|
AREA 88 TV COMPLETE DVD BOX SET |
|
Tuesday, 30 January 2007 |
 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | ADV FILMS | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH DD 5.1 AND JAPANESE DD 2.0 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 300 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | TV PG | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 01/16/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 01/31/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | DAVEY C. JONES |
SYNOPSIS:
Welcome to Area 88, a desolate outpost in the sun-blasted desert where mercenary fighter pilots risk their lives in service to the Kingdom of Aslan. Any skilled pilot will do, no questions asked. They literally kill for cash as they fight for the government of a country torn apart by a bloody civil war.
Who are these pilots, and why do they suffer the pains of the desert to serve a country that isn't their own? Some fight because it's all they know. Some fly for the thrill of the game. Some have nowhere else to go. Shin Kazama, the only Japanese pilot on the base, is different from the rest. He may be the only pilot capable of earning enough money to buy out his contract... if he lives long enough. But Shin fights only to return to Japan, to a life and a love that was stolen from him in cruel act of betrayal.
Contains the complete 12 episode TV series on 3 DVDS.
REVIEW:
You’ve heard the story, you likely saw the original Area 88 OVA so you know the stitch. Dude named Shin gets burned by his best friend in the worst possible way, stuck in the desert having to fight for his life in the air. Problem is his chances of survival are next to zilch. Every time he flies, with every breath he knows that his buddy is making the moves on his girl, stealing his life in every way.
Making an updated version of the original anime was cool. In some ways it’s an improvement over the bummer OVA and in other ways it doesn’t measure up. What’s cool is the updated artwork. The CG mechanical designs for the planes are awesome. And (spoiler alert!) this show ends on a way higher note than the OVA. But! The show doesn’t actually end. It leaves way too much up in the air and I’m not just talking about all the planes. Just like in the OVA we never get too see his ex-best bud get what he really deserves. And after you watch everything Shin goes through at Area 88 you want the guy who put him there to suffer big time. But no pay off for us there. We don’t get to see Shin get home. No pay off there either. And as good as the OVA was in showing us how horrible war can be, the TV series has a forced feeling to it. All that dramatic stuff comes off heavy handed and so doesn’t work as well. There’s a new character in this TV version, a female pilot named Kitri. She’s easy on the eyes and a damn good fighter pilot but aside from that, she doesn’t add anything to the story. So you’re kinda left wondering what was the point of it all?
Maybe that’s what the show was trying to get at. Seriously, maybe it was the whole message that war is pointless and there is no escaping it for the many versus the few lucky ones. If so, then the show works. And hey, those fighter planes sure look cool. And at least this TV series doesn’t end on the awful note the OVA did.
EXTRAS:
They put the entire series in one svelte thinpack hard art box. The only bonus is some ADV previews.
IN SUMMARY:
Area 88 TV is an updated anime with wicked cool looking authentic fighter planes, a lot of war drama, and ends on an up note compared to the OVA. But the show is missing the bigger payoffs some viewers will want. |
