Reviews for The Cockpit

Overview: Time to review another obscure OVA! This time we're looking at The Cockpit. This 1993 OVA had EVERYTHING going for it, but still somehow managed to wind up terrible. It was written by Leiji Matsumoto, who also did the character designs. The director was Yoshiaki Kawajiri, who directed such classics as Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D. This was also made by Madhouse on an impressive budget. The plot is WW2 from the eyes of Axis fighter pilots. So I went into this expecting something like Das Boot. Many of the Axis soldiers will be humanized and realistic, while also being staunchly anti-war and pointingout all the atrocities on all sides. Nope! Well maybe it will be like "Blonde Knight of Germany" the biography of ace pilot Erich Hartmann. It will focus on just one figure on the axis side and lionize him while still not turning into Nazi propaganda. Nope! This is split into 3 episodes and they're all kind of mess.

Episode 1:

A German ace pilot (who happens to look like Harlock), is given a very important mission. He must defend a secret German bomber plane that's carrying an atomic bomb and heading towards London. To add some melodrama, his girlfriend is a nuclear physicist and was the one who designed the bomb. To add even more drama, she is being forced to ride on the plane carrying the bomb so she can witness its destructive power! Remember when America forced Robert Oppenheimer to ride on the Enola Gay and witness the atomic bombings? I sure fucking don't! The physicist girl begs German Harlock to shoot the plane down. He must not let Hitler use atomic weapons to exterminate the people of the UK, US, and USSR. "Any country that would use atomic weapons is a country that has forever lost its soul!" Yes Matsumoto! We get it! Nuking people is bad! German Harlock shoots down the plane and we get this gem of a quote. "I may be remembered as a coward and a traitor, but Germany's honor has been spared. Germany refused to sell its soul". Yep, if any country ended WW2 with its reputation intact and its national honor unsullied it was Germany. (J Jonah laughing clip)

Episode 2:

We get to hear the tale of a noble Kamikaze pilot and his co-pilot the blob person...who looks like the Schmoo. The main pilot is a selfless and noble character who simply wishes to defend his country by any means necessary. This means piloting the man guided missile known as the Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka into an American aircraft carrier. Throughout the episode, Americans are astonished by the speed and technological marvel of the Ohka. These Yanks are just shitting their pants at how awesome the thing is. Our hero pilots the Ohka into a capital class Aircraft carrier and just annihilates it, killing thousands of American soldiers in 1 glorious blow. Here's the problem with this. The Ohka was a complete failure and an utter piece of shit. Americans laughed their asses off at it. In fact, the whole tactic of Kamikaze in the Pacific was an utter failure. Japan lost 2,800 planes and pilots to kill a mere 4,900 American soldiers. No American carrier or capital ship was EVER sunk by a Kamikaze, certainly not a fucking Ohka. The Germans killed almost ten times that many Americans just using land mines. This anime is like watching a German war film that is 1/10th anti-war and 9/10ths celebrating how fucking AMAZING the Panzer ViII Maus was. Americans see it and just defecate in fear before 1 Maus kills 100,000 American pig dogs. The fact that it had 1/5th the horsepower required for its weight and was so inefficient just made it SO cool! How about a Russian film that spends all its time celebrating how AMAZING the LaGG-3 was? From a historical viewpoint I just fucking hate this anime so much!

Episode 3:

Some Japanese soldiers are the only 2 left on an island and must decide what to do. They make the logical choice and charge American machine guns in order to go out in a blaze of glory. Oh and Matsumoto decided to draw the 2 Japanese characters as monkeys for some reason. Maybe it was supposed to symbolize something, but it looks like he saw some of those old racist Loony Toons drawings of Japanese and said "Hold muh beer!"

Art and Sound:

The art for the most part is spectacular, especially the first episode. The soundtrack by Kaoru Wada is at least acceptable and does its job. This is a fairly well made film in terms of production values, which just makes it all the more sad.

