A review by frappucinno
86—EIGHTY-SIX, Vol. 1 by Asato Asato
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Fight on. Until fate itself grows weary. Fight on, until the very end.
It's not that I hate having young main characters; it's that I dislike the way they are often handled. This light novel revolves around the main characters who are in their mid- to late teens, and while the novel does give justification for most of the Eighty-Sixers being this old, I still believe that this type of story would have been better with an adult cast. Given their actions, it is either difficult to see them as children, or their cynicism comes off as superficial at best. This is something I am willing to suspend disbelief over, however, and so it was generally an okay experience.
Having watched the anime adaptation before reading this light novel, I cannot help but compare the two. As someone who generally dislikes mecha, I would have had a hard time visualizing action scenes without having seen them animated, but the art was nicely detailed. The writing is simple and straightforward, although perhaps to its detriment; save for Shin and Lena, the two main characters, the rest felt underdeveloped to me that I would not have had any sort of attachment whatsoever had I read this before watching the anime. They felt much more alive then, to the point I felt attachment towardscharacters outside of the five who survived, like Daiya and Kaie, who did not feel relevant enough this time around to evoke sympathy. I had expected to be privy to more details, not less, although on that regard, the anime is quite a faithful adaptation of the light novel.
The epilogue, which so happens to be my favorite part of the anime, was a pleasant surprise, as I was expecting to have to go through Volume 2 before reaching that part; if it were, however, meant to serve as a standalone novel, it comes off as a hasty conclusion. My goal is ultimately to read the volumes beyond what the anime adapted, but now I'm not sure I can get past the writing without the help of the anime's visualization.
It's not that I hate having young main characters; it's that I dislike the way they are often handled. This light novel revolves around the main characters who are in their mid- to late teens, and while the novel does give justification for most of the Eighty-Sixers being this old, I still believe that this type of story would have been better with an adult cast. Given their actions, it is either difficult to see them as children, or their cynicism comes off as superficial at best. This is something I am willing to suspend disbelief over, however, and so it was generally an okay experience.
Having watched the anime adaptation before reading this light novel, I cannot help but compare the two. As someone who generally dislikes mecha, I would have had a hard time visualizing action scenes without having seen them animated, but the art was nicely detailed. The writing is simple and straightforward, although perhaps to its detriment; save for Shin and Lena, the two main characters, the rest felt underdeveloped to me that I would not have had any sort of attachment whatsoever had I read this before watching the anime. They felt much more alive then, to the point I felt attachment towards
The epilogue, which so happens to be my favorite part of the anime, was a pleasant surprise, as I was expecting to have to go through Volume 2 before reaching that part; if it were, however, meant to serve as a standalone novel, it comes off as a hasty conclusion. My goal is ultimately to read the volumes beyond what the anime adapted, but now I'm not sure I can get past the writing without the help of the anime's visualization.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, War, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Death, and Racism
Minor: Death of parent, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail