86-Eighty-Six – Even Flowers Can Grow on the Battlefield

 The Republic of San Magnolia has been at war with the Giadian Empire for a long time. The empire uses robots known as Legions. While the republic chose to survive behind the fortress of Gran Mur plus a machine called the Juggernaut.

The government reported that thanks to the sophistication of the Juggernaut, there were no casualties on the republican side. The Juggernaut is claimed to operate unmanned. The main character, Vladilena Mirizé knows some of the facts that happened.

Lena, who now holds the rank of major, gets the task of being a Handler. This task is similar to the captain managing the Processcor in Juggernaut while fighting the Legion. Processor is the human name who piloted the Juggernaut.

Republicans have indeed committed a big lie. The pilots of the Juggernaut were taken from residents of district 86. Actually, this area is still inhabited by immigrants who are of different races from the original citizens of the republic. I don't know why the Alba people are now so condescending to other races.

But not all Alba are discriminatory. Lena still believes that 86 citizens also need to be considered by the republic. For now he does not yet have the power to change state policy. But he still took small steps.

Lena tries her best to establish a relationship with her new team Spearhead as a Handler. Slowly but surely he began to close with the field commander Spearhead, Shinei Nouzen or commonly known as the Undertaker.

If described briefly, 86 is the story of the struggle of life in the middle of the battlefield. The story of the Spearhead members who struggle to see the sun tomorrow.

The story is slow. At first, the audience did not know anything, of course, it would be difficult to sympathize with the characters in 86. But little by little, the depravity of the Republic of San Magnolia and some residents who were not in line with government policies were exposed.

Juggernaut's battle against Legion isn't too special. The CG animation used is quite good. The design of the war unit is indeed unusual. After all, the Juggernaut was technically a piece of junk when compared to Legion.

In this series, there are not only spider-legged tank battles, but also interpersonal relationships that are built between Handler Lena and Spearhead members. Maybe not all viewers like the large number of LDR communications using Para-RAID. But this communication is actually the main attraction in series 86. If the audience fails at this stage, then the next episode will be boring.

Another thing that deserves thumbs up is the directorial debut of Toshimasa Ishii. Prior to this project, he was often assigned as an episode director. From the various decisions taken from the camera's point of view and the selection of scenarios included in the anime media, it can be estimated that Toshimasa Ishii really understands the material of LN 86 and cares about the quality of the work. If you are very interested in photography and cinematography, there is a lot that can be learned from the 86 series. Because in terms of quality, the various camera angles in this series are equivalent to the aesthetics of films that are worthy of being shown in cinemas.

The episode format in 86 is also quite unique in that not many other series do. They use two different perspectives in parts A and B. It will be easier to understand if you watch it live.

The presence of Hiroyuki Sawano who worked on various insert songs plus the ending song was also another attraction. It's no secret, this composer is able to produce melodies that successfully arouse emotions. Moreover, in one episode it managed to make me tear up because the scene and the insert music used matched well.

If you like the story of interpersonal relationships plus the struggles of life, 86 is not to be missed. Later this series will lead to romance with a battlefield background. The second cour is set to premiere in October 2021.