The Story of Azur Lane (So Far) | Azur Lane Lore

[@zxylo786]

"I can explain all of the Evangelion lore, what about you?" "I can explain chronologically all of the Azur Lane lore" "Mother of god"

[@electrifiedbathbomb7383]

azur lane lore is ww2 but sometimes ship requires snickers

[@pablohoney2971]

Well, the difference bein' one is a job and the other's a mental sickness!

[@ousamadearudesuwa]

@@pablohoney2971 so, we do not really know which is which.

[@whatchamacallit2794]

this can only be topped by the absolute mad lad who can chronologically explain the entire Metal Gear franchise

[@brachylp3400]

@@whatchamacallit2794 What about the Psychopath who has the Chronological and Canonical Summary of Drakengaard and Nier?

[@whitemagus2000]

Me: I need an Azur Lane story summary. Hawk: Here, watch this 3 hour video. Me: Is there a short version? Hawk: This is the short version.

[@KingTheFnsKid.]

gigguk reference 😂

[@WhosManIsThis]

some MF : here an hour version.

[@tokinosoda12thapostleofthe12]

My hype moments: -the *5 minutes of fate* -Bismarck -that Enterprise and Code G stand off -more plot from the Russian event Woah, a dedicated shikikan for the lore. 👏👏👏

[@apophisstr6719]

My biggest hype moment was definitely Richelieu's first appearance in the first French event.

[@shirayukineps-l4216]

isee one of the 12 apostle here as well

[@strontiumyes9859]

Someone finally did it, they shall sing songs of this day! the day someone finally understood all of the Azur Lane story!

[@yaqinmalul1364]

Me who play this arknight , pgr and ganshin : FIRST TIME?

[@charadreamer6704]

@@yaqinmalul1364 "ganshin" dont really have that big of a lore so idk what you mean.

[@josevelazquez5721]

YESSSSS, I saw subscribed, bell, liked and put in 3 playlists to ensure I don’t lose it

[@KoharuTachibana]

@@yaqinmalul1364 >genshin >lore I cannot... HAHAHAHA

[@SterlingGreySix]

GFL is literally the iceberg meme.

[@AzurLaneMeta]

This was much needed in the community since a lot of folks (like myself) just skip the story and then wonder why we are lost. However, I'll take the fact you had to take 3 hours to explain it all to show the story was a little jumbled to begin with. I like some of the changes you made since the first draft! 8:38 still is my favorite part.

[@smolspite5402]

Hi

[@smolspite5402]

Tru

[@reiryghts639]

Hi

[@gascogne3622]

hi

[@ShebaFr]

I plead guilty, I am mesmerized by Zara's Live2d pool skin.

[@alexhndr]

"Alright folks. Listen closely. This will come up in the upcoming finals, so remember it well!" Hawk, you absolute madlad You've done it

[@banzeyegaming2234]

And now I want to be isekaid into AL…

[@UncleMerlin]

@@banzeyegaming2234 why? you won't be a key, you'll just be some random human in a world which will probably be destroyed by Leviathans.

[@banzeyegaming2234]

@@UncleMerlin And? As long as I don’t get isekai’d into the middle of the ocean, I’ll be fine. Mostly.

[@beaclaster]

@@banzeyegaming2234 you're mostly not gonna be fine mostly

[@Hawk2zer0]

Hey Everyone! I did break the video up into individual segments for an easy to stop/pick back up experience! Check the description for time stamps if need be! Hope you all enjoy this video nonetheless! It was a long, but exciting project to work on! I've learned a lot in my time with this particular project.

[@Omnissiah_]

this is story of how my life went upside down

[@Trehek]

Thanks for all the effort! This video is great, and you're a good narrator!

[@Hawk2zer0]

@@Trehek Glad you enjoyed it!

[@inotachi85]

Wait whats with divergent chessboard?

[@Hawk2zer0]

@@inotachi85 we aren't really sure where it fits in with the story. It's a simulation from the looks of it ..but there's no way to know where it connects.

[@gavincannell2803]

Ah yes, this will be perfect to study for my Azur Lane lore finals, thanks Hawk

[@PolarEclipse]

I'm not sure if anyone has said this, but I'm confident that Enterprise, or "Code G" is the first shipgirl. When you read the OpSi data logs they experimented with Wisdom cubes on Enterprise. And the first shipgirl was also called "Code G", which Ash is referred to, hence my belief that Enterprise is the first shipgirl created.

[@Deltamer]

Seems to me upon watching the bismarck event section that the sirens may have been trying to turn her into a META ship hence her change in apearance as mentioned.

[@Grimmwoldds]

Should also point out a possibly random thing. Code G. Koji. Can be translated as orphan, or origin(neither is a common translation though). Both meanings would satisfy Japanese word play artists.

[@ousamadearudesuwa]

all the more I would oath her

[@hihio5]

It would also explain why she is if not the most skilled one of the most skilled ship girls fighting the sirens and why all of them know her

[@whitemagus2000]

I was thinking Avrora might be the first ship girl. Or one of the first. She is much older than Enterprise and seems to lack to siren tech used by other Russian and German ships.

[@Shadepariah]

Well, I mean, HISTORICALLY, Jean Bart was re-floated, repaired by the allies, and brought to the Philadelphia Naval yard along with her sister ship where they were both completed and upgraded (Radar and moar AA guns cause lol US Navy) for use in Operation Overlord. I suspected we'll get a US/French event like that eventually.

[@Hawk2zer0]

Currently...we don't have any current leads into the next event. :c So I'm not sure what are next event might end up being.

