--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Teams

At the start of the series, the principal schools/teams are:

Atlantic Conference

Britannia Academy
The United Kingdom. Plucky underdogs punching above their weight. Headmaster Chamberlain, a pleasant, well-meaning, hard-working, but overly optimistic administrator, retires early in season one and is replaced by irascible Headmaster Churchill, whose pugnacious manner in dealing with the other principals often bites off more than the team was really prepared to chew.

Gymnasium Germania
Germany. The Nazi elements are downplayed, though the insignia on the German characters' uniforms and aircraft are correct. An incredibly powerful, arrogant school whose administrators (including the elusive and dreaded Headmaster, who appears to have no name and is never seen in person) believe that they should run all the other schools as well.

École Marianne
France. Proud, haughty, disorganized, outclassed. The École Marianne has a long-standing rivalry with Britannia Academy, but lately have been collaborating with them in many sports programs.

Rodina-Mat Aviation Technical High School of Moscow
The USSR. Highly specialized school in which only aviation and aviation-related subjects (aircraft maintenance and repair, etc.) are taught. Somewhat hampered by a low general technology level, but very dedicated, though, as at the Gymnasium Germania, the students are terrified of the administration (particularly Vice-Principal Beria).

Pacific Conference

Britannia East
Britannia Academy operates a satellite school in Hong Kong, with a branch campus in Singapore. It isn't as well-funded as the main school, and its distance from Britain makes communications with the head office tricky.

Australia Ladies' College
Closely allied with Britannia Academy, of which it was once a satellite school as well before it began operating independently at the turn of the century. Despite its name, it's grades 10-12, not post-secondary. They play a fairly minor role in the TV series, but are more prominent in the manga.

Greater East Asia Girls' Aviation Academy
Japan. Trains aircraft for the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Japanese Army, and so maintains two teams, whose rivalry is, if anything, more intense than any either team maintains with those operated by other schools. Like the Gymnasium Germania, East Asia Girls' Academy's administrators (particularly Vice-Headmaster Tojo) believe the school's system is best and all the other schools in the conference should permit it to take over their administration as well.

Zhong Guo Technical School
China. Headmaster Chiang is not a great prize, but most of the students agree that having their school merged with East Asia Girls' Academy would be even worse - and that doesn't even take into account the other interloper trying to seize control of the school, a renegade educator called Mr. Mao. Starts the tournament woefully underequipped and unprepared.

Both conferences are joined at the beginning of 1942 (season three of the TV series, Volume 10 of the manga) by teams from Columbia High School, i.e., the United States of America, although American players have been participating (not always entirely within league rules or with their school's administration's blessing) in both conferences since nearly the beginning of the tournament. Like Britannia Academy, Columbia is so big that it's actually two schools, Columbia East (which plays in the Atlantic Conference) and Columbia West (Pacific).

Major Characters

Britannia Academy

N.B. The complicated interconnections of the British aircraft industry mean that all the native-born Britannia students are related in some often confusing way.

Hurricane
Full name: Hurricane "Hurry" Hawker
Birthdate: November 6, 1935
Class: Senior

As the "old lady" of the Britannian fighters, Hurricane feels she has little to prove. She doesn't care about popularity or pleasing the administrator or even individual achievement - so long as her team is winning, or at least not losing, she's content. She has less-than-perfect attendance and conduct records and a tendency to be a bit overconfident, but she works hard, is an excellent athlete, and has a naturally winning personality that smooths over most of her rough spots. She also has a surprisingly beautiful singing voice - although in the heat of combat it becomes a sort of primal howl, signaling to all who hear it that Hurricane is on the hunt. (Because of this, Me 109 calls her Werwolf.)

Hurry is a bit of a tomboy, and prefers her PE clothes to her proper uniform, which she never quite seems to be wearing correctly. She keeps her light brown hair short and unfussy and can't see the point of makeup (in part, annoyingly for her classmates, because she doesn't require the embellishment - really good bones). She usually has a look of slight mischief about her and a glint in her blue eyes, as if she's either up to something or trying to think of something to be up to. (Conversely, on the rare occasions when she gets really angry, it shows much more obviously than in most of the others; her face goes crimson, the pupils of her eyes almost disappear, the sinews of her neck and forearms show, her fingers become claws, and her teeth take on a striking resemblance to a bear trap.) She has a surprisingly delicate build for such a dedicated athlete.

Somewhat to some people's surprise, Hurricane is capable of great refinement when the situation calls for it. She can wear a dress, sit with her knees together, and hold a teacup properly, and when called upon to do so, she will. It's just not her default state. At such moments, the resemblance between Hurry and Spitfire becomes so marked that people automatically assume they must be sisters (a misperception which their very similar voices do nothing to dispel).

Spitfire
Full name: Spitfire Type-300 Supermarine
Birthdate: March 5, 1936
Class: Junior

Most of the time, Spitfire (do not attempt to shorten that for nickname purposes; it will not end well for you) is the very model of a British prep-school head girl - proper, reserved, level-headed. As the most popular and widely recognized of the Britannia fighters, she seeks to set a good example for the underclassmen and uphold the school's ideals, presenting a ladylike and composed exterior at all times. She's no shrinking violet, though, and anyone who has exceeded her patience has learned in short order what a mistake that is. Not only is she a highly capable and essentially fearless combatant, she can use wit, sarcasm,and even apology as weapons in a way that must be witnessed to be believed.

She's only a few months younger than Hurry, but she ran into some problems in junior high and ended up a year behind her by the time they got to high school. Far from being sensitive about that, though, she considers it a mark of accomplishment that she overcame her problems and became the glamorous top student that she is today. Because of their close resemblance and very similar voices, people often assume the two are sisters.

In contrast to Hurry, Spitfire is a tall and athletic young woman with long, slightly curly brown hair, brown eyes, and a general air of calm, contained maturity: usually smiling, but never very broadly. She's the most grown-up-looking of the main characters - she could easily pass for an adult, particularly once the tournament is fully under way and Britannia switches from school to service uniforms. Most of all, she's agonizingly, well, English, with full measures of the national gifts for cheerful stoicism in the face of discomfort, dry understatement, wry self-deprecation, and always looking perfectly tailored and put together no matter what.

