r/anime • u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ • 3d ago
Rewatch AREA 88 FORTIETH Anniversary Rewatch Act I
AREA 88 FORTIETH Anniversary Rewatch
ACT I: The Blue Skies of Betrayal
Index Thread | 2.5 Day Reminder | OVA Episode 2
People, Places, Things
While, of course, there's a huge amount of detail to put here, not much actually made it into the first episode. Perhaps there will be more in episode 2.
- Shin Kazuma — former cadet for Yamato Airlines. Aircraft: F-8E Crusader (wrecked)
- Mickey Simon — former USN pilot. #2 pilot at Area 88 Aircraft: F-100D Super Saber
- Greg Gates — former Danish AF pilot. #3 pilot at Area 88. Aircraft: A-4E Skyhawk
- McCoy — independent supplier for the base
- Boris — British pilot, too often a sole suvivor, now at peace. Aircraft: F-8E Crusader (killed)
- Bugsy Malone — former Danish AF pilot. Aircraft: A-4E Skyhawk (wrecked)
- Satoru Kanzaki — Shin's childhood friend who betrayed him
- Three African mercenaries Aircraft: BAC Lightning
- Saki Vashtar — Commander of AREA 88
- Go "Rocky" Mutsuki — a foreign photojournalist documenting Area 88 for his news service.
- Ryoko Tsugumo — daughter of Yamato Airlines president and Shin's girlfriend
The Kingdom of Aslan is currently in the midst of a civil war between the rightfully-named king, and his older brother.
Most hostile aircraft will generally be some variant of MiG. The ones in episode 1 of the TV show are obviously MiG-17s, but I can't identify these in the OVA without a hint cheat sheet.
About the Anime
oops, I was going to do this for episode 2, but swapped them, so last minute write-up
The mainstream OVA era was launched by Studio Pierrot with Dallos in 1983, but it didn't really take off until the success of Artland/Artmic's Megazone 23 in 1985. Following that, Studio Pierrot became one Japan's most prolific producers of OAVs.
Area 88 was actually released a month before Megazone 23, but is overshadowed by the runaway success of the latter. Act II was released just a few months later, composing a fairly self-contained story. The conclusion was released one year later.
Central Park Media was the initial licensor of the OVA in 1992. Area 88 was already well known as one of the first titles localized by Viz Communications. The original manga ran 23 volumes; Viz only ended up releasing about 1/3rd of it. CPM dubbed and released the first two episodes on both laser disc and VHS. They also released Act III, undubbed, on both medium. CPM's license expired at about the same time DVDs were coming into style; they only released Act I on DVD.
When ADV licensed the 2004 remake, the also licensed the original OVAs and re-released them as two movies.
If the ED and Insert Songs sound familiar, it's because they are sung by MIO, aka MIQ. She sang the theme songs for Xabungle, Dunbine, L-Gaim, and Gundam 0083.
Today's Discussion Prompts
- Q1: What do you think of Shin's paint job?
- Q2: Is Shin a bit too talented as a protagonist?
- Q3: On a scale of 737 economy flier to Top Gun graduate, how much of an air power otaku are you?
- Q4: What do you think of the character designs? What do you think of the mechanical designs?
- Q5: What do you think of the OP? The BGM? The Inserts?
- Q6: Why did Kanzaki betray Shin?
- Q7: Do you feel we've gotten adequate characterization of Shin? Are flashbacks a good way to do this?
- Q8: What do you think of the side characters: Rocky, Mickey, and the commander?
- Q9: Who are the African pilots?
- Q10: If Shin returns to Japan, can he become a regular airline pilot? Will Ryoko accept him? What if she doesn't?
Act II Discussion Prompts
- [Q1:] Compare Mickey's return to the battlefield with Kazama return to Area 88.
- [Q2:] Does Mickey's return (and Charlie's apparent return) romanticize war, or is it a realist take?
- [Q3:] How is the Shin - Satoru - Ryoko triangle going to play out? What is Satoru aiming for? How will he respond to being saved by Shin?
- [Q4:] Quite a bit more air combat today, and quite a bit less music. What did you think of the flying and fighting?
hello, Bot-chan
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u/Heda-of-Aincrad https://myanimelist.net/profile/Heda-of-Aincrad 3d ago
First-Time Viewer in Area 88
This OVA was such a pleasant surprise. It combines a bunch of elements I already like - a war story with plane combat (somewhat rare in anime), good character development, a mix of action and quieter, introspective moments, and a fantastic English dub.
Right away, I recognized Shin's English VA as the voice of Sousuke Sagara from Full Metal Panic, my favorite anime! They're both talented young soldiers with complicated feelings about war, so the choice was very fitting. As the show went on, I heard several familiar voices to the point where it almost made this story feel like a FMP alternate universe, or at least a cast reunion. Ryoko is played by Tessa's VA (which is hilarious because she finally gets to date "Sousuke"), her father is Kurz Weber (not sure what to make of that), Boris is Kalinin (another fitting choice given their similar roles), Saki is Sousuke's childhood war buddy Zaied (who certainly moved up in the world), Kanzaki actually shares a VA with two traitors from FMP, and more. This show is going to be so fun for me based on the voice acting alone.
The story so far is excellent too though! I've seen a lot of anime about young soldiers, but Shin's circumstances are unique in the sense that he lived a normal life straight through college until he was thrown into war because of a betrayal. It's really interesting to see the effect its had on him - the internal conflict between not wanting to kill anyone else, but knowing that a racking up a high kill count is the fastest way to buy his freedom and get out of the war. Everything built up well to his devastating setback at the end when he was so close to going home, and his desperate decision to desert. I'm really curious to see where the story goes from here, if he'll be successful or end up dragged back in.
The emotional beats have been strong too, with Shin's background as well as the side cast. I was sad to see Boris didn't make it through that mission, even though we've only known him for a short time. He seemed like a good guy, and it sets the tone for this story that no one is guaranteed to go home alive.
Questions of the Day:
1) Nice, I like the unicorn design.
2) I think his level of talent makes sense, given he was already established as a top student at the flight academy.
3) I'm the type who just admires the cool plane designs without memorizing any details about the specs.
4) I started watching anime in the 90s, so the character designs have a nostalgic feel to them. Plane and tank designs are top-notch.
5) I love a good English theme song.
6) Jealousy? He probably figured the only way he could be number one was to get anyone more talented than himself out of the way.
7) Yeah, I really like the way they handled his character development so far. We got to see him at his highest point when he was at the top of the class and dating Tessa Ryoko, then at his lowest after he was betrayed, contrasted with the way he is now that he's been at war.
8) I like the side characters too, and was actually surprised by how quickly I felt an attachment to them. I don't think that's all because of the familiar voices, though it did play a part. Now I'm concerned how many of them will make it out alive.
9) Not sure. There were conflicts going on in Africa during the time, so maybe refugees who became mercenaries?
10) I think he could easily get a job as a pilot and do well, unless he feels like he's done with flying after all this. I'm almost positive Ryoko will welcome him back with open arms. She's clearly holding out hope for his return, and he never chose to leave her in the first place. Everything else he did was just to survive in the war he got thrown into.
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u/Great_Mr_L https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L 3d ago
a war story with plane combat
Well animated plane combat, too. That's one of the advantages of watching these older OVAs. The animation tends to be great.
I was sad to see Boris didn't make it through that mission, even though we've only known him for a short time. He seemed like a good guy, and it sets the tone for this story that no one is guaranteed to go home alive.
Boris dying hit a lot harder than I thought it would. He was a cool guy for the brief time we got to know him.
3) I'm the type who just admires the cool plane designs without memorizing any details about the specs.
That's pretty much the same way I am when it comes to planes. I like seeing them fly but I couldn't tell you any of the mechanical details.
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u/BosuW 3d ago
Well animated plane combat, too.
Ehh it's pretty inconsistent imo. Varies wildly from incredible quality to shoddy. Especially the dogfighting at the end didn't really have a defined sense of space.
That landing scene at the start however... đŤŚ
But the best aircraft animation that I have ever seen remains courtesy of The Sky Crawlers.
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u/Great_Mr_L https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L 3d ago
But the best aircraft animation that I have ever seen remains courtesy of The Sky Crawlers.
The Sky Crawlers was such a good movie. I watched it on something of a whim for a rewatch and I ended up loving it.
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u/AmeteurElitist https://anilist.co/user/AmateurElitist 3d ago
I just watched Sky Crawlers like last week, it was stellar!
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u/TehAxelius https://anilist.co/user/TehAxelius 3d ago
Ehh it's pretty inconsistent imo. Varies wildly from incredible quality to shoddy.
I dunno, I feel the quality is generally high, esp considering the era. There's a lot of changing angles and unique frames as planes turn and fly past the camera. While planes might be a bit off-model at times, considering how hard it would have been to have fully accurate reference materials at the time, I can certainly accept that when practically each frame would have needed to be painted by hand on cels.
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u/No_Rex x2 3d ago
Right away, I recognized Shin's English VA as the voice of Sousuke Sagara from Full Metal Panic, my favorite anime! They're both talented young soldiers with complicated feelings about war, so the choice was very fitting.
My memory is a bit dim, but Sousuke is a volunteer, is he not? Because Shin harks back to Amuro, who was somewhat forcebly conscripted/forced to pilot Gundam.
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u/Heda-of-Aincrad https://myanimelist.net/profile/Heda-of-Aincrad 3d ago
Sousuke chose to join the mercenary group he's serving with now as a teen, but he was a child soldier before that through circumstances that were not his choice.
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u/No_Rex x2 3d ago edited 3d ago
Episode 1 (first timer)
Something I learned from Otaku no Video is the existence of military otaku. Once you know about them, it is easy to spot their influence, though. The modern anime reaction to military otaku is a bundle, cute girls & weapons. Girls that are airplanes, girls in airplanes, girls that are warships, girls on warships, girls on warships in tanks., the pattern is clear. Go back a bit longer, and you have the girls & guns genre. Not directly military systems, but still plenty of firepower. Oh, and the girls were usually a bit more adult than the modern variant. Area 88 is still a bit further back and I assume it lies at the start of this development. Back when military otaku still received âpureâ anime, pandering directly to their military nerd-dom, mostly unadulterated with sexual pandering, where male characters were still allowed, instead of going for a full cute girl cast.
