Azur Lane held its 4th-anniversary special stream on September 12, revealing several new details, including a new console game, additional shipgirls, Skins, figures, a Gridman + Dynazenon collab, and the addition of Shimakaze. We detailed everything below.
If you're unfamiliar with Azur Lane, it's a gacha game with horizontal shmup gameplay developed by Shanghai Manjuu and Xiamen Yongshi. Azur Lane was released in 2017 on iOS and Android and was initially seen as a Kancolle copycat, the Japanese browser game featuring various warships turned into cute 2D girls.
However, Azur Lane quickly eclipsed Kancolle in terms of worldwide popularity, and the game is pretty much mainstream now. After four years, Azur Lane is by far one of the most popular anime-stylized mobile games out there. You can watch the animated trailer for the 4th anniversary below.
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Azur Lane Shimakaze event dates, new characters, Skins
Azur Lane will finally introduce UR destroyer Shimakaze with a new major event, Upon the Shimmering Blue, going from September 16 to October 3. Until now, Shimakaze, voiced by veteran seiyuu Saori Hayami, was a character exclusive to the console game Azur Lane Crosswave.
A total of six new ships and Skins will be available with the event. You can check them in the gallery below: SR destroyer Yamakaze, SR destroyer Kaifu, SR light cruiser Yura, SSR heavy cruiser Chikuma, SSR aircraft carrier Katsuragi, and UR destroyer Shimakaze.
Keep in mind all illustration artwork first revealed in the live stream are subject to change and not final. If they look different on release, they weren't "censored", it's just that the artists weren't done yet.
Gallery with the new Skins coming with the event on September 16: Note that Shimakaze will get a bunny suit skin animated with Live 2D.
New Skins coming on September 23. Note that the new "Highness in White" Skin for Cheshire will be Live2D animated.
Official English names for each of these characters and Skins will be revealed by the Azur Lane English Twitter in the next few days.
SSSS Gridman and Dynazenon anime collab event reveal, new game, figures
Azur Lane will soon hold a collab event with both Studio Trigger's SSSS Gridman and Dynazenon. Actual dates for the collab event were not shared yet. Additional details on the story and characters will be revealed at a later date. It's very likely that Azur Lane will at least add Rikka Takarada and Akane Shinjou to its roster.
Next up, new figures for Illustrious and Zara were announced as well. The Zara figure will launch its preorders on September 19 for 34,980 Yen, it'll release in May 2022. The Illustrious figure preorders start on in the new few months before the end of 2021, no date or price was revealed.
Last but not least, Manjuu announced a brand new Azur Lane console game is in development. The game was described as a spin-off and teased with the keywords: "You cannot be the Commander".
Judging from that, this new game might be a completely different genre than the 3D action game Azur Lane Crosswave, currently available on PC Steam, PS4, and Switch. It hints that we'll play another role than commanding the ship girls. We could get a JRPG, a dating sim, or anything really. What do you guys think? You can always share your guesses with me on Twitter @A_iyane07.