TOP 10 GIRLS OF AZUR LANE

(SPECIAL MENTION)

 

Ahoy or ara ara yet again!

The ship girls of Azur Lane keep coming! I’ve counted down my Top 10 Girls of Azur Lane and listed my Race Queen special mentions beyond the top ten – but they’re still so prolific and going strong with new girls or skin designs years into the game’s release. So here’s my general special mentions beyond the top ten or Race Queens.

And what better way to start my special mentions off with those ship-girls with the first of my two foremost criteria for special mention – featuring in art by Sciamano! Those familiar with my top ten girl lists will be familiar with Sciamano as my favorite artist but it goes deeper than that when it comes to Azur Lane. The girls of Azur Lane are Sciamano’s specialty, so fortunately my favorite artist is also the one who consistently does the most (and best) Azur Lane fan art. It’s also how I discovered Sciamano’s art – specifically through Sciamano’s art of Atago, although Prinz Eugen wasn’t far behind.

On that note, I should recap on my seven top ten entries or Race Queens with Sciamano rankings before I get to the seven entries featured in Sciamano art among my special mentions here (for a total of fourteen Azur Lane characters with Sciamano art).

 

TOP 10 ENTRIES WITH SCIAMANO ART – 6 ENTRIES OUT OF THE TOP 10!

(1) ATAGO (STANDARD & RACE QUEEN)

(2) ENTERPRISE (RACE QUEEN)

(3) PRINZ EUGEN  (STANDARD & SUMMER)

(4) ST LOUIS (Stunning Wheels)

(5) BELFAST (Shopping with the Head Maid)

(6) AGIR (STANDARD)

 

RACE QUEENS WITH SCIAMANO ART:

BALTIMORE (funnily enough not her Race Queen skin but her Evening Breeze Minuet skin)

 

And then there’s the second of my two foremost criteria for special mention – cosplay by Yummychiyo. Again, those familiar with my top ten girl lists will be familiar with Yummychiyo as my favorite cosplay model. And again, it goes deeper than that when it comes to Azur Lane as the the girls of Azur Lane are her specialty. If Azur Lane isn’t most of her cosplay subjects – as in literally the majority – it’s getting up there, and that seems equally to be the case that she has more prolific Azur Lane cosplay than other models. In fact, she has so much Azur Lane cosplay, there’s not enough special mentions for it and I have to extend it to further Y mentions just for characters cosplayed by her. And similar to Sciamano, I’m pretty sure that her Azur Lane cosplay is up there with the cosplay through which I first discovered her – although it may have been her signature cosplay of Asuna from Blue Archive.

On that note, I should recap on my eleven top ten entries or Race Queens with Yummychiyo rankings before I get to the thirteen entries featured in Yummychiyo cosplay among my special mentions here.

 

TOP 10 ENTRIES WITH YUMMYCHIYO COSPLAY – 9 ENTRIES OUT OF THE TOP 10!!

 

(1) ATAGO (RACE QUEEN & Summer)

(2) ENTERPRISE (Race Queen)

(3) PRINZ EUGEN (RACE QUEEN – OMG her Prinz Eugen Race Queen cosplay!)

(4) TAIHOU (RACE QUEEN, Forbidden Fruit & Seaside Dreams – also a Dancer variant)

(5) ST LOUIS (Stunning Wheels)

(6) AGIR (Golden Dragon)

(7) OWARI (STANDARD)

(8) IMPLACABLE (STANDARD)

(9) SHINANO (RACE QUEEN & Dreamy White Sand)

 

RACE QUEENS WITH YUMMYCHIYO COSPLAY – 3 ENTRIES:

(10) TAKAO

(11) BALTIMORE

(12) SHOUKAKAU

 

Which brings me to…

 

ART & COSPLAY – SCIAMANO & YUMMYCHIYO

 

My usual note on the visual images used in these special mentions.

Or perhaps not, since it will only be needed for those special mentions with art or cosplay from my favorite artists or models. For artists, we’re talking Sciamano as both my top favorite artist and the only artist among my favorites with Azur Lane fan art as consistent specialty. Funnily enough, my top favorite cosplay model Yummychiyo also seems be the cosplay model among my favorites with Azur Lane cosplay as most consistent (and standout) specialty – although Hane Ame comes close.

