GIRLS OF AZUR LANE: TOP 10
(SPECIAL MENTION: RACE QUEENS)

 

Ahoy – and ara ara – again!

The ship girls of Azur Lane keep coming! I’ve counted down my Top 10 Girls of Azur Lane but they’re so prolific – with the game still releasing new girls or new designs years after its original release – that there’s more than enough featured in art and cosplay for special mentions, indeed a whole host of special mentions in different categories.

And what better way to start than with my special mentions just for everyone’s favorites – the Azur Lane Race Queens, those girls with Race Queen designs or skins in addition to the five Race Queens I’ve already featured in my Top 10 Girls of Azur Lane (my top girl Atago, Prinz Eugen, Taihou, Enterprise and Shinano).

Yes – half my top ten are Race Queens. And I have this whole list of special mentions just for the other Race Queens, as a Race Queen skin automatically qualifies its ship girl for special mention.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

But first my usual note on the visual images used in this top ten. Given the copyright in such images, I only use a visual image as fair use for the purposes of comment and review in each entry – an iconic feature image to identify the character, which for Azur Lane I’ve drawn consistently from the promotional art for the characters and their skins as featured in the fan wiki.

Where it is applicable, I also include a special section in each entry under the subtitle of art and cosplay – not for any actual art and cosplay as such but instead where I nominate my favorite artists and cosplay models depicting the character, which you can look up for yourself. For art, I award a special ranking for any art by my two favorite artists – the two freelance digital artists Sciamano and Dandonfuga. For cosplay, I award a special ranking for any cosplay by my holy trinity of models – my favorite model Yummychiyo with her insane figure in top spot, followed by Hane Ame and Helly Valentine.

As for the iconic feature image I’ve used here, I couldn’t resist this Azur Lane promotional art featuring Race Queens Enterprise, Baltimore, Taihou and Shinano (from left to right) to celebrate their English-speaking X account reaching 400k followers.

 

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

 

(1) TAKAO –
SAKURA EMPIRE: CRUISER

 

“Are you the Commander? Please allow this lowly Takao to what little strength she has.”

My top Race Queen special mention (or any special mention) has to go to Takao, sister of my top girl of Azur Lane, Atago. Indeed, Takao would appear to be the senior sister, as she and Atago (as well as two other sisters) are all in the Takao heavy cruiser class. However, Atago consistently steals the spotlight because she is deliberately racier than her more formal and shy sister, noticeably so in their matching skins, where Atago consistently sports the racier or more revealing design.

Like her sister, Takao also has a Race Queen skin – which of itself would rank her among my top special mentions since I award them to the Race Queens that aren’t otherwise in my Top 10 – but whereas Atago barely fits in her black and white racing flag-style bikini outfit, Takao has a more demure one piece swimsuit design, titled Full Throttle .

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

No art by my favorite artists – not even Sciamano who is consistently a source of my favorite Azur Lane art. However, she does score a Yummychiyo ranking for Yummychiyo’s cosplay of her – and in her Race Queen skin!

 

Here’s my ranking of Top Takao Skins

 

 

 

 

(2) BALTIMORE –
EAGLE UNION: CRUISER

 

“Heya. Are you in need of help? I’m Baltimore, a heavy cruiser just passing by… Okay, that’s enough jokes for now… Baltimore, awaiting your orders, Commander.”

Not quite the latest addition to Azur Lane’s Race Queens with her Finish Line Flagbearer skin, Baltimore has proved the most popular of the later Race Queens for cosplay. And all Race Queens automatically rank in either my special mentions or the top ten itself, as here. That’s just the way it is. I don’t make the rules. Well, actually I do and that’s the rule.

Just to add – she’s sister ship-girl to Bremerton, both being of the Baltimore-class of cruiser (named, in the style of American cruisers, after cities), and the two often feature in art together. She also scrubs up nicely in her more formal Evening Breeze Minuet skin, although that may well have something to do with her depiction in it by my favorite artist Sciamano.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

“Wait – it’s all Baltimore Race Queen?”