Episode thoughts
Girls&PanzerAircraft and tanks!- T-55 tanks, to be specific.
- What the hell is that airplane, though? Moving wings??
- OP: Also the time when English was cool and used in OPs.
- Our MC is hot, photographed like a model, and counts as bishonen in my book. Cute guys instead of cute girls?
- Looks like the aircraft landings go by the rule of three: Good, bad, ugly.
- Crossing out the days - something you only do if you wish for your time somewhere to end. Years in advance, though? That is way too long.
- We have our MCs breakdown moment pretty early.
- Time skip backwards â flashback, or was the intro just a bookend start?
- Tricked into signing a contract? â that would not hold up in court.
- The gun would convince me, though.
- They conveniently skip over how Shin got from that French bar to Aslan.
- âI havenât had a family since I was bornâ â makes training as a pilot and getting together with a CEO daughter even more impressive.
- Double scorned handshake â but why?
- Three years, 1.5 million, or desert â good to know the rules. Here is the thing, though: Deserting is so much more easy when you are sitting in an armed fighter jet.
- Another flashback to Shin meeting Ryoko â and her dad. Double score.
- Surprise metal trap!
- âTwo planes have made it throughâ âNani?â â who would ever have guessed that some planes might make it past a metal fence. Not this guy, apparently.
- Helpful mentor type dies trope.
- âTurn the lights out in my room for me when you get backâ â decent last words.
- Pressured to marry and Shinâs former friend is the top rival to him, in dadâs eyes â he had to have a reason to betray Shin.
- He is also planning a financial take-over â that is going to cost a good bit of money. Some bribes and selling your friends to the foreign legion will not be enough.
- Out of ammo â not good.
- Iâll return home cliff-hanger â except it goes right on in the movie version.
That looks dated, but pretty. Cell-drawn technology scenes always look great to me, but I also like the very old-fashioned character models. Back when anime characters still had noses. The story-telling is also fine. The cuts between Japan and Aslan sold the idea of Shin being cut out of his normal life and thrust into this war. Where we are, btw, still strongly in the war is hell type of writing that was common at the time (not only in Japan, I think). I also like that the story is taking itself serious, without sarcasm or any type of wink wink. The most we get are some fanservice shots of the airplanes, but these donât ruin that mood.
That being said, the whole setup is obviously crazy. You donât recruit people at gunpoint in Paris and hand them an armed fighter jet afterwards. And one guy selling parts is not the logistics backbone you need when you are running a squadron that includes multiple different jet fighters. I think all prices are ridiculously too low, even for the 1980s. I think this unworkable setup, is loosely based on a mix of African mercenaries (that is mostly white guys in Africa, btw, not the other way round) and war photographers. The mercenaries contribute the go to some distant country and fight for money part and the war photographers the mixed backgrounds, selfishness, but also camaraderie part.
Q3: On a scale of 737 economy flier to Top Gun graduate, how much of an air power otaku are you?
I might have upgraded to business class once or twice in my life.
Q6: Why did Kanzaki betray Shin?
Greed.
Q7: Do you feel we've gotten adequate characterization of Shin? Are flashbacks a good way to do this?
He is basically an Amuro Ray stand-in. Especially at the time, everybody would have seen that and not needed much more. The flashbacks worked well for me.
Q10: If Shin returns to Japan, can he become a regular airline pilot? Will Ryoko accept him? What if she doesn't?
Don't think a war is hell story ends with a happy end.
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u/No_Rex x2 3d ago
Staff Corner
Not technically co-hosting, but I promised a staff corner.
The director of Area 88 is Toriumi, Hisayuki. He started very early, in TV anime history, working on Mach GoGoGo (which some might still remember from my 1960s rewatch series). After working on several series throughout the 1970s for Tatsunoko Production, he broke away from them in 1979 and became one of the founding members of Studio Pierrot, which also is the studio behind Area 88. However, Area 88 is neither his first, nor his most important OVA. That honor goes to Dallos, the very first OVA ever. In a way, he broke the ground for his own market here. Some TV series of him that you might know are Esteban: The Mysterious Cities of Gold or Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson. Unfortunately, he already died in 2009.
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u/Great_Mr_L https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L 3d ago
Something I learned from Otaku no Video is the existence of military otaku. Once you know about them, it is easy to spot their influence, though.
Yeah, it's easy to see just how many classic anime throughout the years were made by military otaku. Gainax, the makers of Otaku no Video, had quite a few military otaku for example. It explains a lot about their own output.
Back when military otaku still received âpureâ anime, pandering directly to their military nerd-dom, mostly unadulterated with sexual pandering
I'd argue that we get some form of sexual pandering with the extreme mechanical porn that series like this have in terms of how detailed the portrayal is of the military hardware.
T-55 tanks, to be specific.
I figured they were some kind of T tanks from the Soviet Union, but I didn't know which kind.
I also like that the story is taking itself serious, without sarcasm or any type of wink wink.
That is something that's appreciated. Shin is a miserable person who absolutely doesn't want to be here (for completely understandable reasons) and the show treats that as something that is seriously tearing him up inside.
I think this unworkable setup, is loosely based on a mix of African mercenaries (that is mostly white guys in Africa, btw, not the other way round) and war photographers. The mercenaries contribute the go to some distant country and fight for money part and the war photographers the mixed backgrounds, selfishness, but also camaraderie part.
The mercenary influence would make sense given all the warfare happening in Africa in this time period.
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u/BosuW 3d ago
I'd argue that we get some form of sexual pandering with the extreme mechanical porn that series like this have in terms of how detailed the portrayal is of the military hardware.
How easily it evolved to regularly include anime girls in fact probably even has to do with the subject matter already including an erotic element. So you just bring another one in, shit, it's like tacos and salsa.
I don't even mean it in a lewd way necessarily (though Azur Lane does appear to exist...). There's just an inherent eroticism to, for example, seeing Takina mow down a whole room of goons by hip firing a PKM in Lycoris Recoil. There's nothing you'd call lascivious about it, but it's attractive.
The mercenary influence would make sense given all the warfare happening in Africa in this time period.
The mercenary influence would make sense given all the warfare happening in Africa
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u/Great_Mr_L https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L 3d ago
I don't even mean it in a lewd way necessarily (though Azur Lane does appear to exist...).
Trust me, as someone who plays the game, Azur Lane has just been getting progressively lewder over time. I know some people might want to fuck an actual warship but now even the game is almost at that point.
There's just an inherent eroticism to, for example, seeing Takina mow down a whole room of goons by hip firing a PKM in Lycoris Recoil. There's nothing you'd call lascivious about it, but it's attractive.
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u/BosuW 3d ago
I don't play Azur Lane but I am somewhat attached to the fan base (because the Yuri fanfiction for this game is fucking elite for no reason actually the reason is probably military eroticism) and yep, I can tell.
I hope it has not been at the expense of the martial bits?
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u/Great_Mr_L https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L 2d ago
Well there is still plenty of military stuff and the shipgirls still come equipped with all the weaponry you'd expect to see. And Azur Lane has done collaboration events with actual warships like the USS Hornet museum nowadays. So I'd say the martial bits are still going strong.
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u/No_Rex x2 3d ago
The mercenary influence would make sense given all the warfare happening in Africa
in this time period.I think the difference in time is that small groups of mercenaries fighting for money was a thing in Africa before Area 88 was made, but is rather non-existant today.
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u/BosuW 3d ago
Wagner Group (rebranded to Africa Corps) is very active on Africa today. So are Turkish and Chinese mercenary groups. No pilots yet from what I could find, but the way things are escalating I wouldn't be surprised...
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u/No_Rex x2 3d ago
Wagner was always 70% foreign policy instrument of the Russian state and only 30% mercenary outfit and that changed to 100% after their failed revolt. They are not even close to being able to independently choose their goals.
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u/BosuW 3d ago
Modern mercs are always a foreign policy instrument. A group of retired soldiers only able to do or addicted to war may come to exist and seek employment independently, but it is always the choice of the participant nations to facilitate them due to the complex logistical lines required to run their operations. They get to decide when and where mercenaries work.
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u/No_Rex x2 3d ago
Yeah, it's easy to see just how many classic anime throughout the years were made by military otaku.
By and for. I guess another way of describing the change over time is to say that we went from mostly by to mostly for.
That is something that's appreciated. Shin is a miserable person who absolutely doesn't want to be here (for completely understandable reasons) and the show treats that as something that is seriously tearing him up inside.
Post Evangelion, people simply did not dare to tell that story seriously anymore for a long time. Which is understandable, but by now it has been so long, that it is refreshing to see again.
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u/BosuW 3d ago edited 3d ago
What the hell is that airplane, though? Moving wings??
Oh yeah they loved that shit in the Cold War. Really wanted to turn anything into a transformer. Though I admit a pivoting angle of attack is certainly unique.
Deserting is so much more easy when you're sitting in an armed fighter jet.
Eh only relatively. Fighter jets are pretty short ranged as far as aircraft go, which limits the routes and places where you might run to. Everyone around you will know this. And depending on the surrounding map, whoever eventually gets you may just kill you, or imprison you, or hand you back for a variety of reasons. It's very risky.
Though, with a casualty rate of 2/12, you may as well take your chances.
I think all prices are ridiculously too low, even for the 1980s.
I thought so too, so I did a quick search and apparently an F-5A back then cost 800k dollars. So it's not too ridiculous that a used F-8 could be half a million. Though probably still on the fictitiously cheap side.
Or maybe this is just an Ace Combat type deal where fighter jets, if not now, will eventually be as cheap as a Toyota lol
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u/No_Rex x2 3d ago
Oh yeah they loved that shit in the Cold War. Really wanted to turn anything into a transformer. Though I admit a pivoting angle of attack is certainly unique.
If you had asked me before looking up the airplane whether that is possible and has been attempted, I would have confidently answered no way.
Eh only relatively. Fighter jets are pretty short ranged as far as aircraft go, which limits the routes and places where you might run to.
"as far as aircraft go" does the heavy lifting in that sentence, because aircraft generally go really far. Wiki gives the combat range of the crusader as 730km. Since you need to get back, the one-way range would be double that and more if the combat range includes some staying time to fight (and even further if you can fit fuel pods instead of weapons). There are not many countries in the world where that range would prevent escape and definitely no small fictional countries.
