Across the desolate wilderness, resources are scant and survival is the utmost priority. Essential supplies are delivered through the network of zeppelins, relying on protection from mercenary crews piloting single-engine fighter planes. At odds with pirates and political conflict, these brave aviators provide the strongest guard to stability in such dismal lands.
Kylie—a talented, hotshot pilot—serves with one such crew: the Kotobuki Squadron. Recruited to the group by her childhood friend Emma, her natural aptitude for flight makes her a key member. Armed with their Hayabusa fighter planes, the six-member squadron is hired to protect people, goods, and society as they continue to engage hardships in their complex world.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
KANLen09
The standout of the anime with its 2D and 3DCGI mix aside, it is still a satisfying show to watch in its entirety. Yet again, we have another CGDCT ("Cute Girls Doing Cute Things") anime, this time in the reigns of the old 20th Century times when most people are air/sky pirates and doing their own stuff. Everything that we all wanted that encapsulates about being an air pirate, from airship bases to dogfights, it's all here. What more could you ask for this being a sci-fi action-adventure flick of inspirations from real like and even video game adaptations polishing the looks of this anime? Simplyan underrated gem and it's good.
Going into The Magnificent Kotobuki, this show tells the stories and adventures of the main Kotobuki squadron of girls (Kylie, Reona, Zara, Kate, Chika and Emma) who are bodyguards for hire, for mercenaries that require some extensive help in all forms and sizes. Along with their airship Hagoromo housing their useless captain (Saneatsu) and one hell of a commanding lady (Madame Loulou), they're ready to set off into the uncertain skies.
The first thing I'll require you to turn your senses off to, is the storytelling: it's a very non-linear approach, and that storytelling is based off the endless amount of adventures of the Kotobuki girls in their slick Hayabusa planes that are airworthy of all dogfights in the skies. For one, we get a lot of emphasis on the main girls: Kylie, a pancake-loving girl, once mastering with her mentor Ol' Sab on flying, and she is an excellent pilot with skills keen to the most dedicated. Emma the short, chibi-esque girl, aside from being Kylie's childhood friend, she seems to be the one who holds grudges, but alongside her, another great pilot on the observational side. Reona, the leader/captain of the Kotobuki squadron, the pilot with the most "girl power" with a lot of experiences clocked under her belt. Aside from being the most sensible pilot, she is one that gets to the bottom of the truth and executes her mission without fail. YOU GO GIRLS, girl power!
And, that's basically it for the characters. Oh sorry I almost forgot, the antagonist Isao, once an ace pilot who saved Reona's life. However, in his pragmatic business, whoever views his clown-tricking abilities are those that might look like an insensible joke from a typical person at first, but when he gets serious, he knows how to manipulate people. What an ass.
The VERY startling point is the art and animation. From the same studio who did the disgusting demeanor that is the Berserk sequel (of sorts), GEMBA (with collaborations from WAO World) took an approach that is very unheard of: Mashing both 2D and 3D, and adding in lots of CGI into the mix. What resulted was a very jarring experience to even watch an episode through and not suffer hallucinations. Thank God this isn't another Hand Shakers though.
In my opinion, it was a risk trying to incorporate both 2D support animation (from WAO World) and 3D (main cast of) characters (from GEMBA), but when used and utilized right, it could be something else. One thing I've really liked though is the dogfights, in particular the endless amount of planes' camera motions pertaining to the pilots that the animators wanted to emphasize. It's kinda like the modern A380 with its tail camera perching for passengers to be wowed. Not the greatest of greats, but not bad too.
OST is also decent. In fact, I had a lot of vibes from Crimson Skies (the video game) as the dogfights' music plays throughout the series, it is damn reminiscent of it and largely captures my attention for the good and great amount of dogfights this series has to keep the action pumping between the frenemies. ZAQ's OP is great, an atmospheric throwback to old 1930s style with its aesthetics and music, and the decent ED by the Kotobuki squad to end their missions on a good note.
But then again, my recommendation of this show can only be purged on the minority of fans who like or love the old times of sci-fi sky pirates with its full-on action-adventure modes. Wonky animation aside, this isn't a bad show, it's just that while there's nothing really going for it, at the back of your minds, it will be like: "Just stick till the end of the episode." And that is where the show's magic happens and take hold of you, to go in deep and further.
