SPOILERS AHEAD.
This review expects you to have watched the show.
86 was, frankly, much better than I expected. The problem with war stories is that they’re are stories which have been told very often. You have to pull them off well to engage the viewer, and if the story chooses to ignore to tackle themes which naturally come with a war setting, it feels very artificial and subpar. 86 however is very ambitious in its approach to its themes by having two POV, and it plays very strongly with the contrast between Lena and Shin and the situation both live in. And that’s where the anime excelled as an adaptation, because a lot of the core aspects of the themes are told per visuals, clever usage of sound effects and contrast in the composition and imagery. Especially mention-worthy are the transitions between different scenes, here an example: ▶ Video
And we’re not talking about highlights here: 86 was strong from start to finish. It had issues, especially so in the second half, but already in the first episodes the direction played in the show’s favour. Even someone like me, who doesn’t pick up on details immediately, already noticed that the direction was one of this show’s strong points very early on. That’s how prevalent Toshimasa Ishii’s style in this series is, and it stayed consistent throughout the show, making it sound very unbelievable that 86 is his first project as a series director. Of course, it wasn’t only Ishii. It’s next to impossible to direct even a large quantity of episodes in one show, especially so as series director, but in this case, Ishii was blessed to have a team of episode directors who understood his style and were more than capable enough to adapt it into their own work as well.
But a show has more offer than simply themes and good direction, right? If the plot and the characters are not good, the whole package isn’t great either, right? Well… yes and no. I think it’s generally difficult to separate these things that strongly – That’s why I also don’t structure my reviews in story-characters-execution sections (no intention to ridicule anyone who does, it’s just not my preferred style), because all of these things overlap in a complete package, and if one thing is good the other is bound to be strong as well. 86 doesn’t offer an incredible, mind-twisting or original story. However, given how effective the themes in the show are presented even simple moments gain meaning. When Rikka confronted Lena with her hypocrisy in episode 3 it was especially impactful because we saw before the difference in their daily lives. Because the contrast (also enhanced by the direction) is so strong that we can see both sides. That even if Lena has good intentions, she doesn’t understand at all the circumstances the 86 are forced into. Without a successful establishment of its themes, this simple plot event wouldn’t nearly be as gut-wrenching was it actually turned out to be in the final product.
▶ VideoThis also applies to characters. Anime is much more than just two people talking: It’s important how you present it. How characters move, speak and act. Visual character acting can often be much more telling for the personality of a character than what comes out of his mouth. And here again, 86 did such a great job translating the emotions and character traits of the main characters onto the screen. While I wouldn’t call any of the characters extraordinary or exquisite in terms of writing, I cared about them, and that’s all the show needed to make me emotional when it wanted me to.
Of course, the music has to be mentioned as well – Hiroyuki Sawano did not disappoint with his OSTs, especially “Your Answer” was great and I listened to it many times. But given how great the directing is, the OSTs felt more like candy on top, instead of a core aspect which contributed to making this show into something truly special.
Sawano vibing to his own soundtrack
86 has been blessed with a staff which passion knows no bounds. Even if the circumstances of this show’s production are quite awful, which some of you probably already guessed when they delayed the last two episodes by 3 months. Here also a more detailed coverage from Kvin, if you’re curious about the production of 86. I don’t want to delve too deep into it, because no one does it as good as Kvin does. I recommend to read it.
Final Conclusion: Even with a great source material, translating something into an anime is not always easy. This applies especially to non-manga, which have no panels the anime can make use of to ease the process of creating a convincing storyboard, composition and layout. Despite all that Toshimasa Ishii and his staff delivered this story with a lot of heart, passion and creativity which paid off in the end, because the final product is amazing. 86 was way beyond my expectations, and I hope for a second season, because there is still a lot this story is able to tell.