[@Hanandro-C]

I would love like a New versión of Jean Bart completed being an UR or a retrofit! Still i think it's gonna take some time till we see Jean again i guess

[@trololopez2437]

Quite frankly I’m waiting for a Scandinavian event. Saw a fanfic bout it a while ago and the thought just occurred to me. WHERES MA KALMAR BOATS

[@gokbay3057]

@@trololopez2437 I would love for minor factions to get in, even if only as some sort of composite "others" faction rather than a proper one. Scandinavian and Polish ships would be cool and I need a Goeben/Yavuz shipgirl with all my life. (Also WW1 shipgirls. We have some WW1 ships who survived to WW2 in the game but having the Kaiserliche Marine High Seas Fleet, 1st Scouting Group or the Royal Navy Grand Fleet and Battlecruiser Fleet would be really cool)

[@jakobming4831]

@@gokbay3057 so what we can go stomping around the sirens with Hipper’s battlecrusiers but if that is the case then fuck yea let’s do it

[@b-spiral8314]

Now all manjuu has to do is lock compiler in a room and not let her out till she organizes all the event lore in order in-game to make it easier to digest

[@kuwanger12]

No u

[@princeofpillow]

@@kuwanger12 what if... *Holds up the uno reverse card*

[@starguardianbasi2938]

Man seeing a video so complete about AL history is pure pleasure, I've seen far too much people memeing about it, calling it silly and lackluster compared to darker ones (no offense meant Arknight/Girl's Frontline/Honkai players, your game is really good too), while this shows how deep it can go. And I bet we're not even starting to figure out what is really happening here. Edit: fixed some bad english

[@tpnphoenix3367]

as a honkai player i take no offense sometimes i want a light story too (mihoyo just doesnt like doing it) which is why i started blue archive im looking to pick up azur lane but im worrried if now is a good time

[@ragingultimate1003]

Azur Lane, while having its light (and ecchi) moments compared to the rest of the anime RPG genre, it can still get gut-wrenchingly dark. Just look at the sinking of Bismarck for further evidence.

[@InfiniteDeckhand]

@@ragingultimate1003 ''gut-wrenchingly dark'', lol. Overly melodramatic is a better description for that.

[@TimeLeapEnthusiast]

Is most of the story dictated through events? If so then as someone who just started playing the game, this is quite the history lesson. Thanks for the vid

[@Hawk2zer0]

Sorry for the late response, but for the most part yes. Azur Lane does only have 3 chapters of story in the main chapters...and the rest went through events.

[@jesseallen3109]

sadly.. yes. is one reason past events need to go into war archives.

[@grid9343]

​I never realized AL only had 3 chapter of story in the main campaign lol.

[@jesseallen3109]

@@grid9343 I know. Horrible story writing there. I kinda noticed when world 7 was bare bones story and all about just struggling to survive.. what could easily be considered as an war game exercise.

[@aichisendou6375]

@@jesseallen3109 its not bcs of horrible writing or anything near that. Its bcs Chapter 3 of main story tells about Midway Battle, the biggest naval battle of WW2 and the turning around of USS vs IJN. AL devs writes it just like the rest of the world writes that battle. But when this is brought to JP, you should know what happened next. Protest arise from jp fanbase, and devs have no choice but discontinue to Main Chapter story (bcs Main Chapter is always a retelling of WW2 battles, not some headcanon) fully and doing the stories on event. Canon stories are all event exclusives and Operation Siren, no Main Chapter

[@death_walker21]

the amount of lore yostar placed into this game and the madlad of an azur lane youtuber to explain that lore is just amazing, i think now i can potentially see an actual completed azur lane anime/series where all the spin offs are added and if they have the budget. overall very nice simply amazingly done

[@_unknown123.]

finally someone who understands Azur Lane story

[@synthelione3714]

Thank you for spending time to explore and compile the truly rich, and yet, often unheard of Azur Lane lore. There have been too many a game like granblue fantasy where I find it nigh impossible to sift and dig out the game lore because of how they are scattered throughout too many events over too many years despite there clearly being a deep and rich lore behind the game.

[@1989Namz]

I understood the event where we learn about Aoste and Anzeel a bit different or rather I found some additional information. Granted this is probably theorycrafting but hear me out: To me it seems from the information there we learned that Anzeel created the Kan-Sen. In that timeline humanity was about to be wiped out by the Leviatans, the true enemy that has yet to reveal themselves. Disagreeing with Anzeel Aoste hijacked parts of the research and created the Sirens as a form of hyperintelligent, more aggressive and less burdened by morals way to fight the Leviathans. The event we witness is the final stand in that timeline where the last/one of the last bastion of humanity is about to fall as the defence of the place is slowly but surely failing. Anzeel says it is her task to stay behind to buy more time so Aoste and the commander can escape. She also tells Aoste to take the surviving Kan-Sen with him. The META/Ashen ships we are seeing now are the ones who survived the fight with the Leviathans and got isekai'd along with the commander and the sirens/Antiochus and possibly Aoste to the current timeline where the Sirens play the part of the bad guys to create friction and stife to push humanity along in the development of warships. At the same time they use the data and results to improve themselves in preperation of the coming of the Leviathans. The commander being the main protagonist of the story has to power to awaken the ships due to him being able to treat the Kan-Sen as real people rather than tools of war. (talking about power of friendship and love / maybe that info came with the latest event and not from the Khorovod of Dawn's Rime event) So we have the Sirens that are loyal to their creator - the magister - Dr. Aoste; The "old" Kan-Sen META/Ashen ships that were created by Dr. Anzeel and lost their "master" in the defence. And the shipgirls of the current timeline that are loyal to the commander.

[@lellolatina8157]

It makes perfect sense tbh

[@hammer1349]

We get more information on this in the latest event, Light of the Martyrium. The Ashes are the survivors of the group known as Flare, those trying to save Anzeel and the time machine device. In the end it was actually humans that caused the end. The Federation and the Revolutionary Front were about to battle it out to get control of the device with Flare caught in the middle trying to save their creators. That's from what I remember. The Leviatans or X also show up and the battle it out with the current Kan-sen, the presence of the commander turning the tide against the X and turning annihilation into victory.

[@catycoffeebean]

Bet this took a crazy amount of work. Mad props!! Looking forward to seeing all the rest of this.

[@tanmayoken159]

Who say Azur lane don't care about story,huh?? 🐐👌

[@frds_skce]

DAMN, THIS IS A LOT TO BE CONSUMED IN ONE GO Holy shit. But really, this is very useful because event though some veteran players already went thru every event possible, it's very hard to sort them out in chronological pattern and let's be real here, a 3 years worth of events aren't something we want to went thru. So you are really really doing AL community the biggest favor, Hawk. Thank you so much for this

[@xiuyoalli]

Wow is good that the English comunity finally have a lore master, Congrats, We have this kind of videos in the spanish community since a year ago, and we get a deep review of the story of each new evento thanks to the Azur Lane Spanish Lore Master SpaceDGN

[@rain-md9hf]

I really appreciate what u guys have done to the lore community, this is some clear storytelling and timeline order. now I don't have to look at each event for me to understand it all

[@Hawk2zer0]

Glad this helped out a lot for you! It can be a bit frustrating with how fragmented all the story is.