To me, it is enjoyable, but how about you? Give this one a try, forgo all expectations, and you might like it.
JiangHaoyi1979
Ya know most of the time we always watch anime were the setting is either in school or in some MMORPG setting of some sort, but every once in while something gives us a breath of fresh air , where something unique and new comes up and thought it doesn't have a good story, it does brings something new to the table and I'm talking about this anime, "Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai" or in English "The Magnificent Kotobuki" and original anime that was really well done with is graphics and 3D art. Its genre is Action, Military, Adventure and it did played well eventhought it was set in some wasteland and them girls were part of a mercenary group under the Ouni Company, whom were the very epitome of girls who can kickass. Given of this anime's genre , there isn;t really a story in fact the plot was simply random from episode to episode. In most case the story plot will tell you about the anime as a whole, this is an exception , cu'z behind the seemly random plot was a good action and adventure, where we're literally being kept in the seat of our pants, cu'z of all those dog fights and adventure that them girls does in every episode. In fact there isn't an episode where dog fight is involve when the ones doing it are girls that should be taken seriously, so kudos to studio WAO World, GEMBA and to this anime's director Mizushima, Tsutomu , they really did a good job, cu'z in some original anime there were those not good and there were those that rely on certain cliches that make it boring... so without any further adieu:
Story- fair 6: The story relies on a daily plot that were simply random.
Art- Very Good 8: The graphic and 3D images where awesome. Btw there is a one time Zara fanservice and that is all you're gonna get.
Sound- Good 7: I have nothing to say about the characters voice , btw the score is for the sound effect of the machine guns that we hear around here.
Character- Good 7: Well girl power is all over the place in this anime, and as we see with the Kotobuki Corp, Chicka, Reona, Kyrie, Zara, and Kate each represent a certain bad ass that what a man has that them girls can also have as well.
Enjoyment- Very Good 8: Forget the story just enjoy the dog fight, cu'z is what this anime is about.
Overall- Very Good 8: It is as what my rating says, so should this have a manga version????? Well, it's a good anime, but making it a manga, no way Jose, it's best to leave it as an anime.
Stark700
Can you imagine living in a world where it’s nothing but a wasteland? The Kotobuki corps sure knows exactly how that kind of life is like. The art of aviation became an essential part of their life. But in such an imperfect world, they can’t be without conflicts. For a story about aviation, I was fully prepared to be cast into a world where aircrafts is much more than just what they are. The first few episodes immediately dives into a world where we witness the technology and importance of aviation. Technology related to aeronautical practices is a common sight. This came to me as nosurprise considering the anime advertised itself with many of its promotional material in such ways. What did catch me off guard and I regret to say is that the show could have been so much more.
Anime that takes on aviation as a major theme is also becoming a more popular trend in recent years. It hasn’t taken off quite yet like isekai but from this Winter season alone, we had at least two titles: Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai and Girly Air Force. However, let’s not jump ahead of ourselves. Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai has confidence to be its own show. As an original anime, it doesn’t have to rely on manga material to be faithful or as a continuation from some prequel series. Anime like this isn’t afraid to take risks although it didn’t capitalize on its concepts. Let me just say that the first episodes themselves accomplished little more than becoming a flight simulator. Indeed, I can’t say this enough but when you have a full squad of badass girls as pilots, you know this is going to take off as a sky fueled action show. It doesn’t take long to realize how skilled the main characters are when the first episode shows their abilities to take down hordes of enemy aircrafts. War veteran Zara is the most prominent to notice for her battle experience. However, don’t count out the rest of her squad. Characters like Chika, Kate, Kylie, and Emma are not to be underestimated when they are in their cockpits. Even a little girl like Chika can be described as “dynamite come in little packages”. Throughout the series, they participate in many dogfights that first came as exciting but soon became very predictable. Let’s face it, this anime sells the Kotobuki squad as the aces in the sky. Their feats are easily noticeable for their complex aerial maneuvers. Some episodes even consists of its squad members chasing down their foes in what seems like near impossible scenarios. But if you guessed it, they make it look easy. Now I don’t want to designate the characters as “overpowered” as they certainly do find themselves struggling on occasions. Still, it’s not very fun when the whole show make others look bad after each episode. I’m not going to lie, after watching a good portion of this series convinced me that the Kotobuki squadron is like an end boss video game; only that the they are badass girls.
