This will be my review of the anime series. 86: EIGHTY-SIX is a series produced by Aniplex and production led by A-1 Pictures, a and synonymously known as simply 86, is an anime adaptation of Asato Asato's sci-fi light novel series published by ASCII Media Works. The series takes place where the first season left off introducing new characters as well as retaining some of the old ones.
I plan to do this review earlier but I was having trouble on how would I approach the review as the second Season of 86 left me with mixed reactions. Since I’ll be touching some aspects of Season 1 there will be spoilers in this for you if you haven’t seen the first Season yet. You can read my review of Season 1 here. I would suggest reading that first before going into this one.
The show picks up a few days after the final battle and yes surprised five or the main protagonist of Division 86 are alive and is being nursed back to health. But since this show needs a story and the bad guys aren’t really all dead and the heroes that survived be it survivors guilt or that they have been fighting for so long feel they don’t fit in a peaceful society decided to jump into war once again. Yes, I’m probably making it sound exaggerated but that is basically the basic of the plot of Season 2.
The idea was great but it sort of dumps all over most of the things that made the first season great. All the emotional investment of feeling them struggle for the last season felt pointless. I am really ok with one and even a lot of them being alive but to have them do this whole dance again felt forcing the plot too much. I’d preferred they probably introduced a new group to take over since 86 is really a soldier Division name rather than a person. It think it just relies too much on Season 1 plot to have audiences be emotional invested.
Aside from the main cast of the first Season we are introduced to a new set of cast from the Republic of Giad like say Federica a somewhat tomboyish mascot girl who has superpowers to see into a person’s past for some reason if she knows that person name for some reason. It is probably to contrast a certain MC ability to hear the Legion. She isn’t bad but she feels like a plot device to just get the story moving or plot armor so that the characters do not die…again.
The animation and the CGI does seem to improve a bit and the action is great when they have it but at this point if you have seen Season 1 is nothing we haven’t seen before. The good ones are the new addition is the introduction of more bigger Legion. One capable of countrywide attacks which is oddly similar to those giant cannons attached to a moving train that are real actual weapons but with a Legion-ish twist to it.
Also season 2 doesn’t have a lot of Lena this time despite being seen at the very start of Season 2. Also a lot of the plot felt really, really rushed like when they introduce a character then kills said character off almost immediately lacking the actual emotional attachment for said character to have any meaning to said person. So this is either this is done deliberately at times and I do hope it is. I may sound like I don’t like the series but it is still very entertaining specially if you already seen the first season. Pacing can get weird at times.
I do love the way they handled the ending of this one but that’s cause of Lena character development which was sadly done off screen. The series ends with some unresolved battle wise but gives the right amount of closure between Lena and the remaining members of 86 Group which is more meaningful if you have seen the first Season. There is a lot on the manga that would make for a third Season and personally I like to see them have a third one since they have enough back story and character to warrant one.
Overall the Second Season of 86 is still entertaining and great
despite it leaning on one having seen the first season. The new character are
decent enough and the plot can be all over the place. If you have seen the
first Season then you definitely have to watch this cause it wraps up a lot of
loose ends from the first season rather nicely.
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