For a tale spun around mercenaries, Area 88 features a great deal of humanity. © ADV Films.

Area 88
2005. Director: Isamu Imagake. 75 minutes. DVD. Distributor: ADV Films.

Looking back to the 1980s again, I literally stumbled upon Area 88 in its manga form. At first, it was the stunning cover art (mostly done in watercolor) that caught my eye. At the time I was very interested in military jets and flying, and so these beautifully drawn A-4 Skyhawks, F-5 Tiger Sharks, and even F-14 Tomcats excited my imagination. However, as I read, ironically. I became more interested in the characters and story line than the machines themselves.

The story of Area 88 is simple. Two friends, Shin Kazama and Satoru Kanzaki, are training to be airline pilots during the late 1970s. Lusting for Shin's girlfriend Ryoko, Kanzaki tricks his best friend into signing up as a mercenary pilot with the Middle Eastern Kingdom of Asran. Forced into service, Shin has only three options: survive his three-year contract, buy out for 1.5 million, or desert and risk being hunted down and killed.

For a tale spun around mercenaries, there is a great deal of humanity in these characters. Much as in the recent phenomenon that was ABC's Lost, each pilot has a prior life unknown to those around him. As Shin begins to develop a few friendships, as well as watch a continuous inflow of replacement pilots, the secret stories of their lives are slowly revealed. As with any good novel, you can't help but get attached. You want to know who they are and why they have turned to this lifestyle. Is it simply the chance to keep flying? Are they hiding? Or are they just plain killers?

To date, two anime versions of Area 88 exist. ADV films began releasing an updated version in 2005. For the most part, it's identical to the earlier one. However, the new version contains some new characters and often seems to lose a bit of the seriousness and drama of the original. Either way, it's still Area 88, and I think most will enjoy this tale. But you should try to find a copy of the original anime. The artistry and flow of the aerial combat is balletic, while the update suffers from CG effects that often make it stale and artificial.

Ergo Proxy has all the trappings of a successful anime series, but its philosophical underpinnings can be a challenge for some. © Geneon.

Ergo Proxy
2006. Director: Shukou Murase. 100 minutes. DVD, bilingual. Distributor: Geneon.

This smart series first caught my attention back in early 2007. Quite a few years after finding Area 88, once again a piece of cover art reached out and grabbed me. Let's just say the picture of Re-I Mayer, with her long black hair and excessive blue eyeshadow, appealed to my male sensibilities. Beyond this, the backdrop revealed a city painted in dark hues, reminiscent of The Matrix in its apocalyptic vision. And, as a fluent reader of Latin, I was curious about the use of "ergo." Needless to say, I took it home.

Ergo Proxy is indeed an apocalyptic tale. Set in the city of Romdo, which is enclosed in a dome because of an ecological disaster that has scorched the Earth, the story depicts a society rigidly controlled by a small ruling body. In this supposed utopia, humans and AutoReivs (androids) live together in a symbiotic relationship. However, a virus known as Cogito is causing self-awareness amongst the AutoReivs and disrupting Romodo's societal structure.

Against this backdrop, a series of murders have been committed. Enter Re-I Mayer, the government investigator put on the case. As she conducts her inquiry, she encounters a mysterious monster called a Proxy, which ultimately draws her outside the city walls. Her quest to solve these murders and to learn the identity of the Proxy ultimately leads to a greater truth about humanity and Romdo.

On the surface, Ergo Proxy has all the trappings of a successful anime series. There is a beautifully drawn futuristic city, androids that are often cyborgs, a plot driven by elements of the detective and suspense genres, and -- best of all -- a gun-toting hottie! That being said, this series is often criticized for its heady, if not outright philosophical, vein, which, for some, can make it a bit slow at times. Nevertheless, "ergo" plus "cogito" immediately invokes Descartes' "cogito ergo sum" (I think therefore I am), while "proxy" is a term that fundamentally means a substitute. Thus, the greater mystery lurking behind Romdo is the issue of identity and existence. Who and what are these humans that have survived this ecological disaster? What secret about humanity can the Proxy reveal?

Contrary to some, the philosophical bent of Ergo Proxy is not as complex as it may seem. Although some of the discourse is undoubtedly academic, roll with the punch. Crack a dictionary. Expose yourself to a piece of anime that strives to be both dense and thrilling. If you do, there's a good payoff in the end.

Raised on such iconic, westernized giants as Battle of the Planets, Voltron, and Robotech, James Brusuelas is a literary scholar, critic, and freelance writer based out of Orange County in Southern California.