 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | BANDAI VISUAL USA | | | ▪ | HD FORMART: | | BLU-RAY (1080i) | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 4:3: FULL SCREEN (FEATURE)
16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (EXTRAS) | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | DOLBY DIGITAL TRUE-HD 5.1 / LINEAR 2.0
JAPENESE & ENGLISH | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 186 + 33 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | 13 UP | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 04/08/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 04/15/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | ROMMEL SALANDANAN |
SYNOPSIS:
A gigantic column of mist appeared without warning in a corner of Antarctica. This was the hyperspace "Passageway" created by the alien force JAM for the invasion of Earth. Earth's defense force created the Fairy Air Force and established outposts for the sole purpose of pushing JAM back to the Planet Fairy on the other side of Passageway. The war between mankind and JAM has been ongoing for more than thirty years, but the end is not yet in sight. Rei Fukai is a young man who trusts his advanced armed tactical reconnaissance plane, Yukikaze, more than he does his fellow man. He comes into contact with JAM while gathering military data on board his beloved aircraft. JAM, showing interest in Rei and Yukikaze, wages fierce battles against mankind with every means conceivable. What is the purpose of this war? Before long, JAM begins to launch an all-out attack upon the Fairy Air Force. Contains all five episodes of the OVA!
REVIEW:
Its order: bring the data back at any cost, including sacrificing other pilots’ life to gain any advantage in a stalemate war with an alien race.
As humankind’s first encounter with an alien life form from another dimension turns into a nightmare decades after its first attack, UN forces manage to push the battle back to the enemy’s home world. Establishing a defensive front in the alien world is the Fairy Air Force (FAF), with their reconnaissance fighter plane nicknamed Yukikaze that has an AI system that gathers data about the enemy and is piloted by the loner Rei Fukai of the Special Air Force (SAF).
Disliked by other pilots due to the fact that he doesn’t engage in battle with his heavily armed reconnaissance plane, he shows little interest to others other than to Yukikaze and his friend and commander Major Jack Bukhar. Rei also happens to be the first human to escape enemy captivity.
Yukikaze on the other hand has become aware that aliens are now infiltrating other bases by posing as humans. It also has grown aware of its existence as it uploaded itself to an advance-unmanned fighter prior to being destroyed during their escape from the enemy. Now its mission is to seek and kill the infiltrators. Hoping to conquer an entire planet, the FAF decides to evacuate Fairy due to the new tactics of the enemy and what the FAF has recently encountered with their missions.
Even in the midst of battle during the evacuation, personal agendas are still looming. An intelligence officer plans a coup to counter the JAM in his own way, and the FAF lock down of Yukikaze during the evacuation shows that the FAF is willing to sacrifice human lives just to keep the data safe.
Against order, Brigadier General Cooley orders Rei and the B-503 to go into combat to prevent their entire fleet’s destruction. She knows that the JAM’s enemy is Rei and Yukikaze, and the aliens are trying to prevent them from leaving in hopes of capturing Rei and Yukikaze to further study the relationship between man and machine that has eluded the comprehension of the enemy. After flying in sub-sonic speed over North America in February 2004, and with over a year of scheduled releases in between volumes and a complete collection being released almost a year after, the Blu-ray version of the OVA arrives in super-sonic speed courtesy of Bandai Visual USA.
Yukikaze is one of those series that will astound its viewers. Based on the sci-fi novel by Chohei Kanbayashi, this anime version has jaw dropping aerial cinematic and dog-fighting scenes. To make the scenes and maneuvers of the futuristic aircraft look realistic, the production worked with the JAF to work on how to animate the actual movements of the fighter planes. The result, it is a true to life aerial show that tops every anime that contains aerial or dog fighting footage.
The OVA is not just all about the cinematic scenes, as the story is very much note worthy for a science fiction show with its classic man and machine relationship, surrounded by human emotion and selfish competing agendas and motives. It also comes with a subplot about a journalist who’s been chronicling and researching the enemy. Her role in the story is to show the human interest with the war in Fairy back on Earth. The story doesn’t go beyond what the original story tried to accomplish in the novel. The writers of the story purposely didn’t go into too much detail to avoid the pit falls that could lead to confusion in a five episode OVA. In doing so, the story flowed nicely with what it was trying to accomplish with the astounding CG and cinematic aerial scenes.
BLU RAY FORMAT:
After giving its viewers spine tingling action scenes and real life aerial displays, Gonzo’s Tenth Anniversary animation receives its much deserved high definition treatment. The disc however only sports a 1080i resolution, and has marginal improvements from the original 480i resolution it came from. Both Japanese and English audio gets a well deserved Dolby True HD 5.1 and a Linear PCM audio. The 5.1 channel is very exception with nice overall sound placement.
EXTRAS:
The extras come in the third disc, and includes a 5 minute never before seen footage and summary of the entire series just for the Blu Ray release titled Yukikaze Experimental Movie. The other extra is a conversation with a former military commander and F16 pilot, as they discuss the fiction and non-fiction aspects of the OVA. The SAF Flight Manual, a 20-page booklet that comes with episode summary includes images from the series, an interview with the director about the OVA’s five year production journey, and another interview with the 3D director about the crafts used in the show.
IN SUMMARY:
Yukikaze still soars after all of these years, and with its crystal clear vision and sound thanks in part to Blu Ray technology, it will fly higher and will continue to provide eye popping and jaw dropping effects. An outstanding achievement in anime visuals and entertainment.
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