86: Eighty-Six (2nd season) - A worthwhile conclusion

In my previous post in this community I expressed how good and happy I felt watching the first season of 86: Eighty-Six, an anime I got to thanks to the interesting review made by a user. The truth is that I hadn't felt attracted by a story that really made me feel interested and although it is true that I don't consider this anime as one that will last in time, for me it meant a mental reboot since lately I had lost some interest in the current anime and its repetitive stories, although it is clear that this is always a matter of taste, probably it is me who is not capturing correctly the messages of the new anime.

Now, as far as the plot is concerned, I remind you that this story takes place in an environment of war between nations which battle with drones shaped like insects (or at least that is what I see), but among all the nations there is one that discriminately uses a race called 86: Eighty-Six which do not consider humans and in that sense make them crew the drones without caring about their lives, that nation is the republic of San Magnolia.

In the first season, a group of Eighty-Six managed to generate some empathy with the handler on duty (Handler: person who remotely supervises the squads), which was unusual taking into account that these are personnel of the republic and therefore do not treat them as humans, but Lena was different, she always considered them as humans and in that sense fought to help them even going beyond her authority, she always thought it was unfair the treatment given to them.

In short, at a certain point in the war there were only five Eighty-Six left in Lena's squadron and in a kind of final battle in which in a heroic way they manage to survive against all odds, they decide to leave or escape to unknown territory never to return, thus ending the first season, with a farewell that seems to be definitive since the chances of the handler and the boys of the squadron seeing each other again seem to be practically nil. At this point it was interesting to see how an impossible relationship was forged between some boys destined to die and a supervisor who belongs to a republic that discriminates by all means against the Eighty-Six.

Thus, for the second season, expectations are focused on determining whether Lena will be able to communicate with the boys again and on the future that awaits the five Eighty-Six in an unknown territory that is surely plagued by enemies. What is certain is that, at a certain point, the five Eighty-Six are rescued by the Federation, another nation that is also at war against the dangerous Legion (unmanned drones of Giad's Empire).

From now on the boys try to adapt to the normal life that was always denied to them, here they are not discriminated, on the contrary, they receive a treatment that to some extent is preferential. However, war is war and at a certain moment the five Eighty-Six decide that they are going to continue piloting drones and in a kind of reason of life they believe that they exist to battle, even more considering that the war is becoming more and more uphill and that the chances that the federation loses the war are increasingly higher.

I'm not going to give you spoilers, but throughout the second season we see how beautiful relationships develop between the Eighty-Six and some of the new characters that came to enrich the plot with pasts that continue to haunt him despite the years and that continue to make meya in their lives through war and a curious and evil way that the Legion have to keep alive people who are important to some of our protagonists. Did Lena and the five Eighty-Six managed to communicate or meet again? Well, obviously I'm not going to tell you, what I can tell you is that the season finale is completely worth it, as well as the story of this anime in general, 100% recommended.