Area 88

Area 88 is a 2004 anime series based on the manga series with the same name written and illustrated by Kaoru Shintani. It was published and serialized in Shogakukan's Shounen Big Comics magazine from 1979 to 1986, with a total of 23 volumes. It was licensed by Eclipse Comics and Viz Media.

The anime series is a remake of the original OVA series. It was animated by Group TAC, directed by Isamu Imakake, and aired in Japan from January 8, 2004 to March 25, 2004, consisting of 12 episodes. ADV Films licensed the anime and produced an English Dub of the series from July 19, 2005 to January 17, 2006.

Synopsis

Deep in the sandy plains of the Middle Eastern kingdom of Asran, Japanese photojournalist Makoto Shinjou travels to the remote airbase Area 88 to document the activities of the mercenaries who destroy the country's enemies for a living. Among their ranks is Shin Kazama, a Japanese ace pilot who was tricked by his former best friend into signing a contract with the Asran's fighter squad. Because of this, he lost his career as an airline pilot and the chance to marry his fiancee Ryoko Tsugumo. Now, Shin has three choices in order to leave Area 88 and return to Japan: serve the mercenary group for three years, earn US$1.5 million, or desert the base, risking imminent death.

Cast[]

Image	Character	Seiyū	Dub Actor
Main Characters
	Makoto Shinjō	Shinichirō Miki	John Gremillion
	Shin Kazama	Takehito Koyasu	Chris Patton
Recurring Characters
	Mickey Simon	Tomokazu Seki	John Swasey
	Saki Vashtar	Hiroki Takahashi	Illich Guardiola
	McCoy	Chikao Ōtsuka	Andy McAvin
	Kim Aba	Ryō Hirohashi	Serena Varghese
	Kitri Parveneh	Sanae Kobayashi	Nancy Novotny
	Greg Gates	Masaya Takatsuka	Rob Mungle
	Roundell	Kōji Haramaki	Marty Fleck
	Gustav Tanherm	Shigenori Sōya	George Manley
	Satoru Kanzaki	Hikaru Midorikawa	Jason Douglas
	Ryōko Tsugumo	Satsuki Yukino	Hilary Haag
	Mo		Rick Piersall
	Curly		Mike MacRae
	Larry	Kazunari Tanaka	Jim McClellan
Other Characters
	Leon	Kihachirō Uemura	Matt Culpepper
	Randy	Takashi Nagasako	Vic Mignogna
	Man In Black	Osamu Ryūtani	Mike Vance
	Tel Aviv Controller	Masaya Takatsuka	Andrew Love

Episodic Characters[]

Character	Seiyū	Dub Actor	Ep(s).
Pilots	Kōji Haramaki Takahiro Fujimoto	Jay Hickman Lee Stringer Quentin Haag Stuart Halpryn	1
Boris	Yōsuke Akimoto	Mike Kleinhenz	2
Steve	Ryōhei Nakao	Quentin Haag
Enemy Commander	Kōichi Sakaguchi	Eric Chase
Pilots	Masaya Takatsuka Takahiro Fujimoto	Jay Hickman Jovan Jackson Quentin Haag Lee Stringer Bob Biggerstaff Mandar Sane
Alicia	Kimiko Saitō	Luci Christian	2, 8-9
Pilots	Takahiro Fujimoto Masashi Hamano	Jay Hickman Jovan Jackson Lee Stringer Bob Biggerstaff Mandar Sane	3
Campbell	Hirofumi Tanaka	Jay Hickman	5
Hoover Kippenberg	Takahiro Fujimoto	Jovan Jackson
Controller		Eric Chase
Captain Shibukawa	Hisao Egawa	Paul Locklear	6
Taeko Yasuda	Wakana Yamazaki	Luci Christian
Nun	Kimiko Saitō	Marcy Rae
Zenzo Tsugimo	Hidenari Ugaki	Vic Mignogna	6, 11
Hans	Kenji Nomura	¿?	10
Frank	Hirofumi Tanaka	¿?
Patrick Reed	Nobuyuki Hiyama	Andrew Love
McWell Representative	Keiichi Sonobe	Steven Foster	11
Radio Operator	Minoru Shiraishi	Mike Kleinhenz	12