Sky Girls

Sky Girls (スカイガールズ) began as a single episode OVA anime by Konami, directed by Yoshiaki Iwasaki and animated by J.C.Staff. The 30 minute episode was released in Japan on August 25, 2006. A television adaptation of Sky Girls started on July 5, 2007, and ended on January 11, 2008.

Story
The Weapon Of Raid Machines (WORMs), which devastated the Earth have been sighted once again. Three young girls are gathered at the Oppama base, and trained to pilot Sonic Divers. They learn they have been chosen to save the Earth from destruction. Aboard the secret vessel number 113, the Koryu, Sonic Diver Unit team members Eika, Otoha, and Karen help protect Earth against the WORM threat with their flying exoskeletons (in the TV series, a fourth then fifth girl is later added).

Timeline

 * 2071 CE Since their sudden appearance, the mechanical cell clusters, known as the WORMs, begin sweeping away the human race on a massive scale.
 * 2073 CE After losing one-third of the population in the war with the WORMs, humanity overcame their national differences and united behind a single force.
 * 2074 CE Not being able to turn the situation in their favour, humanity decided to permit the use of weapons of mass destruction. And they succeeded in the annihilation of the WORMs. However, the price they paid was enormous. All the major continents were broken apart. Antarctica disappeared, and half of the remaining land mass was submerged. The largest damage this war caused was the loss of 90% of all military-age personnel, namely men in their twenties and thirties.
 * 2086 CE The WORMs, once thought to have been eliminated, began their activities again.

Technology
These are fictional technologies unique to Sky Girls.

Artificial life forms consisting entirely of thousands to millions of 'cells' approximately a foot in diameter, which are themselves created by nanotechnology. These come together to form large monsters that wreak havoc. WORMs are responsible for the destruction of one-third of human population. WORMs mimic the appearance of the first life-form they see, which is why almost all of them have similarities with maritime life-forms.
 * Weapon Of Raid Machines (WORMs)

Sonic Divers are a new technology where a pilot with sufficient innate ability and compatibility controls an exoskeleton that can fly and combat WORMs. The pilot sits are exposed to air inside the Sonic Divers.
 * Sonic Divers

Aside from the default "G" mode(glider mode), which is similar to a fighter plane, the Sonic Divers have a humanoid mode called "Mode A"(armor mode), in which the Sonic Diver mimics its pilot's movements.

Every Sonic Diver unit has different weapons:


 * Sonic Diver Raijin is armed with pairs of gatling guns, rocket launchers and energy cannons, giving it a great variety of ranged attacks.


 * Sonic Diver Reijin is armed with shoulder-mounted laser guns and a MV Sword, a katana with a vibrating blade.


 * Sonic Diver Fu-jin is armed with a rocket launcher that fires missile clusters. It is also equipped with additional tactical sensors.


 * Sonic Diver Bachstelze is armed with arm mounted laser guns and a one-handed polearm called "MV Lanze" ("Lanze" is a German term for "lance"). Guidance allows it to be thrown like a boomerang.


 * Sonic Diver Shunya is a customized Diver similar to Reijin. It has no fixed weapons, but can carry a rifle weapon in each hand.

Aside from these weapons, most of the Sonic Diver units seem to be equipped with either a machine gun or a pistol as a backup weapon.

In Episode 17, it is shown that the Sonic Divers are capable of independent movement. While they don't seem to be able to fight all by themselves, they can follow simple orders given to them by their pilot.

