Area 88 | KYOTO VIDEO

At the dawn of the golden age of the OVA, Studio Pierrot followed up their success with Dallos with Area 88. Watch how a famous director and writer turned a simple adaptation of a famous manga into one of anime's most gripping war stories. All with the added benefit of seeing some of the greatest animated dogfights.

KB is his name and talking about old animation is his game! If you want deep analysis and history on the realm of retro anime and old animation, then you've come to the right place. Be warned though. Being a possum means he loves consuming trash, media-based or otherwise.

[dragonbattle]

For this to be an older OVA, it surprises me how well they illustrated the African characters. I was listening to most of the video. But when you mentioned the Africans, I pulled up the video so I could see how badly they were drawn. Boy was I surprised. Pleasantly surprised. Plus, I've had this DVD for a while but just never got to watching it. Well, I know what I'm doing this weekend!

[Launchpad]

Capcom's 'U.N. Squadron' was what introduced me to 'Area 88'. Also, the animation reminds me of Shingo Araki's art style.

[macross]

Probably one of the best OVA's ever made, if you haven't watched it yet... do so!

Also @15:21 Shin pilots an F-8 CRUSDADER in part 1, an F-5 in Part 2 and then an F-20 Tigershark in part 3.

[Maioly]

5:35 not to mention the gigantic influence this franchise is to ace combat, enough that Shin's own emblem and paint job made it into later games.
With others having small references to other members of the cast.

[gabrieldjatienza]

The manga does end with Shin confronting Kanzaki at the Asran Kingdom, the civil war there has ended but with most of cast dying.... Kanzaki has lost his fortune and power in the war....so his only option left is to kill Shin in aerial combat. Shin thirst for vengeance on Kanzaki is so consuming that his sworn enemy dies screaming in agony.
Shin is reunited with Ryoko ...but his PTSD has erased his memories of Area 88! They leave the Kingdom to an uncertain future.

[mazimadu]

13:15 Dear Anime industry

THIS is how you draw African characters! Get it right!
Why is it only Oda and Kubo can do this right?

[StoneCresent]

I wouldn't be surprised if Area 88 was an inspiration for the Ace Combat game series.

[conner]

Thank you so much for doing a review on this OVA.

[auralunaprettycure]

One of my other major favorite YouTube channels, Anime Slushie, talked about this series quite a few times, which is what finally inspired me to watch it. Ironically, they were referring to the reboot, saying that they thought it was funny/bad (but that they suspected that the 80s ova was likely better but they didn’t watch it) It’s weird where the inspiration to check out a show can come from, or how it hits you. I still have no idea how those lukewarm feelings brought me to watch this show one rainy day, but damn am I glad I did. This series enters your head and refuses to leave. Positively awe inspiring, arresting and depressing. Unforgettable.

[dennismason]

The tigershark mouth painted on the jet fighter was the signifier of the AVG, American Volunteer Group who flew against Japanese dominance before WWII started. They were called the Flying Tigers and their airplanes were delivered to Nationalist China on a ruse, since selling a warplane to the Chinese was against the law. They were not the first to paint a tigershark mouth on their planes (the Germans were) but they made it a famous anti-imperialist icon. The Flying Tiger story is amazing. The Nationalist Chinese government rewarded the pilots, who obviously risked their lives in every flight, with a small fortune in cash for every Japanese plane shot down. The American pilots were quite motivated. Tigershark mouth.

[CocoHutzpah]

This brought back old memories of Stuttering Craig finding a way to mention UN Squadron in so many Screwattack videos.

[yspear_]

God i love this anime, it's so underated

[Tigershark_]

FUCK YES!!!! I've been waiting for this video for a long damn time!
Fun fact: Shin flies numerous aircraft throughout Area 88. It is implied that his first aircraft is either a Vought F-8E or F-8J Crusader II, which is nicknamed as "The Last Gunfighter". In the OVAs, it is never shown to carry missiles, but in the 2005 anime series, Shin's Crusader carries AIM-9Ls on wing-based pylons (the F-8 only ever had fuselage-mounted pylons, and could only carry up to the AIM-9G Sidewinder). Next up, we have Shin's Northrop F-5E Tiger II. It's an export model, hence why it is shown to carry 6x Sidewinders at one point. Finally, shin flies a Northrop F-20A Tigershark. The Tigershark only had three prototypes built, and never made it into production. I'm imagining that Area 88 takes place in a universe where the Tigershark entered production as an export fighter.

[yeetkunedo]

Oh, I have been looking forward to this one. A88 is one of my all-time favorite series. Made me get into fighter jets.

[Eterrath]

Just finished the OVA. Glad I found your channel through this show. Both of you have instantly entered into my favorites

[saul_the_hockey_gamer]

Thanks for taking a look at Area 88, KB! The OVA was my gateway into anime!

[Docdroz]

Love this show, and the game UN Squadron was a favorite of mine as a kid on SNES.

[maxrobomutt]

Great vids as usual dude💛 love this OVA, it's one of my favorite "war is hell" type of anime alongside armored trooper VOTOMS (which is in my opinion the most realistic mecha war anime and i watch a lot of mecha lol)

[whiskeycorridor]

There's three different versions of Area 88; the manga, the OVA, and the TV anime.
The OVA is my favorite, but the other two are good in their own right. What I like about the manga is there's more hope in the story and its not as bleak as the OVA. The ending is still pretty depressing, but its way different from the OVA's ending. The anime from 2004 ended on a hopeful note too, but it alluded to a 2nd season that never came, so it's story is incomplete.

[GojiKaichou]

F-20 Tigershark was a concept plane that was built on the F-5 Tiger II airframe. It was miles ahead of anything we were using at the time, but it was also more expensive than any other plane at the time. This killed the Tigershark. I believe that only 2 or 3 test/demonstration aircraft were ever built. None were ever sold to any country.