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.
During the Cold War, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force jointly developed a nuclear submarine with the United States Navy. On its maiden voyage, the captain of the submarine, Shiro Kaieda, declares the submarine to be an independent state, "Yamato". Kaieda attempts to attend a UN summit in order to be recognized as an independent nation. However, many forces such as the United States Navy and the Soviet Navy try to stop Kaieda and his crew from reaching New York.
He was captain of the diesel submarine "Yamanami". Later, he was selected as captain of the first Japanese nuclear submarine, "Seabat". During a test with the U.S. Navy, he orders his crews to fire a torpedo against the U.S. Navy submarines and sneaks away from the area. Later, Kaieda declares that his submarine is an independent state and he names his state "Yamato".
CO of the Japanese Diesel submarine "Tsunami". Friend and rival of Kaieda. Kaieda and Fukamachi graduated from the National Defense Academy of Japan in the same year. Fukamachi was a captain candidate for the new nuclear submarine "Seabat". He tries to figure out what Kaieda is up to.
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.[4][5]
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.[6] A two-episode original video animation (OVA) produced by Sunrise was released from September 25, 1997 to January 25, 1998.[7][8]
In North America, Central Park Media's US Manga Corps dubbed the special,[1] and released it on VHS on July 7, 1998.[9] It was later released on DVD on January 9, 2001.[3]
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,[13] and was streamed on Amazon Prime Video as 8-part web series on February 9, 2024.[14]
The Silent Service won the 14th Kodansha Manga Award in the General manga category in 1990.[15] The first 29 volumes sold over 22 million copies.[16] It has sold over 25 million copies.[17]
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.[18] The manga was discussed in the Japanese Diet and was popular with the Self-Defense Force.[16]