Given the copyright in art and cosplay, 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 profile art for the characters and their skins as featured in the fan wiki.

Otherwise, where applicable I also include note in each entry if the character has any art or cosplay by my favorites, with particular attention to Sciamano for art and Yummychiyo for cosplay.

As for my introductory feature image, it’s Bismarck on parade in official game promotional art flanked by two other characters. And yes – she’s one of my special mentions and arguably the one with the most mystique about her release as a game character.

Finally, all entries here are B-tier or high tier ranking.

 

 

 

 

(1) BISMARCK – IRONBLOOD: BATTLESHIP

 

Bismarck needs little introduction, either as ship-girl in game or her historical counterpart. Bismarck would have ranked as special mention on her own status (and comes close to top-tier ranking or even top ten entry). The Sciamano art is just icing on the cake.

Apart from being named for Germany’s most famous chancellor (and the one that effectively created the modern German state under Prussia), the pocket battleship Bismarck would rank as the most famous German naval ship of the Second World War – even more so when you add in the tense hunt for her by the Royal Navy in 1941, which ultimately saw her destruction after being disabled by air attack (by biplanes!).

Azur Lane played into her historical name recognition with the promotional mystique for their ship-girl in game, teasing her in appearances before her release as a playable character, so much so she comes close to being the flagship girl of the game but of course none can take that title from our girl Enterprise. Although there is something of a resemblance between the two in appearance – if only we could get a Race Queen skin for Bismarck!

 

 

 

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ART – SCIAMANO (7 SKINS INCLUDING BISMARCK ZWEI)

 

My feature image is not of her default or standard skin but of her Beacon of the Iron Blood or party skin which I tend to agree is superior to her standard uniform and hence with it as the model for Sciamano’s art. Indeed, Sciamano was so fond of this skin that it recurs in art for the anniversary of the character’s game release (as well as a lingerie version, which sadly isn’t a skin although her Christmas skin is essentially a lingerie skin).

 

 

 

 

 

Bismarck has a total of seven game skins, including two skins for her alternate Zwei version – the Crystal-Clear Holiday summer or swimsuit skin of her Zwei variant character is another favorite.

 

My ranking of her seven skins:

1 – Beacon of the Iron Blood party (thanks to that Sciamano art)

2 – Zwei Crystal Clear Holiday summer

3 – Unpacked Surprise Christmas

4 – Default / standard

5 – Zwei

6 – Wedding

7 – Iron-Black Elysium maid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2) PRINZ HEINRICH – IRONBLOOD: CRUISER

 

So cute and oh so close to top ten ranking, but for the lack of Yummychiyo cosplay (or cosplay in general). Even without her Sciamano art, Prinz Heinrich would have earned special mention as one of my favorite Ironblood ship-girls, close even to my top Ironblood ship-girl Prinz Eugen (and also close to top-tier ranking) – thanks to an original game design by the artist known as Dishwasher and her bunny-girl theme she’s got going in her various skins.

That’s particularly impressive given that she lacks any historical counterpart. Yes – she’s another Plan Z ship-girl. That is, a ship-girl based on the wildly ambitious Plan Z for German naval construction or expansion that was little more than wishful thinking – in her case, one of 12 “P-Class” design of heavy cruisers “that was cancelled wholesale before the war even began, in part due to severe design deficiencies”.

 

 

 

 

ART – SCIAMANO (5 SKINS)

 

My feature image – and her art by Sciamano – is of her default or standard skin but it’s also worth mentioning that the original game character design is by another of my favorite artists, Bach Do or his nickname Dishwasher (I believe from his job while freelancing in art), a recurring artist for Azur Lane’s character designs although his Prinz Heinrich design is one of his best.

Sadly and strangely, there’s no Yummychiyo cosplay. We need Yummychiyo cosplay now! She would rock it! There is some sizzling cosplay by Azami, who I understand to have (or have had) some sort of relationship with the artist Bach Do – she does seem to model most of his art and I am here for it.

