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'86' Sci-Fi Battle Light Novel Series Get TV Anime

A livestream commemorating the first anniversary of Kadokawa's "Kimirano" light novel website announced on Sunday that Asato Asato's 86 light novel series is inspiring a television anime.

The livestream also announced that the series is inspiring a Gakuen 86 (Academy 86) manga by Suzume Somemiya in Kadokawa's Monthly Comic Alive magazine.

Yen Press is publishing the light novel series in English, and it describes the story:

The San Magnolia Republic has long been under attack by unmanned weapons from the neighboring Empire. Against this onslaught, the Republic has also deployed similar weapons, narrowly avoiding great loss of life and impending disaster-or at least that's how it seemed.

The truth is that it has never been possible to have no casualties. Young men and women drawn from the Republic's supposedly non-existent 86th district are organized into the "86 unit" and then ordered to pilot the "unmanned weapons" before heading to battle.

Asato launched the novel series under Kadokawa's Dengeki Bunko imprint in April 2017. Shirabi (The Ryuo's Work Is Never Done!, Myriad Colors Phantom World) is drawing the illustrations, and the artist I-IV (Aldnoah.Zero, Re:CREATORS) is in charge of mechanical design. The seventh volume shipped in September, and the eighth volume will ship on May 9. The light novel series already has a manga adaptation by Motoki Yoshihara in Square Enix's Young Gangan magazine.

The novel series won the grand prize in the 23rd Dengeki Novel Prize competition in 2016. It ranked #2 in the bunkobon rankings for the 2018 edition of Takarajimasha's Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! (This Light Novel Is Amazing!) guidebook, and ranked #5 in the 2019 edition.

Source: Kadokawa Anime livestream