Overlooking the characters, I think perhaps the show holds some value when it comes to its mysterious world and technology. In fact, the aircrafts themselves makes me wonder how much potential it really has. A weapon is only powerful as its user is what I would think. While the aircrafts aren’t very high standard, they are capable of making dogfights look realistic. The pilots ride the sky and gives a feel of being right there with them in their cockpit. When an aircraft is shot and melts down, it gives the impression of life or death. Being able to depict a war-like feeling almost every episode actually makes the show exciting at times. The downside is that the whole idea can get repetitive fast. Trust me, once you’ve seen one dogfight, it feels like you’ve seen them all.
One of the more interesing aspects of the show is its economic system. This includes how mercenaries are hired such as the Kotobuki squad. Furthermore, there’s monopoly that can’t be overlooked in such an unstable world. I think for what’s worth, the anime manages to makes its world a breeding ground for conflicts. The Kotobuki squad not only have to deal with enemies in the sky but also corruption among corporations. It adds fuel to the already desolate world that makes surviving all the more difficult. Luckily for the Kotobuki members, they don’t have much trouble living their lives but you can just imagine for some of the poorer folks. The World War like atmosphere often puts less fortunate people in jeopardy when they don’t have the resources to fend for themselves. It’s a sad and grim reality.
Making an anime featuring aviation isn’t easy nor is animating aerial dogfights on a consistent basis. The strange combination of 2D and 3D art style can take a bit of time to get used to. In fact, the character models looks like something from a video game in its alpha stage. It reminds me a bit of Apreggio of Blue Steel at times only without the high level technology. When in its 2D form, character designs are pretty normal on most terms although fan service is evident on occasions. Madame Lulu, Zara, and Naomi are a few examples as the show try to make them busty. But on most occasions, the show sells its animation in the sky where the real action takes place. The dynamic quality of the framework and fluid movements (when ignoring the 3D models) makes the action look convincing. It’s just that when you see it so many times, it loses its relevance.
Honestly, this show feels like a flight simulator. The story isn’t very well written despite the immense amount of potential. Characters lack development as the show focuses way too much into the action. It almost feels like playing a video game at times like Battlefield or something when every episode just bites into the action and consumes it without stopping. My impression of the whole show didn’t change at all from the first episode to the end. There’s just so much potential in this anime that eventually became a showcase of mediocrity.
SanaeK10
When Shirobako had an in-universe anime called "Third Aerial Girls Squad" that ended up having a surprisingly decent one-shot OVA, I became hungry for a plane-based anime. Something with adventure, suspense and great world building. I got my wish many years later with Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai. Kotobuki is fast. Before you know it, the episode you're watching is already over. The pacing in each episode is ratcheted up to HELL SPEED and each episode just goes through tons of character development, world building and in-universe politics in the span of 10 minutes, before cutting to another 10 minutes of beautifully choreographed dogfights. While thismeans the show never gets boring, it does have the issue of delivering plot critical information at an incredible pace, so much so it's sometimes easy to miss out on what's going on with the plot. There is almost never a moment of peace or quiet. It's shot after shot of characters interacting with each other, dogfights, or some combination of the two. And I wouldn't have it any other way. The brisk pace does give some charm and identity to Kotobuki that makes it stand out among other anime this season.
While the world-building is excellent (in which every event that happens has its purpose and origins) , character building does seem more lacking in comparison. Don't get me wrong, it's fun to see pancake-psycho go through her bouts of insanity, and resident goblin Chika is fun to watch too, but aside from Kylie, none of the other characters go through much character development and stay one-note until the end of the show. Kotobuki is definitely the kind of show that would really benefit from a two-cour structure, a second season, or hell even 1-hour long episodes. The writing is decent enough, so I wanted to see more character spotlight episodes to see each girl shine in their own way. At best maybe each girl gets 3 minutes of spotlight in their "spotlight episodes", but it's never enough. So much potential is just untapped behind it all.
