Introduction
1. Slipstream
About a Luftwaffe pilot who must choose between his duty to his country: to guard a bomber loaded with Germany's final hope of victory... the world's first atomic bomb... or his duty to the world: to let it fall in flames to enemy Spitfires and be a footnote in history. Of course, things are complicated by the plane's other cargo... the woman he loves.
2. Sonic Boom Squadron
Near the end of the war, Japan has implemented a new weapon -- a human-piloted rocket-propelled flying bomb. Aboard a bomber carrying one of these, young Ensign Nogami awaits his chance to die as a "cherry blossom", a suicide pilot. In a few hours, he will die. The date of his death is set: August 6, 1945.
3. Knight of the Iron Dragon
Two soldiers attempt to reach an air base in order to fulfill a promise despite the fact that it might have been rendered moot in the reality of war.
(Source: ANN)
Audience reviews
8 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
SgtSalamander
The Cockpit is a rare beast of an anime. It's about WW2, doesn't cover it exclusively from the Japanese perspective, and consists of three self-contained vignettes. It's a strange mix of topic, genre, and format, resulting in an OVA which is conceptually strong, but still falls short in some ways which are too glaring to ignore. Beginning with the story, it is right off the bat the strongest part of the show. They are poignant tales of morality, honor, and military tragedy that manage to lay bare the conflict of these things within the human heart in artful and arresting fashion. Though, the show starts out a little weak with the first episode being this wild flight of fancy with a questionable moral calculus instead of a grounded story about duty which could have conceivably occurred, lik…
Read at the sourceDISKOWN
The Cockpit is an OVA series that consists of three different stories that are all interconnected by an anti-war theme. Because of this, the narratives of each episode are rather weak, as there is little time to fully develop characters. However, the series does its best but could have done better with an extended runtime. The art and animation throughout the series are top-notch and pay great attention to detail. While the OVA is not historically accurate, it ultimately succeeds in portraying the extreme ideologies at the end of the Second World War, as well as their human cost. Overall, The Cockpit has its shortcomings but is an enjoyable watch, especially for fans of classic animation.
Read at the sourcektulu007
The Cockpit is an early 90s Madhouse OVA and it's based off of a Matsumoto Leiji manga. I'll be honest, I have never read or watched one of his works before. And I'm sure a bunch of people will say this is the wrong one to start with, but fuck it, we're going live.
Story:
The OVA is basically made up of three different stories, each one about soldiers during World War II. I'll probably go into the problems and high points for each episode individually before discussing the generals.
The first is about a Deutsche pilot who gets disgraced and then is offered a chance at redemption, by being the only escort for a very important delivery mission. The first question this brings to mind is why you would assign a post that important to a disgraced pilot. The second is why you would only have…
Read at the sourceDr_Kon
Three simple, nicely written, individual short stories from WW2. They communicate the stories of ordinary soldiers, ordinary men caught up in the madness of that war, and the decisions they have to make during the unforgiving and fleeting minute of each soldier's life when confronted with their duties.
Considering the short length of each episode, the pace is really good and each of the three stories feels complete. A serious and mature take on WW2 by an anime, which is something not very common.
Overall, a very good and quick watch if you can put aside the old art due to its age. It will be appreciated more by people with a historical interest in WW2.
Read at the sourceliteraturenerd
Overview:
Time to review another obscure OVA! This time we're looking at The Cockpit. This 1993 OVA had EVERYTHING going for it, but still somehow managed to wind up terrible. It was written by Leiji Matsumoto, who also did the character designs. The director was Yoshiaki Kawajiri, who directed such classics as Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D. This was also made by Madhouse on an impressive budget. The plot is WW2 from the eyes of Axis fighter pilots.
So I went into this expecting something like Das Boot. Many of the Axis soldiers will be humanized and realistic, while also being staunchly anti-war and pointing out all the atrocities on all sides. Nope! Well maybe it will be like "Blonde Knight of Germany" the biography of ace pilot Erich Hartmann. It will focus on just one figure on…
Read at the sourceCreationZilla
Ok, this is a three part OVA series so I am going to give each individual episode a rating and mini-review.
#1-Slipstream:
Score: 9
This episode could be the only one you watch and you are not missing anything. This is my personal favorite out of the three. It makes me wish that this episode alone evolved into it's own short 6 episode anime, with more backstory. You get a Nazi viewpoint of WWII and you end up caring for the main two Nazi's. The ending is very satisfying but a little emotional.
It is a great aviation short!
#2-Sonic Boom Squadron:
Score: 7
This episode is alright, it has an interesting story. The only factor that throws me off is the design of most of the Japanese characters. A lot of the pilots look very deformed and almost as if they were "inbred"; and it really takes a…
Read at the sourceromansiii
The Cockpit Review
There are no spoilers in this review
I just completed the three part OVA The Cockpit. An anime about three different theoretically possible World War 2 scenarios.
Story
The story for each episode is independent from each other and is focused on the characters feelings of war and what they do to hold their own sense of honor during one of the most bloody wars in History.
It's interesting to watch these as an Australian as the story focuses on Axis Power soldiers. One German fighter pilot, one Japanese Ohka pilot and two Japanese infantry soldiers. It's interesting to see a perspective which I never could comprehend on my own. I really like the story.
It's amazing how much the writer put into each episode without making it feel rushed.
Tech
I'm not sure what the…
Read at the sourceggultra2764
The Cockpit is a collection of three animated short stories focused on World War II adapted from source material written by acclaimed creator of Captain Harlock, Leiji Matsumoto. Each of the stories explore how different soldiers cope with an aspect of war with Slipstream featuring a German pilot's hesitance to do an escort mission involving a nuclear warhead, Sonic Boom Squadron's focus on a Japanese kamikaze pilot and Knight of the Iron Dragon focus on a pair of soldiers trying to make it to an air base unaware of its current occupancy by American forces.
All three shorts carry a sense of tragedy and inevitability with what the characters face in their endeavors as The Cockpit doesn't hold back any punches in depicting the reality of war and the harshness of the regimes in which the cha…
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