REVIEW: ‘The Silent Service’ Season 1 — The Battle of Tokyo Bay” Is Uneven

Political alliances, with one country more dependent on the other, are a great source of inspiration to stir up the pot. If tackled in the right way, what can emerge is something rife with drama, intrigue, and tension. This formula works well in The Silent Service Season 1 – The Battle of Tokyo Bay. A web series adaptation of mangaka Kaiji Kawaguchi’s 32-volume series, The Silence Service (Chinmoku no Kantai), this eight-episode series will keep its audience on its toes, even if it fails to go deep into its characters on-screen.

The intrigue starts immediately. Commander Hiroshi Fukamachi (Hiroshi Tamaki) and his crew hear an MSDF submarine collide with a U.S. Nuclear submarine. The audible crushing of the submarine as it plummets to the depths is horrifying. This further highlights the tragedy of the deaths on board the vessel. This accident, though, is fake news.

As it turns out, the crew is still alive. Led by Commander Shiro Kaieda (Takao Osawa), he and his crew have been brought on board the Seabat. The Seabat is a nuclear submarine that’s been secretly built by the Japanese and U.S. governments. Things don’t go according to plan. Kaieda commandeers the submarine and declares it its own separate nation. This act sparks tensions between the Japanese and U.S. governments and prompts urgent action to target Kaieda and his crew.

The running theme of The Silent Service Season 1 focuses on the human condition. Why is it that humanity comes into conflict? Whether on land or sea, it seems inevitable for tensions to stir and war to erupt. No matter who is at the helm, the end result of conflict seems the same. These series of questions are nothing new, yet are always timely. Kaieda’s approach reflects this mentality and what little we see of it. The President of the United States’s approach veers into religion, taking on almost the position of a God debating quelling his flock. Both question why humanity needs to fight, yet both escalate tensions through the usage of power.

On a grander scale, this power struggle reflects the constant political maneuvering between the version of Japan and U.S. governments in The Silent Service Season 1. The Japanese prime minister and his cabinet clash on ideology. The older officials are more cautious. There’s still a historical debt to pay for Japan’s previous actions during World War II. For the younger members of the cabinet, there’s a need to sculpt a stronger Japan—a Japan that is no longer reliant on other countries for protection. Admittedly, the segments with the Japanese officials are far more intriguing than the moments with the American government officials.

As for the tensions on the high seas, things move at a brisk pace. Kaieda’s decisions frequently stoke the action occurring in The Silent Service. Osawa’s calm, confident approach to Kaieda’s demeanor facilitates curiosity. We never truly know what’s hiding under the surface. Much like those reacting to Kaieda’s actions, this ambiguity creates surprise for the characters on-screen and the audience watching.

With that said, there’s little exploration of the characters in The Silent Service Season 1. Kaeida remains an enigma. What little we learn of him is shown through exposition. Hiroshi is the one who knows Kaeida the best, yet, of the two characters, Hiroshi is the most fleshed out. He’s the one always in pursuit one who aims to take down Kaieda. Even with that knowledge, Hiroshi, too, reads as two-dimensional at best. With a huge ensemble of characters, The Silent Service offers a sea of faces with little memorability.

There is also the issue of Prime Video not providing English subtitles when characters speak English. Unfortunately, this is a common issue with international shows on the majority of streaming services. There’s a note to be made about accessibility here. But also, for a show where English is not the native language for half of the cast, adding subtitles when English is being spoken would have gone a long way in providing clarity. It’s a shame Prime Video did not provide this.

Ultimately, the performances make The Silent Service Season 1 more cheesy than serious. The Japanese cast is operating on a more grounded level. It gives a certain realism to this otherwise fictional scenario. On the flip side, the scenes focusing on the American naval powers and the scenes with the President are more over-the-top. There’s no subtlety in the delivery of lines, painting a stark difference between the regional casts. The American character performances fit better on a theatrical stage rather than up close on camera.

The Silent Service Season 1 – The Battle of Tokyo Bay is an intriguing political drama with plenty of action and tension. Even if you’re not a fan of the genre, there’s enough to catch the most casual viewer’s attention. Unfortunately, due to uneven performances across its cast and a lack of actual character exploration, The Silent Service is more mid than great.

The Silent Service Season 1 – The Battle of Tokyo Bay is streaming exclusively on Prime Video.