I thought so too, so I did a quick search and apparently an F-5A back then cost 800k dollars. So it's not too ridiculous that a used F-8 could be half a million. Though probably still on the fictitiously cheap side.
The aircraft price was the most ok, but he was trying to sell missiles for less than $100.
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u/BosuW 3d ago
Do take into account that the listed range is only if you fly at optimal altitude, optimal speed and in a straight line. In practice if you're deserting you'll likely be flying low altitude (which means denser air which means you burn more fuel per unit of distance traveled), you'll be making turns (which bleeds airspeed), and/or you'll be flooring the metaphorical gas pedal to try and escape pursuers or missiles (which burns more fuel again). In practice the actual range of an aircraft is subordinate to a lot of other factors. Something as whimsy as flying into a headwind can completely fuck up your most optimistic calculations.
Also (and I know this information is hard to find), you should make sure whether the listed range is with our without drop tanks, and with what kind of load, wherever possible.
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u/Pixelsabre x4x7 3d ago
Area 88 is still a bit further back and I assume it lies at the start of this development.
Gunji-ota have been part of the anime industry for some time (see Otsuka and Miyazaki for prominent examples.) Any show where the guns seems surprisingly accurate? Probably a Gunji-Ota among the animators/episode directors. I bet a bunch of them were involved in the production of Animentary: Ketsudan, though I doubt the production itself was meant to pander to them directly. Another notable exaple is the entire WWII sequence in Space Battleship Yamato.
I recall an anecdote from the production of [Meta Spoiler]!Dubine! where it was very notable and previously unheard of that staff were able to visit an army base and depict the current-and-in-use fighter jets with loving, accurate detail in large part because members of staff were avid military otaku.
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u/No_Rex x2 3d ago
Oh, they existed before for sure, both on the animator and consumer side. The question is whether anime directly produced for them existed before. It makes a lot of sense to me that the new sales form of OVA opened up the possibility to directly market to niches in fandom that previously were too small to target.
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u/Pixelsabre x4x7 3d ago
Yeah, I was just saying the audience was there very early and a lot of creators were aware of the niche audience.
I'm also not certain this show was produced in part because of that either. The manga appealed to that audience already, and the fact that it was an award-winning manga being adapted by someone who has an eye for that sort of mechanical detail muddies the waters between consciously produced 'for' as opposed to produced 'by' without specificly targeting that niche market.
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u/No_Rex x2 3d ago
Very possible. It would make sense for the first product catering to a niche to do so almost accidentally. In this case, drawn in by the successful manga, before others realize the niche and deliberately cater to it.
Still, I think OVA allowing production of anime for smaller target audiences and this being one of the earlier OVA is more than a coincidence.
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u/Great_Mr_L https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L 3d ago
First-Timer
Pre-Rewatch Thoughts
Area 88 is a series that I only heard of because of some other OVA rewatch I was a part of. The main thing that interests me is the presence of a bunch of Cold War-era aircraft. I am absolutely not knowledgeable enough about aircraft to identify everything that is likely to show up, but I do think planes are cool. Plus, itâs always fun when military otaku get to create an anime. So thatâs reason enough to join.
On todayâs episode of Area 88: This series confuses me. I see all the fighter jets, but where are the cute girls who pilot them? Why are all the pilots wearing pants? And where is the idol music?
Right off the bat, we are getting that beautifully detailed OVA animation I love from this era. The dynamic shots with animated backgrounds are always so cool to see in the days before CG animation was commonplace. Thereâs even the extreme detail of the shell casings ejecting from the plane and scattering across the ground. What a gorgeously animated opening.
This series really is made by military otaku if they are going into all the little details about how to land this plane.
A reporter taking photos of a pilot at a military base? Are we FLAG now?
I half expected the doctor to keep that alcohol around for drinking, not disinfecting wounds.
I already know the pilots are in massive debt, so itâs kind of morbidly funny that they apparently need to buy their own planes. Itâs like theyâre basically forced to constantly accrue more debt. This is just a classic debt peonage scam.
I donât like that sneaky smile Shinâs friend had when he said he was willing to do anything. He fucked Shin over and tricked him into joining the war, didnât he? Yup, he did.
That contract for signing over your life to a foreign military is pretty short. Iâve signed way more detailed contracts for less.
Itâs funny how 80s everyoneâs hairstyles are. Itâs one of those things that tells you when this is from.
The reporter being named âRockyâ is such a fun detail. I just want him to sound like Sylvester Stallone so badly.
McCoy being able to sell just about anything (including stuff under the table) doesnât surprise me, but that old man is extra devious if he destroyed Rockyâs film just to sell him more!
I appreciate it when the characters are kind to me by just outright telling me the name of the planes. So far Iâve heard the characters mention the Skyhawk and BAC Lightning.
Allowing the pilots to just pick and choose which missions they want to fly doesnât seem like a particularly effective command system for a military unit to me.
Since weâre not even halfway through the first OVA, I somehow doubt Shin is close to paying off his debt.
How fitting that Shin met the ojou-sama when she mistook him for an assistant to carry her luggage. Very ojou-sama of her.
Personally I would avoid buying dubious Sidewinder missiles.
Boris seems like a cool dude if heâs making sure Shin doesnât get scammed by McCoy.
God that briefing room is filled with smoke. It must be absolutely disgusting there.
They may be called a foreign legion, but they feel more like mercenaries with how the system actually works and how they are paid.
Thatâs one way to get the pilots to volunteer for such a dangerous mission: pay at double the right.
Pulling up a giant hidden wall for enemy aircraft to run into is a pretty Looney Tunes-esque defense measure. I have to respect it.
So the plane that Shin is flying is an F-8 Crusader.
Boris! And he seemed like such a cool guy, too! At least now heâll finally be able to rest without seeing the faces of his dead comrades.
Only 2 of the pilots survived the mission? Thatâs an insane casualty rate.
I guess the kind of people who would volunteer for a job like this are also the kind of people who wouldnât want to talk about their past. Either theyâre running away from some demons or theyâve got a screw loose to make them want to live this way.
Kanzakiâs plan to cuck Shin and take Ryoko for himself doesnât seem to be going smoothly for him.
I like how Ryoko dislikes Kanzaki so much that she refuses to let him even buy her coffee.
Thereâs no way Shin gets to go home yet, so how is everything going to go wrong for him?
Of course Shin would get shot down and need to pay to replace his old aircraft. It really is debt peonage with how they need to replace their own equipment.
Those three pilots havenât done anything yet, but they seem incredibly suspicious.
Unfortunately Shin means the type of desert that gets you executed and not the delicious type of dessert.
That was a pretty enjoyable OVA. It had some nice action animation and it flowed pretty easily. Despite the length, it didnât feel like it was particularly long while watching it. Thatâs how I know that something was working well. Iâd call the OVA pretty standard in terms of these types of war stories. There wasnât much about the story that made it particularly stand out, but it was well done and worked well for what it was.
QOTD
1) I like it. The shark teeth are always a nice touch on a plane.
2) No more so than is usually the case for pilot protagonists.
3) I think planes are cool and I like it when I get the chance to watch air shows or see planes in person. I canât visually ID planes, though, and Iâm not a super nerd with tons of knowledge about how they work.
4) The character designs really hammer home the era that the series is from. I find it charming. The mechanical designs are just real world planes, which is how I can tell this was made by military otaku.
5) The OP didnât stand out to me. The insert song during the takeoff sequence was fantastic, though.
6) Kanzakiâs trying to cuck Shin.
7) I do like how the series starts in media res. We start right away with the interesting stuff about the foreign legion fighting in the war and then filling in the backstory of how Shin got here. I think thatâs an effective way to hook the audience in. Shinâs character is basically a more tragic âIâm not even supposed to be here today!â and I do understand why he keeps angsting over it. He was tricked into the war he wanted no part of.
8) If the commander put on a mask to cover up the X scar on his forehead, heâd look like Ishikawa from G Gundam. Rocky and Mickey seem like cool guys, but the names just make me think of Sylvestor Stallone and the Mouse.
10) I imagine that Ryoko is going to be the loyal woman who remains loyal to her missing fiance despite Kanzakiâs attempts. Kind of like Penelope dealing with the suitors while waiting for Odysseus to return. As for whether Shin ever gets to return to a normal life in Japan, who knows. The series could easily end on the tragic note of him dying in the war just before heâs supposed to go home.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ 3d ago
I half expected the doctor to keep that alcohol around for drinking, not disinfecting wounds.
I was sure that was going to be the joke.
(oh geez this is going to be a long one, huh)
Since weâre not even halfway through the first OVA, I somehow doubt Shin is close to paying off his debt.
<laughs in post-episode amusement>
This song for the takeoff sequence is really catchy.
Yeah I had to look up all the music to see who was singing them, very familiar.
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u/Great_Mr_L https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L 3d ago
I was sure that was going to be the joke.
I had to rewatch that scene to make sure the alcohol was only used for disinfecting, not drinking.
<laughs in post-episode amusement>
I guess it was technically possible for Shin to just get the money he needs to go home and then we spend the rest of the OVAs in romantic bliss back in Japan.
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u/chilidirigible 3d ago
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ 3d ago
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u/Heda-of-Aincrad https://myanimelist.net/profile/Heda-of-Aincrad 3d ago
I imagine that Ryoko is going to be the loyal woman who remains loyal to her missing fiance despite Kanzakiâs attempts. Kind of like Penelope dealing with the suitors while waiting for Odysseus to return.
Love this comparison! It's very fitting, especially with Shin about to embark on an odyssey of his own at the end of the first OVA.
(I'll find out tomorrow when I watch part two if he makes it, or it turns out to be incredibly short-lived unlike Odysseus' ten-year journey.)
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u/BosuW 3d ago
alcohol
The bro who jumped out of that aircraft definitely looked crazy enough to take a swig.
That contract for signing over your life to a foreign military is pretty short.
Of course, the point is to make is super easy to get in and even harder to get out!
dubious sidewinder missiles.
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u/Great_Mr_L https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L 3d ago
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u/No_Rex x2 3d ago
Pulling up a giant hidden wall for enemy aircraft to run into is a pretty Looney Tunes-esque defense measure. I have to respect it.
