Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. War, it’s never a fun thing. Throughout the history of Japan there have been a number of war stories both fiction and non-fiction. With so many war stories, writers have to try extra hard to make themselves stand out from the pack and one of the stories that managed to do this was 86. Alright, truth time, this is a series I’ve never really heard of but a lot of people who have read it say it’s one of the best novels out right now. 86 is a light novel series written by Asato Asato in 2017 and still going on to this day. It focuses on war, prejudice, and a corrupted system with people fighting hard to either fix it or escape it. Earlier this year A-1 Pictures (SAO) took the novel and turned it into an anime where they went all out are making this a hit. A-1 has always been a studio I’ve had problems with in the past. On one hand they can be lazy with some of their animes, but on the other hand when they get serious, they can deliver and this anime is a good example of them delivering. Let’s head to the battlefield, this is 86.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “3-pun 29-byou” by Hitorie. It’s a banger. Really not the song I was expecting given the subject matter and moments presented in this anime, but I welcome it. I really do love the drums in this song and I’m glad that the band is still continuing in honor of wowaka after his tragic passing in 2019.
The ending is “Avid” by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:mizuki. This is the perfect song to end each episode on. The song is sober, slow, and allows you to take in everything you just watched. It makes you feel sad to see all of these characters trapped in a system that wants to either break them or kill them. The piano is beautiful throughout the song and the lyrics match up well with our female lead.
Episodes 1-5
The anime opens up on a cool battle sequence (with some impressive camerawork). We then cut to a more peaceful time in the country of San Magnolia (the land of silver-hair apparently). We see they’re at war with a neighboring country where at first they were losing badly but seem to have gained the edge with their unmanned drones that they deploy to fight. However, a young soldier named Lena voiced by Ikumi Hasegawa (Hana from Seton Academy) knows the truth about the drones and that truth is, they’re not really unmanned, but instead piloted by soldiers from the 86th district. The 86th district is a nonexistent district outside the walls of the country. Unlike Lena and everyone else we’ve seen so far they don’t have silver hair and thus are considered outcasts. They’ve been stripped of their humanity, rights, and are forced to pilot the “unmanned” drones into battle all while the higher ups sit back, relax, and get drunk (bastards). The 86 is led by a man named Shin aka Undertaker voiced by Shōya Chiba and handled by Lena who gives them orders from behind the rear. We see how the 86 think of her as a pig and don’t have high hopes for her because all of their previous handlers quit because they couldn’t handle the stress of sending people off to their deaths (then you should not be in the military) and committed suicide.
In episode 2 we get to see our first real battle and I’m not gonna lie, this battle is excellent. The tactics, the strategy, the music, the sounds, the CGI, it’s all on point here (scene here: https://youtu.be/3R6ZlWI_uOg. I haven’t seen CGI used so effectively since Beastars. Like I’ve said before, when A-1 Pictures gets serious and really goes all out, they deliver). In the end, thanks to Shin’s leadership the 86 manage to win. In the second half of the episode we focus on Lena who goes to a class where we find out San Magnolia is being attacked by the Empire of Giad who are using their own autonomous machines known as Legion (the successor of Skynet). The military of San Magnolia believe the Legion wiped out the Empire of Giad and the machines are now just on autopilot and performing their primary objective. The good news is they should run out of power in 2 years (and once they do, it’s gonna be a scavenger’s paradise). The class doesn’t really seem to be paying attention (because as we saw last episode, the military is full of lazy and spoiled bums) and as the conversation moves to their military and how they have suffered no loss, Lena can no longer remain quiet and tells them the truth. It turns out that 9 years ago their army was brought to the point of collapse by the Legion’s superior firepower. So, the government made two decisions in order to save the country. First, withdraw all the citizens into 85 districts (presumably from richest to poorest). Second, pass the Special Wartime Peace Preservation Act. This law stripped everyone who didn’t have silver hair and eyes of their citizenship and rights as people (oh wow, this is some silver supremacy shit right here). They were forced into the 86th district and were forced to fight on the frontlines of war against the Legion in the country’s own machines. After serving for a number years they do earn citizenship, but honestly, they’re more likely to die than reach the end of their service (and I got a feeling the country won’t keep their end of the bargain). Lena is now determined to change all of that and give the 86 the same rights and citizenship she has. After that class session, Lena surprisingly doesn’t get in trouble thanks to the protection of her uncle who is a high military official. Later that night, she talks to Shin again (someone’s got a crush).
