Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Nomanur
Area 88… I don’t know what to say. I feel like nothing I say would be enough to describe it. At first, I went into it hoping for another cool fighting anime. But ever since watching the first episode I knew it’s not about just fighting. I don’t even know where to start.. The ending left me empty. But I don’t know why I’m still satisfied, sad yet satisfied at the same time. Probably last time this happened when I watched an anime movie called “5 centimeter per second”. Same empty yet satisfied feeling, the feeling of conflicting your own thoughts. Mann….. Can’t believe this was made in 1985, feel like no matter how much praise I give it, it won’t be enough to describe it. If I move on from the complicated stuffs and just focus on the animation, It can still beat 95% of modern day anime. Som…
Read at the sourcechinese_cartoons
Episodes 1 & 2 are nothing special, there are some enjoyable aerial action scenes but a lot of it is a bit too shounen for my tastes. The worst parts are in a big, boring, loosely connected subplot in Tokyo that takes up a lot of screen time.
But they are worth plowing through for the amazing feature length finale which explores how war changes a man, in addition to some great animation capped off with an ambiguous but entirely appropriate ending. The only downsides are the Tokyo parts, whose resolution made the whole subplot feel mostly pointless.
You could probably make a good movie cutting off the good bits from the first two episodes and joining it to the third, though you wouldn't be able to excise the Tokyo plot entirely as Ryoko is essential to the show's theme, best demonstrated…
Read at the sourceDISKOWN
Area 88 stands out as a top-tier OVA series, featuring distinctive hand-drawn animation and character designs that evoke the essence of the 1980s. The series' visuals reflect the artistic style of the era, adding to its nostalgic appeal. Each character is portrayed in a compelling manner, with unique appearances and personalities that contribute to the series' allure. Alongside captivating characters, thrilling action sequences, and a compelling storyline, Area 88 is elevated by a remarkable soundtrack that intensifies the viewing experience, particularly during its adrenaline-fueled aerial combat scenes. Moreover, it explores various subplots, further developing characters and providing insight into their motivations and decisions. Area 88 undeniably stands the test of time and rightfully…
Read at the sourceThatAnimeSnobRE
As much as I like giant robots and epic fantasy, they make it hard to take war drama seriously when they abuse hax technology and magic. Area 88 doesn’t suffer from such a thing, since it’s based on a mundane setting and does not attempt to include super technology or protagonists with hax powers. It doesn’t have factions which are either good or bad and nobody is fighting for childish ideals; it’s just money, and power hungry politicians. Grounded in reality and focused on its characters, it’s easily the best war drama ever made in anime.
And it’s not as if it’s only good for the drama, with everything else being a boring low budget production. It’s one of the best OVAs ever made. The character designs are a bit weird looking and minimalistic, but the machinery looks great, and because i…
Read at the sourcektulu007
Area 88 is a manga that ran from '79 to '86. So, this is even older than I am. In 1985 it got a three episode OVA from Pierrot. That's right. The studio behind Ayashi no Ceres, Hikaru no Go & The Choujo. But not everything they've done is mediocre at best. They also did Yu Yu Hakusho and a few other good anime. But most of the anime I've reviewed from them don't inspire confidence.
Story:
The basic story is that a Japanese commercial pilot named Kazama Shin is tricked into signing up for a mercenary force in war torn Aslan, not the lion. In order to be released from his contract he has to either accumulate enough credits or serve out his three year contract. Meanwhile, the man he was tricked by is climbing the ranks of the airline and plotting to take the highest position within it.
T…
Read at the sourcenichijoudisciple
TL;DR - This anime is simply fantastic for those who enjoy wartime drama/action/ philosophical conversations, but the ending to the love story that permeates this show will most likely leave most viewers disturbed and possibly enraged so watch with caution!
Area 88 came to my attention in my hunt for a decent military anime, as the genre itself doesn't have too many spectacular shows unlike the dime-a-dozen supernatural or shounen genres (I love these genres in their own right however).
Area 88 is exactly what I wanted and much more, as it portrays some of the best air-to-air combat I have ever seen, and uses the anime medium to its fullest potential in my opinion.
The shows characters however are entirely hit or miss, not because they can't be interesting, but because 90% of the char…
Read at the sourceliteraturenerd
Overview:
In the last couple years, Area 88 has seen an explosion of popularity here on MAL. This makes it a rather tricky title to review. It used to be criminally underrated, but now it's actually in danger of becoming overrated. While Area 88 is a strong OVA and does a number of things really well, it also has some aspects that really bug me.
