Anime: Sentou Yousei Yukikaze

Yukikaze is an anime with strong themes and more mature content based on a japanese series of novels by Chouhei Kanbayashi. There seems to be some controversy about it that might give the perception to people that haven't watched it as a patched up composition of visually stunning air combats tied up together by minimal story line. Likewise it is also suggested that characters are there just for the sake of it.

That same misconception is also pertaining in most of the reviews here, there is also a certain one that got the back-story wrong leaving someone to wonder whether the reviewer has actually seen it all or just a few scenes. The fact is that the supposed "incompleteness" of this anime discouraged me to watch this in the past. For this reason my purpose is to present a different view. What is for sure is that this anime is not targeted to those that want to have everything spoon-fed on them or are used to more "traditional" themes of anime like "neutralizing" aliens with rock concerts etc.

Art and Animation

There seems to be a consensus here. CGI is excellent, the angles are very interesting and the action very well directed. Perhaps what is more interesting is the blending of 2D with 3D. The characters and rest of the 2D stuff is drawn with a rather nice old-school touch, retaining rather realistic proportions and characteristics. What is more interesting is the seamless blend of these elements together. The landscapes are also nice and in conjunction with the whole artistic part help to establish a unique atmosphere.

Sound

Some seem to complain about the lack of BGM, especially during air combats. I actually found it a wise choice for many reasons. First of all the anime uses actual sounds of fighter jets, taken with the collaboration of Japan's SDF, which during fight scenes makes the viewer feel like he is watching, or rather participating, in a true air combat rather than watching a music video clip with cool video footage. Besides i'm pretty sure pilots are not listening to music during dog fights regardless of what the "realistic" Iron Eagle movie might suggest.

Secondly there is a trend of music-means manipulation to evoke emotions from the viewer. There is nothing bad with that on itself but the fact is that it is being overused nowadays to cover for shortcoming of the other parts of the movie. What happens today is that you are watching a movie, that is supposed to be dramatic and which until that point had "minimal" dramatic effect on you, and suddenly the dialogue fades, the music gets more prominent, everything is on slow motion and then you know you are supposed to cry. Don't take me wrong its a useful technique but most of the time they are using it to force emotion on viewer rather than enhance the already built up tension.

Yukikaze has BGM and the fact that people don't notice means that it does its job right. I would say it has a good balance. The music has a eerie feeling to it, which of course is fitting to the theme of the story, j-pop would be out of place when considered for this purpose and no i don't think aliens would be tamed by it. The ending track has a positive vibe that takes the tension off without being out of place.

Overall the sound section contributes well to the atmosphere of the anime.

Story

This is where most controversy is imminent. People are complaining that there are too many plot holes and nothing is really explicitly explained. Although i haven't read the book my opinion is that the anime doesn't not lack in story. People are complaining that what JAM are was never explained, but the story is not about them. The story is about the human condition.

It was very welcomed the fact that there was not too much explanation as this enhances the mystery and lets viewers to ponder over what is happening on their own and make their own judgments. This is nothing new though as many movies are using the same device of story-telling but are unpopular and are considered more "cult". People demand certainty and are unwilling to think for their own. Needless to say those holes weren't too big to be annoying.

That vagueness is one of the story's strongest points. There are many interpretations that can be made about what JAM really are and that is its charm. Perhaps the the first part of the last episode seemed to be a little rushed but the ending seemed like a real ending contrary to what might expect based on the perception of the story as being weak.

Character

The characters are considered blunt, undeveloped and Lt. Fukai is considered as "inhuman".

We should consider first that this is a snapshot of a war raging for some decades. As in real life people are unlikely to change in the passing of one month. What can be considered character development is when the viewer is presented with several aspects of their personality that were not apparent.

As such, Fukai is at first portrayed as cold and distant. As the story unfolds it becomes apparent that he has feelings, he is actually capable of sympathy and affection, and there were at least two instances that he displayed humor and he is placing his trust on someone/something even if it is his plane. Rather than inhumane i would consider him rather sensitive. The apparent coldness is just a facade.

Bukhar also in the end accepts the happening of certain events, which is a major depart from his previous behaviour and desires. I'm sure that this can be considered as development.

