Major Nations
Eagle Union (Destroyers (DD) | Light Cruisers (CL) | Heavy Cruisers (CA) | Large/Battlecruisers (CB/BC) | Battleships (BB) | Light Aircraft Carriers (CVL) | Aircraft Carriers (CV) | Submarines (SS) | Repair Ships (AR))
Royal Navy (Destroyers (DD) | Light Cruisers (CL) | Heavy Cruisers (CA) | Battleships (BB) | Light Aircraft Carriers (CVL) | Aircraft Carriers (CV))
Sakura Empire (Destroyers (DD) | Light Cruisers (CL) | Heavy Cruisers (CA) | Battlecruisers and Battleships (BB and BC) | Aircraft Carriers (CV/L))
Ironblood (Vanguard Ships (Destroyers, Light & Heavy Cruisers) | Main Fleet ships (Battlecruisers, Battleships, Light & Fleet Carriers) | Submarines)
Other Nations
Dragon Empery | North Union | Iris Libre | Vichya Dominion | Sardegna Empire
Other Characters
META | Ashes | Others | Sirens
Ship Prefix: IJN / IRN (CN version)note
Representing the Dai Nippon Teikoku Kaigun or Imperial Japanese Navy, the Sakura Empire is a member of the "Crimson Axis" alliance with Ironblood, making their ships more difficult to obtain early game but in return become a lot more powerful late game. In particular, a number of them don't live in the gacha at all - they're only available as rewards in certain story chapters. More than a few are a bit infamous for this.
A unique feature of Sakura Empire ships in Azur Lane is their animal ears and tails as a reference to the youkai and oni in Japanese mythology. They tend to lean towards offense with skills such as Double Torpedo and Focused Attack. Their frontline ships largely focus on torpedoes, even more so than the Royal Navy, and their carriers rival the Eagle Union's in strength. However, their major carriers work better in pairs than alone. They are the only faction to field Aviation Battleships, which trade auxiliary guns for aircraft.
With ships such as Mikasa and Nagato and skills that encourage team synergy by making individual ships stronger together than alone, the Sakura Empire rivals the Royal Navy in sheer single faction focus.
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- Azur Lane - Sakura Empire Destroyers (DD)
- Azur Lane - Sakura Empire Light Cruisers (CL)
- Azur Lane - Sakura Empire Heavy Cruisers (CA)
- Azur Lane - Sakura Empire Battlecruisers and Battleships (BB and BC)
- Azur Lane - Sakura Empire Aircraft Carriers (CV/L)
Large Cruisers/Supercruisers (CB)
The Azuma-class
Azuma
Artist: kishiyo
Voiced by: Kiyono Yasuno
Azuma, introduced as part of the second round of World of Warships collaboration. Notably, she is, alongside Friedrich der Grosse, one of the first vessels ever to debut at "DR" rarity - which is the Research equivalent of Ultra Rare, and unlike UR retrofits, she begins to play at that rarity.- Balance Buff: Her Fate Simulation buffs her such that she can now outdamage her Ironblood counterpart Ägir, whereas Ägir still brings more tankiness and support to the fleet.
- BFG: She's capable of equipping the Deutschland-class's 283mm SKC/28, and also introduces one of her own: the 31 cm/50 Type 0 Prototype, which is one of the largest caliber guns that Large Cruiser designs are hypothetically able to be equipped with note . And, like the Deutschland-class, she uses this as a vanguard ship.
- Breaking Old Trends: The first Decisive (rainbow) rarity research ship to receive a Fate Simulation to buff her after Ägir all but obsoleted her in gameplay. She gets 25 Luck instead of 15 from maximum Fate Simulation, and two of her skills receive buffs instead of just one.
- Character Tics: Across her base skin, her Live2D premium skin, and her oath skin, one constant is that she is always sitting down or kneeling in some way. The reason why is never brought up.
- Ear Cleaning: Offers this to the Commander when you max out her affinity, alongside a massage.
- Fetal Position Rebirth: The login animation of her "Soft Voice of Spring" Live2D skin depicts her, nude, in this position before being enveloped in a flash of light which materializes her clothes.
- Infinity +1 Sword: Not quite as much as Friedrich der Grosse, but she is still far and away among the tankiest frontline ships in the game (barring incredibly good luck with RNG-based defense skills such as Yukikaze's) with plenty of firepower to back it up, and is a staple of Sakura Empire boss-hunting fleets at high level. It wasn't until the fourth wave prototype ships that she got a rivals.
- Humble Hero: Despite her power and status as a Decisive-rarity Supercruiser, she will never toot her own horn. She expresses hesitancy about her capability to lead the vanguard, and dismisses her own importance to your victory if attaining MVP, instead crediting it to the fleet's teamwork.
