86

My first anime review ever because I strongly believe this is easily within my top 3 best shows i have ever watched. I'm the sort of watcher who watches week by week, as i enjoy the cliffhangers as it lets me and my friends discuss the last episode and grow more emotionally attached to the show/characters- And 86 did not disappoint in providing that. Story + Keeping you at the edge of your seat 10/10 Every episode ended with that yearning for the next one. I'm also very particular on the soundtrack being on point- and this Sawano is basically the Hans Zimmer of the anime world Soundtrack 10/10 Don't want to spoil so just note that the date and time shown at each scene is so important- the parallels and societal division shown are absolutely amazing.

86 is most compelling when characters deal with their internal conflicts. Characters will die and the impact they have is very substantial to the character development of the rest. A buildup. A setup. 86 does not offer anything new in its concept or even world, but its presentation and pace of worldbuilding is an incredibly fun mix of realism and action, which almost catches your breath every time a climactic incident happens in an episode. While some characters fall under tropes, the dynamics between them make for very endearing and distinct impressions. I would say this one is not about the action scenes, but more about the angst and terrible conflict of war fought and experienced in practically different worlds. 86 was definitely a surprise for me, engaging and sticks to what it does best competently and confidently. I expected excessive trashy waifu pull in the side, but I got something that I am really looking forward to instead. It's just solid entertainment overall.

God, where do I start with this? As my first mecha anime, I didn't start this anime with any expectations, nor can I really remember why I started it in the first place. But I couldn't be more glad that I did. In my best attempt to not write subjectively, 86 excels in its character development, reaching out to the audience and tackling real world issues, that being racism and war. The story 86 is trying to tell is far deeper than I would've thought from a mecha anime and I would never have thought 11 episodes were capable of creating this atmosphere. Right from the beginning, I was drawn in. Having started it quite late, I was able to binge a couple episodes and was looking forward to 86 every week. I hated how short each episode felt. The characters are the highlight of this show, and sadly, 86 isn't afraid to create an attachment to a character, only to kill them off. I both love and hate that about 86. Despite the war and racism, those who are forced to fight for the sake of Alba are able to maintain a sense of normalcy. They're still kids. They still laugh, get bored, form friendships and relationships, they still feel everything from before and what is currently happening now. And this anime depicts that flawlessly. Little scenes where Lena is hearing them talk to each other, Lena getting to know them, the doubt and aggressiveness prior to their relationship and everything in between. It makes it hurt more, I swear. And this is consistent throughout. Not once has 86 faltered in maintaining this character development. It is easy to forget what they're going through sometimes, because of how normal this is for them. And that's what make the sad moments hit even more. The contrast between how they are acting and what is going on, Lena being the only panicked and scared one, all perfect. Lena is also great as a MC. Female leads are very hit and miss, and they usually miss. With actual personality, Lena is easily one of my favourites in this show. She stumbles often, and I mean that emotionally, but she's learning, and I love that. Learning from kids who aren't really kids, and it's amusing because SHE'S the handler. The soundtrack, especially the ED is breath-taking. Whenever the song plays in the middle of an episode I literally feel my heart stop. The character design and animation is an easy 9, no complaints there. There was a fair amount of action, but that never took away from the story. The pacing was just right, every episode added something to the story, whether it be depth, character development individually or of relationships, plot, action, exploration of the two main themes, there was always something. Hitting a 9 at what feels like the beginning of a story is impressive to me. What merely feels like an introduction to a bigger picture shouldn't be rated this highly, but that's just how impressed I was with 86. One of my favourites this spring 2021, I couldn't recommend this more. It's probably in my top 3, and that's saying a lot considering what's aired. I hope there's more to come, otherwise this season will be on repeat until the end of time.

Heard it was one of the best shows of the year and the comments under every episode were 'peak, I cried, rewatching'.. etc and all I thought after every episode was 'are we watching the same show?'. I watched both parts together and would say the first half was 'better' but I had to force myself to watch it. I think it had potential and the music carried it but the depth was lacking as if it was a poor adaptation the studio had scheduled on the side and just needed to quickly adapt yet somehow it seems to be fairly highly rated like an Akane Ga Kill of the next generation, maybe if I was a kid again I would feel differently, but as a 24y.o it does come accross as a childish and poorly made show I wouldn't reccomend to anyone I know irl.

