What is Reddit's opinion of Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths?

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Early in the war the IJA had developed a hubris when it came to fighting. They had 4 years of fighting relatively successful tactical and occasionally operational engagements against the Chinese and for the first six months of WWII they crushed both the British, Dutch, and Americans in their Pacific holdings with delays only occurring in the Philippines. So by the time the US went on the offensive the IJA had an image of an enemy that was inaccurate. When the Ichiki Detachment launched the battle of the Tenaru they believed that 1) they were fighting a few thousand marines total 2) said marines were only a reconnaissance in force and 3) that élan would carry the day because it had worked before. Let’s just say that it did not work out for the Ichiki detachment(COL Ichiki actually went against orders and attacked before his entire unit was landed).

By 1943 the Japanese were on the defense and did relatively well all things considered. They managed to hold small pieces of ground for a decent amounts of time with dwindling resources. They definitely messed up with the continued advocation for banzai charges but most leaders but they were able to pull a few surprises on the Allies. They successfully retreated from Kiska Island during the Aleutian Campaign. They also managed to move the 1st Division from Manchuria to the Philippines during the fighting there without alerting the Allies. And as for why you see much maneuvering during the Pacific battles I would say it’s hard to maneuver on such limited land mass when the enemy has air and naval superiority.

If you want to read about the Japanese experience in the Pacific I would suggestOnward Towards Our Noble Deaths. It’s a manga by a man who was conscripted into the IJA and fought in the Dutch East Indies. It’s fiction but by the author’s own admission it’s based on 90% fact.

And as for you question in the other comment thread on whether the IJA was the B team in the Pacific let’s just say that the Nanshin-ron (Strike South) plan was advocated by the navy faction and the IJA weren’t told about Pearl Harbor till August of ‘41.

I know it's not quite what you asked for but if you're looking for a hard hitting WW2 story Onward towards our noble death by Shingeru Mizuki might be worth a look.