NoaIzumiAnime Review: 801 TTS Airbats
December 28th 2008 03:45
Welcome back, everyone! Hope you all had a nice Christmas, and that Santa left lots of anime and manga under the tree!
They didn’t mention this in the recruiting posters!
When Japanese Air Self Defense Force sergeant Isorugi is assigned as the maintenance chief of the all-female 801st Tactical Training Squadron, he never expected to be part of the most notorious gang of misfits in the Japanese Air Force. Join him as he solves the mystery of a ghost pilot, gets roped into a ramen eating contest, and becomes the object of a dangerous love triangle.
Airbats is a fun little anime, nothing too deep. It’s one of those that’s best if you don’t expect anything more than an enjoyable ride, but it is an enjoyable ride. The love triangle is amusing, even if it sometimes seems less about Isorugi than another excuse for the women, Miyuki Haneda and Arisa Mitaka, to fight. The other characters are interesting and typically over the top, and the series doesn’t spend much time on them (with one exception, described below).
Isorugi is a great choice of main character for an anime like this. He’s not the sharpest tool in the box, but he’s a fellow otaku, and his irrepressible optimism make him hard not to like. Him being at the center of a love triangle requires a slight suspension of disbelief, but only slight. Besides, it’s in keeping with anime love triangle tradition that the apex be either an average joe or kind of a loser.
Besides the romantic angle, Airbats looks at the struggle of the female pilots to be accepted in the male-dominated military structure, and that's fairly well developed, given the limited time. I would have liked to have seen this taken further, had the series gone on.
Seven episodes were produced. The first three form a story arc, starting with Isorugi’s introduction to the unit, and focusing on the rivalry over him. The other four are stand-alones, including a ghost story, a visit of the USAF Thunderbirds to the base for an air show (the “ugly American” episode), the ramen-eating contest, and a flashback that looks at the history of two of the supporting characters. The last one deserves an extra mention, as it departs from the comedy routine of the series and tells a very sweet and sad story about a time when two of the older members of the Airbats were involved in a love triangle of their own. It’s a very well-written and romantic episode, and different in tone from the others, which makes me wonder if the makers knew it would be the last episode when they made it, and figured why not take a chance and write the story they really wanted to write?
The aircraft, of course, are very well drawn, and the creators made an effort to include as many different ones as possible. Except for in a dream of Isorugi’s, however, there are no combat sequences.
Extras: Original trailers, clean opening and closing, production sketches, and a brief message from the voice actors. Nice to have, but nothing to particularly write home about.
Great moments: Airbats has a number of good ones, but my favorite takes place during the ramen episode. Word of the Airbats entering the contest inspires a great deal of betting on the outcome, among Japanese and American units. The day of the contest, two American fighter planes are sent up to shoo away a Russian snooper plane (this happened quite often during the Cold War, and still happens on occasion today). While they’re escorting the snooper away, they receive word that the odds-on favorite was just knocked out of the contest. One of the Americans expresses dismay to his wingman, and then they get a transmission from the Russian plane: “I understand, comrade. I lost a hundred rubles on him!”
Summary: Fun little anime, more so if you're an airplane buff (I am). Recommended, as long as you don't take it too seriously. Grade: B plus.
Age Rating: 15 and up. Mostly for fan service, including a very revealing kimono slip.
Cover of the DVD
They didn’t mention this in the recruiting posters!
When Japanese Air Self Defense Force sergeant Isorugi is assigned as the maintenance chief of the all-female 801st Tactical Training Squadron, he never expected to be part of the most notorious gang of misfits in the Japanese Air Force. Join him as he solves the mystery of a ghost pilot, gets roped into a ramen eating contest, and becomes the object of a dangerous love triangle.
Airbats is a fun little anime, nothing too deep. It’s one of those that’s best if you don’t expect anything more than an enjoyable ride, but it is an enjoyable ride. The love triangle is amusing, even if it sometimes seems less about Isorugi than another excuse for the women, Miyuki Haneda and Arisa Mitaka, to fight. The other characters are interesting and typically over the top, and the series doesn’t spend much time on them (with one exception, described below).
Isorugi is a great choice of main character for an anime like this. He’s not the sharpest tool in the box, but he’s a fellow otaku, and his irrepressible optimism make him hard not to like. Him being at the center of a love triangle requires a slight suspension of disbelief, but only slight. Besides, it’s in keeping with anime love triangle tradition that the apex be either an average joe or kind of a loser.
Besides the romantic angle, Airbats looks at the struggle of the female pilots to be accepted in the male-dominated military structure, and that's fairly well developed, given the limited time. I would have liked to have seen this taken further, had the series gone on.
Seven episodes were produced. The first three form a story arc, starting with Isorugi’s introduction to the unit, and focusing on the rivalry over him. The other four are stand-alones, including a ghost story, a visit of the USAF Thunderbirds to the base for an air show (the “ugly American” episode), the ramen-eating contest, and a flashback that looks at the history of two of the supporting characters. The last one deserves an extra mention, as it departs from the comedy routine of the series and tells a very sweet and sad story about a time when two of the older members of the Airbats were involved in a love triangle of their own. It’s a very well-written and romantic episode, and different in tone from the others, which makes me wonder if the makers knew it would be the last episode when they made it, and figured why not take a chance and write the story they really wanted to write?
The aircraft, of course, are very well drawn, and the creators made an effort to include as many different ones as possible. Except for in a dream of Isorugi’s, however, there are no combat sequences.
Extras: Original trailers, clean opening and closing, production sketches, and a brief message from the voice actors. Nice to have, but nothing to particularly write home about.
Great moments: Airbats has a number of good ones, but my favorite takes place during the ramen episode. Word of the Airbats entering the contest inspires a great deal of betting on the outcome, among Japanese and American units. The day of the contest, two American fighter planes are sent up to shoo away a Russian snooper plane (this happened quite often during the Cold War, and still happens on occasion today). While they’re escorting the snooper away, they receive word that the odds-on favorite was just knocked out of the contest. One of the Americans expresses dismay to his wingman, and then they get a transmission from the Russian plane: “I understand, comrade. I lost a hundred rubles on him!”
Summary: Fun little anime, more so if you're an airplane buff (I am). Recommended, as long as you don't take it too seriously. Grade: B plus.
Age Rating: 15 and up. Mostly for fan service, including a very revealing kimono slip.
Haneda and Mitaka: You peep, you die!
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