The power of friendship – racism is bad and war is sad edition. 86 is an anime that wants to be taken seriously but simply doesn’t deserve it. If you can turn off your brain and manage to get lulled in by the emotional drama presented in smooth animation, then you stand a chance of having a good time. If you set your expectations any higher, you will be disappointed. In a nutshell, 86 is a bit like Code Geass with less intrigue and more tearjerker drama. For the rest of the review, I will assume you’ve read the synopsis. There won’t be any major story spoilers, but I will take some examples from things that happen in the first few episodes. I can’t fully avoid giving some things away, however, so if you haven’t watched the series and are still interested, you can stop reading and come back later. Before talking about the story, characters, or other particular aspects of the show in isolation, though, let’s spell out what seem to be the themes present in 86. In my interpretation, these are: - authoritarianism, nationalism, and (lack of) freedom of expression - racial hatred, dehumanization, and genocide - the cruelty of war and the fear of dying - the moral struggle of being part of a corrupt system that you are unable to change You could add to these points, or you could summarize them differently, but this is what everything in 86 revolves around. Unfortunately, 86 simply falls short of delivering anything worth watching in connection to any of these themes. At its best, 86 treats them only very superficially. At its worst, the show manages to even contradict its already flimsy take-aways. It casts away all this potential to tell a story marred with glaring plot holes and filled with a set of cliché characters. Fundamentally speaking, the depiction of war and death in 86 is weak. In the show, each time the Spearhead unit (which contains the protagonists minus Lena) go for out on a mission, at least someone of them is killed by the enemy. The respective scenes and the ones following often attempt to make the loss of comrades seem impactful by showing both how someone died and how their friends later deal with their death afterwards. There’s lots of crying and there’s lots of pathos. Meanwhile, Lena is constantly guilt-stricken for her supposed responsibility as an Alba, i.e., part of the oppressors’ race. While some of these moments may be memorable on their own, in the grand scheme of things, 86 is much more concerned with being an inoffensive slice-of-life / mild drama series than it is committed to being a gritty war anime. First, consider the psychological state of an average 86. Picture yourself as a teenager, suddenly ostracized by all your neighbors, enslaved and imprisoned by your own country, your parents and siblings killed, you forced to work as an underage soldier, and also witnessing countless of your fellow child soldiers die in battle. After all this, what do you think your mental health would look like? What do you think your personality would be like? The short answer: definitely not normal. The long answer: Well, this would have been 86’s job to show us, wouldn’t it. Instead, we have a cast of completely ordinary and—in the generic sense of the word—likeable characters. Some of them have a defined personality, which is usually a copy-paste trope like cool guy Shinei, badass dude Raiden, or clumsy-cute girl Kurena. The rest of them simply don’t get enough screen time to leave any sort of impression. These completely standard anime characters also end up doing completely standard anime things most of the time. There’s a few innocent love interests, there’s firework and shooting star scenes, there’s the “somebody makes a joke, everybody laughs and the scene cuts out” situations, heck, there’s even a time when the guys comedically peep on the girls. Meanwhile, as part of the main “story progress” in 86, despite some initial reservations, the friendly troupe slowly but surely builds up a bond with Lena thanks to their nightly phone calls. This is, really, the ultimate goal of the story, to make Lena and the 86 buddies and show us that the power of friendship can beat even racism and war. Both racism and war only become selectively relevant when the show needs to fabricate an emotional moment, like someone dying, or Lena feeling guilty and powerless. It is also mentioned that not absolutely all 86 are good people (big surprise, huh), but conveniently, none of the characters in the Spearhead squad are like that. In reality, child soldiers are often some of the cruelest, sociopathic persons because of how desensitized they are to violence and their inability to make their own decisions. Yet we never see Shinei acting sadistically, he doesn’t even yell at his own subordinates. We also don’t see the 86 ever having nightmares. Or being traumatized by loud noises (like, wink, fireworks, wink). We never see 86 who are crippled from war or someone having to treat a grisly gunshot wound. We never ever get to see an Alba directly commit violence to an 86, let alone killing them. We also don’t see 86 making terrorist attacks on San Magnolia (they certainly have the weapons to do so). The only person who shows truly anti-social behavior due to the effects of the war on his psyche is Shinei’s brother. Crucially, however, he is both the exception and an outsider to the main cast. Last but not least, Lena can freely criticize the regime in public without facing any sort of consequences. The writing certainly also doesn’t lift up what is already a very mediocre package. The first episode is especially bad because it seems like everything somebody says on screen is said for your convenience as the viewer. Basically, the introduction to the story is anything but organic. More importantly, though, even past episode one, are many instances where the creators seemingly were just too lazy to compose actual dialog and instead have characters directly say what they think and/or spell out plot details for the convenience of the viewer. Raiden says it more succinctly than I ever could in episode 7: “Just because scum treats you like scum, you’re the same scum if you return the favor”. 86 is definitely a lot more “tell” than “show”. So far, 86 is just a sci-fi war anime with low ambitions. What makes it go from bad to insulting is its pretentiousness. Shinei, the male protagonist, has “All Quiet on the Western Front” in a drawer and proposed to name the squad’s cat (yes, they are child soldier slaves, but they have a cat) “Remarque”. I can’t begin to tell you how hard my eyes rolled at this. Not only does the show nothing to deserve making this reference, as I explained above. It also actively works against being an anti-war anime. The J-rock opening and the flashy fight scenes, particularly in episode 2, are clearly focused on showing the stylishness of war, not highlight its brutality and much less its meaninglessness. We are also encouraged to like Shinei for the cool, handsome super soldier that he represents, rather than being alienated by the killing machine he is. It’s not immoral to make an anime where fighting is cool or where war is engaging. But it is disingenuous to do so and then make lazy references to anti-war literature to get points for being “deep”. I have not touched on the actual story much so far because I think there really is not much to go on about. The course the events took were utterly predictable and the few story elements that aren’t, like Shinei’s backstory, felt uninspired or, in the case of the “secret” behind the Legion, felt like a pure sci-fi contrivance. There is some modicum of character development, but again, it’s completely predictable and doesn’t add to or downright competes with the themes of the story. None of the characters actually overcome war or racism in any significant or meaningful way. If we take the yardstick “did character X do/say/think/feel something at the end of the series that they did not do/say/t…