(Spitfire has a twin sister, Seafire, who's in the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm instead of the RAF. The only visual differences between them are that Seafire's hair is even lighter, almost blonde, and she wears an RN uniform. Also, she almost always has a bandage on some part of her, as she's a bit accident-prone.)

Gymnasium Germania

Me 109
Full name: Dora Bf 109 Messerschmitt
Birthdate: May 29, 1935
Class: Senior

Me 109 was born Bf 109, and it's still officially her name, but she started going by "Me" instead in 1938, when the great German aircraft designer W.E. "Willy" Messerschmitt married into the old Bayerische Flugzeugwerke family and adopted her. (It may explain a few things about the Messerschmitt-BF family dynamic that he's her actual father anyway.) She's older than Hurry and has the most experience of any of the main characters, since she started competing internationally in middle school. On the downside, that also means she has the most old injuries to contend with, and the fatigue of those extra seasons of play is always with her, just below the surface. Out of battle, she's very quiet and reserved, preferring to keep to herself. In the entire course of the series, only three characters ever called her by her virtually-unknown first name, "Dora" - her father, her sister 110, and (once) Hurricane.

Everyone expects Me 109 to be blonde, but her hair is actually dark brown (she's Bavarian, so that's not unusual). She does have blue eyes, though they are a very dark blue. She keeps her hair cut short, never wears makeup, and even her clothes that aren't her uniform look like uniforms. She's smaller than most people expect on first meeting, but holds herself very erect, though close inspection will reveal that she walks with a slight limp thanks to an injury she suffered when she was playing in Spain. She also has the only visible battle scars of any of the main cast: one on her left cheek (which resembles, but isn't, a Heidelberg dueling scar) and a number on her back and legs (revealed only rarely, as for example in the episode where the Germania girls all go to Prora for some R&R).

Bf 110
Full name:

Fw 190
Full name: Würger Fw 190 Focke-Wulf
Birthdate: June 1, 1939
Class: Freshman

Fw 190 joined the cast at the start of the second season, in one of the show's first overt anachronisms (the real Fw 190 didn't enter service until August 1941, which would have been roughly a third of the way through Season 3). Young, bright, ambitious, and with a big chip on her shoulder about having missed the first part of the tournament, she's more hostile to her own teammate Me 109 than she is to the enemy (and she's plenty hostile to the enemy). She firmly believes that she's a better fighter plane than that battle-scarred old hag any day. She's newer, faster, and tougher, and her engine is more reliable - and yet 109 is the only German fighter most people outside the insular little world of fighter girls has ever heard of. She's the one in all the posters. She's the one the little boys at air shows want to see. It would be enough to make 190's coolant boil - except she doesn't have any, because she's powered by an air-cooled radial engine, still another advantage she has over "the Bavarian" (which is all she will ever call 109).

In fairness, Fw 190 does look exactly like you would expect a German fighter girl to look: blonde, blue-eyed, buxom. (Well, she's radial-engined, after all. They've generally got a lot up front, albeit not to a ridiculous extent - it's not that kind of show.) She's the tallest of the main European characters (Do 17 is taller, but only appears occasionally). Out of uniform, she's considerably more feminine and glamorous than Me 109, but in an aggressive, show-offy kind of way that comes across as a bit forced, like she's trying too hard. Her flaxen hair is long and wavy, usually loose, but she has been known to rock the braided-pigtails Valkyrie look in combat.

(others here)

Episode Guide

The TV series ran for six full seasons (144 episodes, but see * below) on TV Tomodachi (with simulcasts on Avalon 17), from 2399 to 2404.

Season 1: 1939-1940 (the start of the war through the Battle of Britain)
Season 2: 1941 (the Blitz, Operation Barbarossa, and developments in the Pacific, ending with Pearl Harbor)
Season 3: 1942 (Team GB staggers back to its feet, the Germans run into trouble in Russia, the Japanese run riot in the Pacific Conference, and the American teams blunder around a lot)
Season 4: 1943 (The Strategic Bombing arc, Russia and the American teams start getting their act together, Japan loses momentum - and Coach Yamamoto)
Season 5: 1944 (Operation Overlord, the Ardennes counteroffensive, things spiral downward for the Axis)
Season 6: 1945 (1st half focus, the European Conference finals; 2nd half, the Pacific Conference finals)

