Undertaker (アンダーテイカー, Andāteikā?) is the first episode of the 86: Eighty-Six anime adaptation, originally broadcasted on April 10, 2021.
Plot
The Republic of San Magnolia: in the shadow of the peaceful lives of its citizens, countless lives are being decimated. Juggernauts are unmanned combat machines manufactured by the Republic in order to fend off the Legion, an army of drones deployed by the neighboring rival - the Giadian Empire. However, the unmanned nature of the Juggernaut was nothing but a fabrication. The Juggernaut are piloted by a group of young boys and girls known as the "Eighty-Six", who continue to fight day and night to restore their rights that were stripped by the Republic. The Republican Major, Lena, who is determined to help liberate the Eighty-Six, is put in charge of the elite Spearhead Squadron. However, she comes across a suspicious rumor that the leader of the Squadron - Undertaker - has a tendency to destroy the psyche of the command officer in charge.
Appearances
Characters
Mechanics
Locations
Differences from Light Novel
- Contrary to the anime opening up with the sounds of Undertaker breaking the psyche of a Handler, in the novel's Prologue Undertaker does not harm the Handler. The Handler, instead, hands over command of the battlefield to undertaker before the Spearhead Squadron's interception with the legion and escapes the battle by cutting transmission. Furthermore, while in the anime the Handler curses the Eighty-Six to destruction, the Handler in the novel shows an apologetic behavior.
- Though in the novel, the timeline is presented using both Republic Year and Stellar Year calendars, the anime exclusively uses the Stellar Year calendar only.
- Margareta Milizè, Lena's mother, is introduced during breakfast early in the episode. In the novel, she is introduced later in the next morning after the battle with Pleiades' Squadron.
- During the battle involving the Pleiades' Squadron, the squadron leader Pleiades and 6 other units died in battle, along with 5 other units destroyed in prior battles leaving only 13 of 24 units units left alive at the time Lena's designation was changed.in the novel, Pleiades survived the battle and only 7 units were destroyed during all interceptions, leaving with 17 units alive.
- Lena met Karstahl and was appointed as Spearhead Squadron's control officer before the battle with Pleiades' Squadron . In the novel, she meets Karlstahl and takes up the position in the Spearhead Squadron a day after the battle with Pleiades' Squadron.
- The introduction of the Spearhead Squadron which also recounts the death of Kujo is based loosely around the Triage - Black Tag novella collection. In the original novel, the introduction is set ten days after the death of Kujo.
- Though in the anime Shin shoots Kujo with a handgun to ease his death, it the novel he died by getting caught in an explosion of self-propelling mines, a trap set by the Legion.
Gallery