86 - is a very dramatic, highly emotional, strogly teenage-oriented story where complex themes (war, genocide, etc.) conveyed in a simplified surface level plot and characters, but also with competent directing, nice visual and phenomenal music by Hiroyuki Sawano. It is simple and very emotional and usually this is enough to blow up brains of a young (or just inexperienced) audience. And since it was one of my first anime - I also got hooked on this. But later, when the emotions cooled down - the plot problems became a hundred times more noticeable. The basic idea itself is simple (I like that it's a war against AI robots and not other people), but it lacks even minimal detalization and explanations. For example, why is that squad protecting the people who are literally committing genocide against them? Why don't they just try to escape or attack their oppressors if the alternative is guaranteed death anyway? Why, after all, with such technology, are pilots needed at all? Why in a normally functioning country does a 16-year-old girl (when I watched it, I thought she was about 25, lol) lead a military unit? And there are a lot of such questions, like really a lot .. and almost zero answers. As a result, the world and the characters here feel superficial and undeveloped. I don't even fully understand their basic motivation, not to mention something more complicated. Of course, I can just imagine/guess everything by myrself, but isn't that what anime is supposed to do? The war itself is shown in a simplified, rather more symbolic form, at least compared to real life. The smell of blood, dirt, sweat, gunpowder, feces, and torn intestines is not felt through the screen. Everything is cleaned up for the perception of teenagers, but the dramatic emotions themselves are conveyed so strongly that they can bring tears to the eyes of many, including me. The visuals are generally just good, nothing more, nothing less, the action is just good too. The only thing I can point out is that I like those semi-realistic spider tanks. They are definitely a better option than some standard mecha. In conclusion, the perception of anime depends very much on your emotional involvement. If you have it, then you will probably be delighted with it and forgive the minuses, and if you not, then its extreme simplicity and schematic plot will be impossible not to notice. I personally went through both stages, giving it a 9/10 at first, but now that the emotions have evaporated, I can't give it more than 6/10.

it didn't click with me as i thought it would be, i watched this with high expectations, because i kept hearing how this was so deep and thought provoking, but after i finishing it, i personally say no, it feels that is trying way to hard to get and emotion out of me, like look at this characters, aren't they so cute and happy? while a sad piano it's playing on the background, like i get it, war is bad, people dies on war, but don't you have anything new to add to the conversation? like yeah, i know that what the nazis did during the ww2 was awful, the anime (i don't know about the LN) feels very superficial, like i don't know, my first exposure to the horrors of war for kids ? One thing that kept bothering me while watching this was the thought of "why don't they try to scape or why they don't try to start a revolution or something" escaping i get it, the borders and the sorroundings are full of enemies, maybe not an easy plan to pull off, but in chapter 11 i think, there were two officials mocking them, and the scarf dude throw a bolt at one of them, barely missing his eye, so what was preventing this group of slaves to take arms and kill al the white haired officials? because it's pretty clear that they are free to doo as they will, the officials if i remember well it's stated that most of them are useless because they're used to use the 86 to fight for them, so it shouldn't be much of an issue to take the control if they're providing them with mechas and guns, nothing it's stopping them, they don't have bombs inside them (aka the suicide squad) to make sure they obey them, it's something of honor they said, not all the white haired people it's bad they said, not all the 86 are good they said, don't give that basic ass explanation anyway this is so superficial, it doesn't says anything interesting about war or fascism, i don't get what the hype surrounding this anime was all about. also, one extra thing, i can't take this seriously with the mc girl gasping or doin those moe things, because even if this is an anime about war, at the end of the day we need to make sure the weebs buy their figure/body pillow of their favorite miltirar waifu

