86 - Eighty Six is continuing this week with its episode 2, here's how to watch the anime with the release time and date of the episodes on Crunchyroll, and most importantly, seeing the series just started, here's a quick intro to see if it could fit your tastes.
86 - Eighty Six is a promising Mecha anime
Eighty Six is originally a light novel written by Asato Asato and illustrated by i-IV and Shirabi (also known for Ryuoh no Oshigoto / The Ryuoâs Work is Never Done).
86 - Eighty Six features a military, Mecha sci-fi setting with war, psychological and political themes. It's a classic mix of the Mecha genre.
The story feels quite familiar on paper too. The Republic is under attack by the Legion, unmanned drones deployed by the adjacent Empire. Following the conflict, the Republic developed its own unmanned vehicles, officially turning the war into one where no human lives are lost.
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However, outside the 85 sectors of the Republic lies the "non-existent" 86th sector, where those not considered "humans" live, such as immigrants from other countries. The Republic in the past was in fact mainly made up of immigrants who joined together, but the conflict changed everything, making them the perfect scapegoats.
Those in the 86th sector are the eighty-sixers, used by the Republic to pilot the supposedly unmanned drones. 86 - Eighty Six follows Shinn, the leader of one of these groups, the Spearhead Squadron.
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86 - Eighty Six anime release time, how to watch
86 - Eighty Six first airs every Saturdays in Japan, on Tokyo MX, at 24:00 JST. In America, each episode is later simulcasted by Crunchyroll, who has the streaming rights. 86 Eighty Six is released on Crunchyroll every Saturdays, at 12:30 PM ET / 9:30 AM PT / 17:30 GMT.
Every episode is available for free exactly one week later at the same time, while the next episode is released for Crunchyroll Premium.
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More on the 86 - Eighty Six anime
The original 86 - Eighty Six novel most notably won Dengekiâs Novel Prize soon after starting, and has been quite popular in Japan. It was only a matter of time until it got its anime adaptation.
Overall, the anime is quite promising. Animating studio A-1 Pictures has always been consistent and is used to action series like these.
Last but not least, the 86 Eighty Six anime adaptation got Hiroyuki Sawano as its composer. The one and only Sawano, whose distinct style is recognizable right away. The incredibly popular composer behind Attack on Titan, Xenoblade X (Still waiting for a Switch port), Gundam Unicorn, or KIll la Kill to cite a few works.
Crunchyroll also plans to dub the Eighty Six anime, if you prefer watching anime that way.
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As a side note, if just like me, you've been closely following Blue Protocol, the upcoming anime MMORPG by Bandai Namco, you might be wondering if Sawano isn't handling the game's music. Seeing the BGM in the trailers and Beta Test were incredibly Sawano-like. Well, it wasn't officially confirmed yet, but the staff pretty much confirmed it in the past. Be sure to keep an ear out for Blue Protocol as it's definitely promising.