Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Episode guide
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Area 88

  • TV Mini Series
  • 1985– 1985–
  • TV-PGTV-PG
  • 3h 20m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
427
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
28,708
6,110
Kaneto Shiozawa and Sakiko Tamagawa in Area 88 (1985)
Home Video Trailer from Central Park Media
Play trailer0:35
2 Videos
13 Photos
AnimationActionDrama
A pilot must try to survive with his humanity when he is shanghaied into a mercenary jet fighter force.A pilot must try to survive with his humanity when he is shanghaied into a mercenary jet fighter force.A pilot must try to survive with his humanity when he is shanghaied into a mercenary jet fighter force.
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
427
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
28,708
6,110
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Stars
      • Shannon Conley
      • Dan Olk
      • Wendy Walker
    Top credits
    • Stars
      • Shannon Conley
      • Dan Olk
      • Wendy Walker
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 2User reviews
    • 7Critic reviews

    Episodes3

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated
    1 Season
    1993

    Videos2

    Area 88
    Trailer 0:35
    Area 88
    Area 88: The Blue Skies Of Betrayal
    Trailer 0:38
    Area 88: The Blue Skies Of Betrayal

    Photos13

    Area 88 (1985)
    Area 88 (1985)
    Area 88 (1985)
    Area 88 (1985)
    Area 88 (1985)
    Area 88 (1985)
    Area 88 (1985)
    Area 88 (1985)
    Area 88 (1985)
    Area 88 (1985)
    Area 88 (1985)
    Area 88 (1985)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Shannon Conley
    Shannon Conley
    • Yasuda
    1 episode1 ep • 1985
    Dan Olk
    • Shin Kazama
    1 episode1 ep • 1985
    Wendy Walker
    • Ryoko Tsugumo
    1 episode1 ep • 1985
    Randy Glass
    • Shin Kazama
    1 episode1 ep • 1985
    Tim Breese
    • Satoru Kanzaki
    1 episode1 ep • 1985
    Brian O'Neill
    Brian O'Neill
    • Boris
    1 episode1 ep • 1986
    Kaneto Shiozawa
    Kaneto Shiozawa
    • Shin Kazama
    1 episode1 ep • 1986
    Iemasa Kayumi
    • McCoy
    1 episode1 ep • 1986
    Kei Tomiyama
    • Mickey Simon
    1 episode1 ep • 1986
    Yoshito Yasuhara
    • Satoru Kanzaki
    1 episode1 ep • 1986
    Tarô Shigaki
    • Saki Vashutal
    1 episode1 ep • 1986
    Veronica Taylor
    Veronica Taylor
    • Ryoko Tsugumo
    Mayumi Tanaka
    Mayumi Tanaka
    • Young Kanzaki Satoru
    David Born
    David Born
    • Additional Voices
    Shigeru Chiba
    Shigeru Chiba
    • Escape Killer #1
    Toshio Furukawa
    Toshio Furukawa
    • Bucksy
    Tesshô Genda
    Tesshô Genda
    • Borris
    Bruce Winant
    Bruce Winant
    • Saki Vashutal
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Eria 88
    6.8
    Eria 88
    Charcoal Feather Federation
    8.0
    Charcoal Feather Federation
    Kaiba
    8.1
    Kaiba
    Appleseed
    6.3
    Appleseed
    Gunbuster
    7.7
    Gunbuster
    Dallos
    6.2
    Dallos
    Patlabor 2: The Movie
    7.5
    Patlabor 2: The Movie
    Legend of the Galactic Heroes
    9.1
    Legend of the Galactic Heroes
    Barakamon
    8.2
    Barakamon
    Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin I - Blue-Eyed Casval
    7.5
    Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin I - Blue-Eyed Casval
    Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal
    8.6
    Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal
    Area 88
    Area 88

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Nearly every plot point/event from the OVA is taken straight from the manga. Despite this, almost all of the events happen in a different order. Some plot points have been combined, as well (for instance, shooting a bomb off from a Yamato Air Lines plane and Ryoko and Yasuda's being on a plane heading for Asran were two distinctly different events in the manga, here they are combined).
    • Goofs
      The series is set in 1979-1982, yet the F18 Hornet appears. It didn't enter service until 1983.
    • Alternate versions
      The film was originally released in 3 parts: The Blue Skies of Betrayal, The Requirements of Wolves, and Burning Mirage (as long as the other two parts combined and only available in a Jap subtitled format.) When released on DVD in 2006, a new English dub was done and parts 1 and 2 were combined together.
    • Connections
      Edited into Area 88 (1985)

    User reviews2

    Review
    Top review
    Solid animated aerial combat adventure from Japan
    "Area 88" (1985) is a four-part anime series, totaling about three hours, that was one of the very first wave of OAV (Original Animated Video) series in Japan. Based on a manga series by Kaoru Shintani ("Cleopatra D.C."), it's a Foreign Legion-type tale updated to cover a civil war in a middle eastern kingdom ("Asran") and focusing on Shin Kazama, a young pilot from Yamato Airlines who's been shanghaied and forced to serve out a three-year contract with Asran's mercenary air force. While he spends his days shooting rebel planes out of the air (the more kills the sooner he gets out), his girlfriend Ryoko is back in Tokyo, baffled by his disappearance and courted by Shin's former best friend and fellow Yamato pilot, Kanzaki, who engineered Shin's abduction.

    The series' chief draw is the action animation, particularly the aerial combat. While the character design is fairly simple, the fighter jets are meticulously detailed and animated frame by frame with painstaking efforts. This is all done in full-blown 1980s hand-drawn-and-painted anime style with bold lines, bright colors and intricate action. The results are quite breathtaking and rival the best mecha/giant robot animation of the decade. And, thankfully, there are enough such sequences throughout to keep viewers enthralled even during the slow spots. One memorable sequence has two of the mercenary pilots fly up to meet a jumbo jet and figure out how to disarm--in mid-flight--a pair of bombs strapped to its underside.

    Also impressive is the level of detail applied even to the interior scenes. There's a scene at a corporate cocktail party in Tokyo where Ryoko and her father's secretary take a moment to relax and, in the process, notice a photo spread in Life Magazine that gives them a clue to Shin's whereabouts. Every detail in the scene--the fashions, the decor, the magazines, and the way the women move, sit and relax--is just so well executed that one dares to call the scene realistic.

    Act I, "The Blue Skies of Betrayal," establishes the characters and provides flashbacks to their various backgrounds. Act 2, "The Requirements of Wolves," thickens the plot, involves the characters back in Tokyo more, and gives Shin the hope of finally getting out. Act III, "Burning Mirage," combines the original Japanese Parts 3 & 4 into one release and shows things coming to a head between Kanzaki and Ryoko in Tokyo while Shin undergoes a climactic crisis in the desert.
    helpful•12
    0
    • BrianDanaCamp
    • Aug 29, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 25, 1993 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Area 88: The Blue Skies of Betrayal
    • Production companies
      • Pierrot
      • Project 88
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      3 hours 20 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Kaneto Shiozawa and Sakiko Tamagawa in Area 88 (1985)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Area 88 (1985) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page
    Add episode

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    The Best Movies and Shows to Watch in August
    See the full list
    View list
    List
    Fall TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list
    View image
    Photos
    Double Take: Celebrity Twins
    See the full list

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Back to top
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more access
    Sign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.