Looking at the construction of the episodes, the show brings an innovation in its way of structuring the story. It is not usual for an anime to go back a few moments and repeat them in a single episode, for example, or even give greater importance to the cast of characters instead of applied politics. Even though the anime has "militaria" as its main theme, that's not what the show actually stands out about. In fact, militaria is the last topic to be measured. Lena, or Vladilena, is a very young Major. She is practically an inexperienced when it comes to losses of military power. She is a sweet girl, who yearns to be competent at her job. She has her charm, like every character in the show, but stands out precisely for her unique and impactful propositions. Of course, this is to be expected from an army officer in San Magnolia, the country Lena defends. However, there is a social disruption that Lena is constantly trying to end: the prejudice against District 86. Shinei is the character who makes the connection with Lena and the rest of the people who are contained in the District. They are the largest active military force in the country, fighting robotic equipment called the Legion. They, in their Juggernauts, defend a country rotten in politics, because in addition to institutionally causing this social fissure, it causes ideological discrimination and even differences in military investment.
The entire drama involves Shin and his most personal relationship with Lena's past, where her brother saved her during the war a few years ago. Shin, or "Undertaker", is someone who has a disturbance in his mind of listening to other people in the District who have already died. This leads to the assumption that the Legion uses the brains of these dead humans to fortify their machines and fight the Juggernauts of San Magnolia. Shin, because he thinks he is "dead" and because he wants to find his brother's brain, has been searching for 5 years for a human peace within himself.
And being a human is one of the themes of the show. All this social pressure that is imposed on the District causes an increasingly oligarchic policy, where the rich and generals are decorated with many merits, while for the soldiers of '86, they are nothing more than Pigs (or "Buta Yarou"), people without any charisma or who do not like them in any way, because they are the same segregationists. Lena would be one of the thousands of Operators who would go into a mental frenzy if she were weak and didn't have a purpose with it. Her father was an important person who changed his mind, so that he had a different destiny from the rest of the commanders. Lena exerts this pride to the flag in a revolutionary way, but at the same time she is realistic with her ideals, even if the ideals themselves were not achievable, as the anime itself once mentions. It is not because it is a nation that the motto of the flag becomes possible. In fact, an unattainable goal brings problems of idolatry and problems of politics. Lena is the character that goes through this the most, because to have an experience with the most subdued District in the country, she is not just any character who can withstand constant repression simply for commanding a team of Processors. Even her friend has a role in the anime, which is to represent the opinion of all the other leaders. The very name "Undertaker" within 86 is already causing a stir. Lena has survived difficult days during her work and deserves applause for her efforts.
But it is not just about qualities that 86 deserves to be commented. In fact, you need to demystify your potential from the actual delivery of it. The show, over the course of 11 episodes, brought a lot of cool and intriguing discussions, causing a very felt popularity during this Season. Of course, it's an anime that produces a sense of security, as Studio A1-Pictures was extremely competent with the original material. Sawano is also a creator of wonderful songs, which turned down the show of praise. He is still a living artist and he deserves to continue producing his works, as they are works of art.
But the question that leads me to think that 86 is not all of this is precisely his undecided goal. Of course it's an anime with potential, but it needs to show better what it wants to convey. Whether it's a relationship between Lena and Shin, whether it's militaria as a negative cataclysm for the anime's history, or whether it's about survival, all these topics are presented, but at the same time they're not detachable. It is a show that is truly consolidated in its proposals, but that did not stand out from its own limits. Maybe it's something the anime wanted to do. The light novel has apparently greater general force and is much more admired, even if the audience is small. 86 is a show apart and really interesting. I like what it brought, but at the same time it didn't evolve so well. Yes, episode 10 was great, really the climax of the anime, but what about after that? Will the show ever get lukewarm again? Will it be another show with a visionary goal, but without much precision about what it wants to be? Mushoku Tensei was a recent anime that caused this same sensation. And I'm really scared that 86 is another one of those animes.
-"But it's a show that will demonstrate its superiority after a while, just wait."
Yes I hope so, actually I'm happy to hear it, but it's more for the sake of causing a brief interest. Any show can wreck itself if it doesn't have a great effect at first, but I reiterate: 86 needs more stuff and this is a problem to be solved as soon as possible.
Finally, 86 is one of the shows that I've had a different experience from the others recently. It's a great production, with great scene executions and animation composition, but it can't fool us.
It's not because it's a pretty show that makes it easy to be liked. Kimetsu no Yaiba and Jujutsu Kaisen, for example, even with their amazing animations, have some reason to exist. I hope that 86 has its reason to exist too. Whether this is going to take a while is something to be discussed in a second season, which is coming soon. We hope that the show continues and that it has greater courtesy and greater representation in current animes, it's a good title that certainly deserves its space in 2021.
