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Jan 13, 2019 5:52 AM
#1

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Nov 2011
129033
THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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Ooh, they sure didn't waste time to get right to the point. The aerial fighter squadron consisting of the main characters don't play around on their jobs.

Kirie has my attention the most as one of the pilots. The aircrafts they use aren't anything too special (at least compared to say...Girly Air Force this season) imo. However, I like the scenery of the dogfights and actually flying. Much more realistic than I had expected and it went into good amount of details from the pilot's perspective.

It kinda reminds me of the good old dogfights I've seen in war movies. Pretty cool start.
Jan 13, 2019 6:07 AM
#2

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Sep 2014
469
The Dogfight was quite fun to watch, kinda enjoy hearing dat engine noise lol

Not sure how to feel about the animation. Personally I don't like it when they mix the two styles...

But looking forward to the other dogfights, looks promising

Jan 13, 2019 6:57 AM
#3
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Nov 2017
215
Definitely one for watching on a big screen. Save this one for when you're at home and can really appreciate it.
Jan 13, 2019 7:14 AM
#4

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Sep 2015
988
This was probably the most close anime to "Third Girls Aerial' Fighters" from Shirobako that I have ever seen.

Since dogfight between Aircrafts is not my favorite cup of tea, apart from the scene at the start where the girls emphatically and boldly refuse the guys that tried to hit on them I didn't thought much of it yet. But its not trash.
shiro_kaiJan 13, 2019 10:10 AM
Jan 13, 2019 7:25 AM
#5
Former AMQ God

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Sep 2014
5547
Okay, this might not be for me so i'm gonna be cautiously hoping that they will show more of the world they live in (cause that bit at the end, i liked the setting) and it's not just full on aerial battles.
Jan 13, 2019 7:45 AM
#6
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Jul 2017
34
I don't even know why I bother attempting to watch shows with CGI in them.
Jan 13, 2019 7:50 AM
#7

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Dec 2014
7045
I quite liked this.

The tail fighting is pretty cool to watch and the premise seem interesting too. Liking the girls so far even though we only got to see the black haired girl for the most part.

The premise seems like it could be interesting as well.

There's a good amount of potential here, so I'll stick around to see where it goes.
Jan 13, 2019 8:08 AM
#8

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Jan 2013
992
Already better than Girly Air Force.
REJECT ANIMU - EMBRACE TOKU
Jan 13, 2019 8:11 AM
#9

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Apr 2010
9738
Well this was better then expected.
I was looking forward to this one since GAF wasn't that good but this makes up for it the dog fight was really well done.
We didn't really get to know the characters tho but for a first impression this was great.
Jan 13, 2019 8:19 AM

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Jul 2016
3280
I don't know if I just wasn't paying enough attention, but I got really lost at certain points. When the dogfight started I thought the guys we see getting beaten up were fighting the girls, but then the girls show up themselves and I was like "Wait wha.... oh. I'm an idiot". Also they never showed a transition of the cafe to the zeppelin, so for a while I thought that the cafe was actually on the zeppelin.
On the whole though... it was alright. A lot better than I was expecting and the animation was pretty good a lot of time.
Jan 13, 2019 8:41 AM

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Jul 2017
6750
Good episode. The dogfighting felt intense and kinda real tbh. The sound effects given for those planes were really good too.
Jan 13, 2019 8:43 AM

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Apr 2015
72
Saw Girly Air Force, didn't like. But this, this is good. It has nice dogfighting too. Hope to see more action.
All men, kings or peasants, die equally.
Jan 13, 2019 9:18 AM

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Dec 2016
3522
Just not my thing, cgi wasn't really even that bad I just wasn't really intrigued or anything
“I love heroes, but I don't want to be one. Do you even know what a hero is!? For example, you have some meat. Pirates will feast on the meat, but the hero will distribute it among the people! I want to eat the meat!” - Monkey D. Luffy
Jan 13, 2019 9:19 AM

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Oct 2010
1325
I got a bit confused at the plot but the dog fights were amazing. Really impressed. I was put off but the CGI but seeing the dog fights of such high quality it makes sense to use CGI. Any ww2 fighter buff would probably love this.
Jan 13, 2019 9:40 AM

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Jun 2015
2762
I'm a sucker for aerial fights, so that was pretty cool. I really don't like the CGI, it's off putting.
Jan 13, 2019 9:49 AM

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Nov 2016
31878
Not the most impressive start, but I'm interested to see how this will play out.

