Moe Madness with Azur Lane: Crosswave

Hello beloved readers, and welcome to a topic of interest we’re calling Moe Madness. With each Moe Madness post, we will be looking at a specific video game that features a vast array of female characters, discussing what we love about the chosen game and a selection of our favourite waifus from the title. This week, we’re tackling Azur Lane, the hit, side scrolling, shoot ’em up video game originally released on mobile devices which received a console game titled Azur Lane: Crosswave this year.

Why Azur Lane?

Azur Lane was created by Chinese developers Shanghai Manjuu and Xiamen Yongshi, competing with the infamous Kantai Collection and Fate Grand Order for mobile devices. As someone who missed out on the hype, seeing a console game release for the IP was a grateful decision. Its mobile origins has over 300 ship waifus, and while Crosswave couldn’t contain that much girl power, it stars two exclusive main characters to the console game as well as 61 units returning from its mobile origins. With such a massive roster, you can aim to unlock your favourite ship girls to fight for you in battle, as more become available the further you venture into its story mode.

Up to 3 ladies can participate as a squad to take the waters for epic ship warfare, while 3 supporting units can be filled for additional battle stats and boosts. Crosswave offers a never-ending amount of mindless fun with its endless battles and achievements that could take up to a whole year to succeed in, like marrying every single unit you have your eyes set on; if you have the drive and patience to do so, that is.

Crosswave is heavily visual novel styled other than the core gameplay of battles. At these times, it’s never been more obvious what makes Azur Lane so adored – the cast of its leading ladies are truly its highlights, all differing from one another, yet still having enough merits and uniquely individual charms and charisma for each one to stand out and be lovable. This is further portrayed amazingly by their talented voice actresses and its gorgeous art. Your favourite could change with time after seeing them fight in battle or in their discussions with other fellow faction members. And you’ll always have a different favourite compared to other fans!

Our top 5 favourite ship girls will take into consideration personality, design and strength in battle.

Yamashiro

Yamashiro is my personal waifu of choice. Ozzing with cuteness, ditziness and as a ruthless optimist, Yamshiro is attention grabbing. Relatabley clumsy and a source of bad luck to herself and those around her, she keeps both her own spirits up and her fellow comrades by her energetic and sunny personality. Yamashiro’s character design screams this, depicted by her cat-like features such as ears and tail to show off her spunky, playful personality.

While most definitely not the strongest of units for battle, there is never a dull moment with her on screen. I especially love her oath confession, more so than any other ship girl (I too will welcome you home every night, my dear Yamashiro). As a battle ship type, I tend to dislike the slower movement and rate of fire as it takes away from the frantic action, but I just can’t go without having my Yamashiro in my squad.

Atago

Atago is a fan favourite, and I’m sure not just because of those lovely thighs. Although her cute dog traits such as her lovely ears may also help with that. As the motherly figure of the Sakura Empire, Atago is shown to be both friendly and caring towards her allies, and has a mature and calming aura. As a reliable reassurance to her fellow allies and nation, Atago is a sweetie without trying. However, her combat abilities are extremely average, which is why she does not climb higher on our list. As a heavy cruiser, I often pick Atago when having to deal with air enemies. As both Yamashiro and Atago are early playable characters at only 100 coins to unlock, they both prove to be out-shined by the top 3 choices of mine.

Kaga

Now we come to the realm of lovable ladies who are also incredible and reassuring assets to join your squad of 3 for battle. Kaga is the first playable unit to stand out during interactions with her calm, cool and collected personality. As her looks are striking and themed after a White Fox, it represents her perfectly, a quiet and reserved unit who is ready to pouch at any given moment. And what better moment than on the open ocean!

Kaga is unlocked when spending 400 A Points in earlier chapters of the game. That’s a lot of points in the early game, but it’s definitely worth it! I find her the funnest to use in battles, as she has the most beautiful visuals when she delivers her devastating blows to her opponents, matching her blue and white colour scheme, making her really stand out from every other ship waifu.

Enterprise

Enterprise steps it up a notch at being available to unlock a few chapters later than Kaga and at 500 A Points. She is almost always a the top of anyone’s ranking lists, Her prowess and notable skills in battle should not be undermined, as her profile assures you of her talents. As the leader of The Eagle Union, both appeal to Western fans of the video games, as Enterprise is portrayed after the legendary carrier USS Enterprise, and her nation symbolizes the United States. Enterprise’s lore consists of a significant amount of battles, receiving 20 battle stars and sustaining enough injuries to sink her multiple times, earning her the nickname “The Grey Ghost”, and plenty more to follow.

The lore and backstory in relation to Enterprise alone should be enough to encourage you to check out the gacha mobile game and anime for more about one of Azur Lane’s most popular ship waifu’s. If you’re going to pass on this, then be sure to at least unlock her in Crosswave; both her and her trusted eagle make a massive wave on their own in battle with some lovely longbow orientated attacks, and as a memorable character even in Crosswave. As I’ve said before, Crosswave does wonders in its fanservice, offering plenty of humorous dialogue that fleshes out its lovely ladies and throwing out trivia and facts plenty of us enjoy learning about on favourite Azur Lane characters. Who knew Enterprise was also a gamer girl?

Bismarck

I don’t think anyone was expecting anyone else as the number one pick. As one of the most teased and hyped unit to be released in the original mobile game, and named after two of the most famous ships in German history, Bismarck becomes legendary in her own right and one of the most iconic ship waifu’s to be recognized in the franchise. As once again being another leader of a faction just like Eagle Union’s Enterprise, Bismarck is Iron Blood’s leader.

Mature, bad-ass and stupidly strong, this is portrayed best with her over-the-top weaponry and skills in Crosswave. At a hefty 800 A Points to unlock, and as yet another battle ship, notorious for being slow movers on the water’s surface but packing almighty strength and significant defensive stats, Bismarck brings an army’s worth of pain all on her own in an already frantic water war. From enormous aircraft’s to her far too heavy for her body battle kit, Bismarck’s stoic face is the opposite of our excitement when we see her in battle.

Who are your favourite shipgirls and why? Let us know in the comments below!

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