Nothing much happens in episode 3. We find out that the 86 doesn’t have a suitable map for combat (hold up. You mean to tell me these guys have been fighting for years without a precise map to help them coordinate attacks. Look, I get that their kingdom wants them all to die, but keep in mind, if they die then so do your fat asses). Lena gets them a map and uses that to help them in the next battle where she unfortunately doesn’t relay information fast enough and one of them gets killed (scene here: https://youtu.be/n9u5RQE5UGg). This leads to a very powerful and emotional scene after the credits where a member of the 86 just lets her have it and the facial expressions and mental pain she goes through is done perfectly (scene here: https://youtu.be/jChbpVQgCAE).
Episode 4 mostly focuses on Lena. We see her best friend Annette and uncle tell her to quit being a handler and stop trying to get close to the 86. They live in different worlds from her and even though she wants to help them there’s nothing she can really do. Not to mention her actions are a bit hypocritical (while I know she has the best of intentions, it doesn’t change the fact that they are risking their lives fighting in a war they never chose to be in while you stay in a comfy chair far away from the battlefield. She can preach about equality all she wants, but in the end, they’re the ones who are dying). She finally contacts Shin again apologizing for not taking the time to know everyone’s true name and wants to change that. Shin tells her their names and then they all talk to her and introduce themselves as well where they say they don’t see her as an equal or comrade and they never will (to them she’s an idiot who might as well be stomping on their faces). She’s okay with this and will keep on calling them to chat with them (she really is an idiot. A likable one though). The episode ends with her talking to Shin where we find out he has an older brother named Shourei aka Rei.
We start episode 5 with a flashback to when Lena was a child and her dad took her outside of the republic for a trip (oh yeah, taking your daughter to a warzone sounds completely safe and fun). They were shot down and Lena’s dad was killed by an enemy troop while Lena was rescued by a member of the 86 who was of course Rei. We learn that while Rei and Shin were born in the republic their parents were refugees from the Empire of Giad. Rei is unfortunately dead now and Shin desires to finish his service to perform a duty for him. After this, we get another battle between the 86 and Legion who have deployed the black sheep who manipulate their vocal systems to mimic the cries of people they’ve killed as a distraction to the pilots. Shin tells Lena to cut off her communicator but she refuses and feels the full blunt of the cries for help (scene here: https://youtu.be/2usXyl3bp5o, stupid girl. You know nothing about this enemy so listen to what he has to say. Scene here: https://youtu.be/LRXIG77gkXo). Shin tells Lena that he can always hear these voices (good God man how have you not gone crazy?) from a certain distance, so whenever they’re close to the border he’ll know. Shin also believes that Legion is capturing the corpses of the dead soldiers and extracting their brains as a power source to run longer meaning these things won’t be shutting down in two years and in time they’re going to destroy the republic because their military has completely underestimated the intelligence of Legion (I’ll say. It’s an artificial being. It learns, it grows, and it adapts to its opponents. Something the republic hasn’t done).
Episodes 6-11
Alright, episode 6 goes by rather quickly. We get another battle where unfortunately Daiya and Lecca die (damn it. I was rooting for Daiya and Anju too). Lena goes to her uncle in the hopes of getting permission to use mortars to provide the group support but he says no as he’s not going to waste money on units that can easily be replaced (okay, we need to arrange a revolt or a coup). He then gives the group their next mission which is attacking a Legion base that is obviously a trap set up by the Legion to take them out. While Shin and the others know it’s a trap they show no fear in undertaking the mission and are ready to go. Speaking of Shin we do get a scene where it gets revealed that Rei actually blamed Shin for the death of their parents because of his sin.
