Area 88: Complete Collection [DVD]

This series marks the second animated adaptation of Kouru Shintani's fighter pilot manga epic, Area 88.Shin Kazama, an orphan, was on track to fulfill his lifelong dream of being a commercial pilot. As the story starts, he is serving a three-year contract as a mercenary fighter pilot at Area 88, an air base in the middle of the desert. How he wound up there is revealed over the course of the series.Each dangerous mission brings him closer to the $1.5 million required to terminate the contract and buy his freedom, but also changes his soul. The series does a very good job of covering that ground. It excels at (you could say wallows in) the angst-y, emotional drama that made Area 88 a favorite of mine back when the manga was being released in the U.S. The over the top melodrama could be too much for some (check out the poems used as previews for the next episode), but I loved it.The animation is nicely done and I liked the story selection. The planes and air battles are all CG rendered and they look good, but I think they lose some of the character that the earlier, hand animated series had.The characters are mostly true to their presentations in the manga and earlier series. As a plus to viewers watching the series in English, ADV used the same voice actors in the earlier series as they did in this one. If you watch both, the characters maintain their voices.They've taken a minor character from the manga, Shinjo `Rocky' Makoto (a photographer) and used him as the focus of this series. I can see why they did, as it helps introduce viewers to the base and characters. But it also makes Shin sort of a supporting actor in his own story.I do wish they had translated the kingdom as Asran instead of Aslan (in Japan, the `L' and the `R' character are the same). I've seen the kingdom translated as Asran (in the manga), Aslan (in the English versions of the animation) and as Alsran/Arslan (on the Wikipedia entry and around the internet). I think of Aslan as the lion from the Narnia stories. In my mind, Asran sounds more like a Middle Eastern country. Also, when they show the contract in the series it clearly showed `Asuran'.Lastly, this series ending just isn't as powerful as the earlier series was. It has an ending that is satisfying enough. But it lacks punch. I wonder if they were leaving the door open for a second season?This version of Area 88 is a step down from the  three part series  made in the `80's. If you were only going to choose one, I would say go with that. But this series is still Area 88, so it's still worth watching.

I saw the second version first, to avoid being prejudiced by the first version. (Spoilers ahead.) The original version gives a stern warning, already alluded to in ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930). and all the more relevant today as so many of our soldiers are returning from the Middle East with a brainful of PTSD: WAR IS ADDICTIVE. Soldiers lose contact with their families, bond with their comrades, are conditioned to kill-or-be-killed, and the nicest young fellow may eventually be unable to readjust to peaceful life. (It took me years).The remake is, as usual, hollywoodized: gorgeous pictures, great music ( I could not get enough of the opening "Fugue" ), but the message has been diluted, the ending left open.However, the second version contains a new and riveting episode: The Snipers Mind. Regular pilots unleash a hail of fire to down the enemy plane, and try not to think of its pilot; but the sniper is a hunter of men: he patiently waits in ambush, lures his quarry to expose itself, and makes sure every bullet destroys a human life.Just for that one, the second version is worth seeing as well.

I did enjoy this series quite a bit. It is missing a lot of the angst of the manga and 80's OVA, but it's an interesting interpretation with great visuals. The English voice acting is awful and uninspired, even though they tried to "Americanize" it with military terms, i.e. characters murmuring "Fox two" when they launch a Sidewinder missile when they were normally silent in the original Japanese version. The sound mix is 5.1 for the English dub - I wish it was also for the Japanese language version, which is just 2.0.The biggest fault with ADV's release of this is that while they did get the rights to the original score, they didn't get the rights to the great Euro-trance songs from the TV series. They substitute this awful generic temp music, which sucks so much of the energy and momentum from the flying and dogfighting scenes. It might not matter to people who haven't seen the original product, but I was quite familiar with the Japanese version, so I was disappointed with that.

Why anyone wouldn't like this is beyond me! This is a really well made anime about a pilot flying for a mercenary unit in the kingdom of Aslan(Turkish for Lion). You fly with the Pilot Shin Kazama as he tries to earn enough money to buy his way out of the mercenary air force that he was duped into sighning by a childhood rival. In case many of you don't know; they made a shooter game out of this; U.N. Sqaudron for Snes. I am a huge fan of air combat games! My current favorites are the Ace Comabt series on PS2. They made an Ace Combat for the XBox 360: Ace Combat 6 Fires of Liberation.

I had wanted to check out a military themed animated show that employed fighter jets, and I had checked Area 88 out on a recommendation.The military fighter jets were kick azz, let me state that right away. The air combat was well done. The characters? A bit stiff. The storyline? Can't go wrong with the lost love plot, but it's nothing viewers haven't seen before.Area 88 isn't something I'm interested in watching again -- a bit boring all around, and not something that would entice me to watch again. I also wouldn't pay the $40 price for the set; the pricing should be more towards $30.The DVD's are an okay anime offering, with a classic storyline and modern military fighters. Again, the characters are a bit stiff, so be warned.

This is a slice of life anime. No special powers or demons in this. Just a bunch of air fighter pilots trying to survive. The main character ( spoiler alert ) is tricked into signing a three year contract to fight in a war. This is how he keeps going no matter what to get back to the girl of his dreams. Excellent animation and a killer opening track. If you like Top Gun type shows this is the anime for you.