 

 

Prinz Heinrich has a total of five game skins and they’re all bangers, hence why I had to feature them here in the order I’d rank them:

1 – Default / standard (thanks to that Dishwasher original and Sciamano fan art)

2 – Rabbit on Watch summer

3 – Heinrich on stage party

4 – Secret Boss o’ the Underworld school

5 – Firework and Tapestries New Year’s Eve

 

 

 

 

 

(3) BREMERTON – EAGLE UNION: CRUISER

 

USA! USA! USA!

Enter Bremerton, a ship-girl of the Baltimore heavy cruiser-class, whose cosplay exploded in popularity with her Scorching Hot Training sport skin resembling a vapor-thin tennis costume.

Her historical counterpart was named for the city of Bremerton in Washington state (consistent with the US convention for naming cruisers after cities) and only commissioned at the tail end of the war. As a result, Bremerton didn’t see any active combat duty in the Second World War – but did in the Korean War.

 

 

 

COSPLAY – YUMMYCHIYO (7 SKINS)

 

Yummychiyo seems to have done cosplay for Bremerton in no less than three skins – the Scorching-Hot Training sport skin obviously but also the standard or default skin and the Kung Fu Cruiser spring skin, both of which I include here accordingly.

As I said, cosplay of Bremerton’s Scorching-Hot Training skin exploded in popularity – Yummychiyo earns top spot but also Hane Ame, Octokuro, and By0ru.

Bremerton has seven skins, so four more than the three I’ve already mentioned:

My ranking of her 7 skins:

1 – Scorching Hot Training sport (what else? Also – Yummychiyo!)

2 – Pillowed Counselling theme park

3 – Kung Fu Cruiser spring (with Yummychiyo cosplay)

4 – Default / standard (also with Yummychiyo cosplay)

5 – Wedding

6 – Day Off Date casual

7 – Relaxation Consultation

 

 

(4) REGENSBURG – IRONBLOOD: CRUISER

 

Regensburg earns special mention for her “barely there swimwear” in her summer Dark Dragon Brilliant Beach skin – which saw quite the cosplay. As per TV Tropes about it, calling it skimpy is a huge understatement and indeed it is censored below the waist with her dragon tail covering the bottom of the swimsuit.

That and she’s got the whole devil-girl – and dragon-girl – theme going, cranked up to eleven as dominatrix. Cue the whip crack!

Unlike many of her fellow Ironblood girls, she actually had a historical counterpart – as opposed to a Plan Z dream – although on my reading it’s actually a WW1 ship that saw service in the Battle of Jutland and retired from active service before WW2, except as a barracks ship in France.

 

 

 

ART & COSPLAY (3 SKINS)

 

As I said, my feature image is cropped from her summer or Dark Dragon Brilliant Beach skin. She has two other skins – her standard or default skin included here and her Dark Dragon’s Dungeon bunny girl skin which leans hard into her dominatrix character, a little too hard to include here. Sadly, no art by Sciamano or cosplay by Yummychiyo.

She does score a Hane ranking for Hane Ame’s cosplay of her swimsuit design. There’s also cosplay by By0ru.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(5) GANGUT –
NORTHERN PARLIAMENT: BATTLESHIP

 

“Hahaha! Not bad, comrade! Come, let us fight for the safety of these azure lanes! Fight until your last breath!”

The Soviet ship-girls (sorry North Union ship-girls) are in the house! And how!  Gangut is my top Soviet ship-girl, uncannily resembling the buxom German ship-girls in fetish uniforms, except more white-themed (or winter-camouflaged) in design. Bonus points for her, ah, gulag-themed custom skins for light bondage-themed fanservice, sometimes dubbed ‘gulag girl’.

Gangut is the flagship-girl of the Gangut-class battleships – whose historical namesakes historically predated the Soviets and were commissioned as part of the Imperial Russian navy, not that they saw much action there. All the Gangut-class battleships were given proper revolutionary names by the Soviets – with Gangut being renamed for the October Revolution.

As for the ship-girl, she’s a party girl in every sense of the word, including a fondness for vodka.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

Of course, my iconic feature image is her gulag girl or Imposing Warden skin.