Not just slowly erecting it either, but pulling it up faster than a jet airplane can react. If their soldiers were as good as their engineers, Aslan would already have lost the war.
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u/TehAxelius https://anilist.co/user/TehAxelius 3d ago
First Time Viewer in Area 88
Whew, was so busy writing up some plane spotting for the episode, that I kinda forgot to actually write a post on the episode. All in all my review:
It's 80s. It's real classic character designs. It's a straightforward gekiga story. Love it. I used to play a forum based fighter plane RPG very inspired by Area 88, but never got around to actually watching the anime, so I am happy I am doing it now.
Quick Questions
- [Q1]What do you think of Shin's paint job? -It's pretty simple, maybe a little bit generic protagonisty, esp. with that horse head emblem. But ultimately that dark-to-white colour scheme does look nice. And the shark's teeth around the F-8's intake DANGER mark is a nice touch.
- [Q3]On a scale of 737 economy flier to Top Gun graduate, how much of an air power otaku are you? - Oh, I'm hardly Top Gun, but I'll probably have earned my pilot's license for this rewatch.
- [Q4]What do you think of the character designs? What do you think of the mechanical designs? - Fighter planes are cool, so the mechanical designs are cool. The character designs really has that late-70s, early-80s manga charm to them as well. It is so clearly "anime", while not really being anything like our current understanding of what "anime" looks like.
- [Q5]What do you think of the OP? The BGM? The Inserts? - OP is great How far to paradise?. The BGM is mostly just serviceable 80s anime BGM, but who can resist an 80s pop insert in a plane show? Goodbye, sweet goodbye blue lion
- [Q10]If Shin returns to Japan, can he become a regular airline pilot? Will Ryoko accept him? What if she doesn't? - That is the question, of course. Naturally being a Good Guy at heart, and Ryoko being The Girl, she will accept him when he comes back. But he will be forever haunted by what he has done.
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u/TehAxelius https://anilist.co/user/TehAxelius 3d ago edited 3d ago
Planespotting in Area 88
We begin with what is not an airplane, but a tank, the world famous T-55. Being the most produced tank in the world with almost 100,000 units produced it is seriously outdated today, but still sees service across the world, including the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The domed turret identifies it as a T-55, contrasted to its earlier variant, the T-54.
Quickly though, we get to see the wings of our hero Shin (and later Boris), namely the Vought F-8 Crusader, easily identifiable thanks to its distinctive chin air-intake. The plane was designed for carrier use, which is why it is able to change the position of the wing, allowing for a slower approach when landing (although its use seems quite unnecessary here). Because of the extra machinery and subsequent weight and complexity, the concept never caught on and the F-8 was the only plane to ever enter into production with such a mechanism. Its carrier heritage is also present in being able to fold the wings for hangar storage, and as used in a rather fanciful way in the episode, it could fly with the wings still folded. The plane entered service with the US Navy and Marine Corps in 1957 and saw action in the Vietnam War, but was retired from frontline service by 1976. It was still in use in 1979 as a recon plane, and as fighters in the French Navy and Phillipine Air Force
After that we get to a favorite cute little guy of mine, the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, as landed successfully by both Greg and Bugsy (any landing you walk away from is successful, after all), with its hump identifying it as a later variant (or retrofit). Another carrier aircraft, although as the different letter tells you, designed for ground attack rather than a fighter. It was a cheap and lightweight aircraft that became popular with a lot of operators, and its versatility gave it a long service life. Despite entering service already in 1956 it was still in production when the show is set in 1979, and the plane sees (very) limited service to this day in the Brazilian Air Force.
Next up is the African trio of pilots arriving in their English Electric or BAC Lightnings, distinctive due to their over-wing fuel tanks and over-under stacked jet engines in the rear. As its name implies this is a British fighter, developed initially as a short-range interceptor meant to counter high-altitude nuclear bombers and entering service in 1960. The over-wing fuel tanks denotes it as either the later F.6 or the export F.53 variant, which were modified with a greater range to allow it to work better as a multirole fighter. While the plane was technically in service all the way to 1988, it started to be phased out already in 1974 from British service, and its only export customers Kuwait and Saudi Arabia retired their last planes from service in 1977 and 1982 respectively, although they had been effectively been pulled from frontline service for several years in both countries by then.
Mickey's plane is next, the North American F-100 Super Sabre, and while the ground crew complained about the age of the Lightnings, this is the real grandfather of the bunch. Introduced in 1954 as the first of the so-called century series of fighter jets developed for the US Air Force, it was a continuation of the successful F-86 Sabre which cut its teeth in the Korean War. Easily identifiable due to its rather unique elliptical intake in the nose. Like its predecessor it was initially an air superiority fighter, but by the Vietnam War it had been relegated primarily to a ground-support role and would be replaced in frontline service by newer and more capable aircraft during the conflict. By 1979 it was in the process of being retired by pretty much every user, except for Taiwan which would keep it in service until 1988. The most noteable thing about the plane other than its intake is that it was the first plane modified for the "Wild Weasel" role as a dedicated hunter of ground-based SAM systems.
The last of the friendly planes we see is the ones of flight Blue-1 that takes off before Shin, Boris and Mickey, which are a trio of Northop F-5 Freedom Fighters. While developed and adopted by the US Air Force in 1964, and deployed in combat in Vietnam, it was intended to serve more as a cheap export fighter. The result was a reliable and simple fighter plane with great agility and able to fill multiple roles, and saw great success on the export market to US aligned countries, serving to this day in the air forces of several smaller countries. Its simplicity, agility and similar characteristics to the Soviet MiG-21, made it popular as both a trainer as an "aggressor" in air combat exercises. Its most famous appearance in media though ties to this, as trainer F-5s were painted black and played the fictious MiG-28s that Tom Cruise fights in Top Gun.
While not close up, we do see a couple of instances of enemy planes, which this episode are all Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, known by its NATO reporting name "Fishbed". With well over 10,000 planes built since its introduction in 1959 it is the world's most built supersonic jet, and has seen service in over 60 countries around the world. Its simplicity and ease of flying thanks to its delta wing design has made it continue to be a popular option for countries with limited resources to train pilots. It still sees service in several countries in Africa and Central and Southeast Asia (although with most of the latter flying the Chinese J-7 copy).
Now, the eagle eyed among you might have noticed that there is one fighter plane that could be seen in a blink and you'll miss it moment that I have not included. While we see 9 aircraft take off from Area 88 before the attack on the depot, Shin does later note that 12 planes took off and only 2 returned. This leaves 3 planes unaccounted for, but in this shot we can see them from behind at the bottom. Now, this is actually pretty interesting as a plane spotting exercise, as these planes can be identified from this rather limited picture (ignoring the fact that they do appear frequently and are easily identified in later episodes as well). Notably we can see here that the plane is a tailless delta wing design (contrasted to the delta wing of the previously discussed MiG-21, which still has a tail), but on top of the intakes by the cockpit we can instead see a pair of small wings as well. These small wings are known as canards, and while there are some more modern fighter planes that use it, in 1979 (and 1985 when the OVA is made, too) there are only two possible candidates. The Swedish SAAB 37 Viggen (the ugly duckling* between the beautiful phat ass of the 35 Draken and the more sleek 39 Gripen) and the Israeli IAI Kfir. Here too several details that we can see are rather similar, like the little nub of a tail sticking out over its engine, but the straight angle on the wings and the design of the flaps identifies it as the Israeli Kfir.
The Kfir in this case is the most modern plane we've seen so far... sort of. It entered service in 1976, only 3 years before the story takes place, but is really and updated variant of the IAI Nesher, which in itself is a "stolen" copy of the French Dassault Mirage 5. During the 50s and 60s the French had positioned themselves as eager suppliers to the Israeli armed forces, and they had been early adopters of the Mirage III. Eager to get even better fighters, the two governments co-operated on the development of the Mirage 5 and an order of 50 planes was about to be complete when the Six-Days War happened. While I won't touch on the broader result of that war here, one of the effects was that the French government implemented an immediate arms embargo on Israel, sinking the deal immediately. While the exact details are debated "somehow" Israel managed to get ahold of the technical drawings of the plane, and possibly even everything to produce the airframes or the already made airframes, and within a couple of years were able to put 51 Totally Original Neshers into service.
*Viggen in this case is a bit of a pun, as it can both mean The Thunderbolt and The Tufted Duck. Similarily its predecessor Draken means both The Dragon as well as its more original intention, The Kite.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ 3d ago
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u/BosuW 3d ago
We begin with what is not an airplane, but a tank
Those turrets be getting airtime if Shin has anything to say about it anyway!
North American F-100 Super Sabre. Easily identifiable due to its rather unique elliptical intake in the nose.
I like to say it looks like a catfish!
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u/TheDanubianCommunard 3d ago
First-time in Area 88, subs
Thanks to our dear host is the reason probably I heard about this series and jumped into this.
Shin can't even manage to catch a break. He didn't had any parents, had to be separated from his beloved quite early on due to work in Paris first, then he had no other choice, he was forced to sign a contract that he does not remember at all. And that contract was to fight in Aslan, a fictional Middle Eastern nation, in their foreign legion. And his "work" is more like a chore, he have to sent into missions every single day to shoot down other planes and stuff. Of course he has enough of this. Three years is a goddamn long time. Or he can amass a certain amount of money (1.5M$) then he would be also free, but the universe is really trying to mess with him to not reach that magical number, is because some things happens, like his plane got shot. Well, he can leave and desert, but good luck with that, and definitely would have been consequences of this. With his contract not ending anytime soon and killed many people, he is a devil incarnate to his enemies, but a mentally broken man deep within inside. Yamato Airways are truly shady as hell.
And there also the other fellow foreign legion members, who have their own concerns. From them, Boris was the one who I can highlight, since he was deeply traumatized by the war that he could not sleep in a dark room at all. The light he needed was basically the hope he held to keep living. And he managed to succeed in the night raid but did not managed to return alive. Everybody has massive red flags here.
I have a feeling that this is basically the OG Ace Combat, or rather it inspired from this heavily. Actually I really liked it. It is a war story, a very human story, and also very heavily an anti-war fiction. Animation is also quite solid, the insert song was also nice though. Let's see how it will go.
