86: Eighty-Six, Vol. 1

86--EIGHTY-SIX Manga #1

by Motoki Yoshihara

Per molto tempo la Repubblica di San Magnolia è stata attaccata dal suo vicino, l'Impero, che ha creato una serie di veicoli militari senza pilota chiamati Legion. In risposta alla minaccia, la Repubblica ha così sviluppato una tecnologia simile, per equilibrare la forza di attacco del nemico facendo a loro volta a meno di vittime umane... Così, almeno, recita la versione ufficiale. Fuori dagli 85 distretti della Repubblica, in un'area in teoria inesistente, continua infatti a combattere senza pietà il distaccamento di giovani donne e uomini noto come Eighty Six. Come Shinn, che dirige le azioni dei giovani kamikaze sul campo di battaglia, o Lena, che coordina i movimenti delle truppe. Questo è il racconto degli ultimi giorni della loro dura e triste battaglia.

Genres: Manga, Science Fiction, Comics, Drama

204 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2018

About the author

YOSHIHARA Motoki
Name (in native language)
吉原基貴
Associated Names
Ёсихара Мотоки

Reviews

[Aimee · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. It was okay. I can see potential in this series, but the first volume just wasn’t for me. It was a bit disjointed and confusing. I didn’t realize what exactly was happening until about halfway through. Nevertheless, I could see this being made into a really great anime.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was well done, and because of that hard to read, probably because I grew up listening to my grandfather's PTSD stories about his experiences in WWII and seeing the albums of photos of relatives who died in the concentration camps.

I guess that means it got something right.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars

This was really interesting! If I'm being honest, I was confused for a decent portion of this volume, but I was intrigued by the time I got to the end. I liked the world-building and fight scenes, and I think this series has a lot of potential! I've heard a lot of good things about the anime, so I'll be checking that out as well. Hopefully I'll be less confused when I read the next volume, but I also grabbed a copy of the light novel (which might explain things a little better than the manga does!)

Content: explicit language, violence

[dovesnook]

I should’ve read the blurb beforehand, so I won’t rate it because it’s my bad. I don’t wanna read about militarized anything atm, but cool art style. Dropping the series.

[Enairolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

J’ai beaucoup entendu parler de cette histoire avec l’anime ces dernières semaines. Bon je ne vous cache pas que lorsque j’ai vu le manga sortir ma curiosité a été une fois de plus piquée comme il faut. J’ai donc lu ce premier tome et je me suis retrouvée face à une lecture plutôt intéressante. Un univers un peu particulier pour ma part mais un univers très intéressant à découvrir. On est dans un premier tome alors on a encore quelques zones d’ombres mais à force d’avancer dans l’histoire, je ne doute pas que l’on découvrira bien plus de choses et surtout que l’on comprendra bien mieux toute cette histoire.

On se retrouve dans la république de San Magnolia. Cette République essuie les assauts de son pays voisin l’Empire du Glad. Sur le champ de bataille, on trouve des drones autonomes qui ne cessent de s’affronter. Ainsi se déroule une guerre n’impliquant aucun être humain.. Du moins ça c’est ce que les apparences nous montrent.. Parce qu’au delà des murs fortifiés de la République se trouve le 86ème district, une terre qui n’existe sur aucune carte. Ses habitant les eighty six sont des jeunes hommes et des jeunes femmes qui ont été chassés de chez eux. Et ils sont contraints de piloter ces drones.. Ceux qui sont censés être autonomes.. Shin, le jeune capitaine de l’escadron Spearhead et Léna, opératrice au sein de l’armée de la République cont être amenés à se rencontrer avant que le tumultueux destin ne joue contre eux.

Je dois bien avouer qu’après ma lecture, je ne suis pas sûre d’avoir bien tout compris cet univers assez particulier. Mais une chose est sûre c’est que je suis assez curieuse de découvrir la suite et d’en apprendre plus. J’ai trouvé cet univers vraiment intéressant à découvrir, on a un univers assez complexe et surtout très riche. On découvre une République que j’ai trouvé vraiment injuste, du moins concernant les eighty six. Ils sont mis à l’écart et sont même carrément envoyer au charbon. C’est eux qui pilotent les drones, qui sont censés être autonome d’ailleurs. J’ai trouvé ça vraiment cruel et surtout je n’ai pas vraiment compris pourquoi ils sont mis à l’écart comme ça. A moins que je n’ai loupé un élément lors de ma lecture.

J’ai beaucoup aimé le personnage de Shin. Ce mec est une vraie tête brûlée. Lui n’hésite pas une seule seconde à pousser ses machines à fond, même si il doit faire énormément de dégâts. Il est déterminé, c’est un personnage vraiment intéressant à suivre. De même que son escadron. Ils sont les meilleurs sur le terrain puisque tous leurs combats ils les remportent alors que la moyenne de vie là bas est vraiment très très basse. J’ai hâte de les découvrir plus. J’ai bien aimé Lena également, même si elle est un peu plus discrète dans ce premier tome. Elle n’a pas l’air comme les autres, je ne saurais trop dire pourquoi mais je la trouve différente de ses collègues.