[@puresomenessd2146]

HOHOHO Can't wait for these next 3 hours of pure, unfiltered goodness :DD

[@Hawk2zer0]

Enjoy!

[@corpsimmons575]

ADDONS: We do know SOME stuff about Meta and the leviathans, thanks to events and Operation Siren Files. Firstly, the timeline both the sirens and META are from (called the OG timeline) has regular ships like the CVN-65 Enterprise. They discover "Energy Cubes" which are a near inexhaustible source of power, but with limited output. CVN-65 Enterprise is retrofitted with an "E-Cube" drive, with a few other ships. Then E-cubes are changed into Wisdom cubes by Dr. Anzeel, and she uses the CV-6 Enterprise Anchor to make COde-G. At some point Essex Class "Bon Homme Richard" is made as well. Then BHR goes META and insane, destroys 2 USN fleets during a naval exercise, with only CVN-65 and submarines surviving. What happens next is not clearly known, except it seems the leviathans started to attack, more ships went META, and the world burns as these shipgirls and the "Anti-X" Sirens try to save humanity. They fail, the world ends in the 2000s. As for META: it seems to be when the girls experience a LOT of stress and become more cold, calculating, and unfeeling war machines, rather that Cognitive Awakening which is more like the girls becoming MORE human. Their Wisdom cubes become "Origin Cubes" aka E-Cubes but somehow changed to hold the shipgirls state. META is basically the shipgirl become more SHIP than girl. From what I understand.

[@HachannEinzbern]

It's wonderful to know that someone has arranged them all in chronological order, it's quite difficult to follow the story when most of it is limited to events, thank you for doing this service to the community. And thank you for being epic

[@ImOnGearSoWhat]

I’ve been playing since April 2020 and I still didn’t know wth was going on in the lore lol. Huge thanks for making this video, I know for a fact it wasn’t easy 😅

[@Hawk2zer0]

It was definitely a mountain to climb over...haha. Was a lot of fun making this though!

[@theonecallednick]

Was playing since end of 2018 and i still don't know a thing about the lore of the game. I guess i skipped too much story xD

[@renoultrenoulli2322]

Fun fact: It hinted that while Akagi did took the title of flagship it seem she never official inducted as one, this is because the Nagato and Mutsu in the commande(our) base have always mention Yamato as their successor not Amagi, Akagi or Kaga which meant Akagi reign is either very short that her rule never count or Nagato force to take her mantle as a flagship again until she finally given it for good to Yamato

[@Thunder88]

As someone who took a hiatus before the Khorvorod event (and returned just in time to snag NJ) I appreciate you taking the time to piece together a storyline that deals in time travel and alternate dimensions. I haven't read the logs from OpSi; but from what I can come up with based on your narration is that Shinano's final dream is a point in time where the conflict with the Sirens has ended and is a calm before the storm so to speak. The storm being the Leviathans. This opens up the possibility for the devs to introduce Sirens as playable shipgirls. Essentially our time at the port pulling for shipgirls and manipulating wisdom cubes is just setting up for a final battle. All of this is just conjecture of course.

[@jesseallen3109]

you know everyone is divided on the Sirens (or is it Antiochus?) being playable. While yes they'd be epic to have for the OPness, it's on that annoying trope of "enemy until defeated then becomes ally" .. The ashes themselves are already facing that distaste to the point where some people vehemently do not do OpSi just so they don't have to worry with a META permanently taking up dock space.

[@Thunder88]

@@jesseallen3109 Yes I know. I'm in that camp of not wanting the Sirens to be playable. However, you cannot deny that if this is what the devs are going for with the story, it would open up the possibility. I too do not care much for the METAs outside of Helena (due to her useful debuffs). They're better off as ominous characters with supporting roles to the story IMO.

[@jesseallen3109]

@@Thunder88 I get that. But for a person who wants (but may never obtain) that 100% collection I must have them. Plus the META's are decent in pvp and look cool. Granted the new elite level meta fosou makes no sense as she was never a ashen in any previous event. So she is quite out of place currently.

[@dalemorgan8263]

The first event I witnessed playing AL was Dawn's Rime. I have been longing for this since.

[@Azrael583]

Best Azur Lane lore video I've seen! Great job! (From now on: Random guy: "Azur Lane has no story, it's just a waifu collector." Me: "Go check Hawk2zer0's lore vid and shush.")

[@the8bitclicker_193]

I highly appreciate this history lesson, Hawk.

[@oracasrulz]

This was a fantastic listen, I’ve always been interested in the Azur lane lore but had a hard time either remembering all the details or trying to figure out when each takes place. A well done video and i look forward to more videos and events in the future =)

[@sirbowserfelix9293]

Fantastic! Though I was already on par of the history, see it all together as a "movie/documentary" sure is amazing, congratulations on your hard work, it sure was worth every second. I can't wait to see what Ch5 of OP Siren and new events will bring (maybe something in Ch14 too but I doubt). Since looks like there will be yet one more UR event this year (Which I hope is Shinano rerun cause I could not get her but I doubt it will be) I bet the possibility of a HMS UR event which might bring us more of Ark Royal Meta backstory, or a KMS UR, showing us more of their side in the start of OP Siren and those "ghost/hologram" fleets in OP Siren and Aurora Noctis event. I can't wait for what's coming and also hope to see more of the Commander backstory, I mean, is he even human? Yeah, I'm glad someone actually made a video and showed that Azur Lane, "a game with no history" needs 3 hours just to sumarize it's plot, hahahahaha. Keep up with the Great content, Comrade, I can't wait to see "what's next".

[@jesseallen3109]

i missed shinano event as well. basically because after the first northern parliment event it bloated off my devices and i recently got back on ()in time for parliment event 2!) but then again a Iron blood or royal UR event would be nice too instead of an IJN UR rerun.