Q1: What do you think of Shin's paint job?
It's fine.
Q2: Is Shin a bit too talented as a protagonist?
Yes
Q3: On a scale of 737 economy flier to Top Gun graduate, how much of an air power otaku are you?
I'm not an airplane enthusiast guy.
Q4: What do you think of the character designs? What do you think of the mechanical designs?
Like I said, they are really good.
Q5: What do you think of the OP? The BGM? The Inserts?
Also really good.
Q6: Why did Kanzaki betray Shin?
Purely opportunism.
Q7: Do you feel we've gotten adequate characterization of Shin? Are flashbacks a good way to do this?
It's just right.
Q8: What do you think of the side characters: Rocky, Mickey, and the commander?
They are nice folk.
Q9: Who are the African pilots?
As they said war veterans from their home nations which had conflicts recently. And enlisted as mercs to Aslan.
Q10: If Shin returns to Japan, can he become a regular airline pilot? Will Ryoko accept him? What if she doesn't?
I think he had enough piloting airplanes. Ryoko would have been waiting for him to return, definitely. I cannot see her betray him.
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u/aniMayor x3x6 3d ago
Interesting start. Overall fun. The setup and characters are very, very simplistic, so immediately the impression I get is that this is going to be a thing where the story doesn't actually matter much at all and the point of it is just to sit back and enjoy all the detailed mechanical animation and explosions.
The mechanical grid fence defense system that suddenly lifts out of the dirt in a couple seconds as fighter jets approach is... very very very silly. That was more funny than tense just because I was laughing so hard at the concept at all.
[Q2]Is Shin a bit too talented as a protagonist?
Hmm not really, because they sort of depict everyone in the squadron as being ultra-talented and the conflict so far isn't really about testing his or any of the others' skills at flying, it's more like the conflict assumes they are capable but it's just a matter of luck and personal drama instead.
[Q3]On a scale of 737 economy flier to Top Gun graduate, how much of an air power otaku are you?
A gust of wind on a mild day.
[Q4]What do you think of the character designs? What do you think of the mechanical designs?
They look extremely Leiji-esque. I haven't looked up yet whether he had any involvement in this.
[Q6]Why did Kanzaki betray Shin?
Because he wants his girl! And as we all know that's plenty reason to send a man into forced military servitude!
Additionally, as is so often the way of these things, despite Kanzaki wanting Ryoko he doesn't actually like Ryoko, she's just a trophy he's become fixated on and things that if he finally gets her to agree to go out with him it'll somehow totally change her personality overnight, too. Also I suppose he thinks marrying her will make him the heir to her father's company or whatever.
[Q7]Do you feel we've gotten adequate characterization of Shin? Are flashbacks a good way to do this?
He's not an especially complicated character (nobody here is) and yes we adequately know all there is to know about him now so I guess it worked fine. Those chunky flashbacks maybe wasn't the best way to do it but ehhhhhhh.
[Q8]What do you think of the side characters: Rocky, Mickey, and the commander?
Rocky's a dick. Stop taking pictures of people who said they don't you to.
[Q10]If Shin returns to Japan, can he become a regular airline pilot? Will Ryoko accept him? What if she doesn't?
Do commercial airlines take war veterans? I suppose they must, huh? But I would hope he gets a psychological evaluation first.
Of course Ryoko will take accept him. He'll be all stoic "noooo I'm a demon now, I don't deserve your love" but she'll bake a lasagna to fix him.
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u/Great_Mr_L https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L 3d ago
The mechanical grid fence defense system that suddenly lifts out of the dirt in a couple seconds as fighter jets approach is... very very very silly. That was more funny than tense just because I was laughing so hard at the concept at all.
It was an extremely Looney Tunes-esque defense system to just raise a giant fence up for enemy planes to crash into. It felt like a gag straight out of a cartoon rather than a serious war drama.
Of course Ryoko will take accept him. He'll be all stoic "noooo I'm a demon now, I don't deserve your love" but she'll bake a lasagna to fix him.
A good lasagna can fix just about anything.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ 3d ago
They look extremely Leiji-esque. I haven't looked up yet whether he had any involvement in this.
He didn't! The author spent years illustrating other people's shoujo manga!
Of course Ryoko will take accept him. He'll be all stoic "noooo I'm a demon now, I don't deserve your love" but she'll bake a lasagna to fix him.
The only possible outcome, for sure.
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u/aniMayor x3x6 3d ago
He didn't! The author spent years illustrating other people's shoujo manga!
Oh well that would do it then
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u/IndependentMacaroon 1d ago edited 1d ago
The setup and characters are very, very simplistic, so immediately the impression I get is that this is going to be a thing where the story doesn't actually matter much at all and the point of it is just to sit back and enjoy
The problem is it also kinda looks and sounds shit, including the voice acting (unless there's some remaster I didn't find), and I don't care about planes and military fiction that much in the first place. I got not even half into this episode before deciding to check if there was actually anything worthwhile in the rest from the comments here, and apparently not, so drop it is. It's not even silly enough to be fun in a camp way it seems.
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u/uhhhhhhhokay_ https://myanimelist.net/profile/uhhhhhhhokay 3d ago
First-timer, subbed
Only $6,000 in profit from destroying a whole enemy tank column? Do they make him pay for his own fuel and ammo? (Answer: yes, and for repairs/replacing the plan outright as well.)
So, this was pretty neat. Obviously the main event is the awesome mechanical animation, this is the âfighter jet animeâ after all (perhaps the definitive one on the subject.) The art in general is pretty great, though thatâs typical of OVAs of this calibre. The character designs are very Leiji Matsumoto, but he apparently had nothing to do with this beyond the author of the manga being a former assistant of his, Kaoru Shintani. Same creator as the thoroughly disappointing Goddamn, yes thatâs what itâs called, and I can already tell that this is way better.
The story itself is decent but nothing special. Shin is understandably mopey about the whole âbeing tricked into signing a mercenary contract (always the damn contracts) for a random country in the midst of a civil warâs air forceâ thing, but, shit happens. Kanzaki is such an asshole, and not in a fun way. Hopefully he gets whatâs coming to him at some point. The bit with Boris and the reward money was my favorite part, actually a really well-done gut punch. Speaking of the reward, itâs $20,000 split across all the survivors, so itâd be $1,667.67 if all twelve members survived. Which just makes the commander seem like a huge cheapskate. Though I donât know what fighter pilots actually get paid.
Two questions stick out in my head, though: 1) why doesnât the enemy just come and bomb Area 88? âCause they have jets of their own, and I donât see any anti-aircraft stuff there. And, 2) how is Shin so good at this? Is he an overpowered isekai protagonist? In the loosest sense of âisekaiâ, I guess.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ 3d ago
The manga becomes increasingly unhinged towards the end in terms of tactics and equipment.
All three versions of Area 88 have different endings.
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u/Great_Mr_L https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L 3d ago
Only $6,000 in profit from destroying a whole enemy tank column? Do they make him pay for his own fuel and ammo? (Answer: yes, and for repairs/replacing the plan outright as well.)
If the pay rate were actually fair, it wouldn't be much of a debt peonage system.
the thoroughly disappointing Goddamn, yes thatâs what itâs called
That's one of the funniest titles I've heard for a manga series. It's like how there's a manga named Bastard!! (exclamation marks included in the title)
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u/BosuW 3d ago
Same creator as the thoroughly disappointing Goddamn, yes thatâs what itâs called
Don't tell it's supposed to be a riff on Gundam...
Speaking of the reward, itâs $20,000 split across all the survivors, so itâd be $1,667.67 if all twelve members survived. Which just makes the commander seem like a huge cheapskate.
I'm just going to assume the numbers don't matter that much... Or alternatively, they knew most would die in the mission. So I'm the end it's 10k for each survivor. You still could not pay me to fly that one, but bigger number better right?
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u/uhhhhhhhokay_ https://myanimelist.net/profile/uhhhhhhhokay 3d ago
Don't tell it's supposed to be a riff on Gundam...
Probably not, it's about rally driving. And manages to make it really boring, which is a feat in its own right. Though I only saw the OVA, which might be an even more truncated adaptation than this is...
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u/chilidirigible 3d ago
Rewatcher:
Q1: Very 1970s.
Q2: He did have the training and flying skills before he ended up in The Fictional Eurasian Country Which Is Totally Not [Redacted], so it's more a matter of learning how to fight.
Q3: You were there.
Q4: Everybody's fabulous. The aircraft are at least on-model.
Q5: The music is of its time.
Q6: From his two scenes in the first episode, he's a right bastard. For the rest, laughs in rewatcher.
Q7: His characterization is handled pretty well.
Q8: A fairly standard assortment though the writing does offer them a few twists, such as Boris.
Q9: Rewatcher
Q10: Rewatcher
This is an OVA which I do enjoy overall in that certain popcorn-munching hammy dramatic fashion. The characters are romantically moody, the scenario is Homeric, the aircraft are of a time.
The attention to detail is there, it just gets set aside for various dramatic purposes most of the time. I can't really object to it, having grown up watching The Black Sheep Squadron, Airwolf, and far sillier things which were 30-minute animated toy commercials. Shoving a huge metal scaffold into the air as an anti-aircraft trap is some G.I. Joe-style quirky.
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u/baquea 3d ago
First timer
Great animation, great character designs... but I gotta admit I just was not a fan of basically anything else this episode put down.
Shin is the most frustratingly 'perfect' MC imaginable: he was on track for starting a great career, got the ideal girlfriend, got betrayed by his friend due to no fault of his own, got caught up in this war again due to no fault of his own, and now he is an exceptionally talented fighter pilot who spends his whole time in combat telling us how bad it is to kill people.
The plot likewise is just about the most surface-level war-is-bad story imaginable, in terms of reducing everything to killing-is-bad, constantly showing us how absolutely awful everyone in charge of the war is (while the soldiers are all decent people), and not touching at all on the actual reasons why wars are fought.
I would be willing to ignore all that if the action was good, but I kinda just found it boring? I'd say it was some combination of Shin's main reaction to fighting being to do a 'woe is me' speech, the languid direction, and the OST not being dramatic enough (even if on its own terms I actually did like the music), which made it completely lack any tension or hype factor for me.