In the first half of episode 7, the republic is celebrating a festival and Lena manages to send them fireworks to the 86 so that they can honor their fallen comrades (it’s a rather touching scene). In the second half, the 86 attack the Legion base where they’re outnumbered and out powered. Lena orders them to retreat and is mad that their reinforcements never arrived despite her uncle promising that her request went through. Shin and the others knew that this would happen because according to him their group is an execution unit. The republic has no intention of giving them citizenship once their term is over, so they send them out on suicide missions to kill them off before their term is over (Lena, no offence but your country is full of bigots, supremacists, and assholes. Of course they’re not gonna let them live. You should have seen this coming). So why do they keep fighting for a country that treats them like dirt and is pure scum? Simple, to be the bigger people. Yes, they could sit back, let the Legion destroy the republic and that’d be the end of everything, but they won’t allow themselves to become what they hate. Instead, they’ll go down fighting as their choice of dying (even a man who is on death row can choose the way he walks to his execution).
Throughout a majority of episode 8 we focus on Lena who is coming to grips that she lives in a country full of thieves and villains (understatement of the anime. I know). She goes Annette to see if she will help her, but Annette says it’s pointless. In a rather interesting twist, we find out that Shin and his family were Annette’s neighbors when she was young. In fact, Annette used to play with Shin. However, once the war started and the 86 were being wrongfully discriminated against, Annette cut her ties with Shin and even when her dad was thinking about helping them she forsook them. Annette reveals that it was her father who made the device Lena uses to communicate with the 86 and it was made through human experimentation on the 86 (this country just keeps getting darker and darker). A lot of the 86 were killed to perfect this technology and it drove Annette’s dad to suicide as a way to repent for his wrongdoings. Annette soon took up the mantle of her dad and continued his work. Annette finally says she hates Lena because of her saintly attitude when really she’s just as bad as her (in a way yes) and says she doesn’t want to see her anymore. Lena confronts her uncle about this operation where he too says there’s nothing she can do and even reveals that this country actually killed their founder showing how corrupted and messed up it is (why am I not surprised?). Lena finally sees just how hopeless the situation is and how there’s nothing she can do to save the 86. She begs them to run away but Shin says no as he reveals that Rei is a shepherd among the Legion. They managed to harvest his brain when they killed him and now Shin is determined to set him free. In the last third of the episode, we focus on Shin and the remaining 86 which is just 5 total (it’s both sad and depressing. While we didn’t get a chance to really know them, the fact that this was a place bustling with them only to see it now down to just 5 people waiting to march to their death really cements how messed up the country is and how loyal the 86 are). They have their last meal together and head out once again ready to die. After the credits we get a scene from the past between a young Shin and Rei. It’s here that they hint that Rei knew about the human experiments going on with the 86 and he along with his parents were test subjects with the parents being sent out to the frontlines to die. He didn’t tell Shin about any of this (understandable, how do you even tell him that his whole purpose is to march into battle and die?) and then one day in his grieving state attacked Shin almost killing him until Lena’s uncle showed up and stopped him. Now, Rei has become part of the Legion and his mind is so gone now that he’s prepared to kill Shin and turn him into a Legion just so they can be together (scene here: https://youtu.be/oZS24PDnYs0).