The Psychological Effects of War:
Area 88 is entirely devoted to showing the horrible effects that war has on the human psyche. It's not just PTSD or even the dehumanizing effect of how soldiers learn to see their enemies. Once you go to war, it's immensely difficult to adapt back to civilian life. Soldiers have a hard time relating to civilians, who have never been in real danger and can't possibly understand what they've been through on the fr…
Read at the sourceBlaizeV
The greatest OVA ever for me. I've seen alot (A few hundred) but Area 88 stands above the lot. It's just a great story with superb animation, a truly epic soundtrack and wonderful sound design, It has a beautiful conclusion, It's just a perfect piece.
Originally 3 episodes but now available as two movies it's incredible how good the endings to each of them are. The ending to the first film (second OVA) is an immense crescendo of story, animation and soundtrack. It'll live long in the memory. The Ending to the second film (Third OVA) is a perfect of example of giving the viewer just what they need and nothing more, allowing this masterwork to bury itself into your Anime psyche forever.
Not really sure what else to say, when I think about this OVA all my brain goes to is superlative centr…
Read at the sourceAnimeTopScholar
Area 88 is a 3 part OVA that adapts the manga Area 88, written by Kaoru Shintani that was published between 1979 and 1986. The OVA released between Feb 5 1985 and Jun 15 1986, and produced by Studio Pierrot. It was directed by Hisayuki Toriumi (Tekkaman)
Area 88 follows Shin Kazama, a pilot working for Yamato Airlines. Shin gets tricked by his best friend into signing a contract that ties him to the foreign legion of a remote country called Aslan, where he gets stationed at Area 88. The foreign legion are almost like hired mercenaries. Aslan has been split into two sides and a civil war has broken out, and both sides are doing everything they can to win this war. Shin just wants to get out of this hell and get back to his normal life and his girlfriend, but there are only three ways to do…
Read at the sourceLIQfilms
Here's a scenario for you:
You're a fit and young Japanese man who has managed to work through the ranks of a prestigious airline company known as Yamato Airlines, earning large amounts of respect from your peers and your boss. Not only that, you have a beautiful and caring girlfriend whom you will be marrying soon but who also happens to be the daughter of the company chairman ensuring your heritage into the company. Life is swell and dandy but while you're out for a night on the piss with your dickhead of a friend, the twat gets you so intoxicated with the Devli's nectar that he tricks you into signing a document that ships you off to place called Area 88 located in the heart of a huge war in which the only ways to escape from this place is to do one of the three following things:
A: S…
Read at the sourceOmegaKatana92
One of the most underrated anime series ever to hit the USA. Also if you love the video game series ace combat you are in for a treat. From the first opening scene before the opening song of the first episode makes modern anime look like a joke for instance that scene no the whole movie is DRAWN BY HAND. Speaking of aerial dogfights the whole film when it shows them the animators with the help of the director brings them not just with great detail but also breaths them into life. The characters are amazing Shin Kazama is just a aerial school grad who gets tricked/drunk to realize to sign a war contract with a nation that's in a civil war. By a close friend (who is major antagonist of the series) to get a girl which Shin is in love with. So in order to be free, he has to survive three years…
Read at the sourceBowlingJD
Directed by Hisayuki Toriumi (Gatchaman 70s), Area 88 is a war time anime with the best animated dog fighting ever put on screen to date. This would even include the top mecha anime at the time (Gundam, Macross, etc), arguably. However, unlike the Gundams and Votoms, the environment the viewer is immersed in is incredibly realistic. Sure, the war-time theme is just being overdone in the 1980’s, but Area 88 keeps the space battles and super-soldiers out of the picture, and focuses more on highly detailed aerial combat.
The desert environment is well detailed and while the fights are going on in the air, there is always a maintained sense of three-dimensions. This, by no means, was an easy feat to do during the time. All music hits the 80’s awesome intense montage music whenever battle is a…
Read at the sourceMoon-
[COMMENTARY]
This is a show that demonstrated that "Anime" as a medium can actually achieve realism despite what most people might say, and Area 88 is a living proof of it. It follows a young pilot by the name of Kazama Shin, who is scammed by a close "friend", at a bar while shin is drunk, He tricks Shin into signing a paper, only to later realize that paper was his official registry as a war pillot that would later on serve "Area 88", and now to escape this living hell he must destroy enemies so he earns the money he needs to pay his fine, of course that will lead him to face ultimate depression and guilt.