[@sirbowserfelix9293]

I only missed Shinano in her event, managed to do 173 pulls but had no more money or resources to reach the soft pity, I really want to get her soon. Now, I really missed the first soviet event, it was before I started playing AL, but I really liked the second one, I hope for a rerun of the first event soon, but at the moment, I'm hopping for a HMS or KMS event since the last HMS was one year ago and the last KMS was in January this year, so both factions need a new event soon.

[@hamakazeKC]

This video is amazing! I've been playing since day -120 or so as I started on the CN server and later started on global once it came online. Despite playing for so long I only had a loose understanding of the lore. This video really helps put it all together. I do like the fact that the newer events are happing closer to chronological order vs the old events which were all over the place. Scapa Flow defiantly needs at least a mini event so we can understand what happened there. Thanks for taking the time to put this all together in a manner which makes sense!

[@durandol]

Perfect timing, I was just introducing my friends to Azur Lane. (And New Jersey's chibi O_O face)

[@euaf-crimson1730]

"Join the dark side." - You (probably)

[@durandol]

@@euaf-crimson1730 Mostly throwing memes at them and occasionally enticing them with floof.

[@jesseallen3109]

@@durandol Floof.. you mean like Naganami's "long awaited warmth" skin which.. i just.. WANNA SNUGGLE WITH FLOFFY skunk tail!!!!!

[@cheesyminer]

*sigh* This is what I get for writing fanfiction. I know absolutely nothing about AL, BUT I decided to include the tag because I thought it would be cool to include a grand total of ONE character. It would've been fine had it not been for someone commenting wondering how AL and the Sirens would factor in to the story as a whole. Unfortunately, there's apparently MUCH more to the lore than a quick google search could sate. Now I'm here.

[@FPSticky]

As someone who was struggling a great deal to find merit in Azur Lane, having lore that's actually digestible makes tolerating gacha elements more bearable. Not that it's the worst with those, obviously. But as I had been on the fence about staying quit from it due to feeling like I wouldn't ever get into the game in any aspect. But the lore is honestly quite nice, very sci-fi-ish and I can appreciate it. Thanks, Hawk, this vid came at a great time personally and helped redeem AL for me.

[@relixryder4810]

14:46 ''From the mist, a shape, a ship is taking form and the silence of of the sea is about to drift into a storm'' heck yeah :D

[@yudhat1700]

Signn of powerrrrr showww offf forceeeee

[@relixryder4810]

@@yudhat1700 Raise the anchor, battleship's plotting its course!!!

[@asimovvomisa4040]

A story containing multiple timelines/variations of one can easily turn into a mess. Nice compilation of the events so far. My own thoughts about the story: Commander being "the key" and having high atunement with wisdom cubes might suggest that the leader of the Sirens could be a future version of himself gone bad, going by the rule "victory by any means necessary". The evil commander might be a Laplace`s demon and hold the knowledge of past and present and with that knowledge he tries to change the future but Ashen ships might be from other timelines as well and seek their own agenda. If evil commander has that high affinty with wisdom cubes he might be able to create the black wisdom cubes and use them to create "Siren" ships. Depending how that commander would like to change the future it would be hard to tell what approach is better: - large changes might affect the timeline in too hard to predict ways and are therefore not used (Sirens stopping Code G from going for that Singularity) - many small changes might lead to more desireable results in approaching the "right" (desired) outcome and thus the Sirens try to "reenact" specific outcomes to artificially generate that result (running looots of simulations and changing small details everytime) In that way Ashes ships (and META as well) might come from "burned down" timelines that had undesirable outcomes. (or the META ships are the end result of repeated stress tests ?) About wisdom cubes in general: It would seem like the result of an experiment to compile larger amounts of data into a compressed form (specs and performances of ships from multiple timelines ?). Why does "the Commander" have a high affinity with them anyway ? Was a future version of him the one that created them and brought them back to the "past" ? (would explain the "sudden" appearance of them) ... theorizing is fun and all but only the future will show how the story unfolds.

[@LucaLukaszPascua]

I just started this game 2 months ago. A lot of FB group I'm in gave this link as I was confuse of the plot. Thank you for this.

[@narumeiaalicia677]

We know in Akagis secretary quest that she loves the Sakura Empire. But chose the wrong path in loving it.

[@thievescamp]

considering how during streams I had my own little theories, I am still glad that my questions I did prompt to you where answered to a degree that I can see being the actual case. I still wanna say that for the future of the Sakura Empire....Akagi might soon drive it to Civil war, and possibly use Zuikaku as a reason to for what happened all the way back in Visitors dyed in Red, possibly saying that "Zuikaku has corrupted and betrayed the ideals of the Empire". Idk, it's my own little theory on how the Empire story line will go from this point onward, other then that, this has been a great 3 hour watch

[@Radley1982]

A Sakura Revolution? That would be cool. And if Akagi is indeed deposed as flagship, that would be a plausible explanation why. Hope to see it soon.

[@gildedphoenix]

Maybe the Yamato's revealing will be tied to this.

[@Radley1982]

@@gildedphoenix Considering that she's been secretly supporting Akagi from the background, I'd say that's a given. Especially if her sister, Shinano, sides *against* Akagi, that would put Yamato in a tight spot. I'd say that'd be enough to finally bring her out into the open. Maybe that's what Manjuu is waiting for, since the Yamato rarely saw combat IRL. But we'll see.

[@Dragontalon486]

This was a very good video. It amazes me to see how this story was created and shows that mobile games can have amazing storytelling if the creators care enough to create it, but I have just one question. How does the Divergent Chessboard/Opposite-colored event fit into the lore of the story or does it not fit at all as the event wasn't mentioned in the video? (Or at least I didn't notice it mentioned...)

[@Hawk2zer0]

That was something I found interesting... opposite colored/divergent chessboard didn't have any connections to the story itself, so we aren't sure where it lines up at. Not to mention trying to figure out both sides was interesting...but is also. Believed to be the commander's group.

[@vtr0104]

Finally, now I can put those Archived events to good use. I never did any of them since I had no idea which direction the story went in, so I just tried to do whichever events came up since I started a couple of years ago. You've done a great service to many of us, good Sir, of this I can assure you.