“Always has been.”

 

As usual, it’s Race Queen first across the line for iconic feature image, and indeed for almost all Baltimore art or cosplay. Funnily enough, except for…

 

ART – SCIAMANO

 

Yes – Baltimore scores a Sciamano ranking, but Sciamano’s art is of her Evening Breeze Minuet skin. Speaking of skins, here’s my Top Baltimore Skins – note that’s not her top 10 skins as she only has seven official skins and there wasn’t any cosplay to pad out the entries, my favorite Baltimore cosplay being exclusively of her Race Queen skin. And speaking of cosplay…

 

COSPLAY – YUMMYCHIYO & HANE

 

Her Race Queen skin also scores Yummychiyo and Hane rankings for their Race Queen cosplay, but Lupinus Rando is a close runner-up for her Baltimore Race Queen cosplay.

 

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

 

 

(3) SHOUKAKU –
SAKURA EMPIRE: CARRIER

 

“I’m Shoukaku, the 5th Carrier Division’s flagship”

We’re talking carrier-girl of the Japanese or Sakura Empire navy, Shoukaku, and her Sororal Wings or Race Queen skin. Interestingly, her sister ship Zuikaku doesn’t get the same exposure (except of course when she features in a duo with Shoukaku), despite a matching Race Queen costume and similar appearance to her sister. It must be Shoukaku’s whole white-haired pretty girl thing she’s got going compared to the more mundane brunette Zuikaku – platinum and red hair seem to be the gold standards of visual design in comics, video games or animation.

 

 

 

 

No art or cosplay from my favorite artists or models (although there is some good cosplay of her with her sister Zuikaku). While she only has three other skins, not enough for any separate list, two are worth featuring here. The first, featured above, is her standard or default skin – a reasonably characteristic design for Sakura Empire carrier-girls.

 

The second is her translucent party skin, which appears to be have elements of a ballerina – as most evident by her shoes and pose, as well as its title The Crane that Dances with the Wind. The name of the historical Japanese carrier translates from Japanese as soaring crane – the cranes in the art are a nice touch.

While I don’t feature it here (you can look it up for yourself), the third skin is her wedding skin.

 

 

 

 

 

(4) ZUIKAKU –
SAKURA EMPIRE: CARRIER

 

“From the Sakura Empire’s carrier division, their last elite fleet carrier in the Great War, Zuikaku! Well, I can only utilize my full power when my sister, Shoukaku, is around. That said, it’s a pleasure to meet you!”

And then there’s Shoukaku’s sister-ship Zaikaku as Race Queen (titled as The Wind’s True Name), although she’s essentially a matched pair with her sister and has the same Race Queen design (but brunette).

 

 

 

But wait – what’s this? She has a second Race Queen skin, titled Zoom Like the Wind? Even if it does look more like crew than grid girl? I mean, really – if you were going to give any Azur Lane a second Race Queen skin, surely it would be our top girl Atago? Oh – who am I kidding? Atago’s Race Queen skin is perfection and she doesn’t need another one. Although I’m not sure Zuikaku did either – it’s hard to top her original Race Queen design. In fairness, I understand that her original Race Queen skin is one of her permanently available skins, whereas her second Race Queen skins had limited availability.

 

 

 

No art or cosplay from my favorite artists or models (although there is some good cosplay of her with her sister Shoukaku). Like her sister, she only has three other skins, not enough for any separate list but worth featuring here. The first of those is of course her second Race Queen skin we already shared. The second, featured above, is her standard or default skin. Her historical namesake also translated as crane – auspicious crane as opposed to Shoukaku’s soaring crane – and like Shoukaku she has crane wing motifs going on in the art of her skin. I’m not sure where the wind theme in the name of her Race Queen skins originates.

 

 

There’s also her cute festival or New Year’s skin, titled Ceremonial Crane – and like her sister’s party skin, has the cranes in the art to match the title.

