LogFAQs > #968557570

96. The Magnificent Kotobuki
https://myanimelist.net/anime/38301/Kouya_no_Kotobuki_Hikoutai
Winter 2019 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 6.85/10
Best Character: Kylie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nm_mABJJNA
(Couldnt find OP or ED, linked full OP song)

Premise: Zeppelins carry supplies across a desolate world, and they're protected from piracy by mercenary pilots. Kylie is a part of the Kotobuki Squadron, and she uses her natural flying skills to protect their clients.

The Good: The Magnificent Kotobuki is about cute girls flying airplanes and dogfighting bad guys. I'm a big fan of the video game series Ace Combat, and while I wouldnt exactly call this an anime version of that, it's the closest I've found so far. TMK was created to advertise a mobile game that no longer exists, so it has some problems and didn't have a huge budget. It did a great job with the dogfighting, however, and that was the most important part. The animation while flying looks good with lots of different angles, and it's all easy to follow. The sound design is still what I found most impressive. Between the sound of the engines, the wind whipping by, and guns firing or bullets bouncing off metal, it creates an immersive experience. The story has some neat twists too, and the characters are all at least fine. There were some missions they went on where they were flying under restrictions or with poor odds or through an interesting location, and all of those were great.

The Bad: The animation when not flying is hit-or-miss. I remember one dancing scene that was so badly drawn it made me laugh out loud. The fact that this was made to advertise a mobile game didn't do it any favors, either. Sometimes unique-looking characters would show up for one inconsequential scene, and I can only assume that was fanservice for the few people who actually played the game.

Overall: While I enjoyed TMK, even I have to admit it was mostly mediocre. The characters were merely fine. The story went some neat places but wasn't super great. The WW2-style dogfighting just really appealed to me, and it did an amazing job at that! The animation in the flying scenes and especially the sound design made the air battles feel very immersive. Since that was so good, and the other elements at least weren't bad, I had a lot of fun with The Magnificent Kotobuki.