The Silent Service
Encyclopedia
is a manga
series by Kaiji Kawaguchi
. It was published in Kodansha
's Weekly Morning
manga magazine from 1988 to 1996 and collected in 32 tankōbon
volumes. The series was adapted into an anime
TV special and OVA
series by Sunrise
. The first two episodes of the anime
were later spliced together and released in North America
as a single volume. The rest of the series remained untranslated.
The manga won the Kodansha Manga Award
for general manga in 1990.
, 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."
”, a well known right wing Japanese novelist. However, as the story progressed, the comic became increasingly centered on the new role of the United Nations
, the direction that was supported by many Japanese leftists.
The idea of a captain of an atomic submarine declaring independent sovereignty is not completely original. For example, a British man named Paddy Roy Bates declared a nation called Sealand
in 1967 after occupying an abandoned navy fortification off the British coast.
The Silent Service is generally regarded as one of the rare Japanese comics that covered the unparalleled scale of realistic international geopolitics with a commercial success.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series by Kaiji Kawaguchi
Kaiji Kawaguchi
is a Japanese manga author whose works include Eagle and Zipang. Generally, his stories involve Japan and examine the moral choices that people make in extreme situations. He received the Kodansha Manga Award three times, for Actor in 1987, for The Silent Service in 1990, and for Zipang in 2002...
. It was published in Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
's Weekly Morning
Weekly Morning
is a weekly Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Kodansha, aimed at adult men. It debuted in 1982 as and is also known as simply .- Series running every week :- Series running every other week :...
manga magazine from 1988 to 1996 and collected in 32 tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes. The series was adapted into an anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
TV special and OVA
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
series by Sunrise
Sunrise (company)
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise. It is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. Its former name was Nippon Sunrise, and prior to that, Sunrise Studios...
. The first two episodes of the anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
were later spliced together and released in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
as a single volume. The rest of the series remained untranslated.
The manga won the Kodansha Manga Award
Kodansha Manga Award
is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in four categories: children's, shōnen, shōjo, and general. The awards began in 1977, initially with categories for shōnen and shōjo. The first award for the...
for general manga in 1990.
Story
During the cold warCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
The , or JMSDF, is the naval branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. It was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy after World War II....
jointly developed a nuclear submarine
Nuclear submarine
A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor . The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" submarines are considerable: nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for...
with the United States Navy. On its maiden voyage
Maiden voyage
The maiden voyage of a ship, aircraft or other craft is the first journey made by the craft after shakedown. A number of traditions and superstitions are associated with it....
, the captain of the submarine declares the submarine to be an independent state, "Yamato."
Sea vessels in OVA
- Russian:
- Romanov (Fictional Submarine)
- Japanese/JSDFJapan Maritime Self-Defense ForceThe , or JMSDF, is the naval branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. It was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy after World War II....
:- Yamanami (Fictional Diesel Submarine)
- Tatsunami (Fictional Diesel Submarine)
- Haruna (DDH-141)Haruna class destroyerThe Haruna class destroyers are a class of Japanese destroyer originally built during the early 1970s. These helicopter carrying destroyers are built around a large central hangar which houses up to three helicopters. The ships were upgraded with Sea Sparrow launchers, Phalanx CIWS systems and...
- Kurama (DDH-144)Shirane class destroyerThe Shirane class destroyers are a class of Japanese destroyer originally built during the late 1970s and still in active service. They are built around a large central hangar which houses up to three helicopters and they are the natural successor of the s...
(AKA "Ship #8") - Asagiri (DD-151)Asagiri class destroyerThe Asagiri-class destroyer was built in the mid-1980s and late 1980s and is in service with the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force.This class of general purpose destroyer is almost extended version of its predecessor Hatsuyuki-class destroyers, and similarly, it mainly tasked with ASW and ASUW...
- American:
- US Navy 7th Fleet:
- USS Sea Bat (Fictional Nuclear Submarine) (AKA "Yamato")
- USS New York City (SSN-696)USS New York City (SSN-696)USS New York City , a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named specifically for New York City as distinct from the state. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 24...
