TV Review: Eighty-Six (2020)

Eighty-Six (2020) created by Asato Asato from the light novel series

The Republic of San Magnolia, a somewhat-ahead of our time country, is at war. They tout their defense forces as unmanned drones heroically knocking back the enemy. But the drones are not unmanned, they are vehicles piloted by people (mostly teens) from the Eighty-Sixth district. Eight-sixers are considered socially inferior to the grey-haired, blue-eyed denizens of the other eighty-five districts. So naturally they are disposable and maybe not trustworthy. The military uses handlers (safe tucked away that the capital's military headquarters) to direct the drones' attacks. One handler, Major Lena Milize, is outspoken in her contempt of the situation. Her military equals at HQ spend most of their time drinking and enjoying themselves and making fun of her for how seriously she takes the responsibility. Her record stands for itself, with many successes. She's assigned to a new group, one that has caused previous handlers to go crazy or commit suicide. 

As the story goes on, it spins away from the capital and Major Milize. The focus narrows to the elite unit which survives several battles and gets involved in harder and harder missions. They eventually get the opportunity to leave the battlefield behind, but they have more loyalty to each other and to victory than they have contempt for the oppressive elitists hiding at the capital. And they slowly gain some respect for Lena

The story deals with a lot of different issues. There's class division that makes both sides contemptuous of the other, though some characters are able to look beyond that and recognize their shared humanity. The Eighty-sixers also deal with a lot of death in their ranks, since they are constantly on the front line and don't always have the resources they need. The interesting social dynamic is supported by exciting action sequences and an extra sub-plot where two siblings wind up on opposite sides of the conflict. The whole package is handled well.

Recommended.