Nothing to complain about the rest of the characters. They play a secondary role but their motivations and resolutions are easy to identify and justify.

In the end this is a war and as it is hinted is one that humanity is inflicting to itself, as such the anime should portray this. And it does and sometimes even explicitly.

Value

The anime has undoubtedly value because of its air-combat sequences, without the cheesiness *.
It has value to people who are looking for more mature themes and a presentation that evokes thinking rather than ready-serve to food. And unlike many movies out there that chose a presentation of this kind it also has some astounding action scenes. Plus this is in a medium that is crowded with teenager orientated works.

It is hard to find such works on this medium.

Enjoyment

People will enjoy this to some degree because of the action scenes. Especially people who like air-fighting.

There are also some people who will enjoy the other aspects of it which were explained above. These people will enjoy it more.

Conclusion

In a nutshell this OVA can be more than most people are claiming it is. It won't appeal to everybody in such a way, but there are actually people that it will appeal to.

Yukikaze is in theory a wonderful sci-fi / action / mystery anime around a war between humans and aliens, the relationship between man and machine, the difference between reality and illusion. It was made in collaboration with an existing military airforce so as too look as realistic as possible. It has really high production values. It makes you think about stuff. So why is it so damn boring and mostly annoying? Because it was made by GONZO, that’s why. Oh GONZO you never learned your lesson and you paid the prise dearly…

In the story, humanity managed to create a portal to a different dimension, which is apparently rich in materials for its own advancement. Trying to get all Cowboys and Indians once more, it tries to conquer it, only to find resistance from the alien forms living there. Not only that, but it appears they are advanced enough to destroy humanity. For that purpose, a new form of airship is created, in an attempt to bridge the technology gap. Things didn’t go as planned…

In theory, the story is very interesting and deals with some very deep themes and notions that could elevate it to masterpiece level.
The revelations as to the powers the aliens really possess and the true form of their world is simply amazing.
Artwork and animation are superb, as they are very realistic, both in physics and motions.
It has the most realistic dogfights (aerial battles) ever made into anime.
It has some really interesting character interactions that could lead to some very unique and memorable personalities.
Its soundtrack is weird in a positive way.
Its dialogues are full of existentialism and human pathos around the nature of man to exploit anything that comes in its path.
The aliens’ motives are also a very interesting point to think about (not telling you which those are).

And yet to the most part you are watching a dragged out, boring, vague mystery story around themes that are hardly looked upon or looked into as much as they should.
The short duration of the show was simply not enough to cover its heavy themes.
The characters are too distant from the viewer. They behave and are treated too mechanical for you to care.
The aircrafts end up being more interesting for their AI capabilities but even those lack personality, other than watching them fighting in a cool manner.
The battles are very realistic but it is questionable if that is enough to make them enjoyable. The choice to leave them without BGM for example is double-edged knife.
The aliens are also distant from the viewer. You never clearly see them or the extent of their powers. They are just there.

In other words, the entire show is like a robot, lacking a connection with the viewer. If the themes are not enough to interest his then the chances of liking the whole package are very slim. It has some bold aesthetics alright but that doesn’t mean they are successful for mass viewing or even towards the majority of fans. I am not exactly saying the show needed more guilty pleasure or silly anime clichés to work; more like to be more humane for you to care about its cast. Everything is treated like an emotionless machine yet it is a story of human passion. And yes, the military is usually more cold in their work than average civilian workers but they are still people and they do show emotions. The cold and almost uncaring feeling of the anime does not leave you to enjoy them. Neither does the short duration which throws several interesting themes at you will very little time to get you to like them. Neither does the finale help you to like it more, since it feels like a last moment poor attempt at shock value, full of cheesy explosions and unnecessary action scenes.

Well-written, badly-told, is the quickest way to describe Yukikaze. Something that can be said about most of GONZO works. The great production values and the interesting premise may be more than enough to interest anyone to watch at least half of the show but it is not guaranteed if he or she is then bored or disappointed with the distant characters and the vague story elements. It is a highly hit or miss anime, mostly the later for the majority.