Season 1: 1939-1940
#	Title	Original Airdate
101	"Peace for Our Time"	April 9, 2399
After 20 years of dormancy, Gymnasium Germania's newly reconstituted team is dominating all its pre-season matches, but Britannia Academy's Headmaster Chamberlain doesn't seem very concerned.
102	"Anschluss"	April 16, 2399
Gymnasium Germania absorbs Luftfahrthochschule Österreich and Česká Letecká Gymnázium.
103	"Blitzkrieg!"	April 23, 2399
Polska Akademia Lotniczego (the Polish Aviation Academy)'s team is disbanded in the wake of their school's crushing defeat by Gymnasium Germania.
104	"Winter War"	April 30, 2399
Tiny Suomen Ilmailulitto Ammattikoulu Lukio (Finnish Aeronautical Technical High School) faces off against the heavily favored Rodina-Mat in a surprise match.
105	"Sitzkrieg"	May 7, 2399
With all their rivals in the Eastern Division defeated apart from Rodina-Mat, Gymnasium Germania's team is surprised that no immediate challenges arrive from the Western Division teams.
106	"What's So Civil About War?"	May 14, 2399
Me 109 reminisces for her younger teammates about her time with Aviación Nacional in Spain back in middle school, when Germania's program was officially inactive.
107	"Belgian Holiday"	May 21, 2399
Germania demonstrates its prowess by playing (and winning) a triple match against Britannia, École Marianne, and BSO Luchtvaart Belgica, knocking the latter two out of the tournament entirely.
108	"Au Revoir, Marianne"	May 28, 2399
Germania takes over École Marianne. Team Britannia must flee France to avoid being eliminated.
109	"We Shall Fight on the Beaches"	June 4, 2399
Britannia tries to regroup after the disastrous outcome of the triple match with École Marianne and Belgica.
110	"Good Morning, Manchuria"	June 11, 2399
Meanwhile in the Pacific Conference, Greater East Asia Academy and Zhong Guo Tech are deadlocked.
111	(title)	June 18, 2399
(summary)
112	(title)	June 25, 2399
(summary)
113	(title)	July 2, 2399
(summary)
114	(titles)	July 9, 2399
(summary)
115	(title)	July 16, 2399
(summary)
116	(title)	July 23, 2399
(summary)
117	(title)	July 30, 2399
(summary)
118	(title)	August 6, 2399
(summary)
119	(title)	August 13, 2399
(summary)
120	(title)	August 20, 2399
(summary)
121	"Their Finest Hour, Part 1"	August 27, 2399
Team Germania discover that they can force Team Britannia to accept an elimination round.
122	"Their Finest Hour, Part 2"	August 27, 2399
Everything is on the line for Britannia as Germania tries to force them out of the tournament.
123	"Their Finest Hour, Part 3"	August 27, 2399
Germania's push to eliminate Britannia from the tournament comes to a climax.
124*	"Fröhliche Weihnachten"	December 24, 2399
The infamous "Christmas Truce" episode, in which Hurricane and Me 109 spend Christmas together in Calais under unusual circumstances.
Season 2: 1941
#	Title	Original Airdate
201	"Angriffsziel Coventry"	April 7, 2400
Germania demonstrates that Britannia might have avoided forced elimination, but the tournament is far from over.
202	(title)	April 14, 2400
(summary)
203	(title)	April 21, 2400
(summary)
204	(title)	April 28, 2400
(summary)
205	(title)	May 5, 2400
(summary)
206	"Honor Doesn't Compromise"	May 12, 2400
When the local Japanese Army unit adopts a "no prisoners" policy toward downed enemy flyers, Zero must make a choice.
207	(title)	May 19, 2400
(summary)
208	(title)	May 26, 2400
(summary)
209	"The Red Beard of Treachery"	June 2, 2400
Germania ends its unofficial truce with Rodina-Mat, its last remaining rival in the Eastern Division.
210	(title)	June 9, 2400
(summary)
211	"A Bitter Pill"	June 16, 2400
Me 109 tries to caution her younger teammates against taking Rodina-Mat lightly by relating an incident from the notorious game against Poland.
212	(title)	June 23, 2400
(summary)
213	(title)	June 30, 2400
(summary)
214	"Mosquito Plays It Straight"	July 7, 2400
Misunderstood Britannia freshman Mosquito DH.98 earns her teammates' respect and her nickname, "Wooden Wonder".
215	(title)	July 14, 2400
(summary)
216	(title)	July 21, 2400
(summary)
217	(title)	July 28, 2400
(summary)
218	(title)	August 4, 2400
(summary)
219	"The Battle of Barking Creek"	August 12, 2400
Hurricane decides to bring Spitfire down a peg by telling the Americans an embarrassing story about her from the earliest days of the tournament.
220	"Letters from Europe"	August 18, 2400
The American exchange students keep Principal Roosevelt up to date on their adventures at Britannia.
221	(title)	August 25, 2400
(summary)
222	(title)	September 1, 2400
(summary)
223	"Fight On, Kobrastochka!"	September 8, 2400
P-39 transfers to Rodina-Mat for good. Last episode in the "Exchange Students" mini-arc.
224	"Tora3"	September 15, 2400
Team Japan shows up bright and early for the Pearl Harbor match, but discovers that Columbia West's flyers aren't aware their school is even in the tournament.
Season 3: 1942
#	Title	Original Airdate
301	"So I Guess We're In This Thing?"	April 6, 2401
Columbia is still trying to get its act together; Germania and particularly Japan do all they can to capitalize on the Americans' disorganization, mostly at Britannia's expense.
302	(title)	April 13, 2401
(summary)
303	"Right Back Atcha"	April 20, 2401
The Army's B-25 and the Navy team up to pull off a daring retaliatory raid on Tokyo.
304	(title)	April 27, 2401
(summary)
305	"Coral Sea Confusion"	May 4, 2401
No one on either team can figure out who won Team Japan vs. Columbia West off Port Moresby, and the refs are taking their time issuing a decision.
306	(title)	May 11, 2401
(summary)
307	(title)	May 18, 2401
(summary)
308	(title)	May 25, 2401
(summary)
309	(title)	June 1, 2401
(summary)
310	"Rematch at Midway"	June 8, 2401
With league officials still dithering about the outcome of the Coral Sea match, Team Japan and Columbia West square off over the tiny island of Midway.
311	(title)	June 15, 2401
(summary)
312	(title)	June 22, 2401
(summary)
313	(title)	June 29, 2401
(summary)
314	(title)	July 6, 2401
(summary)
315	"Comrade 109"	July 13, 2401
Il-2 confronts Me 109... on the ground!
316	(title)	July 20, 2401
(summary)
317	(title)	July 27, 2401
(summary)
318	(title)	August 3, 2401
(summary)
319	(title)	August 10, 2401
(summary)
320	"The Great P-38 Controversy"	August 17, 2401
P-38 is involved in a series of misunderstandings.