Overall:

I really wanted to like this movie. I generally enjoy Matsumoto. I love Kawajiri as a director. Hell, I own Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D, and Cyber City Oedo on DVD. I love old school Studio Madhouse from the late 80s and early 90s. This anime though was just balls. The ludicrous historical inaccuracy, chest thumping patriotism, needless anti-Americanism, and Axis propaganda bullshit was all just too much. If you want to watch an Axis propaganda film, just go watch Triumph of the Will from 1935. Watch Olympia from 1938. Don't watch this piece of dog shit.

This is a review for episode 1 and 2 of the OVA; Slipstream and Sonic Boom Squadron. Slipstream: A romanticised view of Germans during WW2? Slipstream begins, of all places, in the cockpit. It opens with a German v Brit dogfight in August 1944 culminating in a clever bailout technique by Luftwaffe pilot Erhardt von Rheindars into the waters of the Mohne. The anime then heads into Casablanca territory with lovers reunited, then proceeds onto the thriller aspect with the introduction of an atomic bomb. Erhardt and his love interest's disgust of the implications of the weapon are so palpable, their damnation of anyone who would useit so venomous, you have to wonder if you're watching propaganda for the Fatherland.

This is not to slight actual Germans at the time who were against what their government and leader were doing, or even the idea of there being ‘good Germans’, but it still rubs the viewer the wrong way because the story doesn’t do anything with the core concept driving the show, that of being on the German side of the WW2 conflict.

All we see are a couple good people trying to do the right thing, but the episode doesn’t explore their decisions from a cultural point of view, how they even ended up where they did if they were both so idealistically goody-two-shoes all along; when and why they decided it was acceptable to betray their country. Do they think its ok to shoot Brits down but not blow their city off the map? Why? Do they not want Germany to win the war swiftly? The viewer needs meat on this story, not just potatoes.

Sure the episode is only 20 minutes long, but any writer can achieve anything in any amount of time if they really wanted to. This was too easy, too black and white. Of course I’m also projecting my own expectations and ideas onto the anime, so I’m not downgrading it because of my woulda coulda shouldas listed above.

All in all, it’s decent for what it is, however simple. Watching a character struggle in a hopeless situation is always good drama and you get it in Slipstream with Erhardt having to choose between his love and his honour during a climactic dogfight.

The anime is produced, directed (by the luminary Yoshiaki Kawajiri), edited and animated very well for the time it was released. The music is lovely in a Joe Hisaishi kind of way and the character art is attractive. A fascinating production and worth checking out for the novelty alone.

---

Sonic Boom Squadron:

Set in August 1945, this opens with a sobering intro to kamikaze fighter jets and their methodology. You think you’re going to be thrown into a dark dramatic tale of epic proportions, unflinching and compelling, engrossing and powerful.

No. Most of the characters look like they belong in a Peanuts or Gary Larson cartoon they're so jarring and misplaced it’s not even funny, and especially in such a tale as this. What the character designer was thinking, I have no idea.

The story revolves around kamikaze pilot Nogami who is all too eager to die in a blaze of glory for his country but has to be punched out to stop him throwing his life away. He recuperates at a raggedy airfield with more US-comic rejects who lament about war and what the era’s youth could achieve if they were allowed to live for 30 more years.

Then, as if this is a comedy sketch but it isn’t because it’s all played very straight-faced, we cut to a bunch of US airmen lamenting the exact same thing, "he wanted to be the world's best comic artist, maybe if he'd lived another 30 years!"

It’s so hackneyed and stupid but you can’t laugh, it’s just a wasted premise with lousy art and writing. The climax did give me goosebumps but only because of the idea of what was occurring on screen, the potential, not the shoddy execution.

The climax is of course utterly ruined with a ludicrous coincidence followed by a convenient announcement that wraps up this failed attempt at exploring WW2 through the Japanese air force via anime.

