Sky Girls

Posted by Persocom on Jun 16, 2010 in Anime Review | 7 comments

Time for another anime review.  This time I’ll be talking a bit about Sky Girls, which aired back in 2007.  I only recently watched it so it’s still fresh in my mind. Sky Girls is classified as an action/drama/military anime, but I think the focus leans a bit more towards the drama side. The setting of the story takes place in the near future, where the human race has been all but wiped out by beings known as Worms. The Worms were thought to have been destroyed entirely, but their re-emergence calls for new tactics to be used to wipe them out before they annihilate what is left of the world. A new form of defense is formed, the mechas called Sonic Divers, and 3 young girls with different backgrounds are recruited into the military as test pilots. At least.. that is how it all begins.

Alright so there you have the basic idea of what the anime is about. If you’re not the kind of person who wants to feel attached to the characters and are craving action over drama, this show is probably not going to be your cup of tea. Think of Sky Girls as sort of a family friendly, non-ecchi version of Strike Witches, with less girls, and a lot more character development. In fact, character development is the strongest thing this show has going for it.

The main character Otoha Sakurano is your typical carefree protagonist, with a strong will and a friendly disposition. She is the to-be heiress of her grandfather’s kendo dojo. She becomes the pilot of Reijin, whom she affectionately calls Zero.

Next up you have Karen Sonomiya, a highly intelligent (IQ of 170) but extremely boy-shy girl, who seems only comfortable around older brother. She becomes the pilot of the Sonic Diver Fujin, and is the brains of the group.

Eika Ichijo is the leader of the group. She has the most ability out of the three girls, and strict and serious. She becomes the pilot of the Sonic Diver Raijin.

Of course, there are many other characters, as well as a couple other Sky Girls that join up later in the series, the childish Elise and the mysterious Aisha. I don’t want to go too much into detail about them though, as you should watch and see for yourself if you really want to know more. The level of fan service isn’t very high in comparison to many anime these days, but it exists. The fan service is safe and really not focused on much. I think the most ecchi part of the show is probably when they get into their motion slits (the suits they wear when piloting their Sonic Divers), as they are required to be coated with a nanoskin gel. There’s also the typical teenage girl stuff but it’s only on a playful level and never anything you should feel ashamed to be watching. Once again it’s the characters that make this show shine. It should also be noted that Sky Girls also features high-tech fighter jets known as Vic Vipers, which are an ode to Gradius, an old game made by Konami. Also, who could do a review of Sky Girls without mentioning the person who started the Mecha Musume movement, Shimada Humikane. All the Sky Girls are designed by Humikane. If you’re looking for a purely mecha show you’re in the wrong place, but I was quite satisfied with what was in it. I prefer mecha musume over pure mecha myself anyway. Think of it as a slice-of-life in the military anime with teenage girls piloting mecha and fighting aliens, much like Strike Witches but with less fan service and more focused character development. I enjoyed Sky Girls, and though I realize it’s not everyone’s type of show, perhaps you’ll be interested in giving it a chance.

Well then, I’ll leave you with the opening sequence to the show, featuring the song “Virgin’s High” by MELL.

Here also is a related master post for the MMS action figures of the Sky Girls by Konami.
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