However, it was a close call with her default uniform skin – which I also feature here. As opposed to the previous entries in this top ten where I’ve featured their top skins in their own separate pages, for my balance of entries I only feature their skins that I find notable here. Gangut for example only has three official skins – of which these two are the standout. (Her third skin is Keeper of the Firewater, her formal dress skin).

 

 

COSPLAY – HANE

 

No art from my favorite artists for Gangut but she scores a Hane ranking for cosplay by Hane Ame in both default and gulag girl skins. Aqua also rocks Gangut in her gulag girl skin. Sadly no Yummychiyo!

 

 

 

 

 

(6) AKAGI – SAKURA EMPIRE: CARRIER

 

And we kick off my purely Sciamano art special mentions with the Sakura Empire’s Akagi, based on her historical counterpart of the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi. Akagi was laid down as an Amagi-class battlecruiser but was converted to a carrier while under construction. Akagi was one of the carriers in that day of infamy but was sunk at Midway – scuttled after being severely damaged. She fares better in the game, where she is a kitsune or nine-tailed fox-girl, but remains not fond of the Union ship-girls in-game – particularly Enterprise.

 

ART – SCIAMANO (8 SKINS INCLUDING AKAGI MUSE)

 

My feature image – and her art by Sciamano – is of her default or standard skin but she has a total of eight game skins, including her variant muse character, with my two favorites as her Paradise Amaryllis swimsuit skin and her Ruby-Laced Beauty party dress skin.

 

My ranking of her eight skins

1 – Default / standard (thanks to that Sciamano art)

2 – Paradise Amaryllis summer

3 – Ruby-Laced Beauty party

4 – Muse

5 – Wedding

6 – Plum and Snow New Year’s Eve

7 – Dawn-Phoenix’s Summons spring

8 – Precipice of Sweetness New Year’s Eve 2

 

 

 

 

 

(7) MASSACHUSETTS – EAGLE UNION: BATTLESHIP

 

Art by Sciamano AND cosplay by Yummychiyo? Well, Massachusetts just has to rank special mention! And it’s not hard to see why she scored Sciamano art and Yummychiyo cosplay – just look at that dress in her Dressed to Impress party skin! It also goes nicely with the matching dress by her sister ship-girl South Dakota.

Her historical counterpart was one of four South Dakota class fast battleships built in the 1930s – Massachusetts saw action in the Allied invasion of north Africa in Operation Torch. She was transferred to the Pacific and saw action there. Retired from service, she’s still around as a museum battleship.

 

 

 

 

ART & COSPLAY – SCIAMANO & YUMMYCHIYO (2 SKINS)

 

Did you not see my introduction for this entry? While her party skin is the obvious standout and obviously had to be her feature image, I do like her standard default skin. She only has the two skins, although it is her Dressed to Impress party skin that was the subject of both Sciamano art and Yummychiyo cosplay. Hence I rank it first and her default or standard second.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(8) AUGUST VON PARSEVAL – IRONBLOOD: CARRIER

 

Yes – that she’s a carrier gives it away as the historical Kriegsmarine had no aircraft carriers. She’s another Plan Z ship-girl – a hypothetical carrier named for a German airship designer (like Zeppelin), albeit a designed still alive in the war (up until February 1942).

 

 

 

 

ART & COSPLAY – SCIAMANO & YUMMYCHIYO (3 SKINS)

 

Yes – it’s another entry with Sciamano art AND Yummychiyo cosplay, hence the special mention. Both are of her The Conquered Unhulde maid skin, hence my feature image.

She has two other skins – her default or standard skin which I’ve also included here as well as her The Unhulde’s Midday Respite casual skin. I’d actually rank the latter second after her maid skin, but it’s similar to her maid skin just wearing a translucent shirt with her underwear and stockings so I don’t include it here

 

 

 

(9) FRIEDRICH DER GROSSE / FRIEDRICH DER GROßE – IRONBLOOD: BATTLESHIP

 

Yet another Ironblood Plan Z ship-girl – a battleship named for the Prussian king Frederick (or Friedrich) the Great who was an inspirational model for Germany in war, something of a sister-ship to Bismarck given the design was essentially an expanded design of the Bismarck. The ship-girl has got that horny devil-girl theme going on, with actual horns (either to her or her costume design).