Ce premier tome a été une lecture déroutante. On se retrouve face à un univers vraiment riche et détaillé. Un premier tome d’introduction mais tout de même avec une bonne dose d’action. Il me tarde tout de même de découvrir la suite pour comprendre plus de choses. J’ai beaucoup aimé les différents personnages que l’on rencontre au fil des pages. Je n’ai pas forcément tout saisi de cet univers mais je l’ai trouvé vraiment très bien construit et surtout très intéressant. Je suis très curieuse de découvrir la suite de cette histoire. Et une chose est sûre également, je compte bien regarder l’anime!

[Danielle Booey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea behind this. The themes of war, discrimination, cruel inhumanity, drone battles and whether anyone is hurt by “unmanned” machines. 86 asks big questions of its readers and follows them up with beautiful art full of stark lines and impressive detail.

86 is a forsaken sector in a country at war with its neighbor. Similar to district 13 in the Hunger Games, 86 is where the colorata have been sent to live and die for their “country”. Branded as traitors and subhuman they are forced to pilot “unmanned” assault mechs, stripped of their names and identities, and originally marked by numbers in internment camps. This manga reflects some of the ugliest aspects of mankind. Our constant need to otherize human beings and treat them as subhuman before killing them.

Unfortunately, the story in this volume is a bit disjointed. I’m not sure if that is due to it being an adaptation of a light novel or the amount of world building and plot that is trying to be laid down in this first volume. But either way it is a bit hard to follow.

I’m looking forward to the second volume and hoping things become a bit more clear because I think there is a lot of potential here for something truly great.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted to give it a shot since the first light novel was just okay for me. Mind you I haven't given up on the series, but it doesn't sit at the top of my list so keeps getting shunted aside for other things. The manga was okay. I found the battle pages to be too frenetic and for me not fulfilling. I am curious for the series in whatever form about the character relationships which is why I will likely keep going with it eventually. In the mean time -- I've got a dozen other books that are taking precedence.

YMMV.

[Tia Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a very unique and gritty take on the Mecha genre. While the themes of racism are a little overt and have been done before, it blends in with the premise quite seamlessly and I don't doubt will be explored as the series goes on. The art, especially for the splash pages, is absolutely amazing. I will say this is on the softer, more grounded side of Mecha so don't be expecting any space battles, if anything it's more along the lines of a gritty war story.

I am definitely intrigued and will be reading more.

[Azia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the themes and the artwork is beautiful throughout most of the volume. However, the panel layout is kind of chaotic and hard to follow. There's a lot of movement on the page and I'm not sure what's happening most of the time. I'd say this was a decent start to the story but not very focused. I think I might watch the anime instead, as the medium might be a better fit for something so action-oriented and detailed.

[Cristen Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took a minute to get into and realize where the story was going. Once I finished the volume, however, it became a very interesting story and I definitely want to read more of it. It is nothing of what I expected, and usually those type of stories are some of the better ones to read. If you like war stories that have character depth to them, I definitely recommend this series.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll start by saying, I LOVED the anime. So I wanted to check out the manga. Unfortunately, the art took away a lot of this story. The art uses a lot of ink and I can’t distinguish details so it’s hard to follow. I may try the light novel to see how I like it better. Not sure how the art is in those.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you're going to read 86 I recommend just reading the novel and skipping the manga version. I can't really put my finger on why I disliked the manga so much. Maybe it's the shading or how chaotic the panel layout is? Whatever the problem was it really rubbed me the wrong way.

[Jakey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty solid first volume. Exceptional art and paneling, on top of a unique story makes for a quality manga.

Definitely building up to things, but overall, super good and Shin is by far the most intriguing character of the whole thing.

[Faith Alexandra Perkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confusing art. Need to read the 2nd one tho.

[Tarik · Rating 1 out of 5]

3D renders ruined any chance of this being a good manga watch the show or read the light novels as they don't have atrocious visuals.

[Sarul Sakulthong · Rating 4 out of 5]

สนุกดี แต่เนื้อหาถูกตัดจากเวอร์ชันนิยายไปค่อนข้างเยอะเลย

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75!

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

New favorite light novel/manga/anime—I’m completely obsessed.

[Hannah Gearhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay while this was good, i’m glad i watched the anime first because i would have NO clue what was going on if i hadn’t.

[Adhara Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

It didn't work out as a manga for me, but the setup is interesting, so I will check the light novel next.

[Skylarkse · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5
I love this. And I can't wait to dive into the rest of the manga and then the LN. Some moments are going to be more painful than others but it is really a great manga

[Larry F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best series about war.

I first read the 86 from the light novel. The manga ads another dimension to it.
This is war the way few people have told about it.
There is despair, sadness, happiness, living for the moment, and action. Lots of well drafted action.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

This was the first manga of a series set in a dystopian world in war. I really love the world building! Looking forward to continuing the series!