The Silent Service


The Silent Service is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated 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 television special and original video animation series by Sunrise. The special and the first OVA were later spliced together and released in North America into a single volume by Central Park Media.
The manga won the Kodansha Manga Award in the General manga category in 1990.

Plot

During the Cold War, 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". The Captain of the Yamato is a man called Kaieda and he attempts to attend a UN summit in order to be recognized as an independent nation. However, many forces such as the United States Navy and the Soviet Navy try to stop Kaieda and his crew from reaching New York.

Characters

;Shiro Kaieda
;Hiroshi Fukamachi
;Yamanaka Eiji
;Utsumi
;Takuo Migoguchi

Media

Manga

The Silent Service is written and illustrated by Kaiji Kawaguchi. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Morning from 1988 to 1996. Kodansha compiled its individual chapters into thirty-two tankōbon volumes, published from December 15, 1989 to June 19, 1996.

Anime

The manga was first adapted as an anime special by Sunrise, and was broadcast on March 3, 1996. A two-episode original video animation produced by Sunrise was released from September 25, 1997 to January 25, 1998.
In North America, Central Park Media's US Manga Corps dubbed the first two episodes, and released them on VHS on July 7, 1998. It was later released on DVD on January 9, 2001.

Video games

For PlayStation
For Windows

Reception

Some international readers and viewers were uncomfortable with the storyline. There were many arguments among international critics that the series is promoting the idea of militarism.
The manga won the Kodansha Manga Award in the General manga category in 1990.

Legacy

The Silent Service inspired the Korean movie Phantom, The Submarine released in 1999. Especially, the story behind how Republic of Korea Navy obtains Sierra-class submarine and the scene where they use communication buoy cable against the JMSDF submarine.