 

 

 

ART – SCIAMANO (4 SKINS)

 

As much as I like her default or standard design, it’s her One Summer Night’s Intimacy skin that sizzles in first place – and not surprisingly, seems to be the model for her Sciamano art.

She has two other skins for a total of four skins – I’d rank her wedding skin third (after her default or standard skin second) and her Dark Raiments of Gagaku New Year’s skin fourth.

 

 

 

(10) SIRIUS – ROYAL NAVY: CRUISER

 

Why so Sirius?

Okay, I couldn’t resist the pun on the Joker’s line.

The Royal Navy had an abundance of historical counterparts for Azur Lane’s ship-girls, even if they have been somewhat under-represented in my top ten or special mentions so far. The historical Sirius was a light cruiser of the Dido-class, with the keel being laid in 1938 but only launched in 1940 and commissioned in 1942 (with delays due to German bombing). The ship served in the Mediterranean to supply Malta, in the Atlantic against German blockade runners, and in the Operation Torch North Africa landings. The ship took part in the last naval battle of the Mediterranean before participating in the Operation Husky Sicily landings. She took part in both landings in France – the Normandy landings on the Atlantic coastline AND the landings on the Mediterranean coastline. The ship then saw out the war in the Mediterranean.

So the historical Sirius had quite the active and honorable service, reflected in the ship-girl’s fanservice appeal (and number of hot skins) approaching that of Belfast, with the same maid theme they’ve got going for most of the Royal Navy ship-girls.

 

 

 

ART & COSPLAY – SCIAMANO & YUMMYCHIYO (5 SKINS)

 

Another ship-girl with Sciamano art and Yummychiyo cosplay, although in this case of different skins – the Sciamano art is of her White Rose Party skin while her Yummychiyo art is of her Scorching Hot Seirios summer skin. Accordingly, while I have her White Rose Party skin as feature image to match her Sciamano art, I also include her default or standard skin along with that summer skin to match her Yummychiyo art.

I’ll also mention her two other skins (for a total of five skins – all of which rock!) – her Azure Horizons spring skin and her Rabbit of Paradise Theme Park trapeze skin, the latter I’d rank with her swimsuit skin but don’t feature here because she looks virtually naked in it.

 

My ranking of her 5 skins

1 – White Rose party (to match her Sciamano art)

2 – Scorching Hot Seirios summer (to match her Yummychiyo cosplay)

3 – Rabbit of Paradise theme park

4 – Default / standard

5 – Azure Horizons spring

 

 

 

 

 

(11) KASHINO – SAKURA EMPIRE: MUNITION SHIP

 

I had to include Kashino in special mentions for support or supply ship-girl representation and, well, for two other reasons. Typically it’s the ship-girls for the big ships – carriers, battleships, cruisers – that have the, uh, big guns but here we have perhaps the biggest guns of the Sakura Empire or the game itself and it’s a munition ship-girl?

Her historical counterpart was “a unique ammunition ship operated by the IJN from 1940 until she was sunk by USN submarine in 1942…built to carry the Yamato-class battleship’s main battery…to the shipyards where the battleships were being constructed.”

She has the usual Sakura Empire animal motif going – in this case, cow-girl.

 

 

 

COSPLAY – YUMMYCHIYO (5 SKINS)

 

Yummychiyo brings her big guns to Kashino cosplay with Kashino’s Robust Floral Skins party skin, as opposed to the more conservative default or standard skin in my feature image.

All five of Kashino’s skins rock – the one I include here, her Fresh and Sweet theme park skin (got milk?) as her top skin, as well as Hot Springs Relaxation (which is too hot for here) and her Maid for Mayhem skin.

 

My ranking of her 5 skins

1 – Fresh and Sweet theme park – yes, I like milk!

