Area 88 - TV

Summary: >

Shin Kazama had bright future ahead of him. After years of training, he would soon be a commercial jet pilot. His girlfriend Ryoko is the daughter Yamato Airline's president. It only took a night at a bar to have that bright outlook stolen. Shin's best friend tricks him into signing up as a mercenary for the Arslan air force for a full tour of duty. Arslan is a poor nation in the middle east. Training pilots is expensive, so they resort to hiring mercenary pilots in their on going civil war. Shin's new home is a military base only known as Area 88, or hell as he refers to it.

With no escape, Shin spends his days taking lives with the small hope that he'll survive to return to his previous life, and as Area 88's top ace he might be able to do that. More importantly, he needs to settle things with the friend who betrayed him: Kanzaki. Kanzaki figured Shin would soon die in a place like that, but with skill and determination it seems Shin may even climb out of hell to return to the love he left behind.

Thoughts: >

To this day I believe the Area 88 - OVA is one of the greatest anime ever made. Considering decades of anime made since 1981, that's an impressive record and a lot to live up to, so I didn't expect much of the TV series. However even after lowing my expectations I found the TV series somewhat disappointing but it's not all bad.

I'm not a fan of computer generated anime of the early 2000s era but it is well suited for rendering fighter jets. Of course it hasn't aged well but it hasn't aged as terribly as many other shows.

I'm not sure I'd say the series faired poorly in the story and characters, instead it's a matter of living up to its predecessor. In the OVA Shin's despair seeps into every part of the show, with is longing to return to Ryoko contrasting with his desire for revenge against the man who put him there. Desperation in earning enough to buy his freedom as quickly as he can but the guilt in killing to do so - along with the disgust in himself that he's rather good at it. This mix in a character is amazing when done right (in the OVA) but the TV series doesn't seem to know how to really leverage the content. In the TV series Shin is certainly quiet.. and has "a look in his eye".

With expanded length there's more air combat which was a plus. I'd expect more to be done with the characters, but that didn't happen. This was perplexing in the case of the female pilot introduced who I thought would maybe be an interesting love interest or rival... but isn't much of anything.

I found Area 88 just "okay" until the last episode, which improved my opinion a little. Similar to the OVA, the finish is open ended but the TV series is much more positive. It hits on the big three points I wanted to see more of: Shin's struggle with his life at Area 88, Ryoko's commitment to a man she doesn't even know is alive, and Shin's redemption.

The result is nothing exceptional. A good anime if you're into fighter jets but very average.

Screen Caps: >