86: Eighty Six

## Season 1

### Soundtrack

Eighty Six's soundtrack is pretty great. There are a lot of great moments with the instrumental tracks, which should be the standard of any action anime. Honestly, the piano tracks are my favorite, but that doesn't mean the other instrumental tracks are bad.

Both openings are pretty good. Not the type of music that I'd listen to, but combined with the themes of the show and the gorgeous opening animations, they both do their jobs well. I do prefer the second opening over the first, though. That song just fits more, in my opinion.

All of the ending songs (there's four) are really nice. Avid's a really nice track that really emphasizes the feelings I felt after finishing each episode. Then, there's also the song "Hands Up to the Sky" that was also played in the first part. Honestly, it's one of my favorite ending tracks of any anime I've watched. I don't know, even with the more upbeat tone, it feels almost sadder than Avid for some reason, which I really like. Other than that, it also kind of reminds me a bit of Lyn's Persona 5 OST, especially with the English lyrics that I don't understand at all.

"Dawn" by Regalily is, in my opinion, a really underrated ending song. There's just something about an ending song in 3/4 time that makes it be irresistibly catchy. It's also not every day you hear a rock ballad ending song, which I really like. Moving on from "Dawn", there's also "LilaS". It's a good ending song, but definitely not something I'd want to listen to every day. Honestly, it does its job as a finale ending song really well, which the other ending songs can't really do that well. Appreciable.

### Thoughts

I think I saw a video title on YouTube once that said something along the lines of "86 is the most important anime of the decade". Personally, after after watching the first season, I wouldn't say I agree with that statement. But, I do see where it's coming from. After all, 86 is an incredibly action-packed anime that uses the backdrop of an endless war to tell some really nice stories with its characters, whether it's about interpersonal or intrapersonal dynamics. Listen, there are a lot of great subjects and topics that 86 covers, some of which are more or less relevant in the world we live in. Honestly, most if not all of them were really handled well. It's a really well written show.

Let's talk about the most obvious topic: Racism. Well, at least that's what I think it's about. It could honestly be an allegory for any kind of exclusivism. Anyways, 86 (the anime) often raises the topic of the persecution of the Eighty Six, a marginalized group in the Republic of San Magnolia, The first part of the anime really shows the vast amount of persecution the Eighty Six are subject to. Wow, the scenes with the officers insulting or demeaning the Eighty Six just makes my blood boil. Maybe this is a highly shallow analysis, but it's insane how a selected group of people are forced to fight for the people who hate them with the end goal of exterminating said group of people. I do think the premise of the hatred of the Eighty Six itself kind of doesn't make sense, though. I don't think it's ever explained, so it's almost as if it's irrational to hate them. I do think it makes sense that they are the ones sent to die with heavy weaponry, though. The alternative is an inglorious death via persecution, so might as well die for a better future, right? Anyways, the second part of the first season doesn't really touch on the topic of the Eighty Sixes' persecution that much, which makes sense from a writing perspective. It'd have gotten old, to be honest.

Before I move on to talking about the main five Eighty Six, I have to talk about the first character introduced in the anime: Vladilena Milize. I think she'd what I'd call an idealist. Unlike basically everybody else in the Republic, it's clear that she has a soft spot for the Eighty Six. I mean, it just makes sense for a young (apparently 16!?) officer to go against the tide. It can't be rational to her that an arbitrarily picked group of people are practically chosen to die for the country that hates them. Moving on from that, Lena is a great character, perhaps my favorite in the series. It's clear that she really cares about the people she commands, especially during the scene where she experiences her first death. Of course, that's the reality of war. That doesn't make it any easier for her, though, and it makes for an incredibly emotional scene. After that till the end of the first season you really get to see the various sides of her character. She really is willing to fight for a world that she thinks is worth living in. I think that's a beautiful message to give to the viewer, especially because it was executed incredibly well. On top of all that, all of those happenings build up really well to the perceived end of her story being controlling the entire army to defend the other 85 districts, which unfortunately ends in (apparent?) failure. I think her growth isn't seen in her ideals becoming more or less optimistic, but rather in the actions she takes. Tremendously written.

The main five Eighty Six which are pretty good. Honestly, Shin is the obvious highlight, being the main character of the second part, but that doesn't mean the others aren't also good. Okay, listen, they are fun and have a lot of really good moments, but I genuinely think most of the time they're just vehicles that move the story along to serve Shin. Maybe it's just because of the pacing of the show, but beyond the occasional emotional moment I didn't really become invested in them. They definitely wish you wanting more. Maybe that's because of how great their dynamic is.