Story: 3/10. It is not quite decent. It is poor but not dreadful. The pitch is nothing to be ashamed of. The scenario however is lacking in several departments. What I mean by those two sentences is that the story is not a bad idea, but it is poorly executed. First, the scenario is very basic. Which isn't a bad thing per se. It just means it's straightforward. The problem comes when this barebone scenario unravels very slowly. Since there is no sub-plot or side-story explored, our only and main dish leaves the viewer hungry for more. When it is the goal of the storyboard to mislead and frustrate the audience (which it does at some point in my opinion), it can be tolerated, or even enjoyed in the way that art makes you feel emotions. Unfortunately, the slow pace of this basic plot unjustifiably leaves us hanging. The fights are barely thought out, but at least most -if not all- of them have some thought put into them. Yet it is almost nothing smart either. In summary, the fights are one step above basic, which would be no commentary provided and no logic nor strategy to the fights. Art: 7/10. Although it is great most of the time (which would be a 9/10), overall it is "only" good. The character designs range from fine to gorgeous, and so does the lightning. The animation is fluid. I don't recall any odd drawing nor any cheap freeze frame. Action scenes fall in the uncanny valley, which drops the art rating from a 9 down to a 7. Sound: 6/10. Fair. Although not spectacular, the original voice acting is what you would expect from Japan: good. Sometimes exciting, not often. The background music is forgettable. It did not make my jaw drop either. It brings down my sound rating from what would be a 7 or an 8 down to a 6. It is mediocre or decent. Character: 1/10. Pathetic. Two points. The first one is the characters are stereotypical. The princess-like daughter metaphorically trapped in a golden cage who wants to rebel against authority and spread her wings. The high-profile father figure who wants to be nice but can't really afford to be. The dead-inside badass guy with a tragic backstory. The flaws that the characters are supposed to overcome also happen to be stereotypical, like the racist bunch with trust issues. It makes for quite the boring character development unless you're familiar with very few works of fiction. If it's one of the first animes you watch, for instance, you may find it good. It's a classic trope in this regard. But classic and cliché are two sides of the same coin. The second point I want to adress is the lack of chemistry between the characters. While the attempt is undeniably there, I see no actual effort of creativity put into it. We don't spend enough time with the characters to get attached to them. Usually, I'm easily conquered. But this didn't even get me. The overwhelming majority of their interactions -which isn't many to begin with- end up being purposefully frustrating, and it gets old really quick. Sometimes, it's in an obvious attempt to delve into a pathos resolve of the conflict (which is a valiant effort, a noble goal), alas it doesn't justify the repetitiveness of these frustrations. Enjoyment: 2/10. Dreadful. Unless this is one of your first works of fiction as a consumer, expect clichés. There is a little bit of creativity into some fights. The art and sound are fairly good. Apart from that, not many redeeming qualities. Because if you want a fresh story, or one which progresses at a good pace, this isn't it. Overall : 2/10. Dreadful.

"Is there anybody stupid enough to hang themselves because they know they'll die tomorrow?" The show initially seems to be just a mecha anime about racism, which it is, but it's much more than the edgy, gritty cover it's wrapped up in. At its core, 86 is about life in a concentration camp. The show is not shy about setting the narrative within a country paralleling WWII Nazi Germany. 86 uses this parallel to skip over unnecessary edgy depictions of dehumanization and get right to the point. How do you fight back against an oppressive state? On one hand, we witness the fight from within by Vladilena Milizé, or Lena for short. The show does an excellent job at depicting the brutal reality of how impossible it can be to dismantle a system designed to dehumanize the 86. There are no cartoonish villains oppressing the people, or a Hitler-like head of state. Instead, the show accurately depicts the government working as intended by following the will of the people it governs. Powerless against a state, Lena's idealistic goals clash with the brutal reality surrounding her. Constantly Lena is reminded by her friend Henrietta Penrose, to give up trying to humanize the 86, and that it will only serve to hurt her. We see this come to fruition in an extremely powerful episode 9 where Lena is faced with what awaits her by growing close to those sentenced to concentration camps. On the other hand, we see how those within the camps fight back against an oppressive state through the perspective of the 86 that Lena is in charge of. How do you fight back against a state that sentenced you to death? You live, and that's precisely what each member of the Spearhead Squadron does. Despite the constant horrifying reality of war that they face, the show spends a significant portion of time depicting the life that the prisoners live. There, we see a range of emotions, from sorrow and grief, to joy and laughter. Despite all the atrocities and human rights violations thrust upon the 86, Spearhead never falters in rebelling against the Republic by living their lives according to themselves. The unwavering spirit of the cast and their persistence to move forward in spite of death looming in their face is inspiring and is what makes the show worth watching. All in all, even though the show appears to be a mech action anime it's better off being viewed as a drama. One about fighting oppression, both as a system and also in spirit. The only fault that I can give the show is that it takes a while to show its hand. It's not until episode 7 when it really shows itself to be drama. If you can get that far then I guarantee that you will not be let down.