And here is where I have to address the elephant in the room I guess. The 3DCG character models clashing with the 2D characters. For the most part, in action scenes and dogfights, the 3D is beautiful and fluid. With excellent cinematic setpieces that would really give you goosebumps. But what's less impressive are the 3D renditions of major characters that really stand out when they're interacting with the 2D characters in the story. I've come to ignore it after a few episodes, but it's just so jarring to see it happen. Even more baffling is that on occasion they would switch out the 3D models with proper 2D models of the mains which look so much more fluid when animated (the beginning of the 2nd episode is a good example of this contrast). I get they're trying to make it more seemless since these characters are always on planes and therefore need to blend in better with the 3D dogfights, but I'd seriously would have preferred if they used 2D character models for the more peaceful on-the-ground scenes and then switch to 3D models when the characters are in flight.
Still, in spite of this very jarring flaw, Kotobuki is a fun romp throughout. Fun characters, thrilling events, and brilliant cinematography all lend to an excellent adventure in the skies. All that remains is, when's Season 2 coming out?
8/10
And where's that Project ACES spin-off game?
LegendAqua
Winter 2019 gave us two VERY different cute girl plane animes, one where the girls are the actually jet fighters that is Girly Air Force, the other, Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai and well... Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai for LA felt like it fell under the radar in a ways due to all the popular sequels and slammer of an anime that was released at the same time but if anything Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai seems like a diamond in the rough if see can find it. Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai is about the daily lives of the Kotobuki Corps, a band of girls piloting plane fighters asbodyguards for hire and though the anime is mostly an episodic anime looking at the various characters within the Kotobuki Co, the anime subtlety adds in world building and a bigger threat that is ALL connected to the missions Kotobuki Corps gets wrangled into fighting in the process.
Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai also has a way of subtlety adding in little details about both the minor and main characters and they "show don't tell", this especially when the dogfighting ensues and they allow the great executed 3DCGI use on the planes to used in full effect. As a side effect to both the show don't tell as well as less exposition overall, the anime does seem a bit aimless at first let alone the sense of a lull as the episodes goes along as we continue to see the Kotobuki Co. helping with missions, be it if they wanted to or not.
As for the characters, well due to the majority of the main character focus mostly going to Kirie voiced by Sayumi Suzuhiro, Reona voiced by Asami Seto, Zara voiced by Hibiku Yamamura and Kate voiced by Sayaka Nakaya, the rest of the characters slightly get afflicted with being satellite characters, for the characters that do get heavy development, we see all sorts of strife coming from their character developments with Kirie getting the most out of it end the end when all the episodes threads converge. Kirie gets backstory as to why she wanted to fly planes has a stake in the bigger narrative and grows as a character of not being so cocky and her naivete getting the best of her, Reona gets a more personal development as well as her judgment as leader of the Corps even when her boss and client does what Reona doesn't want to do. Kate gets development thanks to her brother as her brother is integral to the bigger plot at hand and Kate obviously cares for him due to him being wheelchair bound from an incident. LA's favorite character is actually Kate as her calm, stoic demeanor, cracking deadpan jokes and having a stake in the plot helps as well. Lastly Zara get an episode to herself where it's pretty much "don't judge by appearance" situation and she's a badass on land AND air. The only two main cast members that gets shafted in terms of development are Emma and Chika, both have butt monkey status to them but Emma especially while Chika is the genki but also gets into trouble for running her mouth as well type.
The minor cast have great amount of screentime, showing that the plot cares about the main cast as much as the minor cast moves the plot forward and there are some mysteries within some of the minor characters, like a mysterious plane that bugs Kirie, a councilor always seeking the Kotobuki's help, a nerve-wrecked and indecisive mayor and a trickster magician going into politics who's also renowned as a fighter pilot.
LA is going into spoilers, but with the world building given to this anime and the revelations of the "hole" sucking up the OCEAN thus the barren wasteland that Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai resides in and later on when we find out that the Yufang are actually Japanese, if the hints are lining up to something and this is just LA's speculation so hear LA out, so what with the entire oceans sucked up and planes being sent into Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai world....are Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai and Girls und Panzer linked in a ways?, LA says this as Girls und Panzer's world is FILLED with oceans and the means of transportation of their main cast are carriers, so like alternative world theory?, heck we can add in the fact that Tsutomu Mizushima was both the director for this anime AND Girls und Panzer so he might be making a foundation for something bigger later?. LA is throwing speculations out there so take it with a grain of salt.
