86 - A captivating series that keeps you hooked, hitting the right notes to make it highly enjoyable

I decided to write a review on 86, as I feel it’s a series that deserves one. It’s going to be a long one of just my thoughts overall! and ramblings all over the place of how I felt personally about the series!

There will be spoilers in here, so please avoid reading it if you haven’t watched the series.

Story

A decorative building facade showcases a large screen displaying a map and a woman in military attire with long hair, who appears to be addressing an audience.

The setting of the story starts off with the Republic of San Magnolia fighting against the Giadian Empire. The Giadian Empire created these Legions, which are like AI robots and they are the main enemy throughout the series. The empire has actually collapsed already, but in their last resistance during the war had commanded these Legions to continue fighting until they win the war. This is where we get introduced to 86, a group of people that live in District 86, that is outside the walls of Republic of San Magnolia. They are forced to fight against this Legion and this series specifically focuses on the Spearhead Squadron The Major, Vladilena Milizé aka Lena, who is an Alba, becomes the commander of this squad. The first cour of the series explores her relationship with this squad and their fight against the Legions. The second cour of the series mainly focuses on the Federal Republic of Giad, with the primary focus still being on the Spearhead Squadron and less on seeing Lena.

I wouldn’t say the story of the series is groundbreaking or super deep in the sense, but its a story that you can keep track of and doesn’t overcomplicate things.

Themes

A group of characters in military-style uniforms stands in front of a large warehouse, with some waving and sitting on a mechanical vehicle. The sky is blue with scattered clouds.

The core theme that the show explores and is quite evident is in the first cour of the series is racism and the treatment of those who are not Alba. Those who are not Alba, are not seen as humans, and are treated pretty much like robots or livestock that is used to fight the Legion. In the second season, it showed a different perspective of how the 86 are treated by the Federal Republic of Giad. They were totally the opposite of the people of the Republic of San Magnolia. The Federacy accepted everyone for who they are and treated them as humans, which was totally opposite of how the Alba treated them. It was an interesting take, as it showed two sides of the story. As much as the Federal Republic of Giad wanted to strive for an ideal world of not wanting to send kids to war, they ended up on having to rely on them at the end. The Spearhead Squadron had a choice not to participate in this war, but them knowing if they didn’t participate, it would mean the end of the country. It’s not they had coerced them in a sense, but these kids did not know anything more outside of life besides war. Who is right? Who is wrong? It’s sort of hard, especially when your country is about to get finished by the Legion. Sometimes ideals can seem great, but really achieving those ideals are difficult. This provided a really interesting take overall of the series and which was one of my favourite parts.

Other themes that are prevalent are what happens for those who have spent their whole life in war and then are suddenly given peace in the sense of an ordinary life. I like how the series tackled this in the second cour, showing Nouzen and the crew living normal lives, but at the end they were just not used to it.

Writing

A character with long silver hair and a playful expression, resting their chin on their hand, wearing a dark uniform.

I would say the series does the writing really well. As you watch more of the series and as each episode passes, it’s easy to piece together what’s going to happen and slowly fills in the gaps of the questions that you have of the series initially. This was particular so for like, “why was Nouzen called the “Undertaker” ? , “what is the 86?” and what do you mean there were no casualties in the war? The series does its troupes really well and the execution of is what makes this series great and captivating. It’s often easy to do the usual anime troupes but executing them is a different story for that effect.

Animation and Music

A serene landscape featuring a calm lake reflecting surrounding mountains and lush greenery, with scattered flowers in the foreground and trees lining the shore.

This series really excelled in the BGM and the animation department, which made the series very enjoyable and left that emotional impact. I found that the first cour had the better bgm for me personally and that was most likely owing to Hiroyuki Sawano. Cour 2 was great in itself but I felt the series with its transitions in Cour 1 more enjoyable, with the ending of the episode great. I love the still shots of the pivotal moments of each episode showing at the end of each episode

Overall thoughts

A group of six characters in military-style uniforms standing on grass, looking upwards with expressions of camaraderie and determination. The text 'We won't forget' is displayed prominently in red and black.

This series overall was very enjoyable for me and it is a well executed story, leaving you wanting more when you are done with the first episode. By the time you know it, you have finished the series. I managed to binge this 23 episode series in 2 days, which says something! It has been a while since I’ve binged a series that quick, especially for a 20+ series. The defining point of this series which wraps up everything together is the ending. It’s a perfect ending that leaves you really satisfied and happy. It might sound easy to do an ending, but it’s a hard thing when it comes down to it. If they had ended it differently, it would have probably made this series not as good as what it is and felt it was a pivotal part owing to the overall enjoyment of the series for me. If you are not a big fan of mecha, you will still enjoy this series as the series might seem like its heavily mecha focused but its definitely not. Hope you enjoyed this review!