Area 88/YMMV



"Shin: WHYYYYYYYYYYY?
 * In manga that did not make it stateside, Nguyen tells Mickey about his traumatic birth and violent life while he is dying. Mickey is moved to tears.
 * Awesome Music: The OVA has a fantastic soundtrack, but Good Bye Lonely Blue really stands out. Sung by MIQ, no less.
 * Do Not Do This Cool Thing: The lesson of the manga and OVA is that War Is Hell because it devastates countries and reduces soldiers to broken men. The problem is, the mercenaries look great as they're waging aerial battles.
 * Heartwarming Moments: OVA spoiler:
 * Also, the base's reaction to three "Enforcers" HQ sent out to Area 88 to hunt down deserters when they go after Shin for no reason.  Saki gets in on it, too.
 * Saki's childhood flashbacks of his mother in the manga.
 * Ho Yay due to Did Not Do the Research: In the TV series, Mickey can be seen reading Playgirl magazine (pics on the Characters page). In the OVA, he and Shin wind up playing tourist while on special assignment and end up in a place that mostly attracts couples. In all versions, he is at Area 88 because he could not adjust to civilian life after his return from Vietnam and had to break off an engagement. Did we mention that he was in the Navy?
 * Moment of Awesome: In the manga, photojournalist Rocky goes out with a bang ramming a tank with a jeep.  In the 2004 series, Shin takes down a MiG-17 by getting a missile launched from another MiG to lock onto it.
 * Narm: Shin's enraged howl in the first OVA movie.

(Jap.) NAZE-KAAAAAAAA?"


 * Strangled by the Red String: Shin and Ryoko in the manga. In Ryoko's flashback, she falls madly in love with Shin with little explanation as to what attracted them to each other. She also comes across as obsessive over Shin throughout the manga. Less so in the TV series, in which Ryoko is depicted as more emotionally grounded.
 * Unfortunate Implications: Italians are not presented favorably in the manga. Farina and Julianna are both evil, and Mario is an arrogant jerk.
 * Also, the three black Enforcers versus the mostly caucasian Area 88 mercenaries.
 * What an Idiot!: Ryoko goes flying in a Cessna with Shin. While flying, they hit an air pocket, dropping a few hundred feet in the air. Ryoko pries one of Shin's hands off the controls!
 * Also Saki for putting a man with no depth perception in charge of leading jets through a narrow canyon.

The Area 88 video games (aka U.N. Squadron) contain examples of:

 * Adaptation Displacement: The arcade game, which in turn got Adaptation Displaced by the SNES version. Not helped by both games' American name, U.N. Squadron.
 * Bowdlerise: The arcade and SNES games contain none of the tragic ambiance or anti-war messages of the manga and OVA.
 * Viewer Gender Confusion: Shin looks even more androgynous in the arcade game than in other adaptations, leading some players to mistake him for a woman. See thearcade game intro.