 

 

 

 

 

(5) PRINCE OF WALES –
ROYAL NAVY: BATTLESHIP

 

“Are you the Commander? Very well. I, Prince of Wales, shall let you witness my true strength”.

Prince of Wales’ historical battleship namesake was unlucky – originally named Prince of Edward VIII until his abdication, then her construction was delayed when she was hit by a German bomber, and perhaps most infamously of all, she was the flagship of the ill-fated Task Force Z and was ignominiously sunk by Japanese planes.

Fortunately however, she has been resurrected as a ship-girl in Azur Lane – and even more fortunately as one of the ship-girls with Race Queen skins, titled The Laureate’s Victory Lap.

 

 

 

Again, no art or cosplay from my favorite artists or models (or in general). She has four other skins, not enough for any separate list but worth featuring two of them here. After her Race Queen skin, I have to award second place to her bikini or summer skin featured above, Sun Shining Upon Windsor.

 

 

 

The other skin I feature here (above) is of course her standard or default skin – now that’s a redcoat uniform! That’s not to dismiss her party skin in a fetching little black dress and heels (while playing the saxophone) – titled A Knight’s Song, a Lady’s Night. She also has another military-type uniform in a skin titled Sakura Elegance.

 

 

 

 

 

(6) DUKE OF YORK –
ROYAL NAVY: BATTLESHIP

 

“I see. So the scent driving me crazy wafts from your soul… O sinful commander, I am Duke of York of the Royal Navy. Be sure to carve my name upon thy heart”

And we continue our special mentions for our Azur Lane Race Queens – with another British battleship-girl (and sister-ship in the same class as Prince of Wales), Duke of York, or Yorkie as she is known.

As can be seen in her introduction line above, she uses a lot of O’s, thees, thous, thys, and thines. She’s also pink-haired and appears elfin-eared, although the latter is apparently because she is a vampire. However, that appears to be a matter of thematic visual art design rather than any game function or explanation from her historical namesake, which was luckier than the Prince of Wales seeing out the Second World War. (Interestingly, there is an actual Royal Navy ship-girl Vampire, named for the historical destroyer of that name).

 

 

 

Once again, no art or cosplay for this Race Queen from my favorite artists or models. She has three other skins, not enough for their own separate list but worth ranking here. It was a close call but I have to rank her default or standard skin next after her Race Queen skin.

 

 

 

 

Her vampire traits are most evident in her Eternal Night’s Carola skin, which I rank third.

 

 

 

 

And in fourth place, I rank her newer skin, pulling off some office chic in her Chic Counsellor skin.

 

 

 

 

 

(7) ULRICH VON HUTTEN –
IRONBLOOD: BATTLESHIP

 

“I am Ulrich von Hutten, the symbol of the Iron Blood’s hopes and regrets. Whether my arrival is cause for celebration or despair is up to you to decide. I shall respond in kind.”

It’s another Race Queen (in her Ignition Matrician skin) – and another special mention, since all Race Queens rank special mention, if not top ten, albeit even as limited availability skins. It’s also another Ironblood ship-girl based on a Plan Z ship that wasn’t actually built – a H-class battleship, essentially designed as a larger version of the Bismarck and named for a knightly follower of Luther. Although surprisingly for an Ironblood girl (or at least my entries from Ironblood), she’s not a white-haired pretty girl but a brunette (in the style of a goth punk girl).

 

 

She has three other skins, of which I’ll only feature her default or standard skin here, as the art is so striking. Otherwise, she has a maid skin (Mayhem Maid) and school uniform skin (What Comes After the Bell).

 

 

 

(8) JOFFRE –
VICHYA DOMINION: CARRIER

 

“I am the aircraft carrier, Joffre. I was constructed to face off against Iron Blood carriers during the great war, but due to various misfortunes, I was fated to a life of continually being laid down and halted again, never getting to see the light of day. I have no doubt that was yet another of my many trials.”

