Introduction 86 is an anime that could easily be another bad made mecha anime with terrible cgi and a crapy plot that tries to throw in a really bad life lesson. After watching it I can guarantee its the exact opposite. Story (20/20) 86 has a really unique story that you wouldn't expect. "A war without any victims" is the concept that the aristocracy of the nature of the government in 86 tries to follow. It follows the story of an aristocrat called Vladilena Milizé. Lena, is born between the powerful side of this war. That side, the 85 tribes, are in a war as said before, and they raise the state to live in the illusion that the war goes on with no victims. This anime proves that there is no war like that. The 86th tribe, get their humanism taken away by the powerful ones, and they are forced to fight for the ones who got the power against the enemies. They are guided by choosen people from the other 85th tribes, and guess what one of them is Lena. If you think thats complicated enough then you will be suprised by the mystery and the drama thrown in, the hopeless romance, opening new windows of the plot, making it even bigger. You have the chance to watch the plot from the prespective of both of the side, something that makes you question of whats right and whats wrong, who is the villain and who is the hero. The anime throws in themes such as racism and tyrany, child abuse and the list goes on. Its not your typical millitary anime, it goes deeper into detail, about the real pain and self-sacrifice you have to go through during the war, that the power of friendship isnt enough to go against the monsterous nature of humanity, and finishing this anime you are left with a bunch of life lessons, and a small piece of hope. Now you would think this plot would fit just great into a 24 episode anime. But no, the first part is completed with absolute no plot holes within 11 episodes. You would think that this would be a problem for the anime pacing, but no this anime was anything but rushed. The story telling is beautiful and excellently told.
Characters (20/20) The characters are another mesmerising gift given to us by the 86 creators. Each character, develops based on the development of the characters around them, if that makes sense. They are all kids that have to stand the situation they are put in. They all develop as they learn from not only their friends, but their supposed enemies. They realize that their enemy is not the people around them, but themselves as they torture their thoughts and their heart while not being able to be free. They are the ones that can free themselves, thats something that they all realize in the end. There is no boring character in the anime, they are all different from each other giving the viewers a lot of different characters to like, meaning even the viewer with the weirdest taste will like at least one of them. Also the retionship developed between some characters is admirable, friends to enemies, enemies to friends, strangers to lovers, you never know what to expect from this anime. Each and every kind of relationship twists is portrayed on this anime. All the characters hide secrets, as the characters try to find trustworthy allies on their survival journey, the viewers, similarly try to understand who to trust and who to not and even if you can trust anyone at all. Animation (20/20) The animation of this anime is flawless. The beautiful scenes portraying the seconds of peace that could be found during the disaster, it feels like an amazing work of art of a famous artist, that tried to show his depression through hypnotising art. After something really overwhelming, scenes like that show up and calm the viewers racing heartbeat while leaving a feeling of full emptiness, if that even makes sense at all. People try to use the cgi robots as a point to make 86's worth lower, but even if there is some cgi, its very little and its done very well.
Sound (10/10) The soundtrack as-well as the voice acting is exactly how a perfect sound overall should be like in an anime. The emotions of the characters are portrayed perfectly, a blind person that doesn't know Japanese could understand just as well as a person that can see, the pain and the regret on the character's hopeless screams and rages. The soundtrack is a peaceful melody that shows the calm before the storm. The peacefulness in the disaster. The innocence in the pain. World Building (10/10) The world building is...incredible. Beautiful landscapes here and there that are very aesthetically pleasing and calming to the eye. The battle fields are created excellently, and they really help the battles progress even more smoothly. The buildings give a different atmosphere to the vibe of the anime, adding to it a nostalgic yet awesome vibe.
Enjoyment (20/20) 86:EIGHTY SIX is an anime that i believe everyone will enjoy no matter their taste in anime. Thats because it successfully adds a lot of different kinds of genres here and there through the episodes, such as romance, drama, psychological, action and even horror. But if you ask me, its my favourite anime and thats because the emotions that get created to me by it are multiple. Summed up in my opinion its a must watch. So adding up 20+20+20+10+10+20=100