321	(title)	August 24, 2401
(summary)
322	(title)	August 31, 2401
(summary)
323	(title)	September 7, 2401
(summary)
324	(title)	September 14, 2401
(summary)
Season 4: 1943
#	Title	Original Airdate
401	(title)	April 5, 2402
(summary)
402	(title)	April 12, 2402
(summary)
403	(title)	April 19, 2402
(summary)
404	(title)	April 26, 2402
(summary)
405	(title)	May 3, 2402
(summary)
406	(title)	May 10, 2402
(summary)
407	(title)	May 17, 2402
(summary)
408	(title)	May 24, 2402
(summary)
409	(title)	May 31, 2402
(summary)
410	(title)	June 7, 2402
(summary)
411	(title)	June 14, 2402
(summary)
412	(title)	June 21, 2402
(summary)
413	(title)	June 28, 2402
(summary)
414	"Operation Citadel"	July 5, 2402
Germania launches a new offensive in the Eastern Conference.
415	(title)	July 12, 2402
(summary)
416	(title)	July 19, 2402
(summary)
417	"Stuka's New Guns"	July 26, 2402
Ju 87, a reluctant Fw 190, and freshman rookie Hs 129 face Rodina-Mat's counteroffensive at Kursk.
418	"Twins for the Win"	August 2, 2402
Ju 88 leads Germania's twin-engined players in an effort to score points elsewhere and make up for the Kursk match.
419	"Target: Edersee Dam!"	August 9, 2402
Rules changes permit the teams to raid each other's equipment and supplies. Lancaster carries out a daring raid against a German dam. (Part 1 of the "Strategic Bombardment" mini-series.)
420	"Target: Ploesti!"	August 16, 2402
Liberator is sent to attack Germania's fuel supply in Romania... without escort. (Part 2 of "Strategic Bombardment".)
421	"Target: Schweinfurt-Regensburg!"	August 23, 2402
Coach LeMay sends B-17 and P-47 to raid Germania's equipment rooms. (Part 3 of "Strategic Bombardment".)
422	"Target: Peenemunde!"	August 30, 2402
While Mosquito distracts Fw 190, Lancaster and Stirling try to knock out the home base of Germania's mysterious and elusive V-2. (Part 4 of "Strategic Bombardment".)
423	"Target: Schweinfurt Again!"	September 6, 2402
B-17 is sent back to try again at Schweinfurt, but Me 109 and Fw 190 are waiting for her. (Part 5 of "Strategic Bombardment".)
424	"Return to Rabaul"	September 13, 2402
P-38 and B-25 team up to raid Team Japan's base in New Guinea. (N.B. Often mistaken for a sixth episode of "Strategic Bombardment", which it is not.)
Season 5: 1944
#	Title	Original Airdate
501	"Vice-Headmaster Göring's Long Thursday"	April 11, 2403
Germania's beleaguered vice-headmaster tries to cope with a series of disasters.
502	(title)	April 18, 2403
(summary)
503	(title)	April 25, 2403
(summary)
504	(title)	May 2, 2403
(summary)
505	(title)	May 9, 2403
(summary)
506	(title)	May 16, 2403
(summary)
507	(title)	May 23, 2403
(summary)
508	"If You See Aircraft, They Will Be Ours"	May 30, 2403
With Germania's once-mighty program in tatters and the Atlantic Allies preparing for the quarterfinals, Me 109 wonders how the tournament can have turned so badly against them.
509	"D-Day!"	June 6, 2403
The Atlantic Allied Team arrives in France, but not where Team Germania was expecting them.
510	(title)	June 13, 2403
(summary)
511	"Turkey Shoot"	June 20, 2403
It's Columbia West vs. Team Japan for control of the Philippine Sea.
512	(title)	June 27, 2403
(summary)
513	(title)	July 4, 2403
(summary)
514	(title)	July 11, 2403
(summary)
515	(title)	July 18, 2403
(summary)
516	(title)	July 25, 2403
(summary)
517	(title)	August 1, 2403
(summary)
518	(title)	August 8, 2403
(summary)
519	(title)	August 15, 2403
(summary)
520	(title)	August 22, 2403
(summary)
521	"Leyte Gulf! Part 1"	August 29, 2403
It's Team Japan's last chance to avoid home field disadvantage for the playoffs.
522	"Leyte Gulf! Part 2"	September 5, 2403
Wildly outnumbered and outgunned, with their carriers threatened, Zero and Judy devise a desperate strategy.
523	"Leyte Gulf! Part 3"	September 12, 2403
Columbia West's Coach Halsey slips up and gives Greater East Asia an opening, but can they convert?
524	"Leyte Gulf! Part 4"	September 19, 2403
The final outcome of the extended Leyte Gulf match decides the direction of the tournament's final phase.
Season 6: 1945
#	Title	Original Airdate
601	(title)	April 9, 2404
(summary)
602	"Target: Dresden!"	April 16, 2404
Britannia's administrators authorize another bombing raid, but even their own players can't see how the target is relevant to the tournament.
603	"Dear Colleague"	April 23, 2404
Me 163 hasn't heard from Ohka, her pen pal at Greater East Asia Academy, in a while.
604	(title)	April 30, 2404
(summary)
605	(title)	May 7, 2404
(summary)
606	"Wunderwaffe"	May 14, 2404
Gymnasium Germania's administrators pin their last hopes on experimental new weapons.
607	(title)	May 21, 2404
(summary)
608	(title)	May 28, 2404
(summary)
609	(title)	June 4, 2404
(summary)
610	(title)	June 11, 2404
(summary)
611	(title)	June 18, 2404
(summary)
612	(title)	June 25, 2404
(summary)
613	"In at the Death"	July 2, 2404
Germania is eliminated.
614	(title)	July 9, 2404
(summary)
615	(title)	July 16, 2404
(summary)
616	"Tokyo Is Burning"	July 23, 2404
B-29 and company begin full-scale raids on the Japanese mainland while Greater East Asia's fighter team reels.
617	(title)	July 30, 2404
(summary)
618	(title)	August 6, 2404
(summary)
619	(title)	August 13, 2404
(summary)
620	(title)	August 20, 2404
(summary)
621	(title)	August 27, 2404
(summary)
622	"Target: Hiroshima!"	September 3, 2404
Columbia Pacific unveils a new offense that even makes some of the Allies cry foul, but the referees rule that it's legal.
623	(Target: Nagasaki!"	September 10, 2404
Greater East Asia's already ragged defense is no match for Columbia West's new offense.
624	"Into the Sunset"	September 17, 2404
With Japan on the ropes, and her honor in tatters, Zero faces her darkest hour.
OVAs and Specials
#	Title	Release Date/Original Airdate
n/a	Blue Water War	(video) December 19, 2406
A retrospective episode spotlighting the torpedo and dive bombers of the Pacific Theater, released to support Fly Girls the Movie.
401	Mosquito Clears the Air	(video) May 22, 2407
Public service short on body issues and social acceptance featuring Mosquito de Havilland and A-1 Douglas. Released to support the home video release of Fly Girls the Movie.
701**	The Night Witch	(aired) December 25, 2410
In the desperate winter of 1942, Rodina-Mat Chairman Stalin turns to unconventional means to save his school.