One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron


Jan 13, 2019 9:54 AM

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Jun 2017
2798
That whole minute they took starting and checking Kirie's plane was very good.

Still, I like the other version better. You know, the one I see when I close my eyes, with everything hand-drawn.

Jan 13, 2019 9:56 AM

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Mar 2016
2038
I liked this quite a bit. Strong focus on the dogfights with not too many interruptions or needless dialogue in-flight. Might be my favorite first episode this season.
Jan 13, 2019 10:07 AM

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Apr 2012
4896
Pretty solid start. Careful direction, attention to details (like plane parts and the sound of the aerofoils), and a few good punchlines. When's next episode?

shiro_kai said:
This was probably the most close anime to "Third Girls Aerial' Fighters" from Shirobako I have ever seen..
Haha, good post.
Jan 13, 2019 10:20 AM

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Nov 2015
294
I'm not a fan of the CGI character animation, although it's better than most. I dunno how this is going to play out...like Area 88 + Haifuri? I mean it's a SoL anime about mercenaries or something...we'll see.

Better than Girly Air Force, but I'm not sold yet.

(And what's up with the damn bird with the hat? Why? Who decided "Yes, what this anime needs most of all is a random bird mascot. This needs to be part of the animation budget."?????)
Jan 13, 2019 10:41 AM
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Apr 2017
1
Nice looking dogfight and mechanical designs!

But the character animation is quite horrible with its mix of 3D and 2D styles. Sometimes it's like marionettes made of cardboard, with some body parts swinging around unnaturally while others being totally stiff. This might become very distracting, if there happen to be more character-based scenes in the future.

No real story so far, just some smalltalk and fighting.
Jan 13, 2019 10:52 AM

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Apr 2012
4896
delta5 said:
(And what's up with the damn bird with the hat? Why? Who decided "Yes, what this anime needs most of all is a random bird mascot. This needs to be part of the animation budget."?????)
That looked like a dodo btw. I guess there are several reasons: Japanese love mascots, so it's logical a flying squad will have a bird. The name of the squad is longevity (kotobuki), so having an ancient bird like that makes sense too. Plus it looks goofy so it'll help for comic relief. Funnily enough the dodos were flightless though.
Jan 13, 2019 10:54 AM
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Jul 2018
564084
I thought it was good, the CGI was far better than most others, the aircraft were realistic down to the cowl flaps and tail dragger take off style. Great to watch on a big TV with surround sound.

You'd been balls of steel to attempt that landing though.
Jan 13, 2019 11:02 AM
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Sep 2015
5
Far Better Than Girly Air Force / 10

Loved the care they had with the details, from the take off to the ALMOST TEN MINUTES OF dogfight. The studio is serious about the airplane part and that makes me happy.

Shame they didn't have budget to make the animation hand-drawn, but even in CGI I can see they tried.
Jan 13, 2019 11:08 AM
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Jan 2019
2
I really liked it - and to my own surprise the CG did not bother me (for once) - in fact, it was actually really well made.
The setting HEAVILY reminds me of Microsoft's Crimson Skies game.
This show deserves more recognition.
Jan 13, 2019 11:12 AM
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May 2017
237
so, a bunch of girls in old-ass planes with analogue sights out-flew and out-fought a bunch of men who had been flying for years in better aircraft? is there no way writers can write a story that doesn't make the protagonists look good by making everyone else look like shit and be as incompetent and arrogant as possible?
Jan 13, 2019 11:14 AM

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Nov 2015
294
EratiK said:
That looked like a dodo btw. I guess there are several reasons: Japanese love mascots, so it's logical a flying squad will have a bird. The name of the squad is longevity (kotobuki), so having an ancient bird like that makes sense too. Plus it looks goofy so it'll help for comic relief. Funnily enough the dodos were flightless though.