2 – Hot Springs Relaxation summer

3 – Robust Floral Strings (to match her Yummychiyo cosplay)

4 – Default / standard

5 – Maid for Mayhem

 

 

 

(12) ANCHORAGE – EAGLE UNION: CRUISER

 

Sweet evening milk, Anchorage scores special mention off her, well, Sweet Evening Milk relaxation skin. And that’s for a ship-girl that has a sizzling swimwear skin, with Yummychiyo cosplay of it – that still feels less risque than the sweet evening milk one. Still, it is a cute and cheeky pose – which as I said, won her special mention.

 

 

One of the few Eagle Union ship-girls without an actual historical counterpart as a planned heavy cruiser.

 

 

COSPLAY – YUMMYCHIYO

 

I’d love to see Yummychiyo cosplay Anchorage’s Sweet Evening Milk skin but she did the next best thing – the Dolphins and Swim Lessons summer skin.  Mind you, Anchorage’s default or standard skin is almost as good.

 

 

Anchorage has five skins so I’ll throw her Moonlit Boat Ride spring skin in here as well.

 

My ranking of her 5 skins:

1 – Sweet Evening Milk relaxation

2 – Dolphins and Swim Lessons summer (Yummychiyo cosplay!)

3 – Default / standard

4 – Moonlit Boat Ride spring

5 – Wedding

 

 

 

 

(13) PLYMOUTH – ROYAL NAVY: CRUISER

 

Yes, Plymouth scores special mention solely for her swimsuit skin and even more so for the Yummychiyo cosplay of her swimsuit skin – but OMG that Yummychiyo cosplay with that insane figure!

I don’t think she has a historical counterpart but is instead a “research” design in Azur Lane’s collaboration with the World of Warships game, albeit a variant of the historical Edinburgh sub-class of Town-class cruisers.

 

 

 

ART (2 SKINS)

 

That’s right – she only has two skins, including her standard or default skin. But when one of those skins is her summer or swimsuit Heart-Throbbing Refreshment skin and cosplayed by Yummychiyo, who needs more?

 

COSPLAY – YUMMYCHIYO

 

I think I’ve made my point – she’s another Azur Lane ship girl with Yummychiyo cosplay!

 

 

 

 

(14) CHAPAYEV – NORTHERN PARLIAMENT: CRUISER

 

As per TV Tropes, Chapayev is “among the standouts” for Ms Fanservice in the North Parliament, particularly in her sleepwear skin – the same skin cosplayed to delicious effect by Yummychiyo.

And she has a historical counterpart that was actually constructed – her historical counterpart was the first of the whole class of Chapayev cruisers, named for a Red Army commander during the Russian Civil War. Seventeen ships were planned but only seven were actually started before the German invasion – of which two were destroyed when German forces captured their shipyard. The five remaining ships were completed only in 1950, with the last serving until 1981.

 

 

 

ART (5 SKINS)

 

Part of the reason for Chapayev’s special mention is that she has five skins and they’re all bangers.

 

 

 

 

Even her kimono festival skin – Indigo & Lantern-Lit Summer Night skin – is cute.

 

 

I’ve included her 5 skins in the order I rank them:

1 – White Cavalier’s Respite casual skin (Yummychiyo cosplay!)

2 – The Captive Cavalier prison skin

3 – Default / standard

4 – Melody of the White Cavalier party skin

5 – Indigo & Lantern-Lit Summer Night festival skin

 

COSPLAY – YUMMYCHIYO

 

The other part of the reason for her special mention is of course Yummychiyo’s cosplay of her.

 

 

 

 

(15) SURCOUF – IRIS LIBRE: SUBMARINE

 

It’s time to represent the Iris Libre (Free French) faction – and even more so, the submarine ship-girls, as they tend not to rank up against the big guns of the game (cruisers, carriers, and battleships).

Surcouf is an exception to the rule – that might be because her historical counterpart was the largest submarine built to that point until surpassed by a Japanese submarine carrier (submarine CARRIER!) in 1944. In fairness, Surcouf was also something of a submarine carrier, including a floatplane. The submarine served in the French navy and then in the Free French naval forces until disappearing on the night of 18-19 February 1942 in the Caribbean, possibly due to the Bermuda Triangle but more probably after collision with a US freighter. The submarine was named for a French privateer.

