Read 86: A thread.(Yes, it’s long)

TL:DR It’s peak fiction.

86 is, in my opinion, without a doubt the best ongoing Light Novel series. The series is a military science fiction story that takes place in a war torn world. Humanity has been pushed to the brink by a hivemind collection of machines known as the “legion”.

The war with the legion is initially thought to be a conflict between the Republic of San Mangolia and the Empire of Giad who created the legion. However, it’s soon revealed that there’s more to this war than meets the eye.

The Republic exclusively use the “86” or members of the Colorata race who have been persecuted and labelled as subhuman to fight their war. The soldiers are children/teenagers sent to fight a war for a country who doesn’t even acknowledge them as equals.

The 86 were scapegoated and blamed for all of the republic’s problems. As a result, they were stripped of citizenship, names and forced to live in ghettos. The dominant race in the Republic, the Alba, make up the hierarchy of the military and oversee each unit.

Where 86 really sets itself apart from other light novel series is its detailed military strategic and tactical planning, writing style, loveable characters and realistic themes of racism, discrimination and war.

As you’ve probably noticed, there are a lot of historical connections you can draw from the story. The most obvious being the demonisation and scapegoating of Jews in Nazi Germany.

Indeed, it’s clear that Asato-sensei took a lot of inspiration from that period in crafting the story.

The story’s protagonists and the image used for this thread are Vladilena Milizé(Lena) and Shinei Nouzen(Undertaker)

Shinei, or Shin, is the leader of an elite unit of 86 known as the spearhead squadron. Lena is assigned as their “handler” or Commanding Officer. It’s important to note that handlers and their squads don’t even physically interact.

All communication is handled remotely via para-RAID devices that connect the handler to their squad to give orders and receive updates. These para-RAID devices are a neural network form of communication between members of a squad and their handler.

This is done in an effort to prevent a personal connection from developing between the Alba and the 86. It’s harder to treat someone as subhuman when you see them right in front of you after all.

“What do you fight for?” One of the biggest, and in my opinion, most important themes of the series is the notion of what it is that motivates you to fight.

This question drives both Lena and Shin’s story.

Shinei’s nickname “undertaker” comes from the fact that in many instances over his career, he’s been the only one to survive a battle with the legion. This is due to his special ability to predict legion movements.

Initially his answer to the question is that he fights to put to rest his older brother who was killed and assimilated by the legion and to honour the memory of all those who have died fighting with him.

As the story progresses, Shin realises he fights for an even bigger purpose. “To show others things they don’t know. Things they don’t know. Things they’ve never seen before. I think that’s all the reason I need to fight for now.”

Lena’s is even more interesting in my opinion. She comes from a privileged background and could really ride on her family for a successful life, yet after bonding with the spearhead squadron, decides she doesn’t want to look down from an ivory tower and instead wants to fight.

Lena’s resolve to not only assist the 86, but fight by their side and abandon all that she knows makes her one of my fave characters ever.

I’ve rambled on a bit here and could really go on for HOURS about 86 because I love it that much and it’s just that damn good. It’s kind of hard for me to go really in depth without spoiling major things, so apologies for any logical gaps.

If you made it to the end of this thread. 1: you’ve got a massive pp. 2: way too much free time.

Time that you should be using to read 86 before the anime airs this spring(by A-1 pictures)

Thanks for reading and FUCKING GLORY TO THE SPEARHEAD SQUADRON

https://www.amazon.com/86-EIGHTY-SIX-Vol-light-novel-ebook/dp/B07HF4PSDQ