Area 88 Volume 1: Treacherous Skies - Anime-Planet
- Anime-Planet
- Kim Johnson
- 08/29/05
- click here
Synopsis:
Kazama Shin was once in training to become an airline pilot, until his jealous friend Kanzaki Satoru tricked him into signing a 3 year contract whose reward is $1,500,000, and whose escape is unthinkable. His mission since that day has been to work for a hidden base of mercenaries known as Area 88, with the skies as his new home, soaring into deadly battles and fighting to survive. Determined not to die, this ace pilot of Area 88 battles hard daily to one day leave the hell of being a fighter pilot. Will he ever return to his fiance Ryoko, or is he doomed to die in the skies?
Packaging & Menu: 7 / 10
I?m a little mixed on the outer packaging. For starters, I do like the front cover. It shows one of the planes close up, with a sunset in the background. The one thing I don?t like is the faded image of Shin in the top left. It looks too much like clouds, and blends in almost perfectly with the color of the plane, making the image look very flat. Probably leaving him off would have been the best, given the rest of the artwork to work with. The back cover was well thought out but didn?t end up working very well. There is a section of text at the top, followed by a nice looking and meaningful plane console bar, then a bar of screenshots, then more text. While each of these pieces works well separately, the problem is the lack of a good focus. When I looked at the back cover my eyes immediately were drawn to nothing. Finally they rested upon the red buttons on the console, but from there, nothing drew me in. This made for a very flat looking design in general. I think the key with any design is to have the important pieces somewhere very noticeable so the eyes are immediately drawn to it. Don?t get me wrong, it was a good idea, but still, it needs focus. To be honest I like the insert more than the front cover. It?s a shot of Shin with the plane behind him. Very crisp and clear image. I like it. The back has detailed information on the voice actors. Any extra info that can be given in the insert is always a huge plus.
The menu, like the back cover, was a good idea in theory but really didn?t turn out well. The entire screen is a giant console with lots of dials. The navigation text is nothing more than a few words scattered around the console, sitting at odd angles so they run parallel with the dials. This has some major issues. First of all, back to the issue of focus: my eyes didn?t know where to go. The text is white just like the dials so it doesn?t stand out at all, and it?s very small on top of things. I had to look around for a few seconds before I could even see where the navigation was, and that?s not a good thing. I would have liked for it to be a little larger, more noticeable and more intuitive to use. Other pages had better navigation, but the front one really could have used some work. But again, a valiant attempt at an original idea, so I?m still rating this section a 7 overall.
Extras: 9 / 10
Quite a few features can be found on this disc. First of all, the usual clean opening and closing. Second, character and production sketches as well as specs on various airplanes used in the show. The most important feature isn?t even listed on the back of the DVD, which is surprising. It?s an interview with some of the staff members. One thing I thought was weird is that there?s a big warning before viewing it that says (in so many words) not to watch it if you haven?t seen the entire series. In that case, why was this interview not put on the last disc to be safe? Who knows: maybe there?s other interviews that will go on the other discs instead, it just seems a little weird to me. There definitely were enough features to warrant leaving it off, as well, for non spoiling purposes.
Video: 9 / 10
I really noticed no major problems with this DVD. The video was transferred perfectly, and even the panning shots keep the aliasing to a minimum. The only problem I saw was a bit of noise in the desert scenes, where the sand and mountains would break up a bit, but you would have to be really looking to notice it. The most impressive part of this release was the combining of CG and cell animation. Normally it's a very obvious overlay, however, the CG blending almost perfectly with the backgrounds and surrounding animation, and in a lot of scenes I didn't even notice.
Audio: 9 / 10
The audio in this release was transferred very well. The Japanese 2.0 sounded great, with a lot of good balance among the different sounds throughout the show. The dialogue was never drowned out, even with all the jet, bomb and gun noises throughout. The directionality was also done well, playing the action across the soundstage. The English 5.1 mix was nothing short of amazing. I was impressed to say the least. The action scenes were the real forte in the track, but in other scenes, the music and ambient noise filled in nicely from behind, and, strangely enough, there was even dialogue (mostly used to portray a characters thoughts) that sounded across the entire soundstage, giving an interesting effect.
Content: 8.5 / 10
The first disc of Area 88 introduces us to two primary characters: Shin, a pilot who clearly doesn?t want to be doing what he?s doing, and Makoto, a photographer. We don?t know much about either of these guys, but I?m sure later volumes will explain more. All we know is that Shin is not happy, and Makoto is on a quest to get a perfect photo.
The animation is definitely the big draw for the series. Nearly seamless CGI intermixes with regular animation for a dazzling visual treat. The planes look wonderful, especially when they zip around. Explosions are well done. Everything about the animation is fantastic. The character designs are simplistic but clean. Beautiful backgrounds accompany most of the scenes, and range from sunsets to barren hills, to enemy encampments at night. I especially liked one scene where a fire burns behind Shin as he walks away. The intro song is one of the catchiest I?ve heard, with techno beats. Music isn?t present a lot of the time but in this case I found it to be very appropriate. Hearing the sounds of the planes and missiles was a lot more engaging than a random song.
I can already tell, after only seeing three episodes, that Area 88 is going to be a great series. It probably won?t be for everyone as it?s a little mild on the action and isn?t spazzy or girlie, or ecchi in any way. I, however, loved it. It?s a solemn drama of sorts with lots of planes and interesting characters that you know will be developed in the future. I loved the touching story of the Angel of Death, and want to know more about Shin?s dilemma. All in all a great release, and I can?t wait to see volume 2.
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Posted on Monday, August 29, 2005 (Archive on Thursday, September 29, 2005)