A form-fitting flight suit that resembles a very thin one-piece swimsuit. When used in combination with a nanoskin, a data circuit is created between pilot and sonic diver. The pilot can then operate the Sonic Diver until the nanoskin degrades.
 * Pilot suit

To protect the pilot during operation of the Sonic Diver, a nanoskin gel is applied over the entire skin. This is made up of nanomachines. This coating lasts only for exactly 21 minutes and 32 seconds, but during that time the body is protected from the rigors of both flight and combat. Piloting it in the absence of a nanoskin gel is referred to as extremely dangerous and probably fatal.
 * Nanoskin

An aerial combat procedure where a weakened WORM is surrounded by three (Delta Lock) or four (Quadra Formation) Sonic Divers. The Sonic Divers attack the WORM and sync themselves to the nanomachines that comprise the WORM's body. The nanomachines become unstable and begin to disintegrate. The WORM can then be destroyed.
 * Delta Lock and Quadra Formation

Main characters
Eika is quick at making decisions, has fast reflexes, and high stamina. She has a good leadership and more mature than the other two pilots. She excels in overall ability, much more than the other two pilots. This makes her the perfect choice for leading the Sonic Diver Unit. She was skeptic of Otoha and Karen's abilities at first, but later learns to be more forgiving, and gives good constructive criticism. The other Sky Girls look up to her and follow her good examples. Overall, she has a serious personality and is a tsundere character.
 * Lieutenant Eika Ichijo

Otoha is a master with the sword, but is otherwise an unknown in her abilities. She comes from an island where her family runs a dojo. She is naive and usually a cheerful girl, although she gets pretty violent with Ryohei Tachibana whenever he says something perverted. Even so, she appears to have feelings for him. Her Sonic Diver Unit is named Reijin, but she nicknames it "Zero".
 * Master Sergeant Otoha Sakurano

Karen is a genius with an IQ of 170 and is an authority on mechanics. She is a university graduated girl at the age of 16 yrs old. She has trouble talking to boys, as she can be quite shy around them. She has a mild crush on Takumi. Karen also enjoys writing letters to her older brother who works just outside the base and loves him very much.
 * Master Sergeant Karen Sonomiya

Elise is the youngest pilot of the Sonic Diver Unit. She is the sole survivor after the WORMs destroyed the West Europe base. Traumatized by that disaster, she suffers initial problems integrating into the Sky Girls unit, especially with Eika (the squadron leader). Her "selfish brat" behavior was the source of her problems. When she join the team, her overall ability as Sonic Driver pilot is very good, although not as good as Eika. She flies the only mass-produced Sonic Diver unit built before WORMS destroyed the manufacturing facility. She did not appear in the original Sky Girls OAV. She was briefly seen in episode 6 of the television series, and is formally introduced in episode 11.
 * Elise von Dietrich

Secondary characters
A former skilled combat pilot, he protected Zin Hizaki from a WORM's attack and injured his hands in the previous war against the WORMs and can no longer fly. Now he commands the 13th Aviation Corp (the Sonic Diver squadron). Eika is the squadron leader and his subordinate. His duties mostly revolve around training the pilots, relaying their orders from above and making sure the unit's needs are met. He is the only member aboard the Koryu that does not wear a traditional uniform. Instead he wears an old leather flight jacket with a winged skull on the back, a white shirt, and blue jeans. He also enjoys fishing (although he never catches anything). Although the three pilots see him as a non-sensitive man he actually really cares about them. The reason he is strict and stern to them is for their own good as pilots who drive unusual combat weapon.
 * Lieutenant Colonel (later Commander) Souya Togo

A quiet and secretive officer in charge of the Sonic Diver program at the Oppama Testing Facility. While Lt. Col. Togo outranks him, Lt. Hizuki's position in the program puts him above Togo. Unbeknown to the others, he is preparing the Sonic Divers to combat WORMs. He is an unsociable man who is not used to showing his true feelings giving him the appearance of a cold man.
 * Lieutenant Rei Hizuki

Lieutenant Hizuki's assistant until she is transferred with the Sonic Diver unit to the naval destroyer, Koryu. She collects and monitors Sonic Diver data. She is a reliable girl who is quick at her work. She is also shy and mousy but is known for having the largest bosom in the show. She was born on an island and has a younger sister named Hakashi and a childhood friend named Kurosawa HiroharuThey seem to have a mutual crush. A picture of her is featured every episode when advertising the sponsors.
 * Nanae Fujieda

