Ranked #1870

Sentou Yousei Yukikaze

Gonzo spent a lot of money on Yukikaze. As a result it isn't just eye candy, it is one lush, decadent seven course feast. The meld between hand drawn and cg is near seamless and the characters are both beautiful and realistic. Afterburners generate realistic heat waves and jet fighters leave misty contrails in alien skys. The palette is somber and a bit dream like. Technical drawings are beyond reproach and much of the sound is taken from real aircraft and well matched to the action.

The OAV is based on a novel, Sentou Yousei Yukikaze (Good Luck Yukikaze) by science fiction author Chohei Kambayashi. It is a mature and introspective, blurring the edges between the sane and insane. Between amazing flight sequences, the story muses about what happens to those who, in fighting to protect everyone else, distance themselves from the very thing they face death to protect. There is also a 2001: Space Odyssey like look at the relationship between a pilot and his seemingly sentient aircraft. It does feel like a lot of back story and character development was left in the novel or on the cutting room floor. Prepare to think hard and still not be quite sure what is going on especially in the middle episodes.

The ending wasn't as strong as it could have been but it did deliver closure. I'm wondering if perhaps they spent so much money they had to cut production short. One wonders just what level of masterpiece this could have been had there been enough episodes to fill in the blanks.

One reviewer calls it, "A mix of military aircraft fanatic extravaganza, spectacular computer-animated aerial combat sequences, melancholy antisocial relationships, multi-layered allegory, and surreal imagery, Yukikaze is almost as strange and scattered as it is gorgeous. As interesting as it is, the plot seems to be missing key pieces and I'd call it something of an acquired taste." I would agree. I loved it but not everyone will. read more

A very pretty and detailed OVA but the plot is too disjointed and confusing.

PLOT: I liked the premise of the plot and the setting of the action, but felt that the execution could have been much better. The scripting just feels random and it's almost like there are huge chunks of exposition cut from the final edit. I did like the realistic approach to warfare and the fact that there is no mecha – its all fighter jets, but I did feel that they went overboard with the techno-jargon as all that just went straight over my head! The central characters are no where near well developed enough, a bit of backstory on Jack and Rei would have been nice – but considering this is a 5 episode OVA with a massive cast they have done quite well in the character development department. My corrupted brain decided that there was definitely some BL undertones in the relationship between Jack & Rei, and it really wanted some sort of confirmation of that…….but that’s probably just me! The aliens could have done with a bit of development as well, as it is they remain as mysterious at the end as they were at the start. But all in all for a short OVA series the plot was interesting, if not solely there to link together the fabulous battle scenes.

ANIMATION: The animation in this is absolutely 1st class! Wonderful use of CGI throughout great detailing in the backgrounds, well executed and choreographed fight scenes and attractive character designs. Lots of colour – loved the green skies of the planet Fairy (kind of had DBZ Namek flashbacks though) and the colour displays of the JAM aircraft – it’s all very visually appealing and most of my enjoyment of the series stemmed from the brilliant graphics.

MUSIC & VOICE ACTING: I did not like the OP at all – seemed very discordant and random on the ear. Also the ED was a decent track but didn’t seem to fit with the tone of the show, as it is a bit too upbeat. The BGM was excellent though. Voice acting is quite solid, although Rei is a wee bit too soft spoken and depressed sounding, to extent he comes across as extremely emo.

Overall a solid OVA that has excellent graphics and an interesting plot, but suffers from bad pacing and a confusing structure. This may have worked better if it was fleshed out more as a longer series or if it had of been trimmed right back to movie length. read more