* This episode aired only once, is not included in the Season 2 MultiDisc or VDC releases, and was struck from the official episode guide on TV Tomodachi's Fly Girls website from early 2403 until June 15, 2410, when - without fanfare of any kind - it was reinstated to the episode guide and released as a stand-alone video.

** This is TV Tomodachi's official production code for The Night Witch, confirmed by documents released by Studio Stratos (e.g. cels with production code blocks attached). It is currently unclear whether "episode 701" really constitutes the first episode of a new season, or is meant to stand alone.

Known episodes not yet placed above:

- At least three episodes featuring Typhoon, one of which involved her exploring the ground attack role with P-47
- The Ju 88 spotlight episode
- The episode where P-40 and Zero have a tea ceremony (possibly in the course of some temporary cease-fire)

The three-part finale of Season 1 was originally aired as a special 90-minute "movie episode", but shown as three separate episodes in reruns. The "movie" version was released separately on video as Fly Girls: Their Finest Hour.

Similarly, in addition to its as-aired inclusion in the Season 5 box set, the season's four-part finale "Leyte Gulf!" was released on video as a feature-length film, Fly Girls: Leyte Gulf! (I Have Returned).

As of 2410 there's been a single theatrical film.
- Fly Girls the Movie: The Jet Age! (opened December 15, 2406)

There was one short-lived spin-off, Lift/Mass Ratio, which only ran for 12 episodes in 2405; it was a classic "the network wants Something Else Like That" sort of thing. An official spin-off by the same creative team, Missile Girls, didn't get picked up.

Oh my God, I know, right?

I thought I had fun during the halcyon days of 2013, featuring "Azula Goes to the Movies" and "Sokka's Literary Canon." But man, Fly Girls has just been such good times from the get-go. It's like a role-playing game that is also fanfic writing that is also film criticism!

>Gymnasium Germania
>Germany. The Nazi elements are downplayed, though the insignia on the
>German characters' uniforms and aircraft are correct. An incredibly
>powerful, arrogant school whose administrators (including the elusive
>and dreaded Headmaster, who appears to have no name and is never seen
>in person) believe that they should run all the other schools as well.

Some of the faculty were okay. Wilhelm Messerschmitt ("Willy" to all the girls), the girls physical trainer and patriarch of the large and rambling Me clan, was clearly written in as a mouthpiece in order to convey technical and plot information the viewers, but because of that he had to be avuncular and charming; even Stuka seemed to like him. It also let them create a clear foil for Coach Goering's massive, staggering incompetence.

Doctor Von Braun, part of the medical team, only appeared briefly in the TV series, in episode 606, "Wunderwaffe," and was mostly played for laughs as part of the whole "no, really, V-2 does exist" running gag. (Although he did have a brief cameo in Jet Age.) But he was also pretty okay. He'd have a much larger role in the ill-fated Life/Mass Ratio, and there were major, major plans to use him in the even-more-ill-fated Missile Girls.

>Rodina-Mat Aviation Technical High School of Moscow
>The USSR. Highly specialized school in which only aviation and
>aviation-related subjects (aircraft maintenance and repair, etc.) are
>taught. Somewhat hampered by a low general technology level, but very
>dedicated, though, as at the Gymnasium Germania, the students are
>terrified of the administration (particularly Vice-Principal Beria).

They did a bit too good a job of this, in my opinion. Vice-Principal Khrushchev was very clearly hastily written in so that the girls could salute snappily to someone who you wouldn't rather they were shooting in the face.

...

To step out-of-character for a second, after giving it some thought I feel like "Tora Tora Tora" should clearly be "Tora³", just for the cultural verisimilitude; this thing was produced on New Tomodachi, after all, which means there'd be at least some odd Japanese-specific quirks to it. :)

-Merc
Keep Rat

Zero is highly frustrated that Britannia and Britannia East each thought the other was supposed to face Greater East Asia in an exhibition match so neither turned up. Meanwhile, Buffalo and Wildcat are battling transportation woes to get to their match against Greater East Asia at Wake Island. At the last minute - possibly with pilots on the field - the match is called off until the association can get this under control. Much pouting from both sides.

Early episodes for the Atlantic Conference might be:
Battle over Barking Creek - Spitfire vs Hurricane friendly match
Rosyth - Ju-88 visits for pre-season match and Spitfire wins. Hurricane warns her not to get cocky, this clearly wasn't Germania's A-game.
(title unknown) - He-115 visits and the overconfident Spitfire gets in over her head before Hurricane demonstrates how it's done.

Following this, Hurricane packs and heads off to France, who'll be hosting the matches for the main season. First matches against Me-109 are uneven, leading to bad. Meanwhile Spitfire is fielding home games but they'll team up from episode #108 onwards with games shifting to British soil.

Also, Britannia is perhaps smaller than it used to be and accepting foreign students - Poles, Czechs, etc to fill their classes out? They might be background students only.

The first reason has actually led to a healthy number of flame wars on message boards and more than a few fist fights at conventions, even though the majority of fans agree that it wouldn't have been right to let these stories go untold. See, by the time the anime series was gearing up for production, the original manga was already into 1943 and the prequel series had started up, leaving the producers with a quandary. Half wanted to just visit the prequel as an OVA after the series proper, while the other half worried that if the series didn't sell well then the prequels would never get animated. So the two sides compromised and got the studio to agree to six seasons instead of the intended five, with the first season being composed of stories from the prequel manga.