With that being said, the animation done by WAO World and GEMBA did actually a great job integrating the 3D CGI to fit in with the CGI planes, as well the character designs are entirely 3DCGI besides some traditional animation here and there. This works as the planes are completely CGI and the stunts the planes goes through as well as the dogfighting that ensues in this anime, this anime really feels like Arpeggio of Blue Steel but with planes!, heck the dogfighting in Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai was much more engaging, intense and impressive than Girly Air Force from the same season and that is saying something. One of the few rare 3D CGI animes where the 3DCGI use was utilized and executed extremely well to be perfectly honest.
Voice acting wise, the voice cast had ALOT of chemistry with one another, especially Sayumi Suzuhiro and Miyu Tomita as Kirie and Chika respectively. Asami Seto was typecasted but still did a great job and both Sayaka Nakaya and Hibiku Yamamura did great as well. There are LOTS of minor characters but LA is speculating and by chance did Nao Touyama voice the waitress in the bar?...just LA?. Nonetheless decent cast with some great chemistry, great considering the anime has lots of talking making the camaraderie between the girls that much better from their banters.
Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai may seem like a "3DCGI anime with planes" but it is soo much more than that once the bigger plot arises and it full blown turns into a air warfare for superiority over a tyrannical and somewhat crazy leader out for something of the unknown.......witty writing and direction and subtle character development from the half the cast at that and brilliant world building as well. Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai is to be honest, LA's dark horse of Winter 2019 and aher diamond in the rough in terms of 3DCGI animes.
Chi-Chibi
As an avgeek and HUGE fan of pilots since 2003, this anime was a big letdown. From what I read on the description and saw on the cover, I thought this could be one of my favorites. But the anime was nothing like that description. The biggest flaw is that I watch aviation anime for one reason.... the pilots. I think pilots are one of the coolest types of characters there are for an anime. Gundam and mecha pilots are super awesome, but I LOVE seeing actual plane pilots do their thing especially because of the pilot x plane relationship and watching them both work togetherto overcome obstacles... its AMAZING. I also love their passion for planes and flying... I love that kind of stuff.
Kotobuki does not have this whatsoever. Thats the biggest flaw...
The second biggest flaw is that there are 6 main characters, all pilots.... and only one, Reona, really acts like a pilot. Zara had some great moments as well and both of them deserved WAY more screentime. And dont get me wrong, the other characters are fine. They just arent pilots, especially Chika and Kylie. If you watch pilots you know what I mean. If they just had other roles on the airship and let Reona and Zara be the only two pilots, that woulda improved the story 20x. This anime wasnt specifically CGDCT but it definitely had some of the themes, but the serious style of art and story was the main focus.
The third flaw was the inconsistant anination. The guys look and move normal, but the girls look like 3d vtube models for some reason and the contrast of these characters really stands out on screen. Normally this isnt something that bugs me a lot, but it definitely didnt help an already failing anime.
As for the pros, the plane scenes are AMAZING. Its obvious the studio had a lot of knowledge on WWII planes and it clearly shows in the battles. Sometimes they even show pilot pov which is SUPER cool. If they had studied pilots as much as the planes, this anime coulda been AWESOME!!!! The planes and the fight scenes are definitely the strong point of the anime. Additionally, the anime got a LOT better in the second half (which is good because the first half made me drop it, but then I picked it back up). It still has all the flaws I mentioned earlier, but the story plot got a lot more decisive instead of just random air pirate battles each episode/episodic format, and the battles got better, and the stakes got higher. The last battle was fantastic as well. I think if someone is a WWII plane enthusiast they would probably love this anime, whereas I am more of a pilot enthusiast.
But even with all that, it went up from 5.2/10 to 6.2/10.