Ok, this is a three part OVA series so I am going to give each individual episode a rating and mini-review. #1-Slipstream: Score: 9 This episode could be the only one you watch and you are not missing anything. This is my personal favorite out of the three. It makes me wish that this episode alone evolved into it's own short 6 episode anime, with more backstory. You get a Nazi viewpoint of WWII and you end up caring for the main two Nazi's. The ending is very satisfying but a little emotional. It is a great aviation short! #2-Sonic Boom Squadron: Score: 7 This episode is alright, it has aninteresting story. The only factor that throws me off is the design of most of the Japanese characters. A lot of the pilots look very deformed and almost as if they were "inbred"; and it really takes away from the serious tone. (Though the Americans look great) You follow a pilot whom pilots a suicide missile/plane hybrid; as he struggles to find the right time to launch. The aviation battle scenes are what keep this episode "above the water".

#3-Knight of the Iron Dragon:

Score: 6

Ok, this is the worst episode, the serious tone only lasts for maybe a minute. All of the characters now have the goofy "inbred" look to them, again, except for the few Americans in this episode. This episode can honestly be skipped, as none of these episodes relate to one another. You follow a boy and a kind solider as they try to retake their home base. Like the others, the ending is quite sour as well, but i had little-to no emotion for what happens to these characters.

The art style of the characters ruins this episode, and the whole "aviation" them is not present except for a quick plane encounter. No aerial dog-fights present at all.

Overall, I feel like episode #1 was too good when compared to the last two and lead to them feeling underwhelming. I would highly recommend episode 1, episode 2 is all-right, but dont waste your time with episode 3.

The Cockpit Review There are no spoilers in this review I just completed the three part OVA The Cockpit. An anime about three different theoretically possible World War 2 scenarios. Story The story for each episode is independent from each other and is focused on the characters feelings of war and what they do to hold their own sense of honor during one of the most bloody wars in History. It's interesting to watch these as an Australian as the story focuses on Axis Power soldiers. One German fighter pilot, one Japanese Ohka pilot and two Japanese infantry soldiers. It's interesting to see a perspectivewhich I never could comprehend on my own. I really like the story.

It's amazing how much the writer put into each episode without making it feel rushed.

Tech

I'm not sure what the quality of animation was like at the time this was created, being 1991. But the lowest points of the anime is the tech side. I think the only reason it is because of it's age. But it's art does something better than allot more modern anime does and that is nose, face and profile shots.

The Japanese characters tended to have their faces drawn weird for some reason but the other characters art style was something I really liked.

I would like to see a rebuild of this with a modern quality but still have the same style for the characters.

Overall though the sound, art, est where primitive and that's just a reflection of the time.

Characters

I think I have really said what I wanted in the story section so I'll be brief. The characterization was great. I liked all the characters allot.

Conclusion

I really liked this. It's relevant to my interests and is well executed. There is room for improvement but I was glad to have seen this. I'd say it should be an anime everyone see's at least once. At least for those who have an interest in history. I'm surprised at how good this turned out.

The Cockpit is a collection of three animated short stories focused on World War II adapted from source material written by acclaimed creator of Captain Harlock, Leiji Matsumoto. Each of the stories explore how different soldiers cope with an aspect of war with Slipstream featuring a German pilot's hesitance to do an escort mission involving a nuclear warhead, Sonic Boom Squadron's focus on a Japanese kamikaze pilot and Knight of the Iron Dragon focus on a pair of soldiers trying to make it to an air base unaware of its current occupancy by American forces. All three shorts carry a sense of tragedy and inevitability withwhat the characters face in their endeavors as The Cockpit doesn't hold back any punches in depicting the reality of war and the harshness of the regimes in which the characters are entangled with. Each story accomplishes a unique take to the tragedies faced by the characters. Slipstream's lead character, the German pilot, must choose between redemption for being labeled a coward by his superiors or what he finds to be morally right through the escort mission. Sonic Boom Squadron switches perspectives quite often throughout its run between American and Japanese forces to show how each side perceives the other in regards to kamikaze methods. Knight of the Iron Dragon is the more light-hearted of the bunch with some of the silly behavior of the two soldiers as they press to reach their air base, unaware of the inevitable tragedy that is to come for them.

