Area 88 - Blue Skies of Betrayal (Vol. 1)

Starring:Kaneto Shiozawa, Dan Olk, Shigeru Chiba, Kei Tomiyama, Yoshito Yasuhara, Bruce Winant, Oliver Wyman, Sakiko Tamagawa, Toshio Furukawa, Kathleen McInerney, Mayumi Tanaka, Michihiro Ikemizu, TesshÃ´ Genda, B.H. O'Neill, Brian Brite, Jim Ward, TakuzÃ´ Kamiyama, Jack Cardwell, Tim Livo, Iemasa Kayumi
Director: Hisayuki Toriumi
Studio: Us Manga Corps Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Grim Death meets Awesome Fun!
Old School Anime At Its Best
Area 88 OVA is a Masterpiece
another anime dealing with the middleast just like "Yugo the Negotiator
Great anime OVA!

Area 88 - Blue Skies of Betrayal (Vol. 1)
Starring: Kaneto Shiozawa , Dan Olk , Shigeru Chiba , Kei Tomiyama , and Yoshito Yasuhara
Director: Hisayuki Toriumi
Manufacturer: Us Manga Corps Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Action & Combat | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

International | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Anime & Manga | Genres | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Area 88: Complete Collection
Yukikaze, Vol. 3 - Evacuation
Area 88, Vol. 4 - Wings of the Wind
Area 88, Vol. 3: Tightrope at the Speed of Sound
Area 88, Vol. 2: A Lonely Crossing of Paths

ASIN: 1562197274
Release Date: 2000-07-14

Customer Reviews:

Grim Death meets Awesome Fun!.......2007-03-09

Technical stuff: the animation is amazing, and the artwork is cool. The artwork referring to detail, and animation referring to how fluid the motion was.

Grim Death stuff: This is a war movie, and if you let it take you for a ride, you will get to fly through Hell; unlike many of the characters, you'll still be there at the end.

Awesome fun stuff: The detailed rendering of the large variety or airplanes, the angst get heavy-handed at times, but other times it's just right, the images and music pound your sensory organs, and the comradery forged in fire...

When it comes to classic anime, this is the duck's guts.

Old School Anime At Its Best.......2006-10-28

If you like old school anime or just good anime in general BUY THIS NOW!!!

After seeing the `New Area 88' of 2005 I expected the original `Area 88' would be just as good. But I was completely blown away. `Area 88' takes its place as one of the best anime series of all time.

The Plot: A Japanese commercial pilot Shin (Chris Patton) has everything going for him. He's in love with Ryoko, the daughter of his airline's rich president whom approves of their relationship. However he is betrayed by his best friend whom gets him drunk and signs him up for three years of service as a mercenary fighter pilot.

Shin's world is turned upside down as he is transferred to the infamous desert air base Area 88 where pilots are assigned the most impossible missions. Pilots last three missions not three years. Isolated from the rest of the world, Shin befriends the entire base hoping his leadership will lead his comrades to victory and survival. Meanwhile Ryoko struggles to find what became of her lost love.

For some reason there's been a recent backlash against old school anime. "The animation sucks." That's akin to saying `Citizen Kane' sucks because it's black and white. I happen to like old school animation because it takes you back to classic war series like `Robotech', `Gundam', and `Votoms'. `Area 88' certainly deserves to be placed in the same class as them.

What really makes `Area 88' work is its nonstop action.

If you liked or disliked the `New Area 88' you'll still enjoy the original. Although they still have the same general story there are major differences. Mainly the nonstop action. There are far more and better battles sequences. The other major difference is the shift in characters. `Area 88' is NOT burdened with annoying tokens like a child, a female, and an old timer like the new series was. The main character is Shin as we want it, NOT the wimpy war photographer.

A side note of trivia I noticed: The title Area 88 may embody a militarist theme. The phrase "88" is a mnemonic code for "Heil Hitler," H being the eighth letter in the alphabet. The date printed on Shin's enlistment document is "April 20," Hitler's birthday.

Area 88 OVA is a Masterpiece.......2006-07-17

This anime is called Area 88 and is a 3 part anime (4 hours long). It was made in 1985 and is one of the best anime to be released outside Japan. It's one of the deepest and most emotionally moving anime to ever grace our shores. It has everything from action to drama to romance.

Apart from geting all 3 episodes on dvd for the first time. The best part of this dvd is the fact that video been remastered and looks simply stunning compared to the old dvd and vhs release by Central Park Media.

ADV have also translated all the songs and left the credits untouched for all those purists who hate when companies edit things. ADV have also provided a new english dub by the same voice actors that did the tv series.

As if to charm us more, ADV have also given us all the original Japanese extras including an interview with the original manga artist and a documentary featuring all the fighter jets featured in this anime.

Conclusion - This dvd is simply a must buy for any anime fan. This is up there with classics such as Gunbuster, Akira and Wings of Honneamise. They really don't make them like these anymore.

another anime dealing with the middleast just like "Yugo the Negotiator.......2006-06-18

I love this series it's fighting in the middleast country named Asran which is focusing on Shin Kazama, a young pilot from Yamato Airlines. It shows lots of jets fighting they are meticulously detailed in an animated frame by frame with painstaking efforts.

Great anime OVA!.......2004-04-13

This underrated anime is really good! The characters, story, and airplane battles are awesome. The only problem with this is that Act 2 & 3 haven't come out on DVD, :( so you gotta buy them for VHS to finish the story.

A game based on the anime called U.N. Squadron in the U.S., came out years ago on Arcade and Super Nintendo. It's a great horizontal shooter game like Gradius and you earn money by destroying enemy ships to buy newer planes. You also play as the pilots from the anime like Shin, Mickey, and Greg!

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