And now for some excused scorings.
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Yukikaze presents the viewer with incredibly animated airborne battles, yet its near stalemate story and characters drag it down completely.

Art/Animation --> 10/10
The best thing about Yukikaze - it's up there with the very best animation in anime. The use of CG animation mixes smoothly with the standard animation to create eye pleasure. Seriously, as soon as the battles started raging, I became fixated on the screen. The explosions are stunning, the 'camera' angles of the jets as they zoom through the air are all well thought out, and everything is fluent.

As for the character designs and overall artwork - well, the characters are quite unique based on what I've seen. Fairly realistic features with well proportioned faces fits in nicely with the militaristic theme of the show. Also the dark and gloomy colours really add to the atmosphere. Everything is detailed and well designed.

Sound --> 8/10
Overall the sound is very good. What stands out the most, however, is the background music and the sound effects; both were excellent. The background music gives out a futuristic feel to fit in with the show, plus most of it was enjoyable to listen to; even somewhat emotional at times. The sound effects were epic, and most notable during the airborne battles. The noises used for gunfire and explosions were loud, but not too loud, and they help drag you into the action.

The OP was...odd. It starts off feeling kind of psychedelic, with crazy piano and a fast drum beat. However it quickly turns into something that almost seems corny. That said, it doesn't exactly fit in with the actual show, except for maybe the psychological aspect. The ED takes you away from the atmosphere of the show completely, since it's a light-hearted, almost happy tune. However this does not detract from the sound, since the song itself is quite good, and it doesn't feel that out of place.

The voice acting for the English dub (which I watched) was mediocre. The main two characters were decent, however the rest of the cast were a let down. They suffered from being either uninspiring, bland, or over-dramatic.
I had a quick listen to the sub, which seemed slightly better, however the cast excluding the main two characters seemed to be similar to the dub.

Story --> 4/10
The worst part about Yukikaze. It was filled with plot holes and left you with no idea what was going on or why anything was happening. Because of this, I found myself losing interest completely as soon as dialogue that wasn't battle commands kicked in. You're thrown into the show during a war that has been taking place in the future between humans and an alien race known as the JAM. The main characters, as far as I could tell, were situated on the JAM's planet codenamed 'Fairy', which was accessible via some gateway over the Antarctic. This was the basic premise for the story, and the story centers around Rei Fukai who pilots a jet known as Yukikaze which holds a high artificial intelligence.

The problem with the story was that it tried too hard to be interesting and enthralling, and therefore resulted in being the opposite. So many complications surrounding Rei Fukai and Yukikaze were introduced, and yet most were never explained (or never properly explained).

The ending delivered closure, which I found surprisingly satisfying, even though it wasn't exactly a strong or amazing ending.

Character --> 5/10
The characters were uninteresting overall. Rei Fukai and James Bukhar were the main characters, both somehow linked through some past event which was never explained. These two characters demonstrated the most personality (as you'd expect) however generic. Rei maintained a somewhat emo attitude throughout the show, hardly ever talking or paying attention to anyone else, consistently focusing is thoughts on Yukikaze and the JAM. James, on the other hand, talked a lot and was easily excitable. Regardless the two weren't that interesting as characters. They didn't really develop or change, maintaining their same attitudes and outlooks on everything, even though both were constantly bombarded with chaos and what could be seen as life-changing experiences.

The side characters were all very bland and insipid. Their existence in the show served no great purpose, and some suffered from useless development. By this I mean there were attempts to develop them (such as briefly delving into their past) however this proved useless and added nothing to the story. This produced a lot of useless dialogue, subtracting from time that could have been devoted towards action, or explaining things.

Value --> 6/10
I doubt that I'll rewatch this ever again. I'll definitely keep it stored on my hard drive, mainly due to the fact that it has some of the best animation I have ever seen. However in terms of the actual show, no, I won't go there again.
That said, I probably will remember it for a long time, but that's thanks to the animation, and probably the fact that I'm writing about it as my first review.
I do give it credit for being very unformulated - it was very unique in some cases. Regardless this stray from the norm didn't do it any favors.