[@animeturnMMD]

I salute you, high lore master, the ever observing, the knowledgeable, may your light always guide us through these turbulent seas.

[@TacticalAlphaCharlie]

2:03:46 well you could blame World Of Warships for that since they do work with Yostar quite often to promote each other’s game…

[@tommyatlan4091]

I notice that the early events and the campaign itself are actual WW2 inspires and I really like that but cuz of how some people out there are offended and even Pooh himself, the events started drifting slowly away from history and that makes me a bit mad.

[@CrazyChillDog]

their ability to diverge is a strength of Azur Lane, to be honest. I also enjoy the similarities between WWII events and AL events, but to see changes, alt-takes, and complete diverges away from that is kinda refreshing.

[@jamesscalzo3033]

Loved the video @Hawk2zer0! Can't wait for the next video man! The Game has *SO MANY* Historical References from the Second World War. You've got "The Hunt of the Bismarck" for "Scherzo of Iron Blood", the Fight between Richeliu, Illustrious and Algérie being the Liberation of Paris, Operation Torch with Massachusetts and Cleveland against Jean Bart, as well as the Northern Parliament Convoy starting off like the Ill-Fated Convoy PQ 17 and ending as The Battle of North Cape, PH Harbor being Pearl Harbor (PH) Harbor, AF Island being Midway (Operation AF) Island even a Cold War period Oscar-II-class Soviet Submarine like the Ill-Fated Kursk in Northern Parliament Inventory, my list could just go on and On man. If you want to hear more let me know and I'll try and leave them in the Comments section below one of your other videos man. Until then, This is a new fan who's also the Flagship of a Community-Based Camp called "Ghost Division" signing off!

[@santiagoarena3910]

Damn, here I thought that the Fate series lore was complicated, but this is next level

[@imapopo2924]

Well done Hawk! I always knew there was a story, it was just hard to truly understand the scope of it.

[@khrisna_8064]

You, my good sir, have done a huge favor to those who cannot keep up within the lore, to those who join to late to not know where to start, and to those who just simply are not motivated to understand, let alone tried to comprehend it. I am those all that have been mentioned but still wanted to really know, as I want to pledged my loyalty to the game, and by extension my "role" as the commander. I don't want to be just as a normal player who only played the game purely out of attraction to the shipgirls. Though at first it was like that but as I found something that make me care, I begin to properly read the stories that what have been given through the limited time event. But I was to lost on where should I start and continue. It was like figuring out an unclear puzzles with no corner pieces. But with this, my studies will began once more and hopefully I could know the details why my Dearest has become like... That. I thank you once more to have making this video.

[@thepunishersequence291]

same

[@randomsheep7844]

The madlad uploaded it

[@coconutmalldreams]

This was much needed for a lore enthusias, so thank you...

[@lestatstaton7856]

Alright 1:52:20, Khorovod of Dawns Rime, is where I quit playing because I dont recognize any of those new russian ships and none of this event is a familiar reminder. Loved the recap so far, been a long time since I left and I definitely forgot a lot. Looking forward to the rest of the video and wonder how far it goes/close to current considering this video is 2 years old.

[@rainierduval6155]

As other people have said in the comments you did an incredible job with this. The Azur lane story so far is a jumbled mess of puzzle pieces with each event adding more but you put them together as best you could and the story is far from over. We definitely are not done with the Northern Parliament story given the things revealed by Dawn's Rime and Mirror Involution along with the mistrust between them and Azur Lane but we are probably gonna get a Northern Overture rerun before any new NP event. There is also the Scapa Flow battle mentioned in Northern Overture which has not gotten an event yet so hopefully that is coming soon as well.

[@Hawk2zer0]

yeah...part of that is in the fact that the Northern Parliament aren't following the vision of Azur Lane...and are trying to keep quiet about it. I do believe tho, that the Royal Navy and Eagle Union will stand down if the Commander sides with them (which I believe would be the case).

[@rainierduval6155]

@@Hawk2zer0I actually just went back and looked at the dialogue at the end of the event and it wasn't as hostile as I originally thought (I could of sworn it was when I played through it myself but I guess i was wrong there.) but they no longer trust each other at all that's for sure. I was also editing what i said above to fix that but i didn't think you'd actually respond this quickly so that's my bad.

[@Hawk2zer0]

It's a bit of a cold shoulder feel they are giving them at the moment. Also understandable! I sometimes can be pretty quick.

[@DKHZStudio]

14:52 it was perfect for an Sabaton meme

[@SatoshiSosuke]

This idea is something I had a curiosity about and something I wanted to do myself if no one had already. You did really good work, and the story is only developing from here. Wish we had more story in the base game and not all of it locked to events. However, what we do got is good so far, and I feel we'll learn more about the darker stuff during anniversary events so gotta keep an eye out around those.

[@alexanwhat]

New player here, thanks for making this. I joined up in Jan 2022, I was a bit lost of course but eventually got enthralled by the story and this helped me get a better understanding on current events. I've seriously loved the events we had this year, massive lore bombs here and there, hope you've been enjoying it as much as I have.

[@Hawk2zer0]

For sure! It's been a real journey for them to go through their whole story.

[@Valamist]

The 8th NightThank you for this! I have been playing the game for just over a year or so now and whilst it can be tricky to get into (Especially with so many time-limited events) I do adore its story and cast. This has really helped give me a clearer picture of whats going on, and what may be lurking in the mists.

[@alex_theforest]

Hawk has finally delivered, thanks for giving me 3 hours of content and to refresh my mind on the chapters I've skipped!

[@McPyore]

Its been 4 years since i started playing... on the jp server. So besides the occasional CG i don't get almost anything xd That said, thank you for this titanic work, i hope ill finally be able to understant some of the lore

[@xylathoth]

Thank you for this. I've only started to be able to piece together the story over the past couple months, but since I missed out on the first 2 years and have only started the war archives, the most of the story has been difficult to put together for me with the order I've seen them in.

[@sleepyprinny]

*THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!!!!* The 2 things this game's story *BADLY* needed were: 1. Where what happened when. 2. Clearer context and clarification. Also, I also *LOVE* how the 'playable' kansen are 'altetnate versions' of the story characters, except when they apparently are under our direct command when we're directly tied to events. 'PC' Akagi escaped her fate! And then there's Shinano's dreams and the seemingly various concurrent alternate timelines...

