I had planned to upload this yesterday, however events that were beyond my control forced me to hold off until today. Regardless, enjoy! “December 7th, 1941--a date that will live in infamy--the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. “The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with it’s government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our secretary of state a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.”This is a historical piece where i’ll share some quick interesting tidbits about pearl harbor, then go on and talk a little about an anime that has parallels to the Second World War. I’m not going to explain the attack on pearl harbor, just google it if you really want to read about it. *Note: There's an older movie that is titled Tora! Tora! Tora! that does an outstanding job of showing the events on both the Japanese and American sides that ultimately lead up to the attack.Tora! Tora! Tora! was the Japanese code to be used if they achieved complete surprise. While Tora (虎) literally means tiger, in this case it’s an acronym for TOtsugeki RAigeki (突撃雷撃) which means lightning attack.I thought this would be most appropriate for a site like Jappleng, as it shows the meaning behind the Japanese code words for a successful attackThe Japanese plan for Pearl Harbor included midget submarines that were supposed to torpedoe American ships in the harbor. This plan was thwarted by rough seas and the destroyer USS Ward, which successfully engaged and sank one of the subs.There are a number of pieces of evidence that show America could have at least lessened the damage from the attack. We had already cracked the Japanese code, and had already received evidence that the Japanese were planning an attack. Second is the discovery of inbound Japanese planes by radar, which were ignored. Had American commanders taken note of these, it's possible that the damage of the attack could have at least been lessened.Enough about history, if you want to learn more about the attack go check out Wikipedia. Now I'll dive into the influence that the attack had on an anime. The most obvious show that draws inspiration from the attack is none other than Mobile Suit Gundam.A series that's well known for its depiction of warfare, Gundam features a story that shares a number of parallels with the attack on Pearl Harbor.The Earth Federation, which represents the Allied forces (notably America) was drawn into conflict with the forces of the Principality of Zeon which represents the Axis forces (notably Japan). This is done when the Principality of Zeon begins dropping colonies onto the surface of earth in a surprise attack.The attack by the Principality of Zeon was completely unexpected, and the resulting carnage caused death on a massive scale. I’m going to avoid writing a review for the show/manga but would certainly recommend it to any of you who may be interested.Thanks for reading! I hope you learned something or at least found this half as interesting as I did.

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