Area 88

Area 88 (エリア88, Eria Hachi-Jū-Hachi) is a manga written and illustrated by Kaoru Shintani. It was serialized in Shōnen Big Comic from 1979 to 1986.

Area 88 was among the first three manga to be translated into English and published in North America. It has been adapted into a theatrical film, two anime series', the first an OVA originally published in 1985 and the latest, a 12-episode anime television series, which premiered across Japan on the anime television network Animax in 2004, and a video game, released in North America as U.N. Squadron. It is also a brand of model aircraft in Japan.

Plot
Shin Kazama was an airline pilot who was close to marrying Ryoko Tsugumo, the daughter of the CEO of Yamato Airlines. Unfortunately, fate had other plans when his former best friend Satoru Kanzaki tricked him into signing a contract to be a mercenary pilot for the Kingdom of Asran. Now stationed at the Middle Eastern country's base Area 88, Shin has three ways to return to Japan: serve the air force for three years, earn US$1.5 million, or desert the base, facing imminent death.