A kind boy who always smiles and gentle. He is the communications officer monitoring the Sonic Divers and any potential enemies. He helps out in the ship's galley as Chef Gen-san's assistant and enjoys photography as a hobby. He has a crush on Karen.
 * Takumi Hayami

The Sonic Diver specialist who work on Otoha's Reijin. He is a rough man and has a tendency to be a bit of a pervert, which Otoha scolds him for. He and Otoha develop a close bond, even though neither will admit it and they fight frequently.
 * Ryohei Tachibana

The two twin sisters are Sonic Diver mechanics. Ranko has pink hair, and is very outgoing and friendly, and is charged with maintenance on Eika's Raijin. Haruko has blue hair, a calm stoic demeanor and is in charge of Karen's Fujin.
 * Ranko and Haruko Mikogami

Voiced by: Kumiko Higa (Ranko) and Momoko Ishikawa (Haruko)

Chief Mechanic and supervises the other mechanics. Later he personally handles the maintenance on Elise's Sonic Diver, Bachstelze V1.
 * Captain Seibi Oto

Commander of the special naval destroyer no. 113, the Koryu.
 * Admiral Kadowaki

Second in command aboard Koryu. After experiencing the destructive capabilities of WORMs in the first war, he has serious doubts about the Sky Girls and the Sonic Diver program.
 * Rear Admiral Shima

Doctor aboard the Koryu. She is a widow and has a son.
 * Doctor Aki Yuko

The Koryu's Chef. He is a hard taskmaster, giving his assistant, Takumi Hayami, plenty of work to do. However, the Chef develops a fatherly relationship with Elise, often pampering her and preparing her favourite dishes. This is because Elise looks very like his granddaughter.
 * Chef Gen-san

Pilot of the Vic Viper and old acquaintance of Togo. At first he is quite arrogant to the Sonic Diver pilots and looks down on the Sonic Divers which pisses off Otoha and Ryohei.
 * Zin Hizaki

Ally of Rei Hizuki and guardian of Aisha. She supervises the WORM task force and the Sonic Diver program.
 * Kiriko Suou

A mysterious, shy girl whose late father conducted scientific work on nanotechnology connected to the origins of the WORMs. She has shown limited 'remote control' of the WORMs (episode 20). Near the end of the series she becomes the fifth Sky Girl, and pilots the Sonic Diver Shunya.
 * Aisha Krishnam

Eika's father. A high ranking naval commander with jurisdiction over the Sonic Diver and Vic Viper projects. He and his daughter Eika are very similar, but they don't get along. Because after Eika saw her father flying as a pilot, she herself wanted to be a pilot, but her father would not let her so she left the house. Because of that Eika always hates when other people mention about his father and family and always scold other people not to mention about them.
 * Admiral Ichijo

Otoha's twin younger brother who disappeared many years prior to the time depicted in the anime. Otoha loves her twin brother and before his disappearance they got along well and had the same dream to fly in the sky. Later it is known that his disappearance caused by WORMs.
 * Yuuki Sakurano

Episodes
The English translations of each episode title are unofficial, and neither the OVA nor the TV series have been licensed for foreign release.

Theme songs and soundtrack albums
Opening Song (OP):
 * "Baby's Tears" by Riyu Kosaka (OVA) (This song also appears in the Japanese music video game Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova, SuperNova 2 in North America.)
 * "Virgin's High!" by Mell (TV anime)

Ending Song (ED):
 * "Shooting Star ~Negai o Komete~" (「Shooting Star⁓願いをこめて⁓」) by Saori Gotō (OVA)
 * "True Blue" by Saori Gotō (TV anime, episodes 1–13)
 * "Diamond Sparkle" by Azusa Kataoka (TV anime, episodes 14–26 )