It definitely looked like a dodo! I was wondering about that. I'm generally not a mascot fan so, for me, meh. Waste of budget IMO but hardly a dealbreaker.
Jan 13, 2019 11:16 AM
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Jun 2016
297
Interesting intro....with enough to whet our appetite.

Animation very good...even some good integration of the newfangled 3D and CGI for once.

Looking forward to the next episode...hope we get more info on the world the ladies live in. Possibly an alternate Earth...where the dodos did not die out....
"The greatness of one's sorrow when parting is the evidence of the deepness of one's love, so if one fears sadness, one wouldn't be able to love anything."
Jan 13, 2019 11:18 AM
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May 2013
6
It's like the director decided that the side characters will get the premium treatment in a 5-star 2d hotel, at the nightlife district, while our heroines have to stay in a 2-star 3d motel, 8km from city center where you have to heat your own waffles on breakfast.

They always seem to think that more movement makes it better but I think it really makes 3d look worse. If they used the same principles as in 2d animation (for example when speaking only mouth moves) it might look better.
merkkierkkiJan 13, 2019 11:31 AM
Jan 13, 2019 11:21 AM
fanservice<3

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Mar 2012
12557
what an interesting Star Wars episode


....


lol in all seriousness, not feeling the 3d parts

those triplets tho<3
Jan 13, 2019 11:37 AM

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Jun 2015
398
Smh, western fans and trashing CG. Kotobuki has some of the best CG we've seen from anime in a while. It's no Land of the Lustrous, but that was quite good. The aircraft were all faithfully represented, the dog fights were all quite accurate/realistic for the planes we're talking about, the sound work was absolutely top tier, and the designs were all pretty cool. The characters, both 2D and 3D, all looked quite nice as well. The only really noticeable moments of CG weirdness was a couple times when characters were walking slowly.

We didn't get much story substance quite yet, but we got a badass dogfight that reminded me of those old History channel WWII airplane specials, which I'm a sucker for. The flyby of the zeppelin, our crazy MC pulling up just inches from the ground, the bullet travel and casings flying everywhere, along with just so many impeccable details of aircraft flight were included. I especially liked them showing a lot of the pre-flight startup sequence for such planes.

This is probably my favourite show so far this season and I shall look forward to more.
Jan 13, 2019 12:39 PM

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Jun 2012
260
Dogfights were great. We could have done without the CGI but it wasn't too bad.
Jan 13, 2019 1:10 PM

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Jun 2017
2798
There's even a Public Morals Commitee:


Jan 13, 2019 1:56 PM

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Apr 2015
615
I want more CGI shows, this one looked great but why were the men 2D? lmao
Jan 13, 2019 2:16 PM

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Dec 2016
1484
This was a lot better than I expected it to be, I was impressed.

The animation is a little strange and took a while to get used to but I am fine with it.

No surprise those men failed, I'm glad they did after taking themselves up so much.

Wow these girls really know how to pilot and fight, looking forward to seeing them in action again next time.
Jan 13, 2019 2:31 PM
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Feb 2010
78
I'm honestly surprised with the quality of animation. Sure it's not as good as hand drawn, but for a CG-based show, it's freakin' good. Enough frames, fluent motions. The dogfight was freakin' gold too!
Jan 13, 2019 3:20 PM
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Aug 2018
233
Well, I might be the first to say this, but I think the thing I enjoyed the most of this episode was the dialogue in that first scene. I mean, you don't get much better at introducing the characters without saying "she's the smart one" or "she's the cutest one". Even though the dogfight was really well directed, and it took most of the episode screen time, the first scene did a very fine job at introducing the characters personalities without much exposition. I'm guessing we'll get a little bit of that in the second episode, and the character traits aren't the most originals, but it was good dialogue nonetheless.

And as for the elephant in the room, the CGI isn't the best I've seen, but it was decently done. I still don't know why animate some characters in traditional 2D and the main ones in 3D, but the dialogue was so naturalistic and the air fight was so breath taking (those POV shots were kind of disorienting, but I think that was kind of the point, and it really shows how confusing an air fight can be) that any complaint I could've had with the animation was mostly gone by the end. I won't say this was my favorite premiere of the season, but it was one of my favorites, and it would be one of the best if this season wasn't so damn stacked.