This is incredibly fucking based. Like, holy shit. If you've been waiting for the next dark """mecha""", battlefield psychological thriller drama, this is it. It ticks all of the boxes. Political intrigue. Moral dilemma. Man vs. machine. Man vs. society. The pains of war. A mysterious technology on which the plot hinges. A faceless, unapproachable yet deeply imposing enemy. A little bit of supernatural thrown in between to spice things up. It's not subtle about it - but it doesn't need to be. It is in and of itself wholly contained and perfectly presentable as a single cour - which I would have to applaud the team for. The pacing is bang-on and the use of recurring split-perspective episodes is played more than just a novelty. If I was held at gunpoint and told to make a serious critique, it'd be that the plot and direction far outclass the animation quality. The scenes are well orchestrated, but the actual art lacks a bit of polish. That, and the minimal emphasis on worldbuilding (don't shoot me, I know that'll come later). In short, if you feel a little blueballed by the "mecha" industry lately, here's your answer. Not much cool robot doe

This series was heavily slept on during this season of anime. ADVICE: Keep track of the dates shown in each episode- the timeline is important for the first 3 or 4 episodes to flow better in your head Even if you aren't a big military or political-garbage fan, there are much bigger elements at work in 86. The show digs deep into traumas and discrimination with small side stories that bind the whole series together without overloading the viewer with information. If you've never felt what its like to yearn for two people to meet (unromantically), its imminent from episode 1 and creates the foundation for the show to be as great as it is. All characters are built and developed on carefully, albeit the Major can get whiney (the only self-pity character there is) but I just try to see things from her mind, the show is paced well for only 11 episodes and there isn't too much confusing dialogue outside of the very German names and military ID codes. Definitely recommend giving it a watch

[Spoilers] 86 was a great show through and through. It became one of my favorites of the spring 2021 season as it went on (although I still think Tokyo Revengers is better). It started out as a pretty standard, although visually stunning military/mecha anime and turned into a great emotional tale. The story of 86 got a bit boring at some parts for me, but for almost all of it I was pretty entranced. It made me come to love almost all of the characters, and it really hit me hard once they met their untimely deaths. Not all stories have even remotely happy endings, and 86 is a prime example of that. Visually the show was great. The CGI was simply average at its worst and amazing at its best. The environments and characters were amazingly detailed and beautifully done. The music was also pretty great, with a banger OP and ED. The action scenes were also pretty amazing, as a mecha anime its got to deliver some awesome mech scenes, and I think 86 delivers. The mechs flying around with their grappling hooks and massive guns was pretty awesome, and I really enjoyed every second of the fighting (except when somebody died). 86 was a pretty great show, and I'm glad I took the time to watch it this season.

Minor spoiler review It's set in a world where this country called son magnolia and the people in their country are called alba i think(im not good at remembering names so this might be wrong) in war but the military in the country don't really care about it cause they just let this humans who are called 86 well they don't view them as humans they just think they're pigs or something but there is one person named lena aka best girl who's naive that want to help all the 86 and this guy who's one of the 86 named shin aka best boy And so this series show us the perspective of shin which we see what's happening in 86 they show us mostly the 86 everyday life and fighting against the enemy of the country and obviously the country their fighting for treat them in humanely and the enemy is called legion and also show us the 86 feels about they're situation and you must be wondering why would the 86 fight for this country and what are the legions and stuff don't worry it's gonna be explained in the later episode And it's really great that the builup of this series is so emotional even though the it isn't even the climax so for sure if something climatic happens it would really be 10x emotional which it did ep 9 made me a almost cry and this series is a fresh Story of mecha genre well not like i did watch a lot of mecha so im not sure but still amazing and the art is really great the fighting choreography is amazing even the cgi doesn't fell cgi well it genuinely doesn't look like a cgi and the music was made by sawano so of course it's amazing This series is the first step of the rise of mecha genre Story: 9/10 Art: 9/10 Sound: 10/10 Character: 9/10 Enjoyment: 10/10 Overall: 9/10

Amazing, simply amazing! What can I say about this anime that surprised me, it's been a while since an anime has surprised me so much, and I was thinking that fumetsu no anata had surprised me a lot, but I'm sure it takes this hidden gem award! The story is very interesting, the theme of discrimination covered in the anime is a somewhat controversial topic, but what caught me the most was not that per se, but the characters, the development of each one and the story behind it all. I was expecting a generic mecha and ended up getting a hidden masterpiece. The characters are very well developed, despite the gaps they leave because 11 episodes are not enough to demonstrate the story of each, but it was enough to realize that this anime is a masterpiece.