- USS Chicago (SSN-721)USS Chicago (SSN-721)USS Chicago is a Los Angeles-class submarine, the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city of Chicago, Illinois. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 13 August 1981 and her keel was laid down on 5...
- USS Dallas (SSN-700)USS Dallas (SSN-700)USS Dallas is a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine of the United States Navy. It is the Navy's second ship of that name, and the first to be named for the city of Dallas, Texas, although another two ships were scheduled but never completed.-Career:The contract to build Dallas was...
- USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)The USS Carl Vinson is the third United States Navy Nimitz class supercarrier and is named after Carl Vinson, a Congressman from Georgia. Carl Vinson's callsign is "Gold Eagle". It played host to the first NCAA basketball game on an aircraft carrier on 11/11/11 between the University of North...
(Flagship) - USS California (CGN-36)USS California (CGN-36)USS California , the lead ship of the California-class of nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers, was the seventh warship of the United States Navy to be named for the State of California....
- USS AlabamaUSS AlabamaAt least seven United States Navy ships have been named Alabama, after the southern state of Alabama., a 74-gun ship of the line, laid down in 1819, though never completed as such...
(Fictional or Misnamed) - USS O'Brien (DD-975)USS O'Brien (DD-975)USS O'Brien was a built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi. It was named for Captain Jeremiah O'Brien USN and his five brothers: Gideon, John, William, Dennis and Joseph. The O'Briens were crew members on board the sloop Unity, which captured HMS...
- US Navy 3rd Fleet:
- USS Enterprise (CVN-65)USS Enterprise (CVN-65)USS Enterprise , formerly CVA-65, is the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the eighth US naval vessel to bear the name. Like her predecessor of World War II fame, she is nicknamed the "Big E". At , she is the longest naval vessel in the world...
(Flagship) - USS Vincennes (CG-49)USS Vincennes (CG-49)The fourth USS Vincennes is a U.S. Navy Ticonderoga class Aegis guided missile cruiser. On July 3, 1988, the ship shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 civilian passengers on board, including 38 non-Iranians and 66 children.The ship was launched 14 April 1984 and...
- USS Long Beach (CGN-9)USS Long Beach (CGN-9)USS Long Beach was a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser in the United States Navy. She was the only ship of her class....
- USS Vella Gulf (CG-72)USS Vella Gulf (CG-72)USS Vella Gulf is an American Ticonderoga class Aegis guided missile cruiser. She is named for the Battle of Vella Gulf, a naval engagement in the Solomons campaign of World War II. This engagement was historically significant because it was the first time that destroyers were allowed to operate...
- USS Lake Erie (CG-70)USS Lake Erie (CG-70)USS Lake Erie is a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser in the United States Navy. She is named for the decisive USN victory in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812....
- USS Cape St. George (CG-71)USS Cape St. George (CG-71)USS Cape St. George is a laid down by the Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation at Pascagoula, Mississippi on 19 November 1990, launched on 10 January 1992 and commissioned on 12 June 1993. Cape St. George operates out of San Diego, California.Cape St. George is named for the World War II...
(Misnamed "Cape St. John")
- USS Enterprise (CVN-65)
- US Navy 7th Fleet:
Reception
It was said by many Japanese conservative thinkers that the work was advocating Japanese military independence from the U.S. by way of Japan owning its own nuclear weapon. One conservative pundit even called Kawaguchi the “new Yukio MishimaYukio Mishima
was the pen name of , a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director, also remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état...
”, a well known right wing Japanese novelist. However, as the story progressed, the comic became increasingly centered on the new role of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, the direction that was supported by many Japanese leftists.
The idea of a captain of an atomic submarine declaring independent sovereignty is not completely original. For example, a British man named Paddy Roy Bates declared a nation called Sealand
Principality of Sealand
The Principality of Sealand is an unrecognized entity, located on HM Fort Roughs, a former World War II Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea 10 km off the coast of Suffolk, England, United Kingdom ....
in 1967 after occupying an abandoned navy fortification off the British coast.
The Silent Service is generally regarded as one of the rare Japanese comics that covered the unparalleled scale of realistic international geopolitics with a commercial success.