This ship-girl tells the story of her historical counterpart – or rather ahistorical counterpart, since it was an aircraft carrier France failed to complete prior to its armistice with Germany in 1940. Named for the French military commander-in-chief in the First World War, it was actually the class of two planned aircraft carriers of the French navy, but only one was laid down in 1938 and work was not completed prior to defeat by Germany – the hull was subsequently scrapped.

Of course, this being Azur Lane with the sky’s the limit – or is that the sea? – Joffre finds new life as an active ship-girl.

You have to love that Blessings’ First Flight or Race Queen design with her…pressed up against the windshield. I actually used the censored version – she seems to have less of a top in the other version.

 

 

She has three other skins – once again not enough for their own list but distinctive enough to feature here. Firstly, there’s her default or standard design.

 

 

Next up I’d rank her Snow White skin. No, seriously – it’s title is Ensorcelled Snow White.

 

 

And finally, there’s her bathhouse or hot springs skin – Sublime Elysium.

 

 

 

 

(9) STRASBOURG –
VICHYA DOMINION: BATTLECRUISER

 

“I’m Strasbourg, member of the Tribunal. I am both a listener and a player. As my coworker, try not to bore me.”

Another French Race Queen (in her Faerie of the Race Circuit skin), this ship-girl at least had her historical counterpart actually and in service in the Second World War – a battlecruiser rather than battleship (at least by British designation) in the Dunkerque class. With her sister ship Dunkerque, she was part of France’s Atlantic task force after the outbreak of war (consistent with her being designed to defeat Germany’s Deutschland class of heavy cruisers). She was recalled to the Mediterranean to deter Italy, survived the British attack on Mers-el-Kebir after the French surrender, and escaped back to Toulon – where she was the flagship of the Vichy Mediterranean fleet until Germany tried to seize it in 1942 and she was scuttled to avoid capture. However, her wreck was seized by the Italians, taken by the Germans and sunk a second time by American bombers in 1944.

She fares somewhat better in Azur Lane, not least with a racy Race Queen skin!

 

 

 

 

She only has one other skin – her default or standard skin, featured above.

 

 

 

 

(10) DUPLEIX –
VICHYA DOMINION: HEAVY CRUISER

 

“I’m Dupleix, a Suffren-class heavy cruiser and a concierge for the Vichya Dominion. Commander, let’s get our holy duties done together.”

Man, they really leaned into the French Vichya Dominion for these limited availability Race Queen skins. Here we have a third French Race Queen with Dupleix’s Final Check skin. Her historical counterpart was the fourth ship of the Suffren class of heavy cruisers and was in service during the Second World War, but only fired her guns once in conflict – in the bombardment of Vado in Italy in mid-June 1940. She was at Toulon when the armistice was signed and remained there until scuttled to avoid capture by the Germans, although she was subsequently raised by the Italians. Interestingly, she was named for the Marquis Dupleix, appointed Governor-General of French India and rival of Robert Clive.

Of course, in Azur Lane, she has a more active role – and a Race Queen skin!

 

 

 

 

She only has one other skin – her default or standard skin, featured above.

 

 

 

 

(11) ESSEX –
EAGLE UNION: CARRIER

 

“So this is where Enterprise is… A-ahem! I am Essex, one of the Union’s state-of-the-art aircraft carriers. Commander, you can expect great things from me! I swear that I won’t disappoint you!”

USA! USA! USA!

Another American Race Queen, after Enterprise and Baltimore – although the closest comparison is with her fellow carrier Enterprise, whom she idolizes, appropriately enough given Enterprise comes closest to the flagship girl of the whole Azur Lane game itself (although I understand the historical Essex was a superior or at least bigger design). Essex was the lead ship of the 24-ship Essex class of carriers built during the Second World War and she refers to the other ships of her class as her siblings in-game. Her historical namesake was commissioned in December 1942 and participated in several campaigns in the Pacific, earning the Presidential Unit Citation and 13 battle stars. The ship was modernized and recommissioned in the 1950s, earning another citation and more battle stars in the Korean War, but also serving in the Atlantic – where she played a role in the Cuban Missile Crisis and was the primary recovery carrier for the Apollo 7 space mission before being retired from service in 1969. Quite the career!

