Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai

Across the desolate wilderness, resources are scant and survival is the utmost priority. Essential supplies are delivered through the network of zeppelins, relying on protection from mercenary crews piloting single-engine fighter planes. At odds with pirates and political conflict, these brave aviators provide the strongest guard to stability in such dismal lands.

Kylie—a talented, hotshot pilot—serves with one such crew: the Kotobuki Squadron. Recruited to the group by her childhood friend Emma, her natural aptitude for flight makes her a key member. Armed with their Hayabusa fighter planes, the six-member squadron is hired to protect people, goods, and society as they continue to engage hardships in their complex world.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kylie Main

Suzushiro, Sayumi Japanese

Reona Main

Seto, Asami Japanese

Zara Main

Yamamura, Hibiku Japanese

Kate Main

Nakaya, Sayaka Japanese

Chika Main

Tomita, Miyu Japanese

Emma Main

Yukimura, Eri Japanese

Betty Supporting

Koga, Aoi Japanese

Addie Supporting

Shimabukuro, Miyuri Japanese

Natsuo Supporting

Ookubo, Rumi Japanese

Cindy Supporting

Kawaida, Natsumi Japanese

Arisawa, Ryouya Producer

Aoki, Kiyomitsu Producer

Mizushima, Tsutomu Director, Sound Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Kanbe, Hiroyuki Episode Director, Storyboard, Animation Director, Assistant Director

Reviews

Jul 2, 2019

front2back

Recommended

Waifus & Warplanes are easy on the eyes.

What's different about this show?
(1.) The show is nearly all 3D animated, but this is usually tastefully done and feels natural. It sort of had to by default as aerial 2D combat is difficult to make look "right", but the characters still look like normal anime girls and the scenery is beautiful. If you love plane aesthetics, the artwork will appeal to you even more.
(2.) In terms of the genre of the show and what it delivers, Kotobuki is difficult to pin down. The best way I can describe it is "cute mercenary girls doing aerial battle ... things in a Mad Max world", with a bit of "slice of life" mixed in. It is an action show, with swarms of planes getting into massive midair battles about every episode. A good dose of comedy is also mixed into the show, which makes it feel less boring during the non-battle scenes. However, sometimes I feel as though I'm watching an older kids' show with how "cartoonish" of a vibe I get from it.

The characters?
Kotobuki has quite a few pretty women as main characters and supporting characters...and basically any even somewhat-important character that isn't an enemy or an incompetent buffoon. Depending on who you are, this ovary ensemble is either exactly what you want in a show or is going to make you bored of it fast. That being said, each of the 6 Kotobuki Corps girls has a unique personality and something to like about them. Kirie is the main girl we follow throughout the series and this was done deliberately, as her cockiness, snarky humor, and almost comedic facial expressions make her an easy favorite.
The other women in the series aren't nearly as focused on but still manage to make the show feel "real" with how much their different personalities can clash or feed off each other. Oh, did I also mention that all of these girls work as mercenaries or at least smugglers? The only thing more excessive than the way these women make money is some of their bust sizes. Overall, the characters are probably the strongest part of this show. While Kirie is given the most screentime compared to the other girls, you will find a moment or two where each one either made you laugh, intrigued, or at least appreciate their air combat skill.

Plot & Enjoyment?
The plot isn't great, but it isn't terrible either. It is railroaded and our main girls have plot armor protecting them the whole way through. Every time the plot throws something "surprising" or "bad" at you, you aren't surprised and already know what the outcome will be. If you aren't watching the girls have air battles, the show falls back to a typical "slice of life" type of story where you watch Kirie eat pancakes and the other girls drink.
If you don't go into the show too seriously, and are able to let the laws of physics stretch a bit, this is a very enjoyable show for those of us who enjoy women and dogfights in the sky. Might be better with a drink or two in your system, though.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Apr 5, 2019

Prankster_001

Recommended

"Never quit.Never give up.Fly it to the end"-Chuck Aaron

"In combat flying,fancy precision aerobatic work is really not much of use. Instead,it is the rough maneuver which succeeds"-Erich Hartmann

"Flying prevails when a man and his airplane are put to a test of maximum performance"-Richard Bach

"Aviation is proof that given,the will,we have the capacity to achieve the impossible"-Eddie Rickenbacker

"Aviation is fine as a sport.But as an instrument of war,it is worthless"-Ferdinand Foch

