Area 88 (エリア88 Eria Hachi-Jū-Hachi) is a military Japanese manga series by Shintani Kaoru serialized between 1979 and 1986.
The story is about a young fighter pilot named Kazama Shin and his experiences at the titular "Area 88", a mercenary airforce base secluded in the desert of a fictional war torn country.
The manga series is notable because Area 88, along with Mai, the Psychic Girl and The Legend of Kamui, was one of the first three manga ever to be translated into English and published in North America by Eclipse Comics and VIZ Media in May 1987.
Between February 5, 1985 and August 15, 1986, Studio Pierrot produced an OVA trilogy for VHS and laserdisc. In 1992, Central Park Media's U.S. Manga Corps released the OVA series, subtitled in English, in North America for VHS and laserdisc, and re-released the first volume for DVD on 14 July 2000.
After Central Park Media's OVA license lapsed, ADV Films published Act I and Act III of the trilogy for DVD on 25 July 2006.
An updated 12 episode anime television series with CGI graphics, produced by Animax, Group TAC and Media Factory, began production in 2003 and premiered across Japan on the anime satellite television network, Animax, from 8 January 2004 to 5 March 2004, who later aired the series across its other respective networks worldwide, including Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, South Asia, South Korea, Taiwan and other regions. ADV Films licensed the series for North American distribution, releasing the series across the region, with the first DVD volume release being published on June 22, 2005 and the last volume being released on January 17, 2006.
An horizontal scrolling shoot'em up video game by Capcom was released in the arcades in 1989. It was released in the West as U.N. Squadron , with only the characters connecting the two versions. Ports were released for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Super Famicom, Super Nintendo and ZX Spectrum.
