86 EIGHTY-SIX

For something I picked up on a whim, it didn’t take long for 86 to become one of my most anticipated shows of the season and it’s easy to see why at first. When you have Hiroyuki Sawano’s godlike music and Toshimasa Ishii’s superb (debut!) directing on your side, even the most ridiculous plot can shine through like a masterpiece. But while I wouldn’t call the premise behind 86 outright ridiculous, it certainly has its flaws.

Set in the futuristic Republic of San Magnolia (aka Anime Nazi-Land), the show follows the contrasting lives of Republican Major Lena Milizé and her squadron, the persecuted Eighty-Sixers. From the get go, the audience is spoonfed the foundational themes of the story, which tackles issues like racism, war crimes and political corruption. The trouble is that it’s a little hard to take such heavy themes seriously when it’s set in a world where hair colour is the only thing that sets you apart and all our main characters are a bunch of teenagers. It also doesn’t help that the way the Republic handles the Eighty-Six in war makes absolutely no sense at all - seriously, what country cares so little about its own safety and future over its inexplicable hatred towards a certain race?

Abandoning all moral reasoning, the Republic goes so far as to form an entire racist narrative against the Eighty-Sixers just to forcibly conscript them to fight their wars - only to then do their absolute best to kill them off? Huh? The whole idea is unrealistic and forms a poor argument for the base of the story, which renders the moral themes as very surface-level in the process. (Also, let’s remember that these very attractive, very capable people are treated like shit and ethnically cleansed simply for having COLOURED HAIR lmao). This is ultimately the fault of the source work. Anyways, this much is established within the first few episodes and can be the breaking point for many who are looking for a serious mecha anime with strong underlying messages. Somebody else on here likened 86 to YA dystopias like Divergent or The Hunger Games and rightly so - I can’t pretend that 86 brings anything new to the table in that regard.

BUT - if you’re like me and ready to look past that, then get ready to witness some beautiful storytelling, AMV-worthy emotional highs and action scenes, wrapped up in impressive animation from A-1 Pictures. You can feel just how much love was poured into this adaptation from the little details sprinkled throughout, like subtle drawings on the walls foreshadowing/hinting at character information, or the growing body count in the opening song with every episode. Speaking of which, we’re blessed with absolute bangers for the OP and ED, the latter of which features both a melancholic and happier version, depending on the mood the ending takes.

For the most part, the dynamic editing paired with the dual POV narrative style works perfectly in engrossing you for the full 23 minutes. I can recall a handful of moments in the earlier episodes that had some jarring pacing issues, but these are made up for as we learn more about the characters (like Shin and his brother) and watch their relationships grow. Although I really do wish we had been given more content to get to know the side characters better; it became hard to keep track of who died or feel sad about it without any emotional attachments. In my opinion, screen time spent on repetitive battle scenes and dialogue (like Lena's same ol’ discussions with Annette and her uncle) would have fared far better on the Eighty-Sixers’ slice of life moments instead. For those that were lucky enough to have extra screen time or entire episodes dedicated to their backstory, boy did dem feels hit!

One of the aspects done well here was the realistic depiction of people’s relationships with one another, especially how the various squadron members reacted to Lena becoming their Handler. Seeing their initial disdain slowly blossom into a genuine friendship over time definitely had to be one of the highlights for me personally, with a nice potential for romantic developments in the future (if that’s something you’re into). These moments culminate into a very satisfying emotional payoff by the tenth episode, leaving the show on a promising mark. It may have been frustrating watching our protagonist achieve much of nothing until the last few episodes, but the story deliberately emphasizes her sense of helplessness that many of us probably feel when faced with similar situations.

In summary, 86 is a thinly-veiled story about standing up for what’s right in the face of ignorance, a premise that works purely because of its top-notch production value here. Fans of the light novel could not have asked for better and if you’re in need of something “deep but not that deep” to keep you entertained for a couple hours, this is the one for you.