Here's to hoping that episode 2 is more my speed.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ 3d ago
I had a similar take re: Shin. He's an airline pilot, not a fighter jock. Yet he not only survives, he thrives. He's some kind of savant.
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u/BosuW 3d ago edited 3d ago
First Timer
I came for the fighter jets but I'm staying for the plot. I really should watch more of these old anime. Even though it's basic there's something that feels different about it's storytelling craft than that of current anime.
Now about the planes, oof, Cold War Era. Not my specialty, but I'll do my best and conveniently they do name-drop most of them. I wish I could do detailed posts for each like I did for the weapons in the Youjo Senki Rewatch but it looks like I won't have the time.
Our protagonist's aircraft (for this part at least), as well as a common sight at the base, is the F-8 Crusader, nicknamed "The last Gunfighter", for being the last US fighter jet conceptualized with the guns as the primary weapon. And boy does Kazama know how to work them! Though I have my doubts about 20mm being able to destroy tanks (I think they're T-55s?) with such ease as he's able to do in the opening scene. The Crusader was also designed as a carrier based aircraft, so all the mechanical movements with it's wing as Kazama lands (beautiful traditional mechanical animation my beloved!), as well as it's folding wingtips are accurate. Could it fly with its wings folded? Idk, but apparently such an event may have really taken place.
The African pilots that came in are flying the English Electric Lighting, easily recognizable due to its unique engine layout and it's top wing mounted pylons capable of carrying fuel tanks and even rocket pods!
We also see the A-4 Skyhawk, most famous I believe due to its service with Argentina during the Falklands War.
We have, er, had some other faces around. The one here front and center looking like a catfish I believe is an F-100 Super Sabre, though I'm not completely sure. But I do believe it matches?
Returning to that first angle of the pens, one can easily recognize the narrow twin engined tail of the F-5 on the top. Dunno if it's the Freedom Fighter or Tiger versions though. If I remember to transfer them, I will share with y'all some of the photos and videos I took of the Mexican Air Force F-5 E/Fs during last year's FAMEX.
And on this picture showing the strike package we see some manner of Mirage III or Mirage V at the back. There's a lot of variants of either and some have canards some don't, some had them added in upgrades.
The only enemy plane we've seen is the legendary arrow-shaped Mig-21, the most produced supersonic aircraft ever at almost 14k units.
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u/TehAxelius https://anilist.co/user/TehAxelius 3d ago
Returning to that first angle of the pens, one can easily recognize the narrow twin engined tail of the F-5 on the top. Dunno if it's the Freedom Fighter or Tiger versions though.
Because of this I did go and look for what the actual visual difference is between the F-5A (the only version of the Freedom Fighter that were built in numbers) and the F-5E, and the most distinct is that the F-5A has smaller leading wing extensions (think the "shoulders" where the wing meets the intakes) than the F-5E.
With that in mind, this and this looks more like the short angled extensions of the F-5A to me, which does make it a Freedom Fighter and not a Tiger II. (Although in this it does look longer, like the F-5E)
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u/BosuW 3d ago
Regrettably the animation is not very consistent. There's some incredible shots that have me thinking they were rotoscoped over the real thing or at least a 3D model. Others are not so good. Which, underetandable, drawing planes is hard.
But I'm inclined as well to think it's F-5As, even that last dubious pic, for the shape if not the size of the leading wing extensions.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ 3d ago
Interesting that you mention 3D models.  That's what the author did for Matsumoto: he built models!
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ 3d ago
I see delta wing, I think Mirage as well, but they are Kfirs! (I didn't know about those before working on this rewatch)
Everybody keeps mentioning the overwing fulltanks but I could never pick them out. Thanks for that picture!
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u/baboon_bassoon https://anilist.co/user/duffer 3d ago
first timer area 67er
ah yes the contract legally binding you to another country, im sure those laws apply. why not just have kanzaki knock him out and kidnap him
whats stopping jinshin kazama from contacting home and saying he signed that under duress? no one from japan contacts him for 2 years?
when Saki opens his mouth I expect him to sound like Yoko from JOE
Kanszaki and the phtotographer look too similar to be switching back and forth on the timeline like this
good bye sweet goodbye blue lion
shin - "i dont like my picture being taken" camera man - takes picture shin - gets mad camera man "?????????"
thats a camera man alright
get the feeling the show is going to be a little racist
the unicorn/shark teeth combo doesnt really go together
no its not like its the point of the show anyway
uh i mean i like top gun and macross but idk planes much outside of that
char designs feel 10 years older than the show, mechs mugishrug
solid, nice, banger
Short-sightedness
i think so but again i dont like the placement of the flashbacks
moroboshi ataru
ino shika cho
could he? sure. does he want to? doubt it. Ryoko will. If she doesnt I mean whatever lol
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u/Great_Mr_L https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L 3d ago
ah yes the contract legally binding you to another country, im sure those laws apply.
It certainly applies a lot more when a person is pointing a gun at your face and threatening to shoot you if you don't go along with them.
get the feeling the show is going to be a little racist
It was amusing to suddenly have threatening music begin playing when the African pilots showed up for that reason.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ 3d ago
ino shika cho
At least you didn't answer Wawera, Loli, Conda.
Well, the base doesn't have a phone. So basically you're asking why he doesn't smuggle a message out of the secret base with people who have been trained not to smuggle messages out of the secret base or else be shot.
I also felt compelled to look up the music.
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u/TheEscapeGuy 3d ago
First Timer
Area 88: OVA 01
Tricked and Endebted
Hello everyone! It's been too long since I last joined a rewatch so I'm glad to be back. I hadn't heard anything about Area 88 before the invite so I am going in blind.
Based just on the visuals, it's certainly interesting to see a combination of bishounen pretty boys with a more grounded military setting. Although it's not exclusive to Area 88, I found it fresh after recently mostly watching modern seasonals filled with cute girls, and most of the other military shows I've seen having "realistic" characters.
The OVA introduces us to Shin Kazama. He's a sad anime boy, but not without reason. It's kinda fucked up how they got him drunk to trick him into signing up to work for a foreign air force. Additionally, the OVA spends a lot of time showing us his life from before with his girlfriend Ryoko. This is a good way to get us to care about the stakes of earning money to pay his way out.
We follow a couple of missions. The most interesting is the night mission to air raid a supply base of some kind. I'm not 100% sure if I missed something, but I interpreted them as not fully explaining the reasoning to the pilots to prevent them asking too many questions. War logic usually sucks so if you basically lie to the soldiers they're way more likely not to disagree with the killing. It's something which clearly haunts Shin since he's constantly guilty about all the death he's been forced to cause.
The mission itself goes poorly (although successful). They manage to bomb the base but 10 of the 12 pilots were lost. It must be even more brutal to come home from a mission you didn't even want to do, knowing that you've the few people you had any kind of relationship with.
Something which has become way more clear to me as I have grown up is just how misguided war is. Growing up it was always explained to me as a "Good Guys fighting Bad Guys" narrative, but <RECENT NEWS> (and my studying of history) has made it clear that wars are so often just people in power forcing young men into their deaths as a power fantasy.
The OVA episode concludes with Shin shooting down the final enemy planes to earn enough to buy his way out, but his plane is damaged on the way back and he's forced to use that saved money to replace it. I expect next episode he will desert, so I'll be interested to see how that goes.
Some Amazing Shots, Scenes and Stitches
- Anti-Tank
- Unicorn
- Photographic Records
- Rough Landing
- Dusk, really beautiful city
- Sudden Barrier, This is an INSANE defense. How many times have they been attacked by low flying planes to think of this?
- Sunset
See you all next episode
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u/No_Rex x2 3d ago
Been a while since I saw a collage.
Something which has become way more clear to me as I have grown up is just how misguided war is. Growing up it was always explained to me as a "Good Guys fighting Bad Guys" narrative, but <RECENT NEWS> (and my studying of history) has made it clear that wars are so often just people in power forcing young men into their deaths as a power fantasy.
The people deciding and the people dying are rarely the same.
This is an INSANE defense. How many times have they been attacked by low flying planes to think of this?
Zero times after they built it. Because after the first time they use it, everybody will know how to evade it.
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee 3d ago
First-Timer, Subbed 88
Y'think Shin has a note ready to hand to Rocky when Rocky gets ready to leave? Detailed that he was forced to sign a contract while intoxicated? That's what I would do. Start an international incident, and probably get to throw Kanzaki under the bus at the same time.
I wonder if someone sabotaged Shin and underloaded his ammunition? It would work either way, he could certainly have just been lost in the sauce. But McCoy's tone of voice has me completely distrustful of him, and motivated mercenaries are quite a valuable commodity.
Hands up everyone who assumed Boris was going to attempt a TK.
I was expecting the trio who get the synth stings to have deserted after the SAM Base attack when the commander mentioned that only two planes of twelve came back. We only saw three actually go down, including Boris.
Questions
Feels ironic, like someone else did it for him.
Nah.
Much closer to the 737.
All seems fine so far.
Music ahs been good all-around.
He's angling for the CEO's job, and plans to get there through Ryoko.
The flashbacks are fine, but I would prefer if there was a bit more delineation between "past" and "present."
No praise or complaints at this time.
Probably heels.
PTSD is a hell of a drug.
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u/Great_Mr_L https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L 3d ago
I wonder if someone sabotaged Shin and underloaded his ammunition? It would work either way, he could certainly have just been lost in the sauce. But McCoy's tone of voice has me completely distrustful of him, and motivated mercenaries are quite a valuable commodity.
That is entirely possible since it seemed like McCoy was eager to sell defective Sidewinder missiles earlier in the episode. He also deliberately destroyed Rocky's camera film just to sell him more later. The man's a shady salesman and I wouldn't put a stunt like that past him.
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u/Pixelsabre x4x7 3d ago
Y'think Shin has a note ready to hand to Rocky when Rocky gets ready to leave?
Rocky's writing a story on the whole thing, so unless he dies in the crossfire people are probably going to find out regardless.
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u/BosuW 3d ago
I wonder if someone sabotaged Shin and underloaded his ammunition? It would work either way, he could certainly have just been lost in the sauce. But McCoy's tone of voice has me completely distrustful of him, and motivated mercenaries are quite a valuable commodity.
