointly developed with the US.

● Captain Kaieda of the Seabat goes rogue on her maiden voyage, eluding US attack submarines. He also changes the name to Yamato. He avoids overtly hostile actions towards both the Americans and the Japanese but his intent is initially unclear, having serious political repercussions.

● This is obviously inspired by Tom Clancy’s novel The Hunt for Red October (1984) that was later adapted into a live-action film released in 1990.

● Visually, it is excellently executed. The interior of the warships is highly detailed and both ships and buildings are nicely rendered. Wider shots alternating with close-ups of the vessels and torpedoes are often used, much like a live-action film. It goes for the serious cinematic tone, which it achieves.

● The narrative involves some cat-and-mouse as expected but also quite a bit of military action, perhaps more than what one might expect for a modern submarine story.

● Some of the action, however, is too far-fetched given the serious tone.

● As a balance to the military action, there is the so-called politics. It is a part of the story but it is not too complex; the points raised are what one expects given the premise. For Japan, there is the question of nuclear-powered vessels and nuclear weapons. There is also the question of long-term defense under the American umbrella. How much does and should Japan trust the US? How much do the Americans trust the Japanese?

● Related to the above, there is a variety of views and personalities for the Japanese characters. Unfortunately, Americans are simplistically portrayed as arrogant and incompetent even though not all of them are fat.

● Some consider the story to be militaristic. There is some of that—the submarine is renamed to Yamato—but in a way also not that much. Even though it has that serious tone, it is not a “hard military” drama with detailed military procedures that glorify the military. More pertinent to the story, the points or questions raised are not unfair.

● The problem is more that Kaieda’s intent and the military action are far-fetched. It is not a spoiler to state that he is not defecting or planning to sell the boat to terrorists. Despite that, the film is well-paced and entertaining enough military action-thriller.