Sky Girls OVA

The "Sky Girls OVA" is pretty much a remake of everything that happened in the series, while it may not live up to the exceptions of it, it certainly was a good watch. Story: 7/10 It begins with our heroes taking it easy on the ocean, when all of a sudden the worms (primary alien villains) show up to reek havoc on earth. Yeah its pretty strait forward since its only a one episode OVA. While the girls are getting into their battle gear they strike conversations and briefing from the other cast members, it actually does a good job of giving the supporting cast some airtime. And the little light love scenes that occurs every so often from Otoha and Ryohei is kinda nice, though definitely lacks the flare you would find in other love couples. It does well to stay with its military style theme and keeps the story going at a decent rate. My only problem was the final battle at the end, since its pretty much the only action scene you get, it seemed to come way too late in the episode and only lasted a few minutes, and therefore came off as a bite of a rush job. Some of the scenes have the supporting cast members talking about the girls and their potential during the action scenes themselves, sometimes it almost felt like they were trying to create filler times for them, which was kinda annoying. Other than that the story was fine. The mechas they drive are also kinda cool, though a bit weird, they actually are kinda wearing them as outfits, yet they are still driving them like regular robots. (Its difficult to explain, just see it and you’ll know what I mean) I was actually surprised to find some echhi scenarios in this title, because the Sky Girls series itself didn’t really contain anything like that. I have heard rumors though that the creators did this intentionally, trying to appeal to a more "echhi" fan base. Guess it was their attempt to draw in a different kind of audience with this. So yeah as far as offensive material goes, there are some lite suggestive themes, usually nothing more than the girls wearing bikinis and the camera kinda zooming in close to their female parts. None of them are very well endowed though. Its good for its short time, it doesn't contain the most elaborate action and story scenes around, but it does entertain. Soundtrack: 6/10 This was probably the lowest point in the OVA, the opening and closing themes were fun and lively for what the anime wanted you to feel, but the background soundtrack (generic military style beats) was just so uninspiring and flat, that it just came out as down right boring most of the time. The sound effects and voice cast were cool though, all voices matched well with the characters and the gun blasts were well timed and entertaining! Art: 8/10 I honesty really dug the art to this, especially on the girls themselves. They gave off this unique look of both a grown up yet petite (loli style) look about them. The color schemes and mecha robot designs were all pretty well detailed. As far as the supporting cast goes they came off as a bit generic looking in terms of style though. This may be due to the fact that all the effort went into the main cast themselves. Characters: 7:10 All the characters were charming and likable, and all had their distinct personalities. At the same time they also give off a bit of a stereotypical kinda feel (the mature one, the nice girl, the gun-ho leader) to them. It wasn’t really bad or anything, I just wish they would have put a bit more creativity into their personalities. But what they got there did work. Bottom Line: 7/10 Sky Girls OVA is a nice little action adventure title! If you have already seen the series then I wouldn’t really bothering watching this one, as it is nothing more than a summary of what went on in the series. But if you are new to this anime, then you may want to check this out to see if it fits your style or not. I recommend it to new fans of the series, or to people who don’t feel like watching the whole 26 episode anime, and just want a brief taste at what went on in it. Not the best action title out there, but a fun watch none the less! Just keep in mind that the series itself obviously contains much more back story on the characters and plots.