These perspectives of war help to paint a more human side to two of history's more infamous regimes, which also makes the film a bit controversial to more sensitive audiences who wouldn't want to see a movie that attempts to humanize these regimes despite the horrific deeds they committed in World War II. If you are sensitive to the mention of sympathizing with Nazi Germany or Emperor Hirohito's rule over Japan, then this movie will definitely not be to your liking.

Visually, The Cockpit is a well-animated anthology with nicely detailed designs of planes and naval vessels and vast shots of scenery. Aerial dogfights were nicely animated as planes were fluid in their movements and the different titles showed a nice diversity of camera shots such as first-person POV shots from the cockpit and aerial shots of a plane moving about while in action. Character designs are a bit of a mixed bag though as the shorts tend to make use of Matsumoto's drawing style for many character designs. While some characters are reasonably proportioned and drawn with proper anatomical details, others look deformed and rather crude-looking in their designs. This is especially notable in the designs of a number of characters for Sonic Boom Squadron and Knight of the Iron Dragon.

If you're a fan of war anime based on historical events and have an open mind, then The Cockpit offers some unique perspectives on two of World War II's most infamous regimes that paint them in a sympathetic light despite what inevitably happens to them.

Three simple, nicely written, individual short stories from WW2. They communicate the stories of ordinary soldiers, ordinary men caught up in the madness of that war, and the decisions they have to make during the unforgiving and fleeting minute of each soldier's life when confronted with their duties. Considering the short length of each episode, the pace is really good and each of the three stories feels complete. A serious and mature take on WW2 by an anime, which is something not very common. Overall, a very good and quick watch if you can put aside the old art due to its age. It will be appreciatedmore by people with a historical interest in WW2.

The Cockpit is a rare beast of an anime. It's about WW2, doesn't cover it exclusively from the Japanese perspective, and consists of three self-contained vignettes. It's a strange mix of topic, genre, and format, resulting in an OVA which is conceptually strong, but still falls short in some ways which are too glaring to ignore. Beginning with the story, it is right off the bat the strongest part of the show. They are poignant tales of morality, honor, and military tragedy that manage to lay bare the conflict of these things within the human heart in artful and arrestingfashion. Though, the show starts out a little weak with the first episode being this wild flight of fancy with a questionable moral calculus instead of a grounded story about duty which could have conceivably occurred, like the other two.

The art is generally good, with an astounding warmth and detail given to backgrounds and objects, which is a defining feature of anime from that period. The character designs, when they're good, are great. However, it is within the art where its greatest weakness is found, and what has cost it the most points. Namely, I absolutely hate the goofy style with which most Japanese characters are inexplicably animated in this show. It's so ugly and distracting that its almost impossible to take those characters seriously, which is a real damn shame, because it is the latter two episodes which are the best, and that's where they show up. The worst part is that I know they could have animated them at least a little better, because the application of such a lazy style seems to be random, without regard to screen time. It's rough, because without that glaring flaw, this show would probably be at least a 7, easy.

The sound is good, with a solid, contemplative OST and competent voice work. Though, I recommend the dub for the first episode, and the sub for the latter two, for immersion's sake.

The characters are quite strong, though they are reliant on the strength of the stories they're in. They are not innately heroes, but rather, they are made such by their circumstance, even if they're the villains in other people's stories. The best character by far was Ensign Nogami, whose tortured yet dedicated psyche made for an eminently engaging episode, and the best of the three by far. Overall, The Cockpit is a unique, well-written clutch of war stories that manage to impress in some ways and fall short in others. If you're interested in checking out the relatively sparse genre of WW2 anime, then I'd say this would be a fine introduction to it.

The Cockpit is an OVA series that consists of three different stories that are all interconnected by an anti-war theme. Because of this, the narratives of each episode are rather weak, as there is little time to fully develop characters. However, the series does its best but could have done better with an extended runtime. The art and animation throughout the series are top-notch and pay great attention to detail. While the OVA is not historically accurate, it ultimately succeeds in portraying the extreme ideologies at the end of the Second World War, as well as their human cost. Overall, The Cockpit has its shortcomingsbut is an enjoyable watch, especially for fans of classic animation.