Quick Breakdown
Story: 7/10, it gets better in the second half
Characters: 4/10, Reona and Zara were great, Emma and Kate were ok, Kylie and Chika were fine but should not have been pilot characters
Sound: 8/10, it was pretty nice
Visuals: 6/10, a little inconsistant and not very pretty but epic animation on the planes is awesome
Prankster_001
"Never quit.Never give up.Fly it to the end"-Chuck Aaron "In combat flying,fancy precision aerobatic work is really not much of use. Instead,it is the rough maneuver which succeeds"-Erich Hartmann "Flying prevails when a man and his airplane are put to a test of maximum performance"-Richard Bach "Aviation is proof that given,the will,we have the capacity to achieve the impossible"-Eddie Rickenbacker "Aviation is fine as a sport.But as an instrument of war,it is worthless"-Ferdinand FochWhy i posted these quotes? well Kouya no Kotobuki is about aviation but with enough action to boot and anyway this my review for it:
1.Story:
The story is about air pirates who flies to the skies and fight any baddies at any given moment not much to say here :|
2.Art:
Some like it,Some were not but for the mixture of 2D and 3D animation might be bad at first glance but if it's put into good use it will be in good direction even in the scenes of air combat and the aircraft models.And btw this anime was directed by the same dude who directed Girls & Panzer and Shirobako (i'm taking about Tsutomu Mizushima here). Take note,this anime might had a fanservice in one episode but still the director commits to put more action than the latter which what makes the show great than it's rival Girly Air Force (which it's director put more SoL and fanservice and gave less action scenes in which some of them were weak and lackluster until the last episode of that series).
3.Sound
The OP is catchy one to say the least it had a few whistling tones while the ED is also a catchy but a good use to the show
4.Characters
We had the Good and the Bad ones. first, we'll start with the main character who's addicted to pancakes (yup she like pancakes more than any food) second we had a girl who's a badass (more like a Rosie the Riverter who can do it all?),a childhood friend,a girl who often shouts when in combat,a girl with a spoken tone and a girl who's more sexy than Eagle of Girly Air Force period and also the most hated character that i hated for was a Traitorous,Dictatorial manipulating magician who wants to take all over the world for himself but too bad he fell down to his doom and i'm happy for that :P
5.Enjoyment
My enjoyment for this show? well it's good and the portal thingy might set a few off but still a good show to watch even if ur a fan of old WWII-era aircraft
6.Overall
Kouya no Kotobuki might be a hit or miss for anybody but if u like old aircraft u can watch this.If not then i won't argue with you for that.
P.S,my final verdict for this show i gave it a rating of 8 and i hope a few would appreciate it :)
Unconfidence
This was a very fun anime all around, and I warmed to it pretty quickly. It has a very unique pacing and cadence to it, and the animation takes some getting used to, but once you're locked in it makes entire sense. The entire main cast is pretty stunning. Each of the KOTOBUKI members are very distinct and, while sometimes displaying common behavior tropes, always seem to own those tropes in ways unique to their rendition. For instance Kate is a traditional quiet and smart type, but it just feels very genuine with her, and her interpersonal relationships seem to flesh out whyshe's like that without being made plainly obvious. Some of the minor characters are less fleshed and could probably have used less screen time, but the main cast was superb.
The biggest strength of this anime is the dogfighting scenes. The effort that went into beautifully choreographing these scenes is astounding. This is one of the only anime whose sound I've rated a 10, because the effects during these scenes are phenomenal. I found myself unable to so much as look down at snacks for fear I'd miss an awesome maneuver. Especially if you're like me and are somewhat of a military aviation fan, you're really given treats in the reverence the writers show the planes and their abilities. It's this reason that led me to nickname the anime "Girls und Planezer".
The dialogue cadence is really, really tough to get used to. The pacing is just much faster than most anime, which has a lot of established rhythm to it. You really have to pay attention to catch everything being said, and sometimes it can get a bit confusing. I think this was both a strength and a weakness of the show, because it was hard to deal with and I'm sure put some people off, but it allowed them to cram so much information about their deeply-built world into their 12 episodes. It's something I'd like to see tried more often.
If I had to point out weak parts, I'd say that the secondary characters are often annoying and too present in the plot, and that there were too many fanservice characters. While I like the idea of having one or maybe two characters who choose to dress provocatively or who have a sexualized aesthetic, the cast was pretty well-populated with fanservice-heavy side characters. The stick-angle shots weren't really my cup of tea. But all in all, I really liked the cast.
I'd recommend this anime for anyone who likes dogfights, who likes cute girls doing military things, and is cool with the military-without-fatalities style of plot which was previously characterized in Girls und Panzer.