The second reason, by contrast, is one that even the most die-hard fans of the franchise agree with. Besides the usual pitfalls of any new anime series, from writers feeling out characters to animation being less polished than later seasons, there's the characters and storylines that last one or two episodes and then never appeared again. The characters from manga proper that do show up are not as fleshed out as they were by season 2 and some characterizations were even controversial (Zero as much more arrogant, while Me-109 seems almost melancholy). But there are three episodes all fans agree are must-sees:

- "Winter War" - The first match between the Finnish Air School and Rodina-Mat, featuring the only appearance of Hurry's older sister Gladiator ("Gladdy"), as well as the first appearances of Yak's older cousin I-15 ("Chaika") and Wildcat's cousin Buffalo ("Buffy"). The Finnish team manages, between their tenacious defense and Rodina-Mat's incompetence, a stunning upset that sets the stage for later matches.
- "What's So Civil About War?" - I-15 (now calling herself "Chato"), now joined by her elder sister I-16 ("Mosca") and École Marianne senior D.510, puts up a spirited fight as a member of the República Española against rival Aviación Nacional transfer students CR-32 from Aviación Legionaria, He-51 from Gymnasium Germania, and Me-109 in her first appearance as part of Germania's elite Condor squad. The episode ends with a battered and bruised I-15 reluctantly shaking Me-109's hand, signaling the end of República's struggle.
- "A Bitter Pill" - This episode's different from most in that it's told in flashback with Me-109 as the protagonist, presented as a story told by her. The episode starts in 1941, as 109 comes across Fw-190 and Stuka laughing at the inept manner the Rodina-Mat team is playing in the early matches. 109 bitterly tells them to never underestimate an opponent, before recounting the first match she fought against P.11, the Polish team's star player at the beginning of the Europe Conference. Going into the match, 109 was fresh off her victory against República Española and was overconfident about her chances against a "second-rate" girl like P.11. But as the match began, she quickly found that she couldn't keep up with P.11's twists and turns, totally neutralizing her speed advantage. Her expectations of a quick victory became a vicious knife fight, as P.11 proved scrappy and quick to press her own advantages. The match ended in a knock-out, with 109 suffering a humiliating loss to P.11. While the Polish team ultimately lost, Germania's star player suffered a blow to her ego she'd never truly overcome. The episode ends with the Germanian girls gearing up for their next match against Rodina-Mat, Fw-190 leading the way with swaggering confidence while 109 sadly shakes her head as she and Stuka follow behind.

Ultimately, the first season has received a lot of comparisons to Galaxy Quest: The New Generation and it's own much maligned first season: All the elements were there for future glory and the show had a lot of promise, but was let down by poor execution and sloppy writing. It's generally agreed that, if not for "Their Finest Hour," the studio may have pulled the plug on the whole endeavor.

--------------------------
CdrMike, Renegade Time Lord

"Letters From Europe" was clearly put together as much on the cheap as possible (in order to save precious animating money for the fight sequences that would define the next four episodes) and the episode suffers some from this. Fortunately for the production staff a slice-of-life episode can get away with more shortcuts, stock footage etc.

<1> The part of P-40 was played by Karen Allen ca. 1981.

--
Mr. Fnord

Polychrome

"Target: Edersee Dam!" might be one of the best remembered episodes thanks to its memorable music but there were other strong episodes outside of the "Target" sub-series.

P-38 and B-25 with their teamwork episode, managing to defeat GEA's team at Rabaul despite Hayabusa using ground-based radar. Of course the bookend confrontations between Zero and Hayabusa framed that perfectly.

Or "Ju-88's New Guns"? Okay, Stuka was a bit quirky but she had a serious side and here you've got her working with the inexperienced Hs 129 and the reluctant Fw 190 ("I'm a fighter not a tank buster!"). It really looked like they might beat "the Shturmovik" at the Kursk game but Rodina-Mat just kept going until they eked out a win on points. Talk about a nail-biter!

I'm a fan of B-29. Not the plane, though it's awesome - the character. Lots of fans like to villainize her for her role in Tokyo is Burning, Target: Hiroshima, and Target: Nagasaki, and, yeah, I can admit I see why. Zero's face when she realizes just how big a boot 29 is putting into the East Asian Academy's chances and point spread is heartbreaking, and the moment in Nagasaki where 29 just ignores her on her way to the drop point is the only time I've ever felt sorry for Hayabusa.

But all the people who bash her as a bad sport and a cheater are missing the entire point of spending Nagasaki focusing on her - we see her first exposure to the game in those flashbacks, see what she knows about how it's supposed to go and what a player's role is. There's none of the fair play and courtesy fans rag on her for lacking in it - she's been told her entire life that a good player is the one that wins, by whatever means, and like any eager young girl, she wants to please her parents and coaches.

And then, at the end-of-match handshakes, every time we see her, she's left standing on the field while the other players walk off, wondering why no one likes her when she's done everything she's supposed to. Even P-40, who's the only character we see her sneak past her handlers to actually try to talk to (the poster on the inside of 29's locker was a cute touch, BTW) brushes her off and is more likely to spend time with archnemesis Zero than her own schoolmate.

I don't actually like Target: Nagasaki that much; certainly I can't bring myself to watch it again very often. It makes me cry and I'm a wimp about sad endings. But I think it's one of the best-executed episodes in the show, and that B-29 needs all the hugs.

-----

"V, did you do something foolish?"

"Yes, and it was glorious."

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Fly Girls had continued to preform above expectations in syndication and the foreign markets; it made it to the Klingons in 2409 and is just huge in the Union and possibly moreso in the Empire, where numbers are harder to come by due to it being officially on the censored list. TV Tomodachi asked some of the former production team if they'd be interested in pitching some sort of one-off special, with an eye towards a possible revival if the ratings looked good and the toys sold well.