This anime was my favourite from its season and by far. It completely blew me away. This review will be spoiler free. :) The story is about a political regime called Republic, very similar to nazi germany, where certain people are excluded from human rights and sent to their demise. Our main characters are a priviledged commander named Lena and the Leader of the 86 named Shin. The 86 is a unit of soldiers composed by people that aren't considered human beings. Although Lena is an officer from the Republic, she's very aware of the reality and wants to do everything she can to change it and help the 86 but it's not going to be easy and that's what this anime is about. The way the anime introduces its plot, setting and characters was very well done. I was hooked from the start. I found the premise very unique and incredibly interesting and the characters also didn't disappoint. Visuals are pretty to look at but what I found to be the highlight was Lena's uniform. I think it's gorgeous. One funny aspect about the anime is the seiyuus that were hired. The cast is a mix of veteran seiyuus and rookie ones. However, the main characters are voiced by rookies and you know what? They did an outstanding job because there were very intense scenes and everyone performed like any other veteran would. I want to finish the review by referring to Lena's character. I really love how other characters call her out on her "bullshit". Obviously racism and human rights are not bullshit at all but she's often confronted by other people from the Republic and 86 themselves and the way Lena turns things around and showcases how disgusting and broken the Republic's system is, is very satisfying to watch. However, it's hard for me to understand how someone like her, meaning someone very outspoken and loud about her beliefs without any repercussions. If you were to compare Lena to any other historical figure that opposed dictatorships and human rights violations, those people are persecuted, threatened, arrested, tortured and murdered. Obviously I'd hate if that were to happen to Lena but it broke my immersion several times how Lena pretty much got no consequences when going against her superiors. I didn't think we'd get the ending we got because I was very hopeful for a reunion that didn't happen but this anime is still worth anybody's time. It's one of those shows that grab you and doesn't let you go. I honestly recommend this to anyone. I'm very happy we'll get a sequel and I cannot wait to watch it :D