[@hammer1349]

Learning all the past events while watching this made me realise that Enterprise really wants the commander by her side at all times. This is likely why Code G is also so interested in the commander and why she has so much regret about losing them. Perhaps that is why she is somewhat one of the Ashes, although it is clear that she still holds on to the spark of hope. The sirens likely hate Code G because while her presence can be anticipated, her actions not so much. Her motives are almost as unknown as everything else about her.

[@Zemeritt]

This is so well done. Thanks for doing this. One can see that the story is somewhat of a patchwork of multiple ideas, which formed into somewhat of a string of story. I just hope they stop add more convoluted stuff or factions and go wih the base they have for now.

[@apgirl7454]

I do hope you make another compilation of lore this year. Gotta say, from the events I saw since, there will be alot to cover.

[@ninjk7836]

Aight bois... Today marks the start of something beautiful . Waiting for Zuikaku vs Ember Round 2: Day 1!

[@Kenraali]

Are you going to make more parts to this video? Since this video ends at Mirror Involution, there has been (new events): - Upon Shimmering Blue - Tower of Transcendence - Abyssal Refrain (the debut of Bon Homme Richard META) - Virtual Tower (this one seems to be in the Port timeline) - Rondo at Rainbows End (Compilers death, Iron Blood 4d chess plot armor) - Pledge of the Radiant Court (More BHM, Purifier being an ally (not Purity)) - Aquilifiers Ballade (nothing really major that I remember) . Operation Convergence (more 4d chess from IB) - Violet Tempest, Blooming Lycoris (Jintsuu META, Musashi playing 4d chess)

[@Hawk2zer0]

Yeah that's the plan, just fighting irl issues and items to get the time to really work on things.

[@zxylo786]

And now. The new Tier II US event ended up being quite possibly the most important event lore wise so far. Lmfao

[@frederickthesquirrel]

Whatever lessons you take from Azur Lane, I don't think "war never changes" should be one of them. It's definitely a departure from traditional military tactics to take your artillery on a date to make it more powerful. The main chapters go to 13 now, and the event that ended this video is now in rerun. Is a part 2 coming?

[@Rramirez246]

Im a fool for pronouncing it Shertso instead of Scherzo. Though this video is long it's extremely entertaining and helpful for the story. Something great to watch while in maintenance, since I also skip the story due to the convolute mess it seems to be. Thank you Hawk2zer0!

[@melonfighter6589]

Who knew almost 3 years of not playing can lead you to not knowing 90% of the story. Very needed video thanks😭

[@Hawk2zer0]

Glad it helped!

[@simonbengtsson9241]

I'm ready for this. Because of that quote from Fallout: "War. War never changes." Also, Akagi seems to have three sides to her personality: The power-hungry lady who believes motive justify the means that the lore says she is, the "yandere" that the game depicts her as, and the lonely girl who wants recognition from her secretary quest, which is very wholesome. Personally, I think it's a mixture of all three sides to some degree.

[@iqbalarya7168]

I remember in ashen simulacrum/fallen wings event(if I'm not forgot) the siren is looking for the anomaly on this timeline and also the reason why code g(enty alter) looking for the commander/player it's probably because we are the anomaly (the player) and the siren is interested in this timeline because why this timeline doesn't f*ked even Takao alter said that the ship girls only live as a weapon but since there's us commander (player) we give the ship girls a purpose and not be a weapon so we not ended up like code g or takao alter

[@exudeku]

It really shows in the Anime too. The official vs the Slow Ahead anime, the world where SKK didnt exists and the other he/she does.

[@iqbalarya7168]

@@exudeku and my another theory was that code g and the other alter ship was created by siren since there's no us player in their timeline and the thing with the cube itself is still a mystery

[@neolingad8063]

I thank you for researching, and taking your time to read the lore of Azur lane, I have been trying to comprehend the entire lore of it but I get confuse. For that thank you and I hope you have a great day.

[@Hawk2zer0]

Glad you enjoyed it and that it helped out! Hope you have a great day as well!

[@SeraphoftheRoundTable]

I cannot thank you enough for making this Hawk! You have helped me finally understand the storyline and how it is laid out.

[@sirwence9949]

There is also the way Akagi speaks to 'the commander' I mean which is our Akagi vs 'the Akagi (I only bring it up as you mentioned your video on it xD)

[@WhosManIsThis]

9:46 "They betray Royal Navy and fail horribly" Ah yes classic Ferrari masterplan

[@curiouswonderer7218]

Well at least they tried

[@WhosManIsThis]

@@curiouswonderer7218 just like Ferrari since 2008

[@cavalierliberty6838]

​@@WhosManIsThisjust like Ferrari since the 60's, betraying a partner and it going boom in their face.

[@p3pable]

3 hours of movie ❌ 3 hours of waifu game lore ✅ okay after finishing the video. I'm considering coming back to the game. I used to think that the Azur Lane Lore is basically just reference to real naval battles, while I don't know much about history I guess that was the case. While it seems some events are reference to actual history, I didn't think that the Lore would be this interesting. I supposed it's because it's told all at once as opposed to the usual bits and pieces we get while playing. They don't say much about the PR ships huh, I am very curious about the lore behind them. I don't know which but some aren't supposed to exist? and the game you mentioned is World of Warship? I presume? well either way the new PR ships have great designs. I'm aiming for Odin first, she looks cool. Well done compiling all those logs, I just sub in hope to hear updates in the future. It saddens me to realize that I probably missed a lot of limited ships from my inactivity since mid 2020, it has been over a year now. and OMG I missed Shimakaze, fuq

[@IncogNovah]

Finally, the scattered pieces of lore I've seen actually make sense lmao

[@panzerkampfwagenviiimaus1790]

"The Story of Azure Lane" huh interesting. "Runtime: 3:00:32" hell yeah

[@stuperman117]

I first picked this game up around.. something like two years ago, but didn't really play much of it before I dipped out... Then I got bored enough to resnag it, because waifu ships.. I wasn't really paying attention to the events, just doing whatever came up because, hey waifu gacha game. It was the second Northern Parliment event that got my brain going 'wait, hold on.' And while I do semi kept an eye on the lore, up until that point.. It wasn't the same afterwards. My history with lore in video games, comes from my love of the Halo games and the plethora of the lore in the background there.. But seeing this? A simple little gacha game? With a lore that I was not prepared for? Let's just say that I'm rather floored.. And I eagerly look forward to seeing more from you in this regards.