The Cockpit is an early 90s Madhouse OVA and it's based off of a Matsumoto Leiji manga. I'll be honest, I have never read or watched one of his works before. And I'm sure a bunch of people will say this is the wrong one to start with, but fuck it, we're going live. Story: The OVA is basically made up of three different stories, each one about soldiers during World War II. I'll probably go into the problems and high points for each episode individually before discussing the generals. The first is about a Deutsche pilot who gets disgraced and then is offered a chance at redemption,by being the only escort for a very important delivery mission. The first question this brings to mind is why you would assign a post that important to a disgraced pilot. The second is why you would only have one escort. I get that they want to be incognito, but you'd think they'd still want more than one plane protecting their important cargo. Especially one plane with a pilot who's already proven to be less than reliable.

The second is about a Japanese cherry blossom pilot who fails to properly crash his jet into the enemy thanks to the enemy's pilots pushing their own air forces back. Therefore earning him one last day on Earth. Everyone is very sorry for their failure to deliver him. To the point where I wonder if he's just a complete dick and they're looking forward to being rid of him. (That was a joke, I know that's not why they're all sorry.)

The third is about some soldiers who find themselves as the last few in their unit after a massive bombardment and farcically try to return to a base that's unlikely to have anyone left to keep a promise. This one just makes very little sense in any aspect when you think about it. If you know the base is overrun by hostile forces, why would you even attempt to get back there to meet up with people who are dead or have run away? Wouldn't it make more sense to check an area they could have escaped to try and get word about them?

In terms of general issues, the big one is that the messaging is very heavy-handed. The first episode is very anti-nuclear weapon. The second really wants us all to know just how wasteful suicide bombings were. Is that really a hotly debated topic? I thought it was just objectively measured that they didn't have much impact. For the third it seems to be a really weird way of conveying that you should pursue your goals wholeheartedly even if it kills you. And it all culminates in a really dumb, stilted piece of dialogue about racing.

I will give the series some credit for giving us shorts that are relatively watchable and do a decent job of keeping your attention.

Characters:

Frankly, none of the characters have much in terms of complexity or development. They're all pretty much equally a bit shit. At least they aren't actively terrible or annoying. That may not be much, but it's something.

Art:

The big problem with the art is that the characters range from looking perfectly normal to looking like the cast of Osomatsu-san and, to point out the very obvious, that art style doesn't really work in anything that's trying to be remotely serious. You can't give me a "tragic" death scene with a character who looks to be out of an old gag anime and expect it to have any real impact. I will say that the planes and boats we see look good and the air battles are really well done.

Sound:

Are the performances good? Well, no. While they got some good actors like Midorikawa Hikaru or Horiuchi Kenyu but they don't really have complex enough characters to really give stellar performances. So, what we end up with is pretty mediocre. The music is fine. Not good, but decent.

Ho-yay:

There aren't any characters with compelling interactions, homo-erotic or otherwise.

Areas of Improvement:

Actually develop the characters. I know you aren't going to get super complex characters in a half hour, but you can still do better than this. I've seen it enough times.

Have some polish to the writing. As is, there are a lot of just nonsensical moments and decisions. What makes it worse is that they're easy to address. Have the main protagonist of the first episode given another chance because he has a very distinguished record and give the plane another escort or two and just have them shot down. That would be a huge improvement.

Lose the stilted moralising. I'm not inherently opposed to the messages they have, the execution is just clumsy and over done.

Final Thoughts:

The Cockpit has some serious flaws. It's not a bad little OVA, but it's also definitely not a good one. I can't even call it average. Ultimately, it's a bit below even that. So, I'm giving it a 4/10. If the premise sounds really interesting to you, go for it. If it sounds only like it could be interesting if well executed, I wouldn't bother.