Category: 86 – Eighty Six

Eighty Six S2 – 3 [Glad to Be Here]

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six, Currently Watching:

Hello everyone and welcome back to Eighty Six! I’ve been a bit positive lately, what with my coverage of Haibane Renmei and gushing over some recent productions. So it’s time to go back to being a bit of a curmudgeon and take shots at someone’s labor of love! Lets dive in.

Now I framed it humorously in the intro but I am legitimately disappointed in Eighty Six this week. From both a production and narrative perspective this episode feels like a step down. And you know what’s so surprising about it? This episode was both Directed and Storyboarded by Satsuki Takahashi, who did episodes 5 and 10 back in the first season. Those were good episodes with incredibly striking imagery! From Shin’s shot in the mirror in episode 5 to the scenic shots of episode 10, I praised them a lot! So it’s really disappointing to see him return this week and not get more of the same beauty. I can only assume the reason is the subject material he had to work with. Those two episodes were much stronger narratively and seemingly more focused in their goal. Meanwhile this episode felt… predictable. More so than Eighty Six usually is.

(Though I will say the CGI looked much better)

Continue reading “Eighty Six S2 – 3 [Glad to Be Here]” →

86 – Eighty Six S2 – 2 [Its Too Late]

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six, Currently Watching:

Welcome back everyone to another season of Eighty Six! If you’re reading this post you already know what you’re getting into so lets skip the preamble and jump right into it!

Right off the bat I want to, again, praise Director Toshimasa Ishii for Eighty Six’s visuals. The animation and compositing aren’t the best, Heike takes the cake in raw production values probably. But Eighty Six is making a fair go at the title for “Best Shot”. I just really love how it frames and cuts between scenes, imbuing meaning in even the smallest gestures. One of my favorites for the episode for example had to be around 7 minutes in. After being introduced to the now calm and peaceful daily lives of the 86’ers, something novel for them, we then get a short sequence of back shots. Fading between each of them as these days drag on into monotony, the music steady and unchanging but purposefully dull, without bite. It conveys what they are feeling really well! Now if only Eighty Six didn’t feel the need to verbalize it to.

Continue reading “86 – Eighty Six S2 – 2 [Its Too Late]” →

86: Eighty Six Anime Review 65/100

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six, Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Reviews by Lenlo

War stories with giant robots and a dash of racism are pretty common in anime. You have everything from classics like Code Geass, Gundam and Gurenn Lagann (depending on how you define “classic”) to the more cult-hit works like Muv-Luv and uh… Gunbuster? Can you tell I don’t watch much mecha? Regardless this year sees a new show try its hand: 86: Eighty Six. A Light Novel adaptation written by Asato Asato, created by A-1 Pictures and Directed by Toshimasa Ishii, Eighty Six looks to take an existing idea and perfect it. And judging by all the press and the reactions I’ve seen in the community it appears to have done just that. But does it deserve the praise and accolades it has been receiving? Let’s find out!

Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Eighty Six. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. Continue reading “86: Eighty Six Anime Review 65/100” →

86: Eighty Six – 11 [Here We Go]

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six

Welcome all to the finale of Eighty Six! Or at least the finale of the first half since it sort of has a second cour? But it doesn’t have a release date so its in a weird place. Regardless, how about we jump right into it because I have a review to write after this!

So my immediate thoughts after this episode are… why? Why does this episode have to exist? Why could we not have ended last week, or the week before? It feels like Eighty Six added this episode, and the big fight with the 86ers, purely to have a “finale” filler episode. Specifically one with a cliffhanger for the next season. Despite the fact that we already had a finale and an epilogue to boot! About the only thing of value in this weeks episode was the second half regarding Lena. All of the first half, with the 86ers? That’s just repeating more “feel good” scenes that we got last week. It’s almost like it was supposed to be an hour long special instead of 2 individual episodes, so closely do they match. And as for the cliffhanger? Well… since the sequel season exists no one believes that, right?

Continue reading “86: Eighty Six – 11 [Here We Go]” →

86: Eighty Six – 10 [Thank You]

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six

Welcome all to the penultimate episode of Eighty Six! For this season at least. This is an interesting week as from what I have been told this episode is almost entirely anime original. And yet despite basically being filler, its good. Like really good. So without further ado lets dive in! Oh and before I begin a reminder that I will be away on a business trip until Thursday, so no Nomad post until then. Sorry.

Anyways, on with the show! And what better place to start than with the production? Once again Eighty Six has some of the best editing and shot composition I have seen in ages. The way it takes everything from dull shot-reverse-shot dialogue scenes or simple travel montages and makes them visually engaging is a treat. From the way it emphasized the emotional distance between Shin and Raiden despite their physical closeness or the way Shin’s head turn and the water hitting the leaf were cut to the music. I shouldn’t be surprised by it anymore, Eighty Six has done this consistently from episode 1. However I can’t help but smile when I see editing like this. Toshimasa Ishii is doing a fantastic job with his full series directorial debut and I can’t wait to see more from him. Absolutely Kino.