Enjoyment --> 6/10
As you probably gathered, pretty much all of the enjoyment that I got from this show came from the stunningly animated battles between the JAM and the humans. The main problem was that more time was given towards boring dialogue which achieved nothing, and not that much time was devoted towards the action. I admit Yukikaze did pick up towards the end, however the middle three episodes were so bland that I couldn't really enjoy myself no matter how hard I tried.


Quick Rec - if you're all about the eye candy and not so much the plot, give this one a look.

Age Advisory: 17+
Very mature themes involving deep and complex emotions and characteristics.

*In advance, English is my second language so there might be some incorrect grammar. Sorry.

While many people in Japan are more familiar with the original novel series “Good Luck / Yukikaze” by Kanbayashi Cyouhei, it is regrettable that foreign viewers only have the chance to take a look at the rather crammed up story of the animation Yukikaze.
But, does that mean this OVA is bad? An astounding no.
Even without the story, Yukikaze is one of a kind. First of all, you really don’t see many dog fighting, air combat animations around. And if you do, they are rather connected to the large robot mehca action like the famous “Macross” series.
Though Yukikaze has the same plot of the human air force fighting aliens, it comes with a much deeper, serious theme.

Animation:
The animation is one of the best using computer graphics and the famed work of production IG. Since it is an OVA series, there is none of that cheap work where you can clearly see they slacked off.
All of the aerial combat and dog fighting is presented in the best of its manner. If you like Top gun and those other fighter jet action, Yukikaze is a must see piece.
Throughout the film, you can see that the Yukikaze world has a rather pale atmosphere where green and white are the dictating colors. This is mainly because the atmosphere is REALLY green on the planet “Fairy” where the story takes place, though the story also does have a pale emotion to it.

Sounds:
The effect sounds are one the best. Upon making the OVA, the team actually went to the Japanese Self Defense air force base and recorded the real sounds of jet fighters, so it’s guaranteed to sound REAL. Well, because it is the real sound of jet fighters.
The BGM isn’t that impressive since in most of the action scenes, they decided to put in the real combat sounds of missiles and guns then a heart grabbing music. But in scenes where sadness or loneliness is presented, they did a good job.
But as a conclusion, the BGM isn’t the sales point of Yukikaze. What is though is the REAL combat effect sounds.

Story:
As I mentioned above, the story is based on a novel. The novel itself has won many prizes in Japan, but it is impossible to animate such a grand story and this is why Yukikaze wasn’t credited much in Japan. So foreign viewers will also feel that crammed up story from time to time.
But the story itself is not bad.
Plot is set in the future, where mankind is at war with unknown alien forces called JAM. The story begins at the point where the humans have successfully drove the alien forces back to their home world called “Fairy”. Though the humans have pushed back the JAM out of earth and advanced into Fairy, fighting has come to a Stalemate.
Lieutenant Rei Fukai and Colonel James Booker are part of the Tactical Combat Reconnaissance Squadron known as the “Boomerang Squadron” since their mission is to collect as much combat data from the battlefield and return at any cost, even if that means leaving behind your comrades.
The whole story will evolve around the two characters and Rei’s plane Yukikaze(or rather the main AI of the fighter). The theme itself is man and machine which is nothing new, but the relationship and the way of communication between Yukikaze and the two are rather unique as in, the AI doesn’t become so “human” as in openly showing emotions or falling in love or things like that. Yet this relationship does hold the key to the story and still is interesting even if the way of communication is cold and mechanical.

Characters:
In Yukikaze, there are no happy, cute or comical characters. If you’re looking for positive emotions in Yukikaze, you’re not going to be finding any. All of the characters have grim faces; they barely smile and are rather cold.
Rei is exactly that and though he maybe the main character, he only trusts his plane Yukikaze and sometimes his ONLY friend James. Other then that, he act as though he is a machine.
Colonel Booker on the other hand, has some humanistic side, having Boomerang as a hobby.
But the thing is that, in Yukikaze, the HUMAN characters are not the main essence.

In general, Yukikaze can differ on how you look at it. If you see it as just a cool dog fighting anime and you like fighter planes, you would definitely like it. But if your looking forward to storyline, this OVA series might not be the best way the enjoy the world of Yukikaze.