If you need to work up your enthusiasm for IJN types, read about the Guadalcanal campaign, including the extensive sea battles of attrition. Vals, Kates, Zeros, and Bettys played extensive rolls in the various toe-to-toe matches, and the IJN planes weren't flown by amateurs. At that time their main opponents were Aeracobras and Wildcats and P-40s, and both sides were still learning-by-experience how to fight carrier battles and island campaigns. A good starter kit would be "A History of United States Naval Operations in WWII, Vol V., The Struggle for Guadalcanal" by Sameul Eliot Morrison. Another great volume with more recent scholarship is "Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle" by Richard B. Frank. Both books are highly recommended, and you'll get an appreciation of these IJN planes in the reading!