The story for Area 88 is probably one of the most simplistic yet very well executed in terms of message and pace. It takes on moral issues such as identity and war trauma and it mana…
Read at the sourceLuquillo
Shin Kazama, a very promising young pilot with a bright future is on his way towards working for Yamato Airlines. Things are indeed looking up for the young man, as he's also dating the company owner's daughter Ryoko. His childhood friend Kanzaki, a very competitive man who will do anything to be at the top tricks him into getting drunk and signing a contract to fly and fight for the Foreign Legion. Shin must now do battle for a country he not only doesn't care about, but keep himself alive as well as maintain his grip on sanity. -summary
While there are a ton of older titles that many people will put their lives on the line as being the absolute best. I believe this lost gem from 1985, Area 88, was indeed one of the better titles of that time period, standing tall among many of the sacre…
Read at the sourcegedata
So what’s Area 88 about? It’s the story ace jet-fighter Shin Kazama, a dude who gets suckered into signing a 3 year contract by a jealous childhood friend that would send him to a hellish military base in the Middle East: Area 88. According to the contract, Shin must either remain at the base, far from his loved ones until he earns 1.5 million on the job to buy his way out, or completes his missions for 3 years. Shin opts for the former option, and must escape before the horrors of Area 88 erode his humanity.
My first impression of this OVA was "hey, this is pretty much an anime version of Catch-22", and indeed there are plenty of parallels on the surface level (I mean, a rogue jet-pilot completing missions only to get discharged, come on!) . Thing is, this OVA trades in the absurdist dar…
Read at the sourceAphroticus
As a student pilot, I sometimes find myself without inspiration from the anime department. Spike Spiegal might be one of the few fictional pilots I look up to. Thankfully, there exists an anime to suit my tastes when it comes to aviation. This isn't something of mecha or pertaining to sci-fi elements. It's just a straight up military drama known as Area 88 OVA(1985-86'). Shin Kazuma of Yamato Airlines has been tricked into enlisting in the Aslan civil war as a fighter pilot of Area 88. There are only 3 rules to live by in these circumstances when it comes to your way out: you must either serve for 3 years before getting killed first in battle, pay a penalty amount of $1.5million earned from killing enemy planes/bases, or desert the whole operation altogether and face death by firing squad.…
Read at the sourceDarklonestrife
Area 88 is just another one of those series you'd think that it wouldn't be great because it's old and outdated. But fortunately, Area 88 flips you on the side of your head, making you regret that you ever doubted this series' capabilities. You know something? I noticed a common trend in most older Anime series- most of them are "substance over style." This is what Area 88 is all about folks. "Substance over style." Let's review.
STORY... The plot revolves around a man named Shin Kazama who ends up in an Air Force Mercenary Guild somehow (You have to watch, if you want to find out.). In order for him to reclaim his freedom, he must keep working until he reaches a certain amount of money. We all know what mercenaries do, right? They kill. But here's the thing- Shin isn't a true born natura…
Read at the sourceshintai88
Area 88 is an anime based around a young pilot. Shin Kazama. Who was tricked in to signing up as a Mercenary for the nation of Aslan a small middle eastern nation, that is currently under Civil war. The person who tricks him is a fellow pilot for the same airline, who despises him for being the potential successor of the airline company and the fiance of the company's owners daughter.
He wakes up after being transported by Aslan agents to Area 88 his new home. And from there on he would have to either work his contract off or serve from the number of years stated.
You follow Shin Kazama who tries to pay his way out of his contract by taking up the missions with the highest payment, risking his life to get back to his lovers arms and back to his previous life.
You witness how he tries to…
Read at the sourceRobdeFR
What have I been doing all this time? Why didn't I have watched this jewel sooner? It doesn't matter now, because I finally did and I have to admit that the "cult" following that exists around this OVA is well deserved unlike other series with such status.
This tells a story of shin Kazuma, a pilot who is betrayed by his best friend and finds himself in a mercenary air force in a critical country in middle east thanks to that betrayal, Shin to get out of there needs to work for three years or do a reasonable ammount of missions that has surpassed the price of those three years of work.
The story is very good, it doesn't have major holes and goes into a complete new approach at the time and original theme and plot. Characters are fitted to the story and we have a good character developmen…
Read at the sourceYourMessageHere
My flatmate and I are both anime people. There\'s just not enough stuff out there, so every now and then, when a "classic" series surfaces, we\'ll have a look at that. Being big on Macross Zero and Yukikaze, I thought Area 88 might have been an interesting watch - aircraft anime before the age of CGI. I mention my flatmate because it is from him I gleaned the phrase that so succinctly describes Area 88\'s many failings: The Powah Of Cool.
Kazama Shin is a top airline pilot, cozy with the company boss\'s daughter and poised to become a bigshot. So, naturally, his best friend hoodwinks him into signing a mercenary pilot\'s contract in order to nick all that from him. But he cannot take Shin\'s Powah Of Cool. Against the odds Shin survives, and his candyfloss-haired squeeze happens to see hi…
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