Shinei Nouzen's great. Perhaps one of the best written main characters out of all of the anime I've watched up to this point in time. The first half of the season is basically all about him and his journey on defeating his brother, both internally and externally. First of all, the way it ties into his backstory and emblem is incredible. It's an incredibly written plotline that really carries you moment to moment in such an emotional way. It's beautiful, really. I loved seeing him deal with his destined fate of killing his brother for good. Other than that, I also enjoyed how his "guilt" of being blamed by his late brother is handled in a writing perspective. It wasn't something that he remembered from time to time, but rather it was something that haunted the narrative, and something he carried from moment to moment. All of that really built up to the incredible moment when he killed his brother; what an incredibly emotional sequence.

After killing his brother, the show quickly moves on to the second part, where the five Eighty Six venture out into Legion controlled territory without any goal in mind, which eventually leads them to being captured by the Federation of Giad. Honestly, the second part of the first season is much better than the first part. It handled the double plotline concept much better than the first. There's the plotline of Frederica Rosenfort's "knight" that serves as the backdrop to the story from start to finish, which really brings out more sides of the story than the first part. There's a whole lot of themes to talk about, like morality, war, purpose, and so on. But, to me this part of the season is really about what happens to the Eighty Six. What I mean is, they're born and bred in the frontlines of war, so what happens when they have the choice of freedom? The Eighty Sixes' answer to that question is to continue fighting the endless war, not because they're forced to, but rather out of their own volition. I think that's beautiful, but what makes the second part of the season even better is how Shin deals with it. It's clear from the start that he's dealing with a lot. It's almost like he's continuing to fight out of the obligation of his late comrades. Up till the end, it's clear as day that he's gone through a lot, to the point that he wishes to die in the battlefield. He tries to lie to himself by thinking that he's continuing to fight to kill Frederica's knight, but his lies eventually catch up to him after he kills yet another villain. What's next for him? More people to kill? What's next is what I'd describe as one of the most emotional episodes out of any anime I've ever watched. Let's just say he gets his answer.

I could go on and on about the story and its characters, but I also have to leave my flowers for the incredible cinematography and sound design. The first part of the anime is beautiful, but the second part is where it really drives home how talented the animators are. There are so many beautifully shot scenes. I don't know how to describe it other than "gorgeous". It's also a given that the action scenes are exciting and only get more exciting after the first few episodes. Sometimes it may look odd or out of place, especially having the mechs be 3D, but those moments are sparse. Other than that, this is probably the only anime I've watched that has incredibly good sound design. I don't know how to describe it other than the Legion sound so mechanical, robotic, and clunky while the good guys' mechs sound fast, sleek, and built for efficiency. It really goes to show how much attention to detail the showrunners put into this gem of an anime.

Then, what do I don't like about the anime? I haven't mentioned one key aspect of the anime: the never-ending war. Basically, from start to finish, the common enemy of humanity are the rogue robots, the Legion, who use the brains of deceased soldiers as processors and controllers. As a concept, it's great. I really like what that final aspect about the Legion adds to the story, where any unrecoverable soldier's brains must be destroyed, unless they will haunt the battlefield until they are destroyed. It's also probably a metaphor for PTSD and the comrades you leave behind. What I don't like is how artificial the threat is. I'm talking about the "threat" itself, not the fact that they're robots. From the start to the finish, I didn't learn that much about the Legion other than that they use brains, haunt Shin, have manufacturing plants, and have like 3 or 4 variants? It's almost like the Legion is a metaphorical threat that pushes humanity to the brink of extinction, forcing them to ask the hard questions and make the difficult decisions. Honestly, I would've loved to learn more about the Legion so that they feel more real and grounded. It's probably one of the biggest problems I have regarding this anime.

I think 86 is an excellently made anime, with one medium-sized problem that is probably a nitpick that you'd only realize after watching it fully. So, watch it. It's got excellent action, implied romances, incredibly emotional moments, and breathtaking visuals. It's really an anime that anyone could like, even first-time anime watchers. There's also barely any fanservice, but a good amount of "hype moments and aura" that actually make sense, story-wise. I also want to add that while a season 2 would be great, this season is an incredible watch on its own and ends in an incredibly graceful way. Everything I've said corroborates into a classification of 9/10 Gem-Gem. I LIED I WANT A SEASON 2 YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!