Stratos 4: The Summer Anime Series, Sunny Summer Sun Times In The Sky Times Sun

Stratos 4 is the dreamiest little anime series. I've had the dvds tucked away for a few years now, and every time I need a breath of fresh air, I throw it on and just sort of chill out.

Blast Off At The Speed of Light!

Let me put it this way, there is an entire episode about their mischievous cat Admiral accidentally stealing a classified memory chip and saving a kitten from another cat bully. That should give you some idea of the gist of the series.

But that's not to say that it's frivolous entirely. There is a plot of sorts. The four main girls are part of a squad that has to break up meteors that enter the earth's atmosphere. There is also a space squad that tries to shoot them down out in space, but when they get through, the girls get called in. There's a whole power-struggle dynamic between the two squads, but for all the build-up it turns out to not be a very big conclusion.

The whole series takes place on a small island towards the bottom of the Japanese archipelago. It's a real island, Shimoji, the voice actresses and production crew visit it in the extras on one of the discs. Being a tropical island, the sense of sunny, slow, dazed, carefree life is prevalent. There's a lot of downtime between blowing up meteorites, apparently.

Where would their air strip be? Your guess is as good as mine.

At its' heart, Stratos 4 is a light-hearted anime about flying, fun, and fanservice. And there is a little bit of fanservice. Other than the occasional, very sparingly used, panty-flash, the girls fly their planes, riding in the cockpit motorcycle-style.

Maybe it makes it easier to pilot the planes.

This is about the extent of le sexiness, barring a few awkward lesbian space encounters.

I don't really have too much else to say about the series, because the main point of my review is the sunny, pleasant feeling it gives you while watching.

Don't expect Stratos 4 to come at you with any big ideas, crazy plots, or really anything out of the ordinary. Do expect to be relaxed and calmed into a tropical lull by cute, occasionally annoying pilot girls running around a gorgeous island. Do expect to be jealous, and want to visit aforementioned gorgeous island.