 

 

 

 

ART (3 SKINS)

 

She has three skins – the standout of course is her summer skin but her standard default skin is surprisingly racy for a submarine ship-girl. Her third skin, Shopping Time, is nothing exceptional.

 

COSPLAY – YUMMYCHIYO

 

Her summer skin was of course popular for cosplay – the Yummychiyo cosplay earning her special mention here – but also by Hane Ame.

 

 

(16) RICHELIEU – IRIS LIBRE: BATTLESHIP

 

More representing the Iris Libre (Free French) faction – Richelieu earning special mention on Yummychiyo cosplay.

I suppose she also earns special mention as battleship – indeed, the flagship of its own class of battleships – and one that fled to French colonies in Africa. The in-game Iris Libre faction for the Free French involves some historical licence as the battleship only saw active service on the Allied side after being transferred to American (and then British) forces after Operation Torch swapped the French African colonies to the Allied side in November 1942.

Named for the Cardinal of course.

 

 

ART (3 SKINS)

 

She has three skins – the standout of course was her summer skin, hence the Yummychiyo (and Hane Ame) cosplay – although I do like her standard default skin. Her Evergreen Prophecy New Year skin is nice enough – essentially a kimono design – but nothing exceptional.

 

COSPLAY – YUMMYCHIYO

 

Yeah – she’s another Azur Lane ship-girl with Yummychiyo cosplay. And what cosplay – VA VOOM!

 

 

 

(17) POLA – SARDEGNA EMPIRE: CRUISER

 

Sardegna Empire – represent!

All Azur Lane factions are transparently obvious as (and named for) the combatant nations in the Second World War. The Sardegna Empire is of course Italy, albeit themed more after the Roman Empire and modern Italy – “Sardegna shipgirls are more high-life oriented, aristocratic, and are themed around the Mediterranean summer; their shipgirls prefer swimsuits and act like fashionista supermodels”.

Pola is my top type of ship-girl – a cruiser-girl, similar to my top girl of Azur Lane, Atago. Indeed, the similarities with Atago don’t stop there. Like Atago, she’s not the titular ship of her class – just as Atago is a Takao-class cruiser, so too Pola is a Zara-class cruiser (with both Takao and Zara also as ship-girls in the game). Sadly, both her and Zara’s historical counterpart were sunk in the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941. Similar to the naming conventions for cruisers in other Western nations, she was named for a city, although it is now the city of Pula in Croatia.

As per TV Tropes, “their slightly too-tight and stretched outfits are a nod to the fact that much like the Takao sisters, they were heavily overbuilt in real life and far out grossed their listed tonnage” – “In her Seaside Coincidence skin, Pola wonders out loud if her bikini is too tight”. Spoiler alert – it is and it is spectacular, particularly when cosplayed by Yummychiyo.

 

 

 

 

ART (2 SKINS)

 

Yes, she only has two skins – her standard default skin and her summer skin (of which I rank the latter higher) – but who needs more with Yummychiyo’s cosplay of her summer skin.

 

COSPLAY – YUMMYCHIYO

 

It’s another Azur Lane girl with Yummychiyo cosplay of her summer or swimsuit skin – swoon!

 

 

 

 

(18) CHEN HAI – DRAGON EMPERY: CARRIER

 

Dragon Empery – represent!

No prizes for guessing Dragon Empery is Azur Lane’s stand-in for the naval forces of China. What is surprising is that it took them as long as they did to appear in a game developed in China (and very popular there) – and that they remain a minor faction, far eclipsed by the ship-girls of the Sakura Empire faction that represents Japan as China’s opponent in the Second Sino-Japanese War and Second World War.

It may be less surprising that the Dragon Empery faction is an amalgamation of naval forces from the various historical Chinese states – the Qing Empire, the Nationalist regime in China and subsequently Taiwan, and Communist China – given the lack of actual ships built from which to draw as historical counterparts, and even then the game has to take historical licence with fictional ships, as here with Chen Hai with the lack of any historical Chinese carriers.

Although her ship is fictional, that doesn’t stop this ship-girl from being the standout Ms Fanservice for the Dragon Empery faction.

