Kensuke Tanaka Special Message: Famitsu Weekly May 28th, 2020

Introduction

The following special message was included in the Famitsu Weekly Magazine, May 28th 2020 edition. This edition of Famitsu Weekly was released in conjunction with KanColle's 7th Anniversary, to commemorate the event.

7th Anniversary: Happy Anniversary!

KanColle Management Naval District C2 Preparat: Congratulatory Telegram Received!

Kadokawa Co., Ltd Head of IP Creation Business Headquarters, Senior General Manager: Aoyagi Masayuki

KanColle has had many events, or more broadly speaking, attractions. Starting with sanma, there has been curry and an izakaya. The Obon dance got people moving, the ice skating show moved their hearts, and the circus excited them. Many games hold fan events, but none have the same variety. The reason behind this extensive development is, of course, to thank the game's fans. It's our full-throated answer to our Admirals who play KanColle every day, our unconventional "methods" of connecting with them. KanColle is not a game that narrates much. Even the setting and story are vague. This is so that each and every Admiral can tell their own stories. Instead, the management team, by these various "methods" rooted in the game, expand the dreams of our Admirals. As we celebrate the game's seventh anniversary, please look forward to more mind-blowing "methods" to come.

A Message from Mr. Tanaka, Producer and Director

To all the Admirals, and to all of Famitsu's readers, thank you. KanColle and its shipgirls began in April 2013 and, thanks to everyone, welcomes its seventh anniversary this spring and begins sailing through the seas of its eighth year. Thanks to the cooperation of the many people cheering us on, KanColle has developed for longer than I could have dreamed. Above all, these seven years have been supported by the feelings of all the Admirals who have loved their shipgirls. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

KanColle began in its earliest form ten years ago as an close extension of my own hobby, born from wanting to share, to not forget, to remember the vessels and people who once sailed the seas and then struggled under terrible conditions or sorrowfully sank unseen into the night sea. For that to evolve the way it has, to reach so many, and to continue for so long - I strongly, deeply feel the thoughts and feelings of our supporters. When the game began, we didn't even dream what such a niche project could become in one year - no, half a year... Not long ago, the battleship Yamato and destroyer Yukikaze were the only vessels that were popularly known. But now the main line battleships are a given, and so are the names of the carriers of each carrier division; the cruisers; the destroyers composing each destroyer division; and the coastal defense ships that fought in convoy escorts as the war situation deteriorated. I'm so glad others are inspired to share, to do their own research on those vessels' efforts and final moments, to think on what happened in the past and what will come in the future. I really am glad I made and continued KanColle. In a way, I've more than achieved what I set out to do in KanColle's early days. So now comes the next step: to reveal and share through our material even a little of the wonderful things life has to offer when you allow yourself to expand your point of view a bit. KanColle is an opportunity to experience vessels and that subculture of course, but also the innumerable things in life. I would be overjoyed if everyone were able to broaden their horizons at least a little and find new ways to have fun.

In KanColle's eighth year, the second daughter of the four fast battleship sisters that held the frontline and who served as a testbed for the Yamato-class, Hiei, will get her third remodel. Furthermore we have begun work on North European Gotland's Kai Ni remodel, an aviation cruiser like Seventh Cruiser Division's Mogami post-remodel. Next, most likely after this issue is published, Fletcher, the nameship of the AA and ASW multi-balanced masterpieces, the Fletcher-class, will have an additional remodel implemented. For new shipgirls, the first of the seventh anniversary will be the seventh ship of the Type I special destroyers, Usugumo, implemented in the next limited-time event map. There will also be the I-type submarine that served as the war became a living nightmare and pulled off a miraculous life raft rescue while on duty, I-47. During the rush of wartime shipbuilding, the Type D destroyers were born with AA and ASW escort capabilities and, from tough lessons learned in combat, high survivability. These destroyers who struggled in the worst parts of the war were called the Matsu-class, although one might also call them a mixed forest. That and... more, will be implemented. Also, the First Carrier Division's large carrier Kaga will receive a Kai Ni remodel, and several remodel plans including for the two members of the Seventh Cruiser Division on the cover are well underway. While we are currently in a state of emergency due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, let us overcome it together. Furthermore, the operations of the next event, which has unfortunately been pushed to around tsuyu this June and should probably be called KanColle's first tsuyu event, await Admirals' sorties. Once again, to the many people that have supported us, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Please continue to support KanColle and the shipgirls in their eighth year.

KanColle Management Naval District (C2 Preparat)

Tanaka Kensuke

Credits

Translation provided by /a/nonymous.