Rating: 4.5 (of 5) With this episode, the interlude from the battle scenarios ends, but that shouldn’t be any surprise; even if it wasn’t written into the characters, the story was not going to stray away from one of its core elements for long. At least nothing felt forced about the return of the 86sContinue reading “86 episode 14”
Tag Archives: 86 episode review
86 episode 13
Rating: 5 (of 5) Last season ended with Shin’s squadron in mortal peril. Killing them all off at the point and moving forward with a new group of 86s would have been a hard-hitting and interestingly daring movie, but even a series as bold in its themes as this one was not about to wasteContinue reading “86 episode 13”
86 Special (episode 12)
Crunchyroll is listing the special episode of 86 as episode 12, but whatever you call it, the episode – titled “Coquelicots Blooming Across the Battlefield” – is just a standard recap episode. It is narrated by Lena and shown entirely from her viewpoint, with the only new shot being the one above, which is shownContinue reading “86 Special (episode 12)”
86 episode 11 (season finale)
Rating: 5 (of 5) First off, for those who have been reading each week, my apologies for this being up later than normal. Unexpected schedule changes over the weekend left me with no time to write about this episode until the following Monday evening. Whereas last episode was almost entirely anime-original, this episode was aboutContinue reading “86 episode 11 (season finale)”
86 episode 10
Rating: 4.5 (of 5) As a big fan of the novels, this episode surprised me a bit. Its title suggested that it would include a certain scene featuring Lena which forms the first epilogue of the first novel, but the “Thank You” turns out to be in reference to something else. What we get insteadContinue reading “86 episode 10”
86 episode 8
Rating: 4.5 (of 5) Storytelling in all forms has a habit of exaggerating the evil actions of an enemy or an oppressor just to make sure that the audience has no sympathy for them. Much more rarely, though, the full extent of the evil is just a logical extension of what has already been established.Continue reading “86 episode 8”
86 episode 7
Rating: 5 (of 5) From the beginning of the series until episode 5, one of the unspoken truths about Spearhead Squadron was Shin’s ability to hear the voices of the Legion. However, another unspoken truth has lingered just as long. At first, the 86s didn’t inform Lena because it didn’t seem important, but as theyContinue reading “86 episode 7”
86 episode 6
Rating: 4.5 (of 5) If the more serious parts of 86 ever fail the series, it has a good fallback plan: just depend on Lena being adorable. The way she gradually loses it in the scene right before the closer, as she realizes that what she just innocently said to Shin could be interpreted aContinue reading “86 episode 6”
86 episode 5
Rating: 4.5 (of 5) Though the franchise does not advertise it, 86 does have a mild horror element, one that has only been vaguely hinted at through the first four episodes. (Really, the only significant indicator so far was the series’ opening scene, where Spearhead Squadron’s previous Handler loses it.) This episode is the oneContinue reading “86 episode 5”
86 episode 4
Rating: 5 (of 5) Before seeing this episode, I had wondered how the adaptation could conceivably stretch the first three novels out to cover a whole two-cour season. Episode 4 starts to bring that “how” into focus. In the course of its 20½ minutes of story time, it covers just a dozen or so pagesContinue reading “86 episode 4”
USA Anime 