[@kasilentkun1818]

Thank you for making this video! missed some events and have not had a chance to do some of the achieved event and with the event timeline being all over the place I miss/forget/get confuse with certain info! again great video and thanks for clarifying the story and I can't wait to hear more now that new OS chapter is out and with the few new events

[@curiouswonderer7218]

A little suggestions for a possible future contents, OpSi give us a shitton of information regarding lore in the form of data files. It would be very awesome if you do a video about the information we get from OpSi too

[@Hawk2zer0]

Oh there's more than just op Siren records we could do

[@daedalus25]

The amount of work that went into this is impressive! My only critiques are referring to Eugen as "Prinz", since that's her title not her name. It's especially more confusing since there are other "Prinz" ships. Also I think this is the first time in my long life that I've ever heard anyone refer to New York as "NY". It's written that way, but I've never heard anyone actually say it that way LOL. And if those are the only 2 critiques I can come up with for a 3 hour video, then you did DAMN well!

[@Kang_Ki_Hyeon]

All I need to understand having done these event stories, HQ is lying to us SKK about the history and origin of the conflict, and nature of the enemy we are fighting. Like any good military command structure, they keep the frontline troops unaware of the wider reasons for fighting the war. I'll never forget the adage "The Green Machine eats its own" for those in the know. Regardless, as we get more updates and events, I am looking forward to learning the truth.

[@RedWeeb4926]

Thank you for explaining the reenactment parts of the story in Azur lane. I was always confused as to why we seem to have a present-day storyline and a parody storyline with historical events from the past.

[@DashedSimpusMaximus]

This was amazing.. Hopefully you'll do a follow up when the story progresses more in the future.

[@Hawk2zer0]

Plan to!

[@jesseallen3109]

@@Hawk2zer0 any chance you'll do a smaller video talking about where the just finished event takes place? I thought due to the upload stamp you'd have it but was surprised ya didn't (i guess was still working on this and dealing with the event to not have time tho) Also wonder what the next event will be since I don't recall any political intrigue or potential plot hook seeded at the end of Shimakase's event.

[@jaggerlol8837]

It’s nice to know someone is actually paying attention to the story And it’s cool, my Island (Guam) is in the campaign and there are drawings of it

[@ericchen5928]

TL;DR (based on my interpretations of this video): After the united effort of repelling Siren invasion to Earth, the grand alliance known as Azur Lane were divided into the original Azur Lane, who strongly oppose the use of Siren technology and Crimson Axis, who desires the immense power of Siren's ages ahead technology. As a new commander (player) of the current Azur Lane, your job is to utilize the power of Wisdom Cubes to materialize KAN-SAN (a.k.a. shipgirls), train them, and then repel the incoming threat of Azur Lane. Your rival, the Crimson Axis, consist formidable (NOT the ship name) foes who successfully (partially at least) incorporated some Siren technology with their already outstanding engineering. The Sirens, who should have been defeated but nevertheless dangerous threat to Earth, are preparing new means to create further chaos to all factions, but their movements seems quite different this time. Can you defeat the foes with your limited resources while discovering shocking truths behind each conflict? Ok this is not really TD;DR, but I hope it saves some of your time from watching a 3 hours long video.

[@starflame34]

I really appreciate you doing this, it's crazy to think anyone could go through all these events and try to put it together. That said, I feel you glossed over a couple things, namely Yorktown's "death" at the end of chapter 3. Unlike other shipgirls that have been saved, it seems like she was definitely sunk, but then was never addressed again, even though I believe Operation Siren makes it seem like she's fine. There are other ships too, like Arizona. And what about the rest of the main campaign?

[@Hawk2zer0]

Mirror Involution mentions Yorktown is in critical condition, so it seems like she's recovered and was not necessarily "killed". I didn't think of it to be of major importance to the grand scheme of the storyline. "That's impossible... We know that Yorktown was heavily damaged during the previous operation..." - Boise (Mirror Inv - Chapter 14) She's probably how she is depicted in most situations...bed ridden and recovering. Arizona's status is "unknown" like a good number of ships throughout the main storyline (Hiryuu, Souryuu, Shouhou, Lexington). I want to believe Arizona is recovering like Yorktown, because she was being held by Pennsylvania in World 1. As for the rest of the main storyline...there isn't anything...World/Chapter 4 onward has no story. Nothing to work with at least.

[@starflame34]

@@Hawk2zer0 Eh, I don't like that. Chapter 3 ends with Yorktown handing her eagle to Enterprise like she was definitely dead. To me, it feels like the devs originally intended for these shipgirls to indeed be killed, but then changed the story around to be heavily damaged. So does this mean Amagi might also be alive and is just bedridden?

[@WhosManIsThis]

@@starflame34 thats the theory run around rn she alive as civilian but not as shipgirl ie the "ship" part of her died but she still alive in a sense

[@mechonline1]

So before gettin into the lore discussion great video and i hope you will continue when we will get new events. Now this are my personal theory so put on your tinfoil hats and lets go. Firstly Shinano's dreams are things that happen in other parallel timelines in which her consciousness goes into another shinano while that one sleeps. The beacon placed by Code G is most probably a way for meta ships to find our timeline since it was hidden before. It is mentioned that sirens were originally created to replace ship girls i believe that was in other to defeat the monsters like leviathan. The siren probably failed and observer zero probably went into another timeline to try to save that one. The sirens realizing that they could not defeat the leviathan alone tried to find ways to make shipgirls stronger so they could fight the monster but did not know how to do it. Later they find out the meta phenomena in which if you subject a shipgirl to intense emotion they could become stronger. The siren adapt this into the awakening process and the black cubes we see that shinano refers to the cubes as being full of calamity so maybe the sirens want to create an artificial sort of meta phenomena. Observer zero seems to be the boss of the sirens but she seems to be using resources sparingly as the arbiters are only used for the ashes situation. Antiochus is related to the commander somehow and is trying to make him befriend as many shipgirls as possible to strengthen them. The reson the ashes are mad at Antiochus might be because he was involved with the cration of the meta phenomena and made them go through traumatic events in order for them to evolve. Please keep in mind that those are just my theories.