 

 

 

 

ART (5 SKINS INCLUDING HER RETROFIT SKIN)

 

Chen Hai has an impressive five skins, albeit one of those seems to be a retrofit design of her standard default skin. Accordingly, I won’t rank that one but otherwise…

 

 

Ranking her 4 skins (excluding her retrofit skin)

1 – Vestibule of Wonders spring skin (Yummychiyo cosplay!)

2 – Default / standard

3 – Cerulean Ripples party skin

4 – Sylvan Garden’s Embroidery spring skin (not included here but a essentially a demure Asian-styled dress)

 

COSPLAY – YUMMYCHIYO

 

That’s right – it’s another Azur Lane ship-girl with Yummychiyo cosplay, in this case her Vestibule of Wonders spring skin (or an adaptation of it).

 

 

 

 

(19) YAT SEN – DRAGON EMPERY: CRUISER

 

It’s another Dragon Empery ship-girl, although in this case her historical counterpart was a cruiser that was actually constructed in 1931 – named for the founding father of the Chinese Republic – and saw service until being sunk by the Japanese in 1937. However, the ship had a second life as it was salvaged by the Japanese and used by them as a training ship, indeed surviving the Second World War to be returned to the Republic of China. It remained active even through the Chinese Civil War, withdrawing with the Nationalist government to Taiwan and remaining in service until decommissioned in 1958.

 

ART (5 SKINS INCLUDING HER RETROFIT SKIN)

 

Like Chen Hai, Yat Sen has an impressive five skins, albeit one of those seems to be a retrofit design of her standard default skin – although I’ve done the reverse for that as I have for Chen Hai, ranking it instead of the original default skin. Otherwise…

 

Ranking her 4 skins (with her retrofit skin ranked as her standard or default skin)

1 – Retrofit default / standard skin (Yummychiyo cosplay!)

2 – Paragon of Celestial Grace spring skin

3 – Pristine Leaves, Rich Warmth spring skin

4 – Wedding skin

 

Her other skins are essentially all demure or dress skins – my theory is that the Chinese game designers couldn’t quite bring themselves to do racy designs for the ship-girl whose historical counterpart was the cruiser named for the founding father of the modern Chinese nation.

 

COSPLAY – YUMMYCHIYO

 

Another ship-girl with Yummychiyo cosplay (of her retrofit design). verse for that as I have for Chen Hai, ranking it instead of the original default skin.

 

 

 

 

(20) MARY CELESTE – TEMPESTA: FRIGATE (SUBMARINE)

 

How else to wrap up my Azur Lane special mentions than by representing the Tempesta faction – Azur Lane’s most unusual faction as “an independent faction of pirate shipgirls whose ship origins are based in the Golden Age of Piracy.”

Hence the Tempesta faction is an anachronistic faction of sailing frigates, not that their antique weaponry affects their game mechanics – “it doesn’t slow them down in the slightest”.

It gets weirder – “A lot of their designs heavily imply the Tempesta ships are wrecks raised from the ocean and given life and power by some supernatural force. Tentacles are very prominent in their art”. Hence some Tempesta frigate ship-girls operate as submarines in-game.

And Mary Celeste may be the weirdest of all – “The real Mary Celeste was a civilian merchant vessel that carried no armament of any kind and never sailed under a naval or even a pirate ensign”. Rather, she is perhaps one of the most famous ‘ghost ships’ of maritime history – not so much that the ship itself was a ghost but that her crew were, having mysteriously disappeared before the ship was found at sea without them.

The Mary Celeste always fascinated for me for that mysterious disappearance so naturally I was delighted to see her Azur Lane ship-girl and had to rank her above her fellow Tempesta ship-girls for special mention.

 

 

 

ART (2 SKINS )

 

For a long time, the Tempesta ship-girls only had their default or standard skins but then received a makeover with new and mostly racy Halloween skins. I say mostly as Mary Celeste was an exception to the rule, with her Halloween skin being less racy than her default skin.

 

Sadly, while there is some Tempesta cosplay out there, I haven’t seen any for Mary Celeste.