Fubuki getting absolutely piled with favors and gifts prior to the W Island mission is silly, but also quite heartwarming.
In Episode 4, Kongou gives a Cooldown Hug to Fubuki in the middle of a pitched battle, as the latter is having a panic attack and has started sinking, while Kongou's sisters cover them.
At the end of the same episode, Fubuki clasps Mutsuki in a hug of her own, triggering a much-needed release of emotion.
Despite their argument only a few moments before, Kaga takes a torpedo meant for Zuikaku without so much as hesitating.
Fubuki finds out Yamato is in a similar situation to she was in at her old naval base, where she wasn't allowed to go out to sea with the other fleet girls, but wanted to. Yamato appreciates the concern as Fubuki repeatedly attempts to help her go out to sea and gets punished for doing so.
When Fubuki finds out she's being sent back to the Naval District and runs straight into Kongou, the battleship repeats her earlier performance and gives the destroyer ANOTHER Cooldown Hug.
The Admiral, who mysteriously dissapeared after the attack on the base, returns to his post, much to the joy of the fleet. Kongou and Nagato (who have feelings for the Admiral) are happy, while Fubuki (pretty much the Admiral's favourite) is shedding Tears of Joy.
Fubuki's confrontation with the Big Bad, who is actually her Abyssal half, ends with a Cooldown Hug from the former, proving that some people would never forget the souls of warships who were sunk during the war.
At the end of the movie, Mutsuki is making Onigiri: one of them is taken by Yuudachi and the first pack is for Fubuki shortly prior. The second pack? It's for Kisaragi, who came Back from the Dead a second time.
Let's Meet at Sea
In General:
Doubles as a tearjerker, but Ship Girls retiring due to Career-Ending Injury is a much better alternative send-off than sinking like their hisorical counterparts in real life.
Episode 4:
With the still-bandaged Fusou and Yamashiro retiring from the Navy, a teary-eyed Shigure gives Yamashiro one last hug. In response, Yamashiro gives her a parting gift before leaving the base with Fusou.
And as for Mogami, she got out of the strait with only a few bruises, meaning that Shigure is not the only Sole Survivor of the Nishimura fleet like her historical counterpart.
Episode 5:
Yukikaze gives a Shigure a good luck kiss on the cheek, which is very cute, even by Ship Girl standards.
Episode 6:
Even if it happens off-screen, Isokaze confirms that Kongou managed to avoid her historical counterpart's ill-fated end and made the right choice of fleeing to Taiwan instead, albeit with some injuries. For bonus points, Haruna won't be alone for the rest of the war this time around.
The parting gift Shigure recieved from Yamashiro two episodes prior? It contains anti-submarine bombs, which not only saves Shigure from an Abyssal submarine attack, but also prolong her stay in the Navy for a while, at least until Operation Ten-Go takes place. Even if Yamashiro and her sister are no longer Ship Girls at this point, their influence is still strong enough to guide and protect Shigure.
Episode 7:
Haruna looked so glum at the start of the episode but when Tone informed her that Kongou got out of the Abyssal submarine attack in one piece thanks to Urakaze's efforts and is currently undergoing repairs at Taiwan, she's finally relieved. This scene is also emotionally powerful because Haruna's relieved smile suggests that she really needs Kongou the most for emotional support at this point.
Episode 8:
The end credits is this in so many ways: many of the Fleet Girls who were sunk or retired due to Career-Ending Injury came Back from the Dead by Reincarnation, this time living as ordinary citizens in a world where none of the Abyssals would even dare to attack humanity. And this was all thanks to Shigure's dying act at the end of the war.
On a side note, the reincarnated Haruna and Shigure are in a much happier place than back in the war, not only they're free from fighting, but also got their respective sisters back.
Game and other spinoffs
After the real Musashi's wreck was found, the gamedevs put in a mini event that boosted the chance of getting Musashi from Large Ship Construction in honor of her being found on March 2nd, 2015 after being lost since sinking on October 24, 1944 to the joy of her fans.
To the fans of Harbor Princess, her return as Harbor Water Demon exactly a year after her introduction can be considered both this and Awesome, as she became much stronger than before.
Slightly subverted with the fact that they're two different individuals, but the heartwarming is still there due to the fact that Harbor Princess is now a permanent boss.
Similarly, a volunteer on the USS Iowa museum showed several veterans the game's Iowa. They liked her design and said that had KanColle existed while Iowa was still in service, they'd probably have plastered her image all over the ship.
Upon completing the Fall 2017 Event, Fusou, Yamashiro, and Shigure will have special lines at the post-event debriefing, expressing their feelings about their success at passing through the Surigao Strait. Realizing that for these three, this achievement allowed them to have faced and defeated their personal demons should make any admiral happy for them.
Shigure:"Fusou, Yamashiro, Mogami... and of course Michishio, Asagumo, Yamagumo... everyone... just... thank you. I'm so glad... Admiral, there really is... no rain that doesn't stop... right? Thank... you."
Also, Fusou and Yamashiro congratulating the admiral if you completed the event. Fusou sounds so happy while Yamashiro is awkwardly saying her thanks.
Fusou and Yamashiro:"Nishimura Fleet, mission accomplished! Thank you, admiral"
After four of her sister ships getting their remodels (Yuudachi and Shigure in 2013, Kawakaze in 2016 and Murasame in January 2018). Shiratsuyu finally gets her Kai Ni announced for the the upcoming Summer 2018 shortly after her improved main gun was introduced as ranking reward. And she is getting a theme song to celebrate it.
And to top it all off, his artist (Kujou Ichiso) married Shiratsuyu on her remodel day on June 12th as well.
One of Johnston's hourly lines implies she's friends with Yukikaze, showing there are no hard feelings between the two from the war.
Speaking of befriending historical enemies, Heywood L. Edwards has made friends with Shigure and Yamashiro, both ships she faced in Surigao Strait.
On August 3 2021, the Yamato Museum in Kure, with support from several companies, C2 Kikan (KanColle's production company) included, launched a donation drive to restore and preserve a large lathe machine that was responsible for crafting the Yamato's 46cm calibre gun. The drive was supposed to last for 2 months and aimed to raise a fund of 48 million Japanese Yen (Roughly 480,000 USD) as a primary target. However, the drive received an overwhelming response that within 12 hours, the primary target was reached. On top of that, by the end of the first day, the drive reached its tertiary target of 100 million Japanese Yen (Roughly 1 million USD). What makes it even more awesome is that, several people, who was only exposed to naval history via the game, pitched in in any way they can, with some KanColle players even go the extra mile and donated 1 million Japanese Yen. Doubles as an awesome moment.
He approved.