- Lightning Bruiser: The single sturdiest Vanguard ship in the game with over 7500 HP at maximum level and development (putting her within about 600 HP of most SR battleships). She's also currently the only Vanguard capable of equipping the VH Armor Plating, which upgrades her to Heavy armor, another singularity amongst frontline ships. And she's still able to seriously pack heat with her signature Triple 310mm main gun, which fires arcing shells just like battleships (meaning they bypass shields and can hit in an area of effect).
- Square Race, Round Class: Supercruisers are... complicated beasts when it comes to classification, both in real life and in-game. The combination of their low-grade battleship armaments and cruiser-killing roles makes them fit very well with Jackie Fischer's original idea of the battlecruiser, however, their armor scheme is generally barely better than heavy cruisers and nowhere near a battleship's armor. Then again it also doesn't help that the definition of "battlecruiser" is also quite nebulous, given the variance from Dunkerque to Hood. Because of this and the fact that supercruisers are classified as cruisers in World of Warships, Azuma is classified as a new type of vanguard ship in order to make her able to fight in escort roles. This does enable her to use the Very Heavy Armor Aux item which upgrades her armor to heavy, becoming the only frontline ship to pack such armor.
Submarines (SS)
Type A-class
I-13-subclass
I-13
Artist: Amoeba
Voiced by: Kanako Yanagihara
- Hi, Commander. I'm the aviation submarine I-13. My hobbies include aircraft and gazing up at the sky! Also, this is my friend, my Seiran. I'm glad to meet you.
Type B-class
I-15-subclass
I-19
Artist: 米白粕
Voiced by: Yui Ogura
- I'm I-19! Commaaandeeer! I-19's been waiting so, so long for you~!
- Covert Pervert: Her "Special Touch" line has her say she doesn't mind the Commander's groping.
- Nice Girl: Described by I-56 as one who "gets along with everyone so well to the point of being uncanny". She also won't ever get upset with you.
- "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: She really likes getting praised. On low affinity she will think that did didn't do enough for you.I-19 (Disappointed): It's all because I'm not trying hard enough, isn't it...
I-25
Artist: oyu (senji)
Voiced by: Kaori Ishihara
- Phew... I finally found you! Commander, I'm I-25. I hope that I can be a big help to you. Anyway, it's nice meeting you~
I-26
Artist: oyu (senji)
Voiced by: Kaori Ishihara
- Submarine I-26 has arrived to be your roommate from now on! Hehehe~ Let me guess: you've really been looking forward to meeting me, right?
I-54-subclass
I-56
Artist: 哈路卡
Voiced by: Naomi Mukaiyama
- I've been found... I... I'm I-56... Um, if there are any missions I can do by myself, could I get those?
I-58
Artist: Aixioo
Voiced by: Tomori Kusunoki
- I-58, reporting in. I usually like hanging out in the water by the docks, so you know where to look if you need me~
- The Atoner: There's a number of signs that she's not too happy about sinking Indianapolis, and her attempts to befriend her are seen progressing through her affection lines. This may be a nod to how her captain post-war assisted in clearing the other ship's captain.
- Starter Mon: She's automatically acquired after beating 3-4 to introduce players to the submarine mechanics. Unlike the true starter ships, she's nothing special, but still generally considered a pretty-good submarine.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: As the submarine that sunk Indianapolis, she muses that she'll have to learn how to work with her now that they're on the same team, but she'd rather not work with Indy's sister Portland. This likely is more the case with the latter than former considering the above trope. She finds herself doing just that in Portland's character quest.
Kaidai-type-class
I-168-subclass
I-168
Artist: Saru
Voiced by: Sakura Tange
- The Dreaded: Originally feared by Yorktown for her role in her sinking, but they're on friendly terms now that they're in the same team.
- Friendly Rivalry: With Hammann, eventually. When she first arrives, Hammann holds a grudge against her for sinking both her and Yorktown, made worse by 168 being quite proud of it.
- Hypocritical Humor: Her pledge line has her comment that the Commander has finally opened up to her, and how they're not honest with their feelings. This is coming from the girl who the Commander notes is less honest with her feelings than Hammann.
- In-Series Nickname: Iroha note
- Tsundere: Downplayed compared to others, but definitely there. The Commander even compares her to Hammann, who is a major tsundere, in her higher affection lines.
Repair Ship (AR)
The Akashi-class
Akashi
Artist: Saru
Voiced by: Sumire Uesaka (Japanese), Macy Anne Johnson (English), Nycolle González (Latin American Spanish)
- I'm Akashi, the Combined Fleet's sole repair ship. I want you to let me take care of you if you get hurt. But still, don't take your own life lightly…
- Cat Girl: VERY cat like, from her "nya" verbal tic to her mannerisms, to her fondness of pets (which ups her affection thus her giving you gifts, though not as well as actually buying stuff). One of her lines even references a common mindset of cats, "He's nice to me, I must be a god!"