Unfortunately, she is overshadowed by Enterprise in-game, both as de facto flagship girl for Azur Lane itself and in the design of her Race Queen skin, the Gale of Course 88 (as well as its limited availability). Essentially, it just looks like motorcycle leathers rather than a Race Queen or grid girl design, somewhat similar to motorcyclist skin A Trip Down Route 66 but arguably less racy than that one.

 

 

 

 

 

She has six other skins, of which I’ll only feature four here. I just can’t resist a woman in uniform so next up in second place is not her default or standard skin but rather her Detective Essex skin. Apparently, I’m not the only one who can’t say no to a woman in uniform as I understand that the skin originated as an April Fool’s Design but proved so popular they made it an official skin.

 

 

I also can’t resist a hot office girl design, so in third place I rank her work skin or Crossbones Especial – made more intriguing because she is daydreaming of being a pirate girl in the background. It would have been even more intriguing if they had featured the pirate girl in its own skin but alas – they did not!

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, I have to rank her default or standard skin next in fourth place – surprisingly sleek and demure in design, seemingly not modelled as much as Enterprise on navy whites but she does have an American bald eagle like Enterprise.

 

 

 

In fifth place, I rank her party skin, Craft Fairytail – because I also can’t resist a cute little black dress. Not to mention her eagle in a tuxedo – how can you say no to that?!

I would have included her motorcyclist skin,  A Trip Down Route 66, which I’ve already mentioned in passing and which I rank in sixth place, but it’s just too similar to her Race Queen skin to feature here. Her spring skin, Brush and Ink, is cute and I rank it in seventh place, but it’s similar to an Asian fusion version of her party skin.

 

 

 

(12) L’AUDACIEUX –
VICHYA DOMINION: DESTROYER

 

“I am L’Audacieux. I strive to be a bold and courageous Chevalier worthy of this name. Will you bear witness to my growth?”

Yet another Vichya Dominion Race Queen – our fourth French Race Queen in these special mentions with her Protector Beneath the Parasol skin. Her historical counterpart was one of six Le Fantasque class large destroyers and was one of the more active Vichy ships during the war, fighting in the Battle of Dakar against the British and Free French naval forces. Damaged by an Australian cruiser in that battle, she was able to be salvaged and repaired sufficiently to return to Tunisia in mid-1942 – just in time to be captured by the Germans occupying Tunisia six months later and then sunk by them when the Germans evacuated. Still, she was refloated but deemed not worthy of repair – being stripped for parts and scrapped.

Needless to say, she fares a lot better in Azur Lane – with a Race Queen skin to boot! Yes, she’s a destroyer – which I’ll have more to say about shortly – but she manages to pull off the Race Queen look,

 

 

 

 

 

She only has one other skin – her default or standard skin, featured above. With hot pants!

 

 

 

(13) HAMMANN –
EAGLE UNION: DESTROYER

 

Yeah – you know you’re getting to the tail-end of Race Queen skins when you’re getting down to the destroyers. As a general rule, the big ships – carriers, battleships, cruisers – bring the big, ah, guns to the game, while the smaller ships are of a character design that, shall we say, tends not to be suited to the Race Queen style. At least Hammann looks somewhat embarrassed as a Race Queen, consistent with the skin’s title Blushing Fellow. I’m recally only including her and the next entry for completeness of Race Queen designs.

In the case of Hammann (and her fellow Sims-class destroyer ship-girl), the tail-end is literal given the catgirl motif. Anyway, the U.S.S. Hammann was an active destroyer in WW2, named for an ensign and Medal of Honor recipient in the previous world war. The destroyer was torpedoed and sunk while assisting the sinking carrier Yorktown in the Battle of Midway – she obviously fares better in Azur Lane, scoring a limited availability Race Queen skin.

 

 

 

(14) U-96 –
IRONBLOOD: SUBMARINE

 

Yes – this is how Azur Lane depicts the titular submarine of the film Das Boot as anime Race Queen ship-girl.

