Yukikaze: Volume 1: Danger Zone

Review Date: 2005 May 11 17:17

Reviewed by: Spike

Released by: Bandai Entertainment

Age Rating: 13+

Region: 1 - North America

Volume 1 of 2

Length: 75 minutes

Subtitles: English

Audio: English 2.0 Stereo
English 5.1 Surround
Japanese 2.0 Stereo
Japanese 5.1 Surround

Summary

33 years ago a strange alien force invaded Antarctica via a mysterious hyperspace portal, and proceeded to attack the forces of earth without the general publics knowledge. To counter this threat, the United Nations formed a military task force under their control to combat this alien menace, and using the latest technology in air combat, drive the invaders back beyond the portal into the realm of the planet that they have named 'Fairy'.

However the war has not stopped at driving the enemy back. The war on the planet Fairy rages on and caught up in it is Lt. Rei Fukai, a pilot in the elite Special Air Force (SAF) and pilot of Yukikaze, an advanced plane with an almost sentient computer system controlling it. It seems that all is normal fighting against the enemy, named JAM, but everything is far from normal. On a seeming routine reconnaissance run, Yukikaze designates what seems to be a friendly aircraft as an enemy and Lt. Fukai shoots it down. Suddenly it appears that the JAM may have infiltrated the SAF and that Yukikaze may be the only weapon that can stop them.

Review

The animation is a mix of strangely washed-out and bleak looking standard animation with astounding air combat scenes lovingly rendered in CG. This style provides an unusual contradiction and helps heighten the difference between the more exiting air combat scenes and the more subtle, more human interactions between the characters on the ground. Interestingly enough the sound mirrors the intonations of the animation, with the ground scenes enveloped in quiet, moody music while the air battles are silent. While the dub is of a high quality, there are certain scenes that only really make sense when the subtitles are turned on as certain phrases are not translated exactly and some of the subtle nuances are lost.