Stratos 4

Mikaze is a teenage pilot, or "Meteor Sweeper," for the Shimoji Island base in Okinawa. Along with three other pilots, this team of young women intercept comets from space that are headed towards Earth.

For the most part, Stratos 4 is a strictly average show. The first few episodes focuses on the girls doing their job by simply flying up in the sky and destroying the comets with a missile before they come in contact with the atmosphere. Fortunately, things get more interesting near the end of the show when the mysteries about the comets are revealed. Also, the show can feel a little silly at times, like when a group of weird conspirators aid the girls when they get into some trouble as well as the boring filler episode where the girls go looking for a missing cat.

I liked the characters enough and there is quite a bit of focus on them. When the girls aren't training or studying, they can usually be found working at a ramen shop and occasionally making deliveries. The show has quite a bit of fanservice, too, with several panty shots and a few bathing scenes. There are also some fanservice shots from the suits they wear when piloting and from the way they are seated in their planes.

The animation is average. The ships that are flown by the girls are occasionally done in CG, and they look good in action and have some nice effects with the flames and smoke coming out the back. I really like the upbeat and catchy opening and ending themes, too.

Overall, I liked Stratos 4, however, I must admit that one of the main things that kept me interested in the series was the attractive females. It's a hard show to recommend, as there isn't much that sticks out as being really well done, but it holds together well enough to be entertaining.

Score:

Written by Marc Frost on Apr 05, 2014