Yeah – you know when I said you’re getting to the tail-end of Race Q when you’re getting down to the destroyers? Well, you’re scraping the bottom of the, ah, sea when you get down to the submarines. I’m not talking in naval terms, where submarines rule – I’m talking in terms of the character design of ship-girls in Azur Lane and in terms of being completely incongruous for the concept of Race Queen skins

Her Race Queen skin is titled Wolfen Dolly – I’m really only including her because I’m obligated by my rule that a Race Queen skin scores either top ten entry or at least special mention here.

Well, that and U-96 was literally that boat – the historical submarine that featured as the protagonist submarine in the film Das Boot. One of the most accomplished U-boats of the entire war, she is credited with dozens of freighter kills, partook in some of the most infamous wolfpack actions of the war, and was later the focus of one of the most famous submarine films of all time.

Or should that be Das Booty? Well it should have been – with a design closer to Prinz Eugen, perhaps.

 

AZUR LANE RACE QUEENS RANKINGS

 

There are 19 Race Queens – 11 permanent and 8 limited availability.

 

5 Race Queens rank in my Top 10 Girls of Azur Lane (all permanent):

 

S-TIER (GODDESS TIER)

 

(1) ATAGO – SAKURA EMPIRE: CRUISER

The top Race Queen is of course Atago, top girl of Azur Lane (and my third top girl of video games)

 

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

(2) PRINZ EUGEN – IRONBLOOD: CRUISER

(TOP 10 – 3RD PLACE)

 

(3) TAIHOU – SAKURA EMPIRE: CARRIER

(TOP 10 – 4TH PLACE)

 

(4) ENTERPRISE – EAGLE UNION: CARRIER

(TOP 10 – 5TH PLACE)

 

X-TIER (WILD TIER)

 

(5) SHINANO – SAKURA EMPIRE: CARRIER

(TOP 10 – 10TH PLACE)

 

14 Race Queens rank in my Azur Lane Race Queen special mentions (not counting Zuikaku twice for her second limited availability Race Queen skin) – 6 permanent and 8 limited availability:

 

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

(6) TAKAO – SAKURA EMPIRE: CRUISER

(7) BALTIMORE – EAGLE UNION: CRUISER

 

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

(8) SHOUKAKU – SAKURA EMPIRE: CARRIER

(9) ZUIKAKU – SAKURA EMPIRE: CARRIER

(10) PRINCE OF WALES – ROYAL NAVY: BATTLESHIP

(11) DUKE OF YORK – ROYAL NAVY: BATTLESHIP

 

LIMITED

 

(12) ULRICH VON HUTTEN – IRONBLOOD: BATTLESHIP

(13) JOFFRE – VICHYA DOMINION: CARRIER

(14) STRASBOURG – VICHYA DOMINION: CRUISER (BATTLECRUISER)

(15) DUPLEIX – VICHYA DOMINION: CRUISER

(16) ESSEX – EAGLE UNION: CARRIER

(17) L’AUDACIEUX – VICHYA DOMINON: DESTROYER

(18) HAMMANN – EAGLE UNION: DESTROYER

(19) U-96 – IRONBLOOD: SUBMARINE

 

As for numbers of Race Queens by faction:

 

SAKURA EMPIRE: 6 (ALL PERMANENT)

EAGLE UNION: 4 (2 PERMANENT 2 LIMITED)

VICHYA DOMINION: 4 (ALL LIMITED)

IRONBLOOD: 3 (1 PERMANENT 2 LIMITED)

ROYAL NAVY: 2 (ALL PERMANENT)

 

And as for numbers of Race Queen by type:

 

CARRIER: 7 (5 PERMANENT 2 LIMITED)

CRUISER: 6 (4 PERMANENT 2 LIMITED)

BATTLESHIP: 3 (2 PERMANENT 1 LIMITED)

DESTROYER: 2 (ALL LIMITED)

SUBMARINE 1 (LIMITED)