What is 86 - 76? I don't know, I'm not good at Math, but it should be something around "Masterpiece". Disclaimer, this will not be a long and objective and well-written review, simply because there is so much going on inside of my head right now after finishing the first season of 86. I will skip the synopsis and just straight to my point. Once upon a time I was a person that said "I don't like mecha". Why? Well, I don't know, it just did not look appealing to me, maybe. I'm glad that I'm not looking at genres anymore, because 86 is simply great. If I had to pick something that stands out about 86 I would have to say: Everything. The overall package 86 brings to the table is perfect. Beautiful art style, great animations, outstanding voice acting, GORGEOUS soundtrack and the best CGI animations I've ever seen- and on top of that a very well-written plot and dynamic, also well-written characters. All of the above is something you could also tell from an objective point of view, because it is undeniable that 86 offers a very good overall package. It just comes down to enjoyment and personal preference. And that's where it really got me. I don't know if I will have some spoilers further down, so please be careful about that. Starting of with the plot itself, it is nothing really unique. Basically two "races" (I hate that terms for humans, even virtual ones), one is oppressing the other and basically forcing them into death. But the way it is presented is rather unique, I really like how they started the first episode with Lena walking into the "office" and you could already tell that probably close to everybody in the Army are disgusting people. You can feel the racism already within the first few minutes of the anime. The display of people that feel superior is nothing new, but the way A1-picture presents it made me feel disgusted from the very beginning and that is something not every story is able to make me feel that way. And though Lena is doing her best to support the 86ers, she is not perfectly unbiased and makes mistakes and I love it. Though she kind of is a pure Saint in this world, she makes mistakes and has to learn. Learn how to interact with her squadron, learn how to support them, learn how to fight and most importantly, learn how to bear psychological pain and terror. Her struggles seem so realistic and the reaction of the first division members as well. In this futuristic world the characters stay super realistic and sadly still represent parts of our society that are just wrong. In my mind, every human being should be able to recognize that human is human, no matter their origin, color of skin, or whatever. So of course most of the Albas trigger me, but when I thought about how I would act if I was Lena, I got reminded that racism objectively does not follow any logic and that's the same in 86. And it is presented so good. Better than in many other anime that tackle racism, better in terms of realism that is. But not only Lena is well-built, also the first division members are also very interesting and while many of them do not get as much screen time as some others (obvious reasons), they still leave an lasting impact. The ones not treated like humans are the most human in this show. They are no Saints that just forgive the Alba for what they did to them, and though they would love getting some revenge (what I can totally understand), they don't. Because they do not want to repeat the mistakes others did. Death plays a big role in this show. And while all the first division members know that they will die eventually and are prepared for it, they aren't. "I will stand tall till the end and fight" "I don't want to die" No matter how driven somebody is, in the face of death, you are not prepared. This is also something this show catches really good. 86 does not come with the biggest plot twist ever á la Shingeki no Kyojin, but still managed to surprise me at times, like with the reveal behind the airstrike scene. The start of the first divisions "new adventure". Talking about that point, I have to talk about the soundtrack. I have listened to some really great soundtracks before, 86 definitely has a top tier soundtrack, as to be expected by Sawano Hiroyuki. But not only the soundtrack itself is good, its usage within the episodes is basically perfect. They chose the right soundtracks for the right scenes and thus made the enjoyment even nicer and made me shed a lot of tear from episode 9 onwards. With that being said, I come to a negative point about this show: Their choice of music is perfect, so WHO chose the opening and WHO approved it? I don't understand. From the first episode on you could feel the tension and drama in the air. Why go with a rather happy and funky OP song? Why did they not choose a more emotional song, or even simply a calmer? In my mind there is no worse choice for the OP than they did. I really don't get it, it just does not fit and for me almost ruined the moment at some points. If you ask me, the OP must be skipped. The ED is perfect again though. Please, someone explain to me why this song was chosen as the OP. But back to some positive stuff again. Why do letters in anime always hit different? When Lena picked up the letter in the final episode, I lost it. I just lost it and turned into a waterfall of tears. I don't know what happend to the five of the first division, I don't know what will happen, but this letter was so beautiful and sad at the same time and for me was the perfect ending of the first season. That's also something really good in this show, the pacing. The pacing never feels off, even with these re-occuring jumps in time they never lose the touch for the pacing. So, asides from the OP I loved everything about this show and makes me eager to watch the second season. I will have to wait a bit though, because after this first season I have that feeling that I will want to binge the second season as well. I can highly recommend 86 to every action, mecha, drama, sci-fi and military fan out there. No, I can recommend it to every anime fan out there, because 86 is a (painful) joy to watch and is a modern example on how to adapt its source material and how to tell a great story. I hope you can enjoy 86 as much as I did, and maybe grab some tissues, just in case you easily shed tears... like me.

God dammit this was just awful to watch, I expected a fast paced mecha anime, but was of course badly disappointed. Well, that doesn't have to be a problem, could still be an interesting anime, but it just wasn't. Most of the time I was just bored out of my mind similar to the mc's friend with her 5 year old fiancee. Which itself was so ridiculous I didn’t even know what to make of it. Not to mention the god damn cake with fake cream they ate almost every damn episode. Why one would highlight this, is something that escaped my understanding completely. Maybe to criticize the ridiculous society they are living in. Which was basically the whole point of the anime, to criticize society and what the world will come to if we continue like... yada, yada, yada... The whole damn ordeal felt like a lecture by a social studies professor in which 90% of the students whip out their laptops 3 minutes in and start watching youtube or do some online shopping while they wait for this god awful lecture to end. Almost all the characters are absolutely forgettable, but luckily you don't have to bother learning their names because there still is a mecha god somewhere hearing my prayers and kills them off one after the other. I was pretty astonished though at how long it took for one of the characters to off themselves, considering I felt like it since the second episode. The mc could be kind of likeable since she has a strong sense of justice and even is a bit cute. Sadly this is overshadowed by her permanent nagging and call for social justice, leaving the impression she is the model student of the aforementioned lecturer and a proud honorary member in the council of Karens despite her young age. This anime was pure garbage, after the first half I had to force myself to watch one episode every day, like you would force yourself to do your tax declaration, just to finally get it off my list. I give it 3/10 since the music was pretty good, the animation was decent and some fight scenes were ok. But apart from that the anime was just as the fake cream on that cake, visually inviting but without any flavor whatsoever.

