# The Silent Service

The Silent Service (Japanese: 沈黙の艦隊, Hepburn: Chinmoku no Kantai) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kaiji Kawaguchi. It was published in Kodansha's Weekly Morning manga magazine from 1988 to 1996 and collected in 32 tankōbon volumes.
The series was adapted into an anime television special and original video animation (OVA) series by Sunrise. The special was released in North America by Central Park Media.
In 1990, The Silent Service won the 14th Kodansha Manga Award for the general manga category. It has over 25 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series.
A live-action film adaptation premiered in Japanese theaters in September 2023.

## Plot

Following the Cold War, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force jointly and secretly developed a nuclear submarine, the Seabat, with the United States Navy. Chosen as co-captain is Shiro Kaieda (the other co-captain is an American), while the Seabat's crew is composed entirely of Kaieda's crew from his previous command. On the Seabat's maiden voyage, Kaieda abruptly takes control of the submarine, re-names it the Yamato and declares it to be an independent state. Kaieda and his crew intend to sail to Tokyo to form a formal alliance with Japan, and the United States Navy musters its entire Pacific fleet (including its most modern warships) to stop him. The United States is determined to recover the Yamato by any means, even if it risks another war with Japan, while the Japanese government is divided as to how the events surrounding the Yamato will determine Japan's fate, and both governments remain unsure as to whether or not the Yamato is actually armed with nuclear missiles.
In the second OVA episode, "Voyage 2", the Yamato enters Tokyo Bay and a special meeting is arranged between Kaieda and the Japanese government. At this meeting, which is attended by the world press and televised live, a formal Treaty of Mutual Assistance is eventually concluded between Japan and the Yamato. Additionally, Japanese Prime Minister Takegami proposes, and Kaieda agrees, to place both the Japanese forces and the Yamato under the aegis of the United Nations, and that the Yamato should present itself at a special meeting of the United Nations Security Council. However, while the Yamato is being reprovisioned inside the Southern Cross, a secret refitting ship disguised as a tanker, President Bennett orders the American fleet to blockade the bay and launch an attack on the Southern Cross before the Yamato can depart, and refuses to halt the attack when Takegami protests. Fukamachi, who has been unsure of Kaieda's plans/motives and whose sub Tatsunami is part of the Japanese escort fleet (which under orders can act defensively and not attack), must now protect Kaieda and the Yamato.

## Characters
### Shiro Kaieda (海江田四郎, Kaieda Shiro)

    Portrayed by: Masane Tsukayama (Japanese); B.H. O'Neill (English)
    Former captain of the diesel submarine Yamanami; later, selected as captain of the first Japanese nuclear submarine, Seabat. During the Seabat's test voyage with the U.S. Navy, he orders his crews to fire a sonar torpedo against the U.S. Navy submarines, disabling their sonar systems, and escapes from the area. Later, Kaieda declares that his submarine is an independent state and re-names it Yamato. His crew trust him implicitly, and he trusts them equally.

### Hiroshi Fukamachi (深町洋, Fukamachi Hiroshi)

    Portrayed by: Akio Otsuka (Japanese); Maurizio Peppicelli (English)
    CO of the Japanese Diesel submarine Tatsunami; friend and rival of Kaieda. Kaieda and Fukamachi graduated from the National Defense Academy of Japan in the same year, and both were candidates for command of the new nuclear submarine Seabat. Considered reckless and far more emotional while Kaieda is considered careful and methodical, he tries to figure out what Kaieda is up to and what his ultimate goal is.

### Eiji Yamanaka (山中栄治, Yamanaka Eiji)

    Portrayed by: Mugihito (Japanese); Frank Frankson (English)
    Executive Officer of the Yamato; he has worked with Kaieda for 10 years. The two trust each other's abilities.

### Utsumi (内海)

    Navigation Officer of the submarine Yamato.

### Takuo Migoguchi (溝口拓男, Migoguchi Takuo)

    Portrayed by: Hiroshi Naka (Japanese); Nick Sullivan (English)
    Sonar Specialist of the Yamato.

### Captain David Ryan

    Portrayed by: Kan Tokumaru (Japanese); Robert L. Gorman (English)
    U.S. Navy representative aboard the Seabat. When Kaieda seizes control, he is taken prisoner and held aboard the Yamato, although Kaieda allows him to move about the sub unrestrained.

### Admiral Steiger

    Portrayed by: Chikao Ohtsuka (Japanese); Raul Bayone (English)
    Commander of the United States Navy's Pacific Forces

### President Nicholas J. Bennett

    Portrayed by: Toshiya Ueda (Japanese); Robert Jones (English)
    Current President of the United States; he is determined that the United States remain the dominant world power.

## Media
### Manga

The Silent Service is written and illustrated by Kaiji Kawaguchi. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Morning from 1988 to 1996. Kodansha compiled its individual chapters into thirty-two tankōbon volumes, published from December 15, 1989 to June 19, 1996.

### Anime

The manga was first adapted as an anime television special by Sunrise, first released on video on December 18, 1995 and later broadcast on TBS on March 3, 1996. A two-episode original video animation (OVA) produced by Sunrise was released from September 25, 1997 to January 25, 1998.
In North America, Central Park Media's US Manga Corps dubbed the special, and released it on VHS on July 7, 1998. It was later released on DVD on January 9, 2001.

### Video games
#### PlayStation

    Silent Service, released by Kodansha, September 28, 2000.

#### Windows

    Silent Service, released by SystemSoft Alpha, May 12, 2000.
    Silent Service 2, released by SystemSoft Alpha, October 14, 2005.

### Live-action

A live-action film adaptation was announced on January 25, 2023. The film is directed by Kohei Yoshino, with scripts written by Hikaru Takai, and Shinzō Matsuhashi and Takao Osawa serving as producers. Osawa will also play the lead role as Shiro Kaieda. The film was released by Toho and premiered in Japanese theaters on September 29, 2023, and was streamed on Amazon Prime Video as 8-part web series on February 9, 2024.

## Reception

The Silent Service won the 14th Kodansha Manga Award in the General manga category in 1990. The first 29 volumes sold over 22 million copies. It has sold over 25 million copies.
Some international readers and viewers were uncomfortable with the storyline. There were many arguments among international critics that the series promoted the idea of militarism. The manga was discussed in the Japanese Diet and was popular with the Self-Defense Force.

## Legacy

The Silent Service inspired the Korean movie Phantom: The Submarine released in 1999. Especially, the story behind how the Republic of Korea Navy obtains a Sierra-class submarine and the scene where they use a communication buoy cable against the JMSDF submarine.