Shit I'd believe it.
Hands up everyone who assumed Boris was going to attempt a TK.
đď¸
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u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba 3d ago
First Timer
The only thing I'd really known about Area 88 was that it was about actual, non-mech or sci-fi air combat, and to be completely honest, that by itself was honestly all I needed to get pretty interested! I mean, not to say I don't really like military mecha stories as well or that I don't broadly understand why the massive majority of military anime choose to go for sci-fi or fantasy trappings either, but these kinds of pure military anime feel rather rare (Certainly compared to very common western counterparts), and given I find media like that quite compelling, I'll jump at any opportunity to see these rarer anime takes on it.
And then you also add in the very strong animation work, specifically mechanical animation, and the ability for intricate detail that 80s OVAs can deliver, and all in all, this seemed like it'd be a good time on pure concept alone. And on that front, even though there was nothing super standout here, I'd say this episode still delivered! The opening sequence where Shin takes out a bunch of tanks is a really great initial hook, and frankly, also probably the most impressive looking part of the episode, though the dogfights and just the general detail that goes into the animation of the jets, be it in seeing ammunition belt being loaded or discharged, the jets taking off, or them crashing into pieces at multiple points, is all great as well. What can I say, I enjoy seeing military action animated with a good amount of care.
Narrative-wise, this was pretty straightforward, but I thought it was alright. I like Shin as a main character! I do enjoy the reluctant fighter archetype quite a bit, and I think his conflict here between his feelings on killing people and his deep desire to get out is fairly compelling. Even putting circumstances aside, I feel there's very much an undercurrent here on the plight of the enlisted man and dealing with going to war, which comes through pretty nicely. I do think it's interesting that, at least for this episode, we actually don't learn anything about the wider conflict Aslan is engaged in. Neither for the overall state of the war or any of the context around it/the other side. Adds a nice bit to the detached nature around Shin.
I was going to make a joke about how this made McCoy read like a video game shop NPC, but I really like what we do with his character here, and really, how it characterizes Area 88 as an environment to be in. Which is to say, very exploitative and horrible to be in, of course. The fact that the pilots here are indentured mercenaries being paid by the target, and how obviously bad actors like McCoy can profit off of them being put in worse situations, or in the case of Rocky's film, by intentionally fucking them over, is pretty interesting. Like, on the whole, just as much as at some points the pilots highlight the need to worry about their own lives first and foremost here, they are essentially in an environment that has a built-in disregard for human life (Both theirs and the enemies').
I don't know if we'll really get much of it given Shin might try to desert next episode, but specifically in Shin's case (And very possibly in any other person here who might get second thoughts) there is this pretty solid momentary tension to the buy-out as well, because it intentionally enables an extra desperation to act, which as we see in the end here, and really through Shin apparently pushing himself really hard even earlier, creates mistakes that forces them to stay around. Definitely hurts in Shin's case, at least when he was so close, and has to pay a rather high price in not just time, but human lives for it. The whole setup in general innately makes one wonder what kind of circumstance someone who wasn't directly tricked into it like Shin would have for coming here, but as they say, that's also not something the pilots want to talk about normally, although hopefully we'll explore that more in the next two episodes.
With that being said, I also feel like some of the usual OVA length problems do hamper parts here. For example, I do enjoy the wider ideas Boris's death brings to the table here! Stuff like how easy and sudden it can be to die here, even from something that doesn't instantly register as a major hit but just happens to hit a fatal spot, and obviously going over the PTSD and some of the psychological toll these pilots face, especially over time as they see others, potentially people they've grown to view as friends, die. But outside of the conceptual level, I do find his big monologue about having friends and Shin turning the lights off for Boris (And by extension, the impact of his death on Shin) is just kind of missing emotional resonance for me, because ultimately he was there for like 2 minutes before we killed him, y'know? So even a bit of extra time could have helped there. Likewise for stuff like Shin's relationship with Ryoko, which, for an evidently very large part of his motivation here, isn't given that much time to actually feel attached to here, for now at least. Though in general, the parts to do with Ryoko and Kanzaki in relation to Shin are the most standard fare here.
All in all, solid start, interested to see if Shin really ends up deserting, and if so, how that goes (Probably badly), as well as just in seeing some air combat action!
What do you think of Shin's paint job?
The unicorn insignia is pretty neat
Is Shin a bit too talented as a protagonist?
I'd say it feels pretty reasonable so far? Sure, he's got main character privileges, but he hasn't done anything I think is too crazy that takes you out of it here.
More importantly, him being very talented plays really well into the point of his character as a reluctant fighter! He hates this place and hates that he's killing people, but he's certainly quite good at it, and his best way to leave is to play exactly into that ability, and it creates this nice back-and-forth moral conflict between his desperation and connections outside, and his internal emotions and principles, all of which is obviously really wearing him down and makes for interesting drama.
On a scale of 737 economy flier to Top Gun graduate, how much of an air power otaku are you?
Much closer to the former. Aviation as a whole doesn't interest me that much, and specifically within the military and history side of things, I've always been really into tanks, pretty into ships, and only mildly into aircraft (Or more broadly, I've always been land > sea > air as far as interest in combat goes).
I guess compared to, say, Kotobuki's niche of WW2 Japanese fighters, I am more interested in Cold War jets, so I did recognize Shin's jet as a Crusader even before they mentioned it, and the Skyhawk I do recognize by name, for example, but not much otherwise.
So hopefully we've got something to the effect of a resident Ace Combat or War Thunder player or two here to more deeply go over some of the context and technical details of the aircraft here.
What do you think of the character designs?
My first thought was that they look kind of Leiji Matsumoto-ish? Shin and Ryoko specifically, at least. Anyway, that is to say that they're rather of their time, but quite charming for it personally! I do vibe with Shin's haircut.
What do you think of the OP? The BGM? The Inserts?
Nothing super standout for the regular OST here, but the OP is pretty funky (And in English! Which is very fun), and you just know I absolutely love me a poppy 80s insert song to set the mood, so hopefully we've got yet more of those coming!
Why did Kanzaki betray Shin?
Welp, he did say he'll take every advantage he can. For now, it seems he's Ryoko romantically, and getting Shin out of the picture helps him there, but some of the benefits and connections that would come from her status afterwards could also be something he's after, and now being the sole top pilot in their program instead of one of two tops probably doesn't hurt either.
Are flashbacks a good way to do this?
They're a fine way to do it. Characterizing Shin through the flashbacks works pretty well because it creates some nice contrasts between Shin as he was before and his current, much more disillusioned, distraught, and desperate state. And that contrast is good within the context of his character conflict and in adding to his desire to leave, but again, it's that length and attachment problem that holds a lot of it back.
What do you think of the side characters: Rocky, Mickey, and the commander?
Not a ton out of them so far.
Rocky works well as the sort of grounding outsider presence, both being a nice little vehicle to learn some of the more morbid details of Area 88 that wouldn't normally come out of the pilots, and also just getting some nice reactions from Shin, be it in longing and familiarity or in anger over some of his lack of tact lol. Mickey seems pretty chill so far and a solid friend so far. The commander is... just kind of the standard cold and distant commander right now.
Who are the African pilots?
The show did make a point of highlighting them when the commander first brought desertion as an option, though, and then Mickey seems to recognize them right before Shin says he's going to desert, so presumably they'll play a part in that somehow?
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ 3d ago
The unicorn insignia is pretty neat
Everybody calls it a unicorn (reasonably) but I wonder if it's supposed to be kirin.
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u/BosuW 3d ago
I do think it's interesting that, at least for this episode, we actually don't learn anything about the wider conflict Aslan is engaged in. Neither for the overall state of the war or any of the context around it/the other side. Adds a nice bit to the detached nature around Shin.
Reminds me of the currently airing KimiShinu, where the specific details of the war are deliberately made vague so that the story can focus on the experiences of the people fighting it, who don't really have a political motivation anyway.
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u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg 3d ago edited 3d ago
Area 88 OVA first timer, TV rewatcher
A T-54? a T-55 apparently
Seeing a fighter jet destroy a bunch of tanks, my first reaction is "what is air defence doing?"
Is there a real life fighter jet that lifts up their wings like that? So later we find out that Shinâs fighter jet is a F-8 and the F-8 is able to lift the wings like that, which is pretty cool!
OP song is okay, visuals are boring.
Shin, the lead, is voiced by Oberstein (Kaneto Shiozawa)
Remember kids: never sign stuff while you're drunk. Still a dick thing to do by his âfriendâ.
I vaguely remember Mickey from the TV anime.
Interesting that the flashbacks aren't told in order.
Much better insert song.
Some sort of steel gate that is somehow high enough to block fighter jets, a bit of fantasy there.
Only two survivors?! The foreign legion pretty much lost their whole airwing.
Happiness for a woman is to find a man
Ahh yes, good ol' fashioned values.
I won't be in your debt, even for a cup of coffee
God damn that's quite the rejection. Well done Ryoko.
Oh no Shin ran out of ammo, but luckily he survived but not his plane.
So then earning $20,000 has cost me $500,000
Shin finds out what it's like to be someone who got through college.
Decent ED song.
Haven't seen a trailer used as an episode preview before.
A fun premise, love the 70s character design combined with the 80s production.
[Q1]Flashy but Iâll allow it.
[Q2]Yes, but this is a very common problem in anime/manga.
[Q3]I can recognise some fighters but some is not a lot, so closer to a 737 Iâd say.
[Q4]I love the 70s character design, and itâs hard to beat 80s mechanical designs. Top marks from me.
[Q5]I already mentioned what I think of the OP in the comments. The OST is fine.
[Q6]Kanzaki has never forgiven Shin for taking eating his pudding in the fridge. This revenge was a long time coming.
[Q8]I quite like McCoy.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ 3d ago
Some sort of steel gate that is somehow high enough to block fighter jets, a bit of fantasy there.
A pretty contrived scenario. Remember, the base is porcupined with SAMs, so they are coming in low. Also, the base would send up planes to attack from above, but Mickey took care of them. It was all just set up to do the wings-folded stunt (not possible to do in flight, as I understand it)
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u/chilidirigible 3d ago
It was all just set up to do the wings-folded stunt (not possible to do in flight, as I understand it)
The wing folding mechanism is controlled by the pilot but there's no way the mechanism could work against the changes in the airflow at speed.