Continue reading “86: Eighty Six – 10 [Thank You]” →

86: Eighty Six – 9 [Goodbye]

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six

What an episode. Eighty Six has come a long way from classroom politics and shitty lakeside ecchi. While the other writers on this site might disagree, might thing Eighty Six weak, I can’t help but enjoy what its trying to do. So without further ado how about we dive in to that?

Now in an effort to be fair lets start with the only real negative I have this week: The CGI. Eighty Six tries really had to avoid the showing the CGI. It does everything in it’s power, from clever editing and shot composition to after effects like smoke, to avoid it. And most of the time this works! The Legion looks… fine in motion because the CGI sheen gives them an otherworldly/inhuman feel. That works to their benefit! Meanwhile the 86ers are largely stationary which makes compositing them into the shot much easier. But sometimes a crack slips through and when it does… it doesn’t look good. I’m of course talking about Undertaker’s big fight in the first half of the episode. Narratively I enjoyed it, and we’ll talk about that in a moment, but the mech fight felt like the worst part of the scene.

Continue reading “86: Eighty Six – 9 [Goodbye]” →

86: Eighty Six – 8 [Let’s Go]

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six

I’m late I’m late for a very important date, that’s right the Eighty Six post is here! Only… 2 days late but the show must go on. So without further ado lets dive into another episode of Eighty Six!

To start I want to pose to you a question: What the hell was that opening? Did I skip an episode? How much happened off screen between 7 and 8? I understand wanting to start in-media-res but this was to much. The opening felt out of place and I barely understood what they were talking about. It took me rewatching the scene a few time to understand that it was basically a quick time-skip of deaths off-screen, widdling us down to 5. While this was interesting in its brevity I can’t help but feel confused and annoyed as a viewer. It’s not like I don’t understand why they did it either! Without this we would be repeating similar storylines, similar deaths, for the rest of the cour. But Eighty Six took its discontinuous narrative approach that I mentioned last week to far this time.

Continue reading “86: Eighty Six – 8 [Let’s Go]” →

86 Eighty Six – 7 [Will You Remember Me?]

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six

Welcome back to another episode of Eighty Six, now with 100% more tragic revelations! Is that statistic legitimate? Probably not but you’ll have to read on to find out. So without further ado lets dive into this weeks episode!

And what do you know, Eighty Six is once again one of the best edited/directed show of the season. Tomohiko Ito, the man behind some of the best episodes of their respective shows, did great work this week. The way the fireworks were intercut between the mortar shells, Lena’s balcony shots, Shuga’s speech, it all looked good! And you know that. So instead I want to take a moment to talk about the one thing that’s bothered me with them: Continuity. Eighty Six has this obsession with shifting around shots so that they are discontinuous. Showing scenes earlier in the episode that happen later in the timespan. Sometimes this works to great effect! But I’ve found it can also be very confusing as to the order of events. Especially without proper indication of the order between the two main areas, the 86ers and the Albas.

Still my production gripes aside, however minor they are, lets talk narrative below the break!

Continue reading “86 Eighty Six – 7 [Will You Remember Me?]” →

86: Eighty Six – 6 [Through to the End]

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six

I’m back with another week of Eighty Six! This is another good week for the show, I think it’s on a roll. From some great direction and lighting to more of the narrative goodness, Eighty Six brings it all. So without further ado lets dive in!

Now I’m sure some of you are getting tired of this, I talk about it every week after all. But I can’t not mention Eighty Six’s continuously stellar editing. Seriously these snap cuts are fantastic! Ripping off the post-it to the sound of a gunshot, cutting to a single falling petal? It’s so quick but so impactful. Or the scenes of Undertakers brother, at the start and end. Not to mention Eighty Six’s lighting or scenery. The green moon, while unrealistic, was haunting. And the way the cherry blossoms glowed in the moonlight, suffusing the scene with a pink glow. When focused anywhere other than the robots this show looks good. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say Eighty Six is one of the best edited and looking shows of the season. Not animation wise but hey, animation ain’t everything.

Continue reading “86: Eighty Six – 6 [Through to the End]” →

86: Eighty Six – 5 [I’m With You]

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six

This is it ladies and gentleman, this where Eighty Six redeems itself. Forget all of the Starbucks Philosophers and Liberal Arts jokes, Eighty Six is taking its shot. And I couldn’t be happier. So lets dive right in shall we?

Immediately before we get into all the politics, the narrative and all that jazz I want to talk production. Eighty Six is not the most well animated show of the season. That’s simply a fact. The CGI robots are fine and are used minimally however this is primarily a talking heads show. But what talking heads they are. Some of the shot composition, lighting and scene transitions were absolutely kino this week. Whether it be Undertaker and Lena’s moonlit conversation, the broken mirror, Lena’s reflection in the window or the bleeding fountain pen. Eighty Six was absolutely packed with clever shots. Connecting themes and events with physical objects that brought out the most in every single scene. Credit to Director Toshimasa Ishii and his team for this one. As for the actual politics and narrative of the scenes themselves? Well that was pretty good to.

Continue reading “86: Eighty Six – 5 [I’m With You]” →