What they came up with was something... a bit different.

Out of the blue in the fall of that year, to the delight of many and the consternation of some, TV Tomodachi and Avalon 17 began airing the following trailer:

***

EXT. DAY - SUMMER - SKY
(Establishing shot of a bright blue summer sky, about midmorning. Not a cloud
is visible.)
OLD RUSSIAN WOMAN (V.O)
They came in the summer.
(ME 109 comes into view, flying straight and level; her weapons gleam in the
sunlight and her uniform is at a level of immaculate cleanliness that even ZERO
couldn't find fault with. As we continue to pan, JU 88 and STUKA, in formation
with each other, come into view behind her, and behind them come the
entire fighting complement of the GYMNASIUM GERMANIA; FW 190, all of the
DORNIER and HEINKEL girls, the various lesserschmitts. If they appeared
onscreen before, here they are, in a massive flying wedge behind 109, who leads
the way.)
CHYRON - UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
(Smash cut to to the girls of the RODINA-MAT AVIATION TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL
being utterly routed; YAK-9 and all her sisters spin out of the sky. YAK-3
catches fire on the way down. YAK-2, relaxing inside a hanger, is caught
off-guard as STUKA tears the roof off and, grinning, drops a bomb directly on her.)
CHYRON - SUMMER, 1941
OLD RUSSIAN WOMAN (V.O)
They always do, these conquerors. They think they know us, know our weakness.
And do you know, they may be right.
(ME 109 and JU 88 take a victory pass over an advancing column of German armor.
Soldiers riding the tanks cheer and throw their caps into the air. Soviet
formations, badly torn up and constantly harried from above, retreat before
them.)
OLD RUSSIAN WOMAN (V.O)
You put your trust in machines, my son.
(The voice turns mocking.)
In your precious steel, yes? You cannot be more steely than the Germans,
boy. Their hearts and minds are filled with gears and cogs, endlessly whirring,
whirring, whirring.
EXT. DAY - AUTUMN - FOREST
(STUKA harries T-26 tanks through a thick forest of beautiful red-and-gold
leaves. She laughs and laughs, mocking them in filthy German. Still the Soviets
retreat.)
OLD RUSSIAN WOMAN (V.O)
(sternly)
You have forgotten what it means to be Russian.
EXT. DAY - WINTER - OUTSKIRTS OF MOSCOW
(German troops, some in greatcoats but most in lightweight uniforms, huddle
around campfires, their trucks parked to form windbreaks. A few gaze pensively
at the spires of the Kremlin in the distance. ME 109 warms herself at a barrel
fire on a nearby runway and looks at the cold grey sky.)
CHYRON - WINTER, 1942
OLD RUSSIAN WOMAN (V.O)
But ah... the winter comes, and you begin to remember, yes? When the branches
are bare, all the tree has left are its roots.
EXT. NIGHT - FOREST - WINTER
(A blood moon hangs heavily over a snow-covered forest of fir trees. We see a
strange, tiny house nestled amongst them, smoke coming from the chimney, lights
in its windows. Two miserable-looking Soviet soldiers, in full winter gear with
enormous greatcoats and even more enormous fur hats with hammer-and-sickle pins
on them, flank the door, standing guard.)
OLD RUSSIAN WOMAN (V.O)
And our roots run deep.
(The cottage suddenly shifts, dumping snow on both of the soldiers. They turn
and scowl at it; there is a brief glimpse of a pair of enormous chicken legs as
the house settles back into a slightly different position than it was in
before.)
INT. NIGHT - BABA YAGA'S HUT
(The hut is a nearly stereotypical witch's hut, with all manner of gewgaws and
herbs and strange, wonderful items of indeterminate function scattered about
seemingly aimlessly. A roaring fire underneath a cauldron is the only
illumination; there are two chairs pulled close to it. Sitting in one is the
OLD RUSSIAN WOMAN, now revealed to be BABA YAGA. She is a withered old crone of
a woman, wearing a tattered brown cloak with a hood that hides her spare frame.)
BABA YAGA
(not unkindly)
Tell mother what you need, son.
(The other chair is occupied by IOSIF VISSARIONOVICH STALIN, in his customary
simple uniform with cap; his greatcoat is draped across the back of the chair.
He is not happy to be here.)
STALIN
(licking his lips)
I need...
BABA YAGA
(eagerly?
Yes? Yes yes?
STALIN
(with forced humbleness)
I need a weapon, mother.
(More firmly.)
The rodina needs a weapon!
(BABA YAGA smiles kindly. Behind STALIN, cloaked in shadows, two eyes open,
glittering blue.)
BABA YAGA
I think I have just the thing.
EXT. NIGHT - GERMAN AIRSTRIP
BABA YAGA (V.O)
I do not deal in steel, comrade.
(ME 109 and JU 88, in their night-fighting gear, taxi into position and execute
a pair of precise take-offs. Their ground crews watch them go; they fly away
over a forest of evergreens and vanish into the starry sky.)
(Beneath them, a shadow on a broomstick drifts silently through the wood.)
BABA YAGA (V.O)
My girl has bones of wood, and wire.
(ME 109 and JU 88 return from their patrol and land at the airstrip; 109 nearly
skids out of control as her landing gear skitters off a crater that was not
previously there. They gaze around in horror; JU 88 especially is openly
appalled. The airstrip is a blasted ruin, the tarmac pitted and holed, the
hangar a burnt shell, fuel drums and trucks and everything explodable being
thoroughly exploded. Fires still burn in places.)
(The figure on the broom watches from the treeline, and drifts silently into
the air and departs the way she came.)
BABA YAGA (V.O)
She has good sharp eyes...
EXT. NIGHT - RUSSIAN STEPPE
(Aerial shot, extremely high and wide; German encampments lie spread across the
steppe, their fires little pinpricks in the night.)
BABA YAGA (V.O)
... and a fiery heart.
(Silently, explosions bloom across many of them. An indistinct biplane shape
flits across the camera, too quick to really see clearly; the engine has an
unearthly hum to it.)
INT. DAY - GERMAN BRIEFING ROOM
BABA YAGA (V.O)
Ah, but her mind... that's the beauty of it, you see...
(ME 109 and FW 190 examine a map filled with little red flame markers, each
representing an attack. JU 88 approaches and adds another one; ME 109's fists
clench briefly. In the corner, playing with a knife, STUKA watches the
interplay and laughs contemptuously.)
BABA YAGA (V.O)
Her mind is full of cold purpose. You've felt it, haven't you comrade? To rule
this country, and not be ruled by it... you're always cold.
(Fade to black.)
SUPERIMPOSED - TV TOMODACHI IS PROUD TO PRESENT
(The Fly Girls logo appears.)
SUPER - A FLY GIRLS SPECIAL EVENT
(Ripple dissolve.)
CHYRON - STARRING
(ME 109 holds her arms straight out to her sides while her ground crew outfits
her with her night-fighting equipment and ordnance. She stares at the nearby
forest. Branches shake gently in the breeze.)
(Her eyes narrow angrily.)
CHYRON - ME 109
(Hands clasped behind her back, ILYUSHA stands in a dark, nearly empty mess
hall, studying a faded map with old Imperial Russian markings on it that hangs
forlornly by the window. YAK-9 harangues her; ILYUSHA doesn't really pay
attention.)
(A door opens behind them, throwing a square of harsh light on the wall.
Silhouetted sharply in it is a small female shape holding an oversized broom
nearly twice as tall as she is. There's a suggestion of braids. YAK-9 visibly
pales and flinches away.)
(Facing away, unseen by both of them... ILYUSHA smiles.)
CHYRON - ILYUSHA
(Running desperately through a dark wood under a sickle moon, STUKA is pursued
by unseen, mocking laughter and the tinkle of bells. Her uniform is an utter
shambles and she's lost one of her machine guns. She pushes through some
undergrowth and a branch whips back and cuts her cheek.)
(Snarling, STUKA turns and lights up the forest with her remaining weapon,
firing wildly into the night. Her own shots blind her. She screams and fires
until the weapon goes empty, click-click-click.)
(A shadow obscures the moon. There is a noise behind STUKA, off-camera. She
whirls around.)
(Her eyes go wide. Her weapon drops from nerveless fingers.)
CHYRON - STUKA
INT. NIGHT - BABA YAGA'S HUT
(The small girl seen previously in silhouette steps into the firelight,
approaching STALIN and BABA YAGA. She is a tiny, frail-looking thing who
doesn't look more than about nine or ten, dressed in a peasant girl's dress;
white smock over roughspun, with much red-and-blue thread embroidering it. A
similarly-colored headscarf sits atop a head of pale blonde hair that falls
into two tight, short braids which frame her face.)
(She tightly holds a large broomstick, much taller than she is.)
(The girl meets STALIN's eyes directly. STALIN is not sure he is comfortable
with whatever he sees there.)
CHYRON - AND INTRODUCING
BABA YAGA
(cackling)
And, well, perhaps just a bit of steel, yes? Where it counts.
CHYRON - POLIKARPOVA PO-2
(Cut to black.)
STALIN (O.S)
Whom do you serve, child?
POLIKARPOVA (O.S)
(firmly, but high and piping)
I serve the rodina, Comrade Chairman!
SUPER - FLY GIRLS: YORU NO MAJOU
(Subtitle in Standard.)
THE NIGHT WITCH
STALIN (O.S)
(chuckling sinisterly)
She'll do, mother.
SUPERIMPOSED - A TV TOMODACHI SPECIAL
MAGIC IS COMING
HOLIDAYS 2410