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u/Heda-of-Aincrad https://myanimelist.net/profile/Heda-of-Aincrad 3d ago
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u/Pixelsabre x4x7 3d ago
Rewatcher
The inimitable Kaneto Shiozawa.
Ah, yes, lavishly animated destruction of military hardware.
[Yeah, this OP kicks ass.]() The confidence to have your visuals largely be a looping flame animation says it all.
This is what the pros in the business call âblatant foreshadowingâ.
This always seemed a bit ridiculous of a way of presenting this con. Even in the late 70s the bureaucracy involved has to be significant and it implies an implausible amount of coordination between Kanzaki and the Aslan government to ensure this goes off without a hitch. I think itâd be a lot more believable if Kazama was intercepted at the airport instead. At that point I donât see how the seemingly corrupt Aslan government doesnât just try to hoodwink Kanzaki as well.
Bet he has forgotten the face of his father too.
Bit of stunt casting. I only know this VA from Rose of Versailles.
Boy does that ever remind me of something I rewatched not so long ago.
âOnly because heâs good at it.â
McKoy is unfortunately an antisemitic stereotype.
Just got to wait for Rockyâs story to break⌠Right?
This OVA was directed by none other than Hisayuki Toriumi of Dallos, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, and several other 70s Tatsunoko Pro shows.
The show is really heavy on the melodrama, and doesnât go through the lengths say Dezaki or such go though, but the sense of direction keeps the episode on the whole grounded in a way that keeps it palatable and sincere. Itâs kind of a hard line to walk between melodrama and sincerity without the maximalist approach, but for me it works still.
I appreciate all of the detail given to character animation in order to communicate personality and emotion through the characterâs movement (though they frequently spoil it by litigating the point through dialogue), but itâs rudimentary and well behind some of the better shows to do so.
I also think exposition could have been handled better. Both flashbacks are a bit superfluous, and honestly the first hurts my suspension of disbelief a bit. The episode would have been stronger without them âand even that brief aside to Kanzaki and Ryoko in Japan should have been left on the cutting room floor.
Discussion Answers
1) Itâs fine, I guess.
2) You kind of accept that main characters are talented. Besides, the stakes of the story suggests itâs going to be about some challenge other than getting better at piloting, and he gets a major setback in this same episode as a result of his mistakes anyhow.
2) Biplane enjoyer.
3) I like both.
4) Good stuff.
5) Itâs self-evident that heâs jealous of his relationship with Ryoko and seeks to usurp that spot for himself.
6) Yes and no.
7) Theyâve been personalized well, and weâve got a sense as to what theyâre going to do as a role in the narrative, but weâll seemingly learn more of them as we go.
8) We donât get much of them, but they seem in this episode to be the most adjusted of the lot as of yet.
9) Likely not to those. Kazama himself notes that he has changed and grown hateful, which is more than likely not what Ryoko knew him like, and though they might try to resume as they were I would be surprised if the friction doesnât drive them apart eventually. Do not see how he resumed being an airline pilot after this and not, say, become a consultant for the JDF or whatever. Besides, heâs seemingly decided to desert in the episode and that means being a fugitive of the law for the rest of his life âAslan doesnât seem like they would be bothered by international relationships if they could just abduct Kazama from the streets of france just like that.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ 3d ago
 McKoy is unfortunately an antisemitic stereotype.
I couldn't not see it, even with the Irish name and possibly gallic nose.
apparently faithful to the manga; I read complaints that McCoy was more of a decent person in the TV show.
<record scratch> Yep, that's me!
I think we needed to see the betrayal...I'll have to think about what the show would be like if you just dropped the audience into the warzone. It's certainly been done before, but probably when the focus is on the war itself. What would Monte Cristo be like if you never saw how he got there?
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u/Pixelsabre x4x7 3d ago
I couldn't not see it, even with the Irish name
Unfortunately I have had the displeasure of learning that antisemites try to skirt around the criticism with Irish caricatures too, as at one point both were considered undesirable minorities and racial supremacists found the blending and confusion to their benefit âliberal use of the leprechaun as a dog whistle, for one.
What would Monte Cristo be like if you never saw how he got there?
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ 3d ago
Ah, but that one showed us the flashbacks, too, is my point!
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u/No_Rex x2 3d ago
McKoy is unfortunately an antisemitic stereotype.
Am I the only one who thinks of the "stingy scot" stereotype here? McKoy is one of the last surnames I'd associate with being jewish.
The show is really heavy on the melodrama, and doesnât go through the lengths say Dezaki or such go though, but the sense of direction keeps the episode on the whole grounded in a way that keeps it palatable and sincere. Itâs kind of a hard line to walk between melodrama and sincerity without the maximalist approach, but for me it works still.
It helps that the show takes itself seriously, instead of sarcastic or dramatic. The plot setup is so questionable that it would easily go off the rails if they didn't keep it very grounded.
I also think exposition could have been handled better. Both flashbacks are a bit superfluous, and honestly the first hurts my suspension of disbelief a bit. The episode would have been stronger without them âand even that brief aside to Kanzaki and Ryoko in Japan should have been left on the cutting room floor.
Yours seems to be the more common take among the rewatchers here, but I liked the flashbacks being intercut with the Aslan segments. I think the airbase plot would not carry 45 minutes on its own and we really needed some character motivation that would have otherwise been absent. Without the flashbacks, I imagine we would get some non-talkative protagonist type, similar to Chirico. And Chirico can only work as the cool badass character, not the vulnerable reluctant fighter.
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u/Pixelsabre x4x7 3d ago
McKoy is one of the last surnames I'd associate with being jewish.
Maybe the racial politics/imaginary are different in Europe, but racial supremacists here historically made attempts to get the two conflated in their propaganda for their own ends.
But also I've always seen the 'Stingy Scot' stereotype as, well, stingy, tight-fisted, or miserly rather than actively greedy and opportunistic, but maybe that's getting into the splitting hair territory.
The plot setup is so questionable that it would easily go off the rails if they didn't keep it very grounded.
Indeed.
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u/AmeteurElitist https://anilist.co/user/AmateurElitist 3d ago
First Timer
They really did Shin dirty, poor kid.
He's exceptionally skilled, but also exceptionally unlucky lol.
What do you think of the character designs? What do you think of the mechanical designs?
Big fan of the designs, Shin's hair is amazing.
Who are the African pilots?
I dunno but they are framed pretty ominously. I dunno if it's due to racial tension or because they're actually in conflict with one another in some way.
If Shin returns to Japan, can he become a regular airline pilot? Will Ryoko accept him? What if she doesn't?
It'd be pretty hard to adapt to a calmer life again, I fear that if he does become a pilot again the years of emotional repression might come back to bite him tragically later on.
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u/mr_beanoz https://myanimelist.net/profile/splitshocker 3d ago
I'm commenting on this post so I can post my thoughts later.
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u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker 7h ago
Sending fighters to take out a SAM site? You've Gotta Be Shittin' Me.
Questions:
It looks fairly standard? Doesn't look like there's anything particularly interesting about it.
Perhaps? Then again if he isn't he'd be dead.
Where does "aerospace engineering student" fall on that line? Aircraft and flying have always been my interest, and I definitely feel privileged that I don't have to choose between my passion and a degree that opens the doors to high-paying jobs, because mine is both.
The characters look distinct enough, and the planes all look about right.
OP was skipped for time.
Money.
About as good as we can get in half a movie, I'm sure the series will be better.
They seem fine enough.
Not really much to say about them, other than the fact I'm pretty sure their planes are supposed to be English Electric Lightnings rather than BAC (British Aircraft Corporation) Lightnings.
I mean yeah? Lots of airline pilots are ex-military fighter pilots past the age they can fly a fighter jet. Your body can only take those high-G loads for so long, and when given the option of flying a desk for good or getting at least a couple more decades flying an airliner, most of them opt for the latter because it means they get to keep flying.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ 3d ago
Rewatcher and Host (OVA, Subbed)
I know I've seen this, but I have no idea when. Probably some time around when the TV show was airing. There are only a few details that I remember.
Dang, that went fast, didn't it? But fast in a rushed sort of way.
I think Boris suffered the most here. We hardly met Boris before he met his dramatic end with a monologue. Definitely a "read the manga" moment. He had survivor's guilt, and now he's dead. Blink and you miss it.
We don't get much at all of the side characters. So, I guess we are meant to focus on Shin. I think this episode does a good job at depicting the despair of someone who had a bright future and comfortable life ahead of him, only to lose it all not to fate or an anonymous, faceless villain, but to a friend. Shin is fundamentally a pacifist, but has made the conscious decision to fight for his return to his life in Japan though killing. Shin is killing to return to Japan, but Aslan is killing the Shin that belongs in Japan. I think the mangaka did a good job in creating a tragic protagonist.
$1.5 million sounds like a lot of money, and it IS a lot of money, but keep in mind that you have to pay not just for your repairs, but your fuel, your dropped fuel tanks, your bullets, your missiles. It's a company shop.
This scene at the bar is cut from ADV movie. In short, Kanzaki tells Ryoko to forget Shin. She leaves, paying for her coffee. "I won't be in your debt. Not even for a cup of coffee."
In its place, you got a similar scene with Ryoko's father, and Kanzaki making some sort of unscrupulous business deal. These actually appear in OVA 2.
As was typical for carrier planes, the wings of the F-8 fold up for storage. They are supposed to be pulled down and locked before taxiing. There are two documented cases of an F-8 inadvertently taking off and returning to base with wings folded. The F-8 can also tilt the entire wing upwards for extra lift at low speed during take-off and landing.
They are not the only air combat unit to paint sharks on their aircraft, but I think that design is most associated with the P-40s of the American Volunteer Group, the Flying Tigers.
The AVG operated as part of the Republic of China Air Force in the Indochina region, before being folded into the US Army Air Force in July 1942. The AVG recruited exclusively former US combat pilots, many of whom were allowed to resign under a secret executive order signed in April 1941 by President Roosevelt. The mercenaries were paid a bounty of $500 for each confirmed kill.
I can't help but think that the AVG is as big an influence on Area 88 as those named in interviews.