Area 88 (TV) - 4: The Treacherous Sky

Title:Area 88 (TV)
Episode:4: The Treacherous Sky
Synopsis
Shin hasn't scored a kill in quite awhile, largely because the rebels have exchanged their obsolescent Mig-17s for far more dangerous Mig-21s. As he takes off yet again, chief mechanic Gustav has a feeling he won't be bringing his overworked plane back this time. Shin is in pursuit of a Mig-21 when he is warned by radio that more enemy planes are heading his way, and he had better break off the chase. He persists, but his target is a difficult quarry and he finds himself up against at least six Migs single-handedly. He can't shake them, his plane is hit, and he's forced to eject. A search for him is impossible until a vicious sandstorm blows over. Makoto is especially upset that no rescue attempt is underway, but Gustav seems willing to go searching on his own, and lets Makoto tag along. Gustav explains that he is doing this because he has gotten the impression that Shin "doesn't belong here". Alone in the merciless desert, Shin recalls the strange circumstances that led him to Area 88...
Comments
This TV remake hardly mentions that losing his plane is a disaster for Shin, because, assuming he survives the desert, he'll be obligated to pay for a new one, just when he had almost earned enough money to buy his way out of his enlistment contract and make an early return to Japan. I did get a feel that Shin is reinvigorated by his spell in the desert, concluding that "if I can survive this, I can survive anything"--but I think it would have worked better if there had been some hint of his angst in previous episodes. This is a neat show, but I can't help feeling that the makers aren't even trying to be as dramatic as the OVAs were. For an aviation otaku like myself, seeing the rebels upgrade from one type of aircraft to another really gives me a charge. They used the Mig-21 almost exclusively throughout the OVAs (and if the OP sequence is any indicator, the TV rebels will be graduating to the Mig-23 eventually). The document which Shin was tricked into signing seems odd if you pause on it and read the text (it's in English). Something about "strong demand from Japanese companies, particularly in the manufacturing sector, to actually get into China and India"--does that sound like an enlistment agreement to you? This was a TV series after all, so maybe the makers assumed nobody would have the time or language skills to make sense of it.

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