Was the Italian Military Really the Worst of the Axis Nations?

Regia Aeronautica MC.202 in North Africa

The standard answer to the question posed by that title is, of course, yes. Obviously yes. Even those with the most basic level of knowledge on the Second World War will tell you that Italy was the unwanted step-child of the three major Axis powers, the third head in the Ghidorah meme. The German military prior to Barbarossa could boast about the conquests of France, Belgium, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, and more. The Japanese at the conclusion of the Centrifugal Offensive could celebrate the capture of Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong from the British, the East Indies from the Dutch, and the Philippines from America. The Italians, on the other hand, failed so badly in their attempt to conquer nearby Greece that the Germans had to bail them out, while in North Africa an Italian Army of 150,000 was routed by a British-led force of just 36,000 during Operation Compass. It’s difficult imagining Germany or Japan losing against such an outnumbered foe in their respective theatres of operation.

Salvia Maru

The following is a transcript of my YT video on the 3 passenger ferries to bear the name Salvia Maru

Towards the beginning of the 2019 anime film Weathering with You the audience is introduced to the male protagonist Morishima Hodaka as he’s sailing towards Tokyo aboard a passenger ferry. It’s on this ferry that Hodaka meets Suga Keisuke after enjoying some of the… unique weather phenomenon that are central to the story of the movie.

Those of you who know me probably know by now that I kind of have a thing for ships. While this mostly exhibits itself in my interest in naval vessels, I do also like their civilian counterparts, even ones as humble as passenger ferries. As such, the ferry scenes in Weathering with You are from a visual standpoint some of my favourite moments in the entire movie. Shinkai Makoto and the animators at CoMix Wave Films did a great job of bringing to life this utilitarian vessel in precise detail. Or perhaps I should say “recreating,” as the Weathering with You ferry, like so many other locations in Shinkai’s movies, does actually exist in real life.