***

Polikarpova is an odd duck; part magical girl, part Fly Girl. The writers are on the record as saying that there were already fifty-plus hours of conventional Fly Girls materiel, and they wanted to stretch their legs a little. A weird war story was just the way to do that.

Despite the controversy surrounding the titular character (she is a figure of disdain among purists) The Night Witch preformed strongly across all demos and capitalized strongly on the fact that magical girl shows were entering yet another resurgence at the time. Rumors abound that there will be some sort of mini-series in a similar vein in 2412.

-Merc
Keep Rat

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

What attracts the eye first, though, is naturally the Zeroes.

ZERO
(voiceover)
I remember the sailors waving and shouting to us from Kirishima's decks. They were so happy. We were all so happy. Looking back, I can't imagine why. It seems incredible to me now that none of us realized... we were on our way to start a tournament our own Coach Yamamoto knew we couldn't win.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Not sure that Spitfire would feel happy about answering to "Danny Boy."

--------------------------
CdrMike, Renegade Time Lord

- "Catch A Falling Star" (Episode 502): When an opening on Columbia East's fighter team presents itself, a pair of eager young girls compete to see who will usher in America's jet age. Guest-starring P-80 "Star" and P-59 "Comet."

- "Bug Hunt" (Episode 520): In order to finally put V-1 out of commission, Britannia sends Tempest and newcomer Meteor into the fray.

- "Bodenplatte" (Episode 601): With Columbia East and Britannia Academy operating unhindered in Europe, Germania's Headmaster gambles everything on one major offensive to turn the tide.

- "Ride of the Valkyrie" (Episode 615): With Germania's team in shambles and her sisters defeated, Me-262 flies off into battle one last time.

- "In At The Death" (Episode 620): The Atlantic Conference comes to a sudden climax, leaving the girls of Gymnasium Germania left wondering what they were fighting for.

--------------------------
CdrMike, Renegade Time Lord

Legend Of Grimrock II Main Theme, Scoring Helsinki, 2014

---
"She's old, she's lame, she's barren too, // "She's not
worth feed or hay, // "But I'll give her this," - he blew
smoke at me - // "She was something in her day." --
Garnet Rogers, Small Victory

FiMFiction.net: we might accept blatant porn involving the cast of My Little Pony but as God is my witness we have standards.