What Is the Story About?
Based on the popular manga series ‘The Silent Service ‘ from Kaiji Kawaguchi, The Silent Service Season 1 : The Battle of Tokyo Bay follows Captain Kaieda who has been assigned the task to work on Sea Bat, a nuclear submarine that was secretly built by Japan in collaboration with the United States. However, Kaieda goes fully rogue to the extent of declaring the submarine as a separate nation of Yamato. He is labelled as a terrorist by the United States and Japan Maritime Self-Defense commissions Hiroshi Fukamachi to capture Sea Bat before the US and bring it back to Japan.
Performances?
The performer of the show is Takao Osawa who stops at nothing and delivers a knock out performance as the fierce leader and then rogue Captain Kaieda. He looks and acts like a deranged mysterious, merciless man who has gone rogue. His actions are unpredictable and he plays one of the most despicable antagonists in an Asian show in a while with aplomb.
The other anchor of the show is Hiroshi Tamaki who plays Fukumachi. He is the conscience of the show and the most layered character with conflicts that weigh him down as he hunts down Japanese Captain Kaieda. Aleks Paunovic who plays the American Admiral has also done a good job in delivering a hate-worthy character.
Analysis
Based on the popular manga (1988-1996) that goes by the same name, The Silent Service Season 1 : The Battle of Tokyo Bay on Amazon Prime Video is created by the manga writer Kaiji Kawaguchi, Hikaru Takai and Tetsuo Kamata as an elongated and extended version of the theatrical film that was produced by Amazon-MGM.
The show captures the essence of the US-Japan relations, the global politics and the sea-warfare that follows when rogue Captain Kaieda’s occupies the Nuclear submarine Sea bat employed by USA-Japan in collaboration. As Fukumachi sets out to capture the Sea Bat, he goes through a whole journey himself from the point of admiring Captain Kaieda to capturing the sea bat from his occupation.
Even though the original manga series places the occurrences midst the cold war period, The Silent Service Season 1: The Battle of Tokyo Bay is set in contemporary times with a rogue Captain at its centre and US-Japan relations playing pivotal roles.
The Silent Service Season 1 : The Battle of Tokyo Bay largely travels through the point of view of the Japanese government, their actions amidst toiling relationships with a powerful country in the name of the United States of America. This pretty much explains why the Americans are one note caricature characters in the show throughout.
The war drama keeps the audience at the edge of the seat for most of its duration owing to an unpredictable character at the forefront, and a falling apart bilateral relationship between two borderline warring countries. While the show does show some characters popping in and out, little do they impact the show positively.
Without further ado, The Silent Service Season 1: The Battle of Tokyo Bay’s first drop of 6 episodes have been nothing but engaging a war drama from the point of view of the Japanese unlike the routine American war-dramas. The best part of the show is that despite its real long run-time, it does keep the viewer attached to its story and characters. With some real good performances, an interesting premise and praise-worthy scale, the show is definitely worth a watch if you’re into political war dramas.
Music and Other Departments?
One of the richly produced shows from Japan by Amazon Prime Video, The Silent Service Season 1 boasts of really rich production values and scale.
Yoshihiro Ike’s score composition deserves a pat on the back for retaining the unpredictability and tense mood of the captivating war-drama/thriller featuring a rogue Captain and his no stops pulled actions. The VFX shots are good enough while the hand-to-hand combats are really well choreographed.
Highlights?
Production Values
Political Intrigue
Star-cast
Engaging screenplay
Drawbacks?
Too long
Un-necessary characters
Caricature American characters
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes
Will You Recommend It?
Yes
The Silent Service Season One Series Review Review by Binged Bureau
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