-ShInIgAmIsAmA-
This anime aired with another one (Girly Air Force) but that one wasn't my cup of tea. So in a way, I watched this because I did not like that, and trying if this would end up to my liking. I liked the dogfighting scenes due to it reminding me of games like Ace Combat. That's what really got me, it has even some cliff missions, but I won't spoil any more than that. Now for each part: Story - I initially liked how each episode is like a mission but as it drove on, I found it lacking in some aspects like explaining why things existedas they are. They left me questioning even after finishing the anime. And I wanted to know more, but sadly it ended so briefly. A sample question you might have is, "Where's my water?" (No, I don't mean the tablet game with the bathing croc.) Although they explained it somehow, it's quite "Eh, if you say so." kind of thing.
Art - I read reviews complaining about 2D/3D swapping and causing people to drop the anime. I didn't really notice that until I read them. But even then, I didn't have any problems with that. I like how they look in general although I would very much prefer them using more uniform-like attires and not fanservice-y considering the pilots are not just some ragtag people who stumble upon a plane one day and learn how to fly them. I mean, some of them are mercs, contractors, and etc. For the planes, the planes look cool, enough said.
Sound - I never really cared much aside from guns, cannons, and planes getting shot down. So yeah.
Character - They are quite unique in their own way and it *would've* been nice if they all got explored more. I know it's not possible due to being a 12-ep anime. Some secondary chars are quite fun (Captain Dodo is OP, I know. And Johnny too.). You would grow to hate a specific jerk by the end of the anime. And because of that, I know they served their purpose.
Enjoyment - I did enjoy watching this, so much that I pondered for days whether or not I should write a review for it. Most of my reasons for my enjoyment is already mentioned above.
Overall - It's good. It won't be a waste of time for people wanting to watch planes, watch planes, and watch more planes. But that's that for me.
Complaint that don't seem to fit on the above:
How come they don't blow up the planes? Like really? Is everyone so good at aiming at a fast flying object while riding another fast flying object? All the while NOT HITTING any pilots, or at least causing the planes to explode. Their accuracy puts WW2 pilots/guns to shame.
TheBellman
This series is not for everyone. But it might be for YOU, so don't be repelled by the low overall ratings. What this show does really, *really* well is the prop-plane dogfighting. There are some truly breathtaking moments in choreography and sound design (episodes 6 and 12 have some fabulous extended POV shots) which are really quite suspenseful. And every episode brings at least one protracted fight, which usually has at least a couple fun maneuvers or a gimmick. It's not exactly "realistic", while some of the flying comes straight out of period dog-fighting manuals there are many occasions where planes flyfar beyond their capbility, and fuel and ammo are rarely a concern. But it totally sells you on the drama of the encounters and the appeal of flying, like all good action should.
I'll also give a note to the worldbuilding and plot, which has more going on than you would initially assume and is interesting in it's own right, even if it ultimately doesn't amount to much.
If you want to see some cool but semi-realistic plane flying action and you've exhausted the short list of big anime for that like The Princess and the Pilot, The Sky Crawlers, and what have you, this is the show for you, as it was for me. Every episode is at least 25% flying and fighting, most of it interesting, and there aren't really any glaring issues with the rest of the show that drag it down, unless you just have a CGI allergy.
If you're just looking for some "cute girls doing some kind of action" show to put on and you don't think you'll get invested in the plane flying this is probably not for you. The character art is mediocre at best, and the characters are acceptable but nothing you haven't seen before with constant quippy dialogue and upbeat manner. The show itself is generally upbeat, and very few characters die, which has a charm but does detract from the drama in the late stage.
Addendum: They do(thankfully) stop mixing 2d and 3d characters in such an ugly manner for the most part after the opening episodes, and I would like to put the notion to rest that doing so "makes no sense" as some people believe.
"CG" does not necessarily equal "cheap" in the way that people seem to assume in the anime community. While CG animation can be much easier in the long run as models can be easily puppetted around, making models for characters takes a lot of time, and in plenty of cases with characters(or costumes) that appear only briefly or don't move around very much it would be much faster or cheaper to draw a handful of 2d frames than give them a whole model, especially in Japan where mediocre 2d animators are readily available for small jobs. So when this show occasionally does 2d animation, it's either a sign of them trying to cut costs on characters or costumes that appear on briefly or haven't been modeled yet early in the production. As this show goes on they use 2d animation less and less.