86 starts off with an interesting premise if you can ignore the clear parallel to Nazi Germany and their beliefs in the superior Aryan race. But if you can suspend your disbelief, and pretend that everyone has forgotten about Hitler in the distant future, then I suppose the power dynamic between the superior "Alba" and the inferior "86" might hold some water. But okay, perhaps Nazi Germany never existed in this fictional history. Regardless, presenting a concept of genocide disguised as a casualty-less war is nothing short of baffling. It's unbelievable to me that the Republic could actually also brainwash their citizens into such a stupid belief, especially when they all used to live side-by-side with the 86. So yeah, the setting of 86 certainly has its issues. But then we begin to dig even deeper. Note: The rest of the review contains spoilers. The Republic and their forced infantry of 86 are fighting against a mysterious enemy known as the "Legion". And that's where things get weird. See the Legion on the other hand doesn't actually have any live humans as pilots but are completely automatous. How the Republic never managed to match this level of technological advancement will surprise you: the Legion are actually formed when the feed on the brains of dead Republic soldiers. When soldiers die, they actually turn into parasitic robot zombies. Yeah. It was at this moment the show completely lost me. Now I could go on and on about how the world building continues to fall apart, but I think I've made my point clear. And here's where we get to the actual crux of the show. Our main protagonist, Lena, leads a special group of 86, notably with one pilot with a codename "Undertaker." What purpose these battles have are never really explained but eventually resolve to vague answers such as "defending the country" and later, "to send them to die." Over the course of the anime, Lena slowly learns the shocking realities of the 86, the Legion, and her own country's dark secrets. Lena is ultimately used as a vessel to help us, the audience, understand the plight of the 86 through the eyes of the uninformed, and I do give credit that this dual perspective leads to a more unique storytelling experience. But in the end that's as far as it really goes. Her impact on the narrative is mostly pathetic and helpless until her "crowning moment" where she overrides protocol to help support her team with a missile strike. But really, with episode after episode of her wallowing in her own helplessness, having her finally take action in the perfect moment that would save her team's lives comes off as completely disingenuous; it's the kind of plot armor that futher establishes her uselessness in the narrative. And Lena is the only character with an ounce of development. The rest of the cast is as static as war; and war... War never changes. Shin, the second most important character in the narrative, has no personality. And the catharsis when he finally kills his brother is completely uncompelling and forgettable, particularly since it's built off of essentially nothing. And the web goes deeper and deeper as Lena used to know Shin's brother. Lena's friend, Annette, was childhood friends with Shin, and so on. Everything and everyone is placed to act as either pretentious drama or a convenient plot-device. And while you may be fooled into thinking that these plot twists are cleverly well-crafted, the reality is that the narrative could very well continue without skipping a beat if you took them out; it's a tell-tale sign that there's nothing clever about them at all. Overall, 86 presents a questionable narrative with an interesting storytelling perspective that could have been something more, but is ultimately dragged into the mud by an unbelievable setting and world building and an even more unbelievable set of characters and circumstances.

i stared watching this series without any planning, almost suddenly and i couldn't stop binging till end because every moment was quite thrilling. taking about the visual, one of best I've seen in my life, if i say in one word "Mind Blowing". One part of the story was a bit confusing for me, putting that aside the story was great. Few of the female characters was bit boring but its okay. It can give you some emotional ups & downs time to time, which are quite amazing. This a type of anime that i would love to talk about and share with others. Overall it was a Masterpiece, and i loved it

Starting the anime, I had no idea what to expect… finishing the anime, I’m desiring more. The first episodes of 86, or Racism: the anime, felt like I was watching the first season of Attack on Titan minus large naked things and dudes flying around with extra large razor blades. What it added was a mysterious, large-scale somewhat futuristic war (which I’m still semi-confused about), and of course… more racism (you’ll understand what I mean when you watch it). I was also left in some confusion during those first episodes but I think that was the intent of the storytelling (again, you’ll understand when you watch). It does a great job of making a mystery out of what’s really going on in this war. I really enjoyed watching everything unfold like it did and I don’t think I’ve seen anything else similar before. The characters seemed really cool and I liked the progression and relationships you see develop between them. It feels great to watch an anime that gives you the satisfaction of seeing interesting characters grow and become better people… or for that one couple you ship to actually become a thing, but that’s beside the point. The male protagonist had a real deep and mysterious story which I really liked. It became a driving part of the story later on and seeing his character develop the way it did was awesome. The female protagonist and her side of the story is the one you “mostly” see, but her personality was what I liked about her the most (also that she’s fighting racism). She would go from this cool-headed major, who could probably command respect in the real world, to this awkward/crybaby/childish teenager. It was like seeing my professor in school and then seeing him at the bar later… seeing someone who you think would never do something opposite of their professional character is what I mean by that. I think this trait gives her more personality and a “human” side to her character. Near the end, the gears really shift on the story. The ending was somewhat vague and I was left wondering why, but I suppose this will be answered in the already announced second season. Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching this and can’t wait for more. So if you like war, mechs, and fighting against racism… 86 may be a watch for you. (If you don’t watch you must be racist) (JK I’m sorry)