- Guide Dang It!: Unlike other ships, Akashi can only be obtained by completing her questline - while the missions aren't too difficult to completenote , but it doesn't tell you how to start said questnote , and the second to last mission (collect 11 pawprints) doesn't tell you where to find said pawprintsnote . Fortunately, completing her questline also adds her to the Light and Aviation construction pools.
- Intrepid Merchant: Will occasionally appear in Operation Siren maps to sell you various items. She can even appear in Mirror Seas and leave with no apparent harm, all by herself. As a repair ship.
- Mad Scientist: When not running the cash shop, she does experiments with cubes. One such experiment was how Belchan was made. To be fair, she's more safety conscious than Yuubari.
- Ms. Exposition: She often appears in events in this capacity when she's more serious than a scheming cat girl merchant — she explains what a Wisdom Cube or a shipgirl is during the Priority Research cutscene and explains how the Bel-chan series of little shipgirls came about.
- Not the Intended Use: As a Repair Ship, Akashi can equip cranes which periodically restore HP, has a skill which lets her heal her fleet and provides the fleet with emergency repair stratagems. However, in practice, Repair Ships are actually inferior in the role to traditional healers like Unicorn and Shouhou. What they are good for is providing a staggering amount of Anti-Air power to your fleet because they have two slots for AA guns and 3 slots for auxiliary equipment, which includes the gold AA radar, an item that can increase the AA stat of a ship by up to 100 points apiece. AR ships are considered valuable when used as AA gun platforms for later worlds where enemy planes are aplenty, rather than actual maintenance ships.
- Oblivious to Love: Her pledge line has her mistaking you giving her the ring as asking for her to take care of that instead of you proposing to her.
- Pungeon Master: A purrveyor of cat-related puns. Even at the end of the Priority Research cutscene:Akashi: ...Until then, Akashi expects your continued support and patronyage at her shop. It'll be a pleasure doing business with you, nya~"
- Verbal Tic: "Nya."
- You're Drinking Breast Milk: One of her secretary lines has Akashi offering you a beverage freshly squeezed from the other shipgirls...
Munition Ship (AE)
The Kashino-Class
Kashino
Artist: 全班最菜嘤嘤嘤
Voiced by: Reina Kondo
- Well met, Commander. I am Kashino, munition ship of the Sakura Empire. Hmm... I may be a rather peculiar ship, but... if there's anything I can help with, please entrust it to me... is that acceptable?
- Animal Motifs: A cow, as shown by the horns on her head as well as her rather generous proportions.
- Butt-Monkey: In addition to her clumsy traits, both her skins so far portray her right after a fall.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: In one of her chibi animations she flips her sword and scabbard up in the air only for them to land on her head. Two of her alternate skins also show her as having tripped and fallen not being able to get up.
- D-Cup Distress: She's fallen over in her 'Hot Springs Relaxation' skin since she couldn't see where she was stepping. Her Special Touch line in this skin has her mention they're pretty heavy as well. Her "Maid For Mayhem" also has her mention how heavy they are. More downplayed in the "Robust Floral Strings" skin where she is attempting to play a Shamisen, but it keeps sounding wrong. She doesn't realize her breasts are rubbing against the strings, throwing their sound off.
- Fanservice Pack: Kashino was hardly lacking in her bustline in her base skin; she was simply dressed more conservatively than other, more fanservicey girls. Her skins universally throw this out the window, giving her the single largest bust in the game and put her in outfits & poses to expose as much jiggling skin as a 'T' rating will allow.
- Help, I'm Stuck!: In her "Maid for Mayhem" skin, Kashino gets stuck in a screen door after having been frightened by a bee, causing her to trip and crash into it.
- Historical In-Joke:
- If she's in the same fleet with Shinano or Musashi, she activates a hidden "I've brought your cannons!" skill and fires a barrage, since she was built to carry the Yamato-class' massive guns.
- Her ability to lift destroyers on her shoulders is a reference to the fact that the main gun turrets of the Yamato-Class weighed as much as most destroyers.
- Innocent Fanservice Girl: While her swimsuit skin highlights her very ample charms, she never does anything to intentionally flaunt them. Likewise, her maid skin shows her in a very...compromising position, but that's because she tripped and fell through a screen door, and now can't get out.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Munition ships aren't exactly designed for combat, as shown with her pitiful firepower and her inability to equip secondary guns or torpedos. What she can do is equip exclusive cargo items, which can provide various buffs to your fleet; The only downside being that you can only have one piece of Cargo equipped at a time.
- Super-Strength: She mention easily being able to host destroyers on her shoulders as well as carry stuff, but as the above example, it has limits
- Support Party Member: She has very limited combat prowess, but can provide buffs to the fleet depending on the cargo she's carrying with her.
