Area 88: Target 01 explained the series like this: "Welcome to Area 88, a desolate outpost in the sun-blasted desert where mercenary fighter pilots risk their lives in service to the Kingdom of Alsam. Any skilled pilot will do - no questions asked. They literally kill for cash as they fight for the government of a country torn apart by a bloody civil war. The catch? Once you're in, the only way out is to serve your three year commitment, pay $1.5 million for breach of contract, or... face death as a deserter."

"Who are these pilots and why do they suffer the pains of the desert to serve a country that isn't their own? Some fight because it's all they know. Some have nowhere else to go. Some fly for the thrill of the game. Shin Kazama, the only Japanese pilot on the base, is different from the rest. He may be the only pilot capable of earning enough money to buy out his contract... if he lives long enough. But Shin fights only to return to Japan, to a life and a love that was stolen from him in cruel act of betrayal."

"Stunningly realistic animation and sound transport you into the soul of Area 88 where you can almost feel the jet wash on the desert wind. Once you're in, there's no going back. This is Area 88. In the desert the souls of men are either consumed by the fire or reborn from the ashes." In large part, that describes the entire series and Manga to a "T" as the characters follow their destinies in the military adventures that take place in the desert. The characters in this new anime series were almost all taken verbatim from the pages of the Manga and related American comic book translation with the sole exception of a news photographer called Makoto Shinjo (whose name, in Japanese, looks almost identical to lead pilot Shin Kazama, in a twist of fate). Shinjo's real motivation is to get a picture of Shin's dead face for his employer (Shin's old friend, Satoru Kanzaki, who happened to be the one that tricked him into his contract in the first place) but he keeps that secret as he gets a lot of great shots of the pilots before, during, and after their varied missions. With sortie after sortie where life and death hang in the balance, Shinjo hopes for a quick score as Shin manages to hold on time after time, defying the odds.

The idea behind the characters is that they get paid a certain amount for each mission they fly, each aircraft they down, or each ground target they destroy, with the money commensurate with the threat level each activity provides. The pilots have to pay for their own fuel, repairs, and weapon upgrades, hoping to balance out the books in their favor over time. Unlike Shin, most of them appear to be there on a voluntary basis, making his dilemma of "killed or be killed" all the more touching as he uses his impressive skills to routinely come back regardless of the odds that end the lives of his many comrades. In an effort to survive, Shin becomes increasingly colder as he determines to get back to his true love, possibly lost forever to the man who sold his soul while pretending to be his friend.

The second volume of the series, Area 88: Target 02, took a more intimate look at Shin's past and the motivation he has to keep staying alive, long after many of his comrades have tasted the bitterness of defeat and lost their lives. Devoting a whole episode to his lost love was a bold move by the Japanese production team since this is an action based series but I think it helped make the series better as a whole. The third volume in the series, Area 88: Target 03: Tightrope At The Speed Of Sound continued Shin's adventures as a mercenary pilot, although again having only three episodes to offer fans. Here's what the back cover said about it:

"All supply transports to Area 88 have been cut off by the enemy. With the base running low on fuel and ammunition, supply costs have soared. The task of freeing the base from the enemy's stranglehold falls to Shin Kazama and a couple of unlikely pilots. Then, as if that weren't enough, a sniper holds the base hostage. The pilots are willing to fight, but they have to locate the sniper first, so Makoto Shinjou decides to help out with his photographic skills. The thanks he gets is the ride of his life in a cavorting fighter jet on a dangerous roller-coaster ride through a narrow canyon. The well-protected enemy base lies at the opening to the canyon, but who will make it and who will fail?"

The episodes this time were 7) Sweet Soldier/Hungry Boy, 8) Bullets From The Sand/Sand Glass, and 9) Tightrope At The Speed Of Sound/Canyon. The three main events were trouble with the supply lines due to the enemy rebels, a sniper that pins down the entire base, and an enemy base making life difficult in the region but heavily fortified and protected by virtue of its location at the base of a canyon. Shin's skills are tested to the max but Shinjou also manages to contribute to the safety of the crew not once but twice as his finely honed skills from past wars and his keen eye are employed by the base commander to assist with the missions. There were other surprises as well such as Saki putting his life on the line to help tempt the sniper with a royal target too good to pass up or Kitri discovering that a pilot's worth isn't always obvious until put to the ultimate test. In short, my rating of Highly Recommended is still in effect for this excellent series, even though I disliked the mere three episodes on the DVD.

Picture: Area 88: Target 03: Tightrope At The Speed Of Sound was presented in its original 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen color as originally presented in Japan not long ago. The colors were accurate, the anime style perfectly suited for the material of the stories, and the combination of more traditional anime and CGI melded for a solid picture in all ways. It wasn't the most detailed and didn't look as though it was hand rendered but it worked great here and I think fans of anime would do well to check this one out. I saw no compression artifacts or grain here, perhaps owing as much to the limited number of episodes as anything else.

Sound: The audio was presented with the usual choice of the original 2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese soundtrack with English language subtitles or the newly created English language dub sporting a 5.1 Dolby Digital track. In terms of voices, it was strictly a toss up as to which was best since both worked very nicely for me. In terms of the music track and special effects, the English dub was superior in most ways, owing a lot to the team at ADV Films that has been getting increasingly talented in recent years, probably knowing that such a track was needed to compliment the very expensive rights to the show (this was one of their more expensive titles from what I understand so they pulled out all stops).

Extras: The best extras by far was another couple of great interviews with the Japanese director, Isamu Imakake; this time joined by sound director Satoshi Yano and director of photography Shinichiro Tachi. The two interviews (in Japanese with English subtitles) lasted the better part of an hour and went into great detail about many aspects of the show that hadn't been covered previously in the extras section. I caution fans to wait to watch them until after they see each of the four volumes that'll be released (I bit the bullet for you yet again) since they had a lot of spoilers. There were also sketches, aircraft and character biographies, some trailers, clean opening and closing, and a paper insert that gave some information from the Japanese voice actors that played Saki Vashtar (Hiroki Takahashi) and Kitri Parvaneh (Sanae Kobayashi).

Final Thoughts: Area 88: Target 03: Tightrope At The Speed Of Sound was another hit for me since all three episodes were so high end to the great extras that few anime releases seem to have these days. The show may not be flashy and it may be a bit preachy about war at times but in large part, it dealt with the subject in a manner that I'd let my kids watch, even though there were substantial amounts of violence displayed. Although there's only one more volume coming out after this one, I'd really wish someone would step up to the plate and extend it (having some clue as to what happens next time, I still think it could be easily handled with the tremendous amount of quality material from the Manga edition of the show from decades ago). If pushed to pick between this series and a couple of others, I'd be hard pressed to make the selection but this was one series easily in my top ten for the year. Shin Kazama's exploits should be mandatory viewing for those on both sides of the current debate on the war in Iraq; if for no other reason than they might help tone down the extremists on both sides. Area 88 is a resounding success on anime and well worth consideration by fans of action based series as well as those looking for a thoughtful look at the horrors of war.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVDTalk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003 and Best Of Anime 2004 article or regular column Anime Talk