In the first half of episode 9 it’s the 86 vs the Legion and Rei. Despite the overwhelming odds, the 86 fight bravely and even receive help from Lena who went behind the back of her superiors and gained control of mortars to assist the 86 (something she should’ve done a long time ago). Shin meets Rei on the battlefield where he lands a critical hit, but before he can finish off Rei, Rei attacks with his liquid metal arms (that some Terminator 2 shit right there) and knocks Shin out. Shin gets saved by the others and regains consciousness to deliver the final blow and kill Rei to put him to rest and give the 86 the victory (scenes here: https://youtu.be/HfH1IIJ-ies, https://youtu.be/lWAbgrYOHYI, https://youtu.be/LYlNN5HaESY, and https://youtu.be/u6Jxsb8IYxc). In the second half, we see how Lena helped out the 86. After confronting Annette and revealing that Shin is under her command, she forces Annette to help her hack into the mortar system in order to save Shin using guilt to manipulate Annette (scene here: https://youtu.be/_c2FFr3GK6A. Well, I’m turned on. Nice work Lena. All kidding aside, this might just be my favorite scene in the anime. The music, the voice acting, the way Lena just manipulates Annette. It’s all done wonderfully here). After the battle, the 86 decide to leave the region leaving Lena behind and giving us a bittersweet end.
In episodes 10-11, we get the finale to the first half of the anime. Nothing much happens in 10. They travel around, come across an abandoned town where they sense a large squadron of Legions in the area. Episode 11 is where things get exciting. It starts with the group barely surviving a fight against the Legions where everyone’s mech aside from Shin’s is destroyed. They continue on their travels hoping to reach the place where they no longer hear Legions where they come across another town and spend the night in a school (yeah, that would scare anyone). The next day, Shin can sense the Legions close to them and goes to face them himself. Acting as a decoy and letting the others escape. Of course, the others refuse to leave Shin behind and try to save him only for them to die trying and it looks like Shin will be joining them next. In the second half, we cut to Lena who finally ventured out to the 86 compound in the hopes of finding a clue into what happened to Shin and the others. After the stunt she pulled in episode 9, she was placed under house arrest (apparently she didn’t get the memo). She doesn’t find a clue into their whereabouts, but she does find a picture and a letter they left behind for her with a picture of all of them. This does manage to re-ignite her resolve to change her nation for the better and she takes her leave adopting their cat (scene here: https://youtu.be/1At8J1pdzWY).
Final Thoughts
And that was the first season of 86. Man, I can see why a lot of people praise this series so much. It’s good. I mean really good. While we don’t get to explore the characters as much as we would like, they do a good job at allowing us to build a connection with them. The members of 86 have this family atmosphere with each other. They care about each other and look out for one another. The moments that they share with each other are wholesome, funny, and let you know just how much they enjoy being around each other. I actually did like how they told the story from two perspectives. The Lena perspective shows us just how messed up the country is and how she really wants to save the 86. As the season goes on we see her slowly realize just how messed up the country is and how working within the system isn’t going to help her get the results she wants because the system doesn’t want to be fixed. It was great seeing her badass moment in episode 9 when she forced Annette to help her showing us how she’s not the girl scout we originally thought she was. The other perspective with Shin is where we get the feels and action. I did like Shin’s stoic personality where he doesn’t show much emotion but in truth he runs on them and cares about everyone around him. I really did feel sad whenever a member of the 86 died as it felt like losing a member of a family. The relationship between Lena and Shin was good and yeah you can definitely feel the chemistry between the two throughout the anime.
The music, animation, and fights are incredible. Like I said this is some of the best CGI I’ve seen in an anime since Beastars. It looks smooth, it sounds good, and it’s animated very well. The music sets the tone perfectly for this anime as there’s this hint of despair but hope as well. Also, a shout out to the impressive voice acting from all the VAs as they all matched up with their characters perfectly and delivered their lines with the right tone and emotion and their voices.
Final Score
The final score for 86 S1 is an 8.5/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. A really good series that lives up to the hype and praise that it’s been getting over the months. I’m excited for what happens in the next season. Is Shin still alive, what new challenges await Lena, and are there more mysteries we’ll discover as the story continues? We’ll find out in just a few days as the Fall anime starts up I believe this weekend. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj as Aniween begins.