Mizushima is BACK!!!!
Jan 13, 2019 3:28 PM

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Sep 2017
2800
Pretty cool tbh. My expectations were low, but they were certainly surpassed.

The very first shot on the cards as those guys played asshole/president or whatever else it's called was pretty cool. The dialogue was super fast paced in the beginning as well which gave for a high energy, snappy feel. I kinda liked it, but it could easily become a pain if it's always so fast.

The entire takeoff sequence focusing on Kirie was also done well. I think they are doing a good job of using some of the strengths of cgi to get dynamic shots that would be much harder with 2D. The cgi could have been better, but when a show is entirely cgi it usually doesn't negatively impact my viewing experience... Except that they randomly used some 2D bit here and there, which I don't really understand. If all the backgrounds and characters are 3D most of the time, why insert random parts when 2D characters. It just distracts me. Eh whatever.

The sound design felt good. I'm not expert on what fighter planes sound like, but I feel like they did a pretty good job.

And then the short monologue by Kirie at the end was pretty ambiguous. Hard to know if she's being literal about the world opening up.

Overall, I can say I've never watched any kind of air fight to that degree before, and it looked and sounded pretty cool, so I'm into it.
Jan 13, 2019 3:40 PM

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May 2010
2887
I really like how they totaly nailed the dogfights and the whole air combat. I wasnt feeling this show when i saw how charackters were rendered in cgi so im glad i sticked around for the whole episode.

5/5
Jan 13, 2019 3:44 PM

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Nov 2013
3158
not sure if i'll finish this anime (as i'm not a big fan of pilot things), but since i started, i'll say that this was funny enough to watch 1 or 2 more episodes before deciding lol
favorite "new girls" from summer <3 ... click sig for older seasons and more possible picks (rip all the other choices)
Jan 13, 2019 4:39 PM

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136
commander31able said:
so, a bunch of girls in old-ass planes with analogue sights out-flew and out-fought a bunch of men who had been flying for years in better aircraft? is there no way writers can write a story that doesn't make the protagonists look good by making everyone else look like shit and be as incompetent and arrogant as possible?

Pretty much this.
I dont always mind shoujo, and I like some of the humor, setting and art the anime is in.
But the fact that every single guy we have seen up till now is either a drooling spineless moron (the captain) or an incapable, arrogant and horny idiot (whoever the guy was who got shot almost instantly).
Not only that, but after they died, they get trashed on by the 'moral comittee'.

After that I have seen enough, ill go back to my shounen where the MC might be a guy, but the women actually have character and arent all as useless and helpless as prince peach in Super Mario.
I do not mind female MC's, i do mind fucking feminism creeping into anime
FluxjeJan 15, 2019 1:53 AM
Jan 13, 2019 4:41 PM
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May 2017
237
Kerozinn said:
I really like how they totaly nailed the dogfights and the whole air combat. I wasnt feeling this show when i saw how charackters were rendered in cgi so im glad i sticked around for the whole episode.

5/5


they "nailed the dogfights"? please, watch Sky Crawlers, or just the aerial battles, and think about what you wrote.
Jan 13, 2019 4:41 PM

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Mar 2011
9988
I know in these setups you have to big up these pilots skills as character introduction, but damn why is it always the same fucking way?

Idiot: [Brags about activity] I done n of this particular measure, I am good.
Girl: I have done 10n of this
Idiot: [gasp]

Like I know these mercenaries are not the cream of the crop, but having them suck absolute dick is just to make the girls seem better is lazy. I feel like I've seen this exact thing happen in at least 10 other anime. Poor guys have their plane tapped by a bullet and they fall, but MC survives just fine I guess.

Also this would definitely work better if just the planes were CG, but whatever. Mixing CG and "normal" animation characters will always look odd.

Seems Houseki no Kuni is going to remain the only good looking CGI anime TV series for now.
Jan 13, 2019 4:46 PM
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May 2017
237
ProofByColor said:
Pretty cool tbh. My expectations were low, but they were certainly surpassed.