[@Hawk2zer0]

Fair enough! I think the first one about the beacon makes sense...this timeline is very...unique at the moment. Since it's hidden, this gives them a way to find it...especially since we can see the comment Zero makes at the end of Khorovod of Dawn's Rime. There's a lot of questions regarding the Leviathan...so hopefully we'll learn more later on.

[@stef2337]

That guy literally explain lore of anime ships and I listen it holy mother of god what a man

[@shockbladezed1871]

I just wanna say thank you for making this video, I just recently started playing this game and have been very interested in the lore since watching the anime but I've haven't played the game long enough to get all of the story events so this video is the exact thing that I was looking for.

[@Hawk2zer0]

No problem! Glad it was helpful for you!

[@jesseallen3109]

question.. does the Anime seem to follow with Sir Hawk's understanding of the AL story line or is it more on the lines of just downtime between these important events? Kinda wondering the same on AL: cross wave. Which i still can't get over that it looks so WEIRD in that game format. It's the only reason i haven't bothered to pick up both yet but am very interested in them.

[@Radley1982]

@@jesseallen3109 Both the anime and Crosswave seem to be more like alternate universes of Azur Lane, and not the mobile game in general. For instance, in Crosswave there's no Crimson Axis and the Sirens aren't as active as a threat. And in the anime the Commander does not exist, and Sakura declared war after assaulting Azur Lane's new base (rather than Pearl Harbor as in the mobile game). So think of the mobile game as canon and the others as separate continuities, hope this helps.

[@jesseallen3109]

@@Radley1982 considering that AL does involve heavily with alternate realities... Your explaination is actually pretty sound and means that essentially one can say that the crosswave game and the anime are BOTH Canon.. but as an alt timeline/universe that doesn't currently contaminate the base gacha game. Nice.

[@calebtesfaye3925]

You have done the fandom a great service in making this video! Btw, any chance of a sequel that goes over some of the recent events, like Rondo at rainbow's end?

[@Hawk2zer0]

I'm working on getting the time for them all! Life's just been a bit difficult getting the time needed.

[@calebtesfaye3925]

@@Hawk2zer0 awesome, can't wait!

[@SeraphoftheRoundTable]

I personally believe the Sakura Empire schism may get worse. I would not be suprised if it turns into a "civil war" between Akagi's and Mikasa's factions. All the foreshadowing of the 3rd combined fleet flagship, that being Yamato, is quite prevalent. Where is she and Musashi? Who will they both side with? Akagi or Mikasa? Considering they are probably the most wanted ships to be added to the game. Whatever events they are released in there will probably another massive lore dump.

[@Radley1982]

IIRC, Akagi claimed during the assault on Pearl Harbor that Yamato was behind her ie supporting her cause. But I daresay if Yamato ever discovers that her sister Shinano was crippled when Akagi covertly surrendered the Watatsumi, the source of Shinano's power, to Iron Blood, then Yamato will undoubtedly turn her cannons on Akagi for betraying her and her sisters. So it all depends on keeping Yamato in the dark on what really happened to Shinano and the Watatsumi, how long Akagi can pull it off is anyone's guess right now.

[@deaks25]

This has been fantastic. I also didn't think the game had much of a story line and was mostly focused on tweaking various historical events mixed with the shipgirl idea, but after the short anime I started to notice some of the story threads you discuss and became very curious as to the timeline and where the story might be going. I do agree on your thought that both the Ashes, Sirens and AzurLane are all trying to change the fate of humanity, but with very different and conflicting methods (Much like Azur Lane and the Crimson Axis) I also have my own ideas, particularly about the Ashes/META ships that these are the shipgirls from other timelines where humanity has been conquered, and the constant fighting, only to see defeat and loss is what triggers the META phenomenon that Helena META talks about and that this timeline that is somehow different is attracting the various sides to it. It's been really useful to get the overall story line laid out in a coherent timeline, and I can appreciate how much time, effort and research a three hour video took. For what it's worth, it earned a subscribe (And a like obviously!).

[@NaniiDesuu]

This is amazing!! Thank you so much for this! I have only been playing for about 7 months now and really enjoy it. But have always been confused on the lore when trying to piece it together myself. This was so helpful and just further hyped me up when finding out just how deep and mysterious the lore is. Thanks again!

[@Hawk2zer0]

No problem! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jesseallen3109]

I feel sorry for ya that most of the events you haven't played and thus you got even more confused. Sure you can kinda piece together some of it with the war archives, but there are still MANY not yet added to it that was talked about here. Heck, i was a bit saddened to realize that I'm plot spoiling for me the events I missed when AL bloated off my devices i had at the time. but then again.. these spoilers just made me want them to be rerun/added to War Archives even more. ESPECIALLY SHINANO.. because her event had many a well designed character... plus shinano is appearantly pretty good (says the person who's still not correctly utilizing NJ and hasn't even put Shimakase into a battle group),

[@1TruNub]

Though I am mainly a ironblood and Eagle Union Commander I did feel a bit of sadness for Jean Bart, all she wanted to do was to protect her Homeland and be with her sister and it cost her everything in the end

[@Ozraptor4]

God tier summary of the event lore. Many thanks. Does our idyllic Home Port somehow fit into this timeline or does it exist somewhere else? A world where all the factions co-exist in peace, Amagi is alive, Akashi is a genius inventor of meowfficers/chibi-girls/Muse gear, crossovers happen and the Commander is a lewd polygamist? Shinano sees this world in her vision and this is presumably the setting for Slow Ahead. Graf Zeppelin & Akagi have a strange conversation (Red Spider Lily's Love) that indicate a direct connection with the event timeline.

[@Hawk2zer0]

It's not entirely sure yet. We have the "player" timeline...which is separate from the current one in this video. It's also possible it could be the endpoint of this timeline (aka the fifth dream Shinano sees)

[@天泣-b1l]

Thank you for making this video! The storyline in this game are so confusing, its good that someone help to re-align it for all of us. Thank you.