... Why i posted these quotes? well Kouya no Kotobuki is about aviation but with enough action to boot and anyway this my review for it:

1.Story:
The story is about air pirates who flies to the skies and fight any baddies at any given moment not much to say here :|

2.Art:
Some like it,Some were not but for the mixture of 2D and 3D animation might be bad at first glance but if it's put into good use it will be in good direction even in the scenes of air combat and the aircraft models.And btw this anime was directed by the same dude who directed Girls & Panzer and Shirobako (i'm taking about Tsutomu Mizushima here). Take note,this anime might had a fanservice in one episode but still the director commits to put more action than the latter which what makes the show great than it's rival Girly Air Force (which it's director put more SoL and fanservice and gave less action scenes in which some of them were weak and lackluster until the last episode of that series).

3.Sound
The OP is catchy one to say the least it had a few whistling tones while the ED is also a catchy but a good use to the show

4.Characters
We had the Good and the Bad ones. first, we'll start with the main character who's addicted to pancakes (yup she like pancakes more than any food) second we had a girl who's a badass (more like a Rosie the Riverter who can do it all?),a childhood friend,a girl who often shouts when in combat,a girl with a spoken tone and a girl who's more sexy than Eagle of Girly Air Force period and also the most hated character that i hated for was a Traitorous,Dictatorial manipulating magician who wants to take all over the world for himself but too bad he fell down to his doom and i'm happy for that :P

5.Enjoyment
My enjoyment for this show? well it's good and the portal thingy might set a few off but still a good show to watch even if ur a fan of old WWII-era aircraft

6.Overall
Kouya no Kotobuki might be a hit or miss for anybody but if u like old aircraft u can watch this.If not then i won't argue with you for that.

P.S,my final verdict for this show i gave it a rating of 8 and i hope a few would appreciate it :)

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Feb 10, 2024

Chi-Chibi

Mixed Feelings

As an avgeek and HUGE fan of pilots since 2003, this anime was a big letdown. From what I read on the description and saw on the cover, I thought this could be one of my favorites. But the anime was nothing like that description.
The biggest flaw is that I watch aviation anime for one reason.... the pilots. I think pilots are one of the coolest types of characters there are for an anime. Gundam and mecha pilots are super awesome, but I LOVE seeing actual plane pilots do their thing especially because of the pilot x plane relationship and watching them both work together ... to overcome obstacles... its AMAZING. I also love their passion for planes and flying... I love that kind of stuff.
Kotobuki does not have this whatsoever. Thats the biggest flaw...
The second biggest flaw is that there are 6 main characters, all pilots.... and only one, Reona, really acts like a pilot. Zara had some great moments as well and both of them deserved WAY more screentime. And dont get me wrong, the other characters are fine. They just arent pilots, especially Chika and Kylie. If you watch pilots you know what I mean. If they just had other roles on the airship and let Reona and Zara be the only two pilots, that woulda improved the story 20x. This anime wasnt specifically CGDCT but it definitely had some of the themes, but the serious style of art and story was the main focus.
The third flaw was the inconsistant anination. The guys look and move normal, but the girls look like 3d vtube models for some reason and the contrast of these characters really stands out on screen. Normally this isnt something that bugs me a lot, but it definitely didnt help an already failing anime.

As for the pros, the plane scenes are AMAZING. Its obvious the studio had a lot of knowledge on WWII planes and it clearly shows in the battles. Sometimes they even show pilot pov which is SUPER cool. If they had studied pilots as much as the planes, this anime coulda been AWESOME!!!! The planes and the fight scenes are definitely the strong point of the anime. Additionally, the anime got a LOT better in the second half (which is good because the first half made me drop it, but then I picked it back up). It still has all the flaws I mentioned earlier, but the story plot got a lot more decisive instead of just random air pirate battles each episode/episodic format, and the battles got better, and the stakes got higher. The last battle was fantastic as well. I think if someone is a WWII plane enthusiast they would probably love this anime, whereas I am more of a pilot enthusiast.
But even with all that, it went up from 5.2/10 to 6.2/10.

Quick Breakdown
Story: 7/10, it gets better in the second half
Characters: 4/10, Reona and Zara were great, Emma and Kate were ok, Kylie and Chika were fine but should not have been pilot characters
Sound: 8/10, it was pretty nice
Visuals: 6/10, a little inconsistant and not very pretty but epic animation on the planes is awesome

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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