In a Pinch on Our Maiden Voyage!

**In a Pinch on Our Maiden Voyage!** (初航海でピンチ！, *Romaji: Hatsu Kōkai de Pinchi!*) is the first episode of Hai-Furi.

Childhood friends Akeno Misaki and Moeka China attend Yokosuka Girls' Marine High School to pursue their dreams of becoming Blue Mermaids, a transnational body established to safeguard sea lanes around the world.

## Episode Summary

### A Promise Made

Nine years prior to the events of Hai-Furi, Akeno and Moeka hurry to the cape to welcome the battleship Yamato (hull number K-117) entering the bay. On that day, they promised to each other to become Blue Mermaids, uttering the motto: "Live by the sea, protect the sea and journey across the sea."

### Opening Ceremony

The two childhood friends met for the first time in a while during the opening ceremony of Yokosuka Girls' Marine High School. Moeka is assigned to the Musashi, a Yamato-class battleship, as captain; whereas Akeno is assigned on the Harekaze, a Kagerou-class destroyer, also as a captain. They soon went their separate ways to prepare for their two-week nautical training.

Inside the Harekaze, Akeno stumbles upon her class, which includes deputy-captain Mashiro Munetani, who she bumped into earlier. After the orientation by their instructor Kaoru Furushou, Akeno hurried to ask her why she was chosen the captain despite her below-average grades. Furushou advises her to "become a captain worthy of the Harekaze," which Akeno's envisions as being a father to the crew.

Just before leaving, Akeno got acquainted with the bridge crew, which includes ship secretary Kouko Nosa, Chief Artillery Officer Shima Tateishi ("Tama"), Chief Torpedo Officer Mei Irizaki, and Chief Navigation Officer and helmsman Rin Shiretoko.

The Harekaze soon left port with several training ships, including the Musashi, bound for Nishinoshima New Islands.

### Just for Tardiness?

En route to the rendezvous point, however, the Harekaze suffered engine trouble and Rin made a navigation error. They sent a message to Instructor Furushou's ship, the Sarushima, that they would be at least three hours and two minutes late.

The Sarushima met the Harekaze in open waters and began bombarding the destroyer, much to everyone's surprise. Worse, the Sarushima was using live rounds, clearly intent on sinking the destroyer. The girls, at first, thought that it was their punishment for running late. Attempts to make contact with the Sarushima were only met with more cannon fire.

To save her classmates, Akeno made the decision to fire a dummy torpedo on the Sarushima. The torpedo hit the ship port side and stopped, giving the Harekaze a chance to escape. Furushou, seemingly under a trance of some sort, sent a distress signal to the mainland.

That afternoon, the crew of the Harekaze wondered why the instructor would resort to such lengths just to punish them for tardiness. Later, Kouko answered an incoming message carrying bleak news.

The Harekaze has mutinied.

## Trivia

* At the beginning of the episode when Akeno was driving to school, she passed by the pre-dreadnought battleship, Mikasa.
* As pointed out by some fans, the Sarushima's main gun seemed to have changed during the second half of the episode. The Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) carries a single Bofors Mk. 110 57 mm main gun. However, in the second half, its main gun changed into an Mk. 45 Mod 4 127mm/L65 main gun, normally used by Atago-class destroyers.
* Mashiro pointed out that the Sarushima's main gun can fire an average of 22 rounds a minute. This is more akin to the Mk. 45 Mod 4 gun (20 rounds per minute), as the Mk. 110 can fire at 200 a minute.