The very first shot on the cards as those guys played asshole/president or whatever else it's called was pretty cool. The dialogue was super fast paced in the beginning as well which gave for a high energy, snappy feel. I kinda liked it, but it could easily become a pain if it's always so fast.

The entire takeoff sequence focusing on Kirie was also done well. I think they are doing a good job of using some of the strengths of cgi to get dynamic shots that would be much harder with 2D. The cgi could have been better, but when a show is entirely cgi it usually doesn't negatively impact my viewing experience... Except that they randomly used some 2D bit here and there, which I don't really understand. If all the backgrounds and characters are 3D most of the time, why insert random parts when 2D characters. It just distracts me. Eh whatever.

The sound design felt good. I'm not expert on what fighter planes sound like, but I feel like they did a pretty good job.

And then the short monologue by Kirie at the end was pretty ambiguous. Hard to know if she's being literal about the world opening up.

Overall, I can say I've never watched any kind of air fight to that degree before, and it looked and sounded pretty cool, so I'm into it.


that takeoff sequence caters to a very specific audience of prop plane nerds that probably nutted in their pants at how right the pre-flight checks were. it serves no narrative purpose.

the sounds of the aircraft machine guns sound like this, at about 1:37: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HJMvADklEQ
that's not good.

if you want to see awesome dogfights, watch clips from Sky Crawlers on YouTube, and spare yourself the pain of watching the whole film. you won't be disappointed.
Jan 13, 2019 5:21 PM

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May 2010
2887
commander31able said:


they "nailed the dogfights"? please, watch Sky Crawlers, or just the aerial battles, and think about what you wrote.


are you really comparing a Movie to a tv show?
Sky Crawlers obviously has a way bigger budget.

have some common sense
Jan 13, 2019 5:38 PM
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Sep 2018
108
VanishingKira said:
The cast seems like they'll be likable enough,not sure if I want to set my expectations to GuP levels of fun but I do hope Mizushima delivers despite still working on the Das Finale OVAs.

GuP, It's really beenfar too long waiting for those ova
Jan 13, 2019 6:01 PM

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Nov 2010
413
The character CG was rather unfortunate and the dogfight lacked a bit of clarity thanks to the confusing direction, but i have to give it sound design and research for the show!
All the aircraft was incredible detailed researched and the sound (apart from the voice stuff) was incredible during the fight. (Kind of made me pick up War Thunder again.)

Bit weird how detailed they did the character when she pulled back her glasses you could even see the marks of the edges, but on the other hand some of the girls didn't even pull down the glasses they had on their head during the fight.

Very mixed bag so far.
Jan 13, 2019 6:49 PM

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Mar 2015
774
Pretty good! One or two notches up from Girls und Panzer as far as story so far, I am interested in seeing how this plays out.
The sword that takes life gives life
Jan 13, 2019 7:00 PM

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Apr 2009
907
well looks like the plane girls in GAF are gonna look like bloody idiots when they see the better dogfights in this show
The current game that i play: Azur Lane :3

Jan 13, 2019 7:22 PM
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Jul 2014
657
commander31able said:
Kerozinn said:
I really like how they totaly nailed the dogfights and the whole air combat. I wasnt feeling this show when i saw how charackters were rendered in cgi so im glad i sticked around for the whole episode.

5/5


they "nailed the dogfights"? please, watch Sky Crawlers, or just the aerial battles, and think about what you wrote.


Sky Crawlers (and the princess and the pilot) have much more dynamic air combat.

With that said:

To my understanding, the teams behind Shirobako and Girls und Panzer are making this, which makes sense given the modeling and attention to detail with the aircraft. Essentially, this is to Japanese World War II aircraft what Haifuri was to ships and Girls Und Panzer was to tanks. And, like Girls Und Panzer, the show does have some rooting in plausibility:

The US Navy Akron class airship was designed as a rigid-hull reconnaissance airship, complete with a hangar for up to five biplane fighters for scouting and self-defense.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akron-class_airship#Aircraft_hangar

Plot and world-wise, however, this is Warthunder Air Aircade battles: the anime.
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