Area 88 OVA - Anime News Network
- Anime News Network
- Bamboo Dong
- 07/25/06
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"...if you already love planes and aerial combat, the emotions packed into this feature will have you captivated."
Being a big fan of the TV series, I was really excited to see that the original
Area 88 OVA was finally on DVD, and it didn?t disappoint. If I had thought that watching the series reminded me of watching Top Gun?well, watching the old school OVA is like being transported to that bar where Goose busts out on the piano. Accompanied by occasional 80s rock ballads, including an amazingly campy opening song entitled ?How Far to Paradise,? it even has a song with the following gem: ?Goodbye, sweet goodbye, blue lion.? Goofy music and 80s ambience aside,
Area 88 is a treat for any fan who gets their kicks from watching missiles and dogfights. Granted, it has its problems, like spontaneous flashbacks that never make the time shift clear until minutes afterwards, but what really propels the story forward are the compelling characters. Shin Kazama is an ace fighter who?s stuck at
Area 88, a Hell where the only way to leave is to either wait out a three-year sentence, or pay up $1.5 million earned from completing missions and shooting down targets. A quiet and hard worker, he loathes having to kill people and is counting down the dollars until he can go back to Japan to marry his fiancée. He?s surrounded by a host of other fascinating characters?backstabbing friends, war-hardened comrades, and a cameraman who?s willing to risk his life to get the perfect shot. Rife with anti-war sentiments, the OVA is surprisingly heart-felt; if you already love planes and aerial combat, the emotions packed into this feature will have you captivated. I only wish it was longer and more fleshed out?but that?s what the TV series is for.
Posted on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 (Archive on Friday, August 25, 2006)