History Headscratchers / Area88

* They probably expected a sizable 'finders fee' of sorts for simply locating it, a dedicated transport would have been sent later if true.

** In the 2004 Anime, the documents are in an alphanumeric code, not Arabic.

** In the 2004 Anime, the documents are in code, not Arabic.

* Area 88 seems to have no other Asranian officers except for Saki himself. Even Major Roundell appears to be foreign. This hammers in the relative low status that Saki appears to have. Even the French Foreign Legion officers are mostly French nationals. A mercenary base should probably have more officers (lieutenants and captains) to keep these mercenaries in line and then they wouldn't have so many BunnyEarsLawyer types for pilots. Although it would be understood that the officers were not there to pilot missions, they were there to maintain some discipline. Even NCOs such as Sergeants would have been sufficient in that capacity since the pilots themselves, being foreign mercenaries, would technically rank below even the lowest ranking national soldier.

* During the incident where Saki is aboard a commercial airliner where bombs were placed under the wings (an attempt by the other side to assassinate him), he calls Shin and Mick to shoot the bombs off of the wings, saving them all. A relieved Kanzaki, who just happened to be the pilot of the plane, inquires as to who those pilots were. Saki casually gives him both of their full names. Never mind the fact that this is what tips Kanzaki off to the fact that Shin was still alive [[Spoiler: causing him to seek out a hitman]], but in the real foreign legion, this is serious violation of both Shin and Mick's privacy, especially as many men join the Legion to vanish.

* Kanzaki, a full blooded Japanese man, poses as an illegitimate son of Farina [[spoiler: after assassinating Farina]]. The real Mafia is quite racialist and takes lineage very seriously (hence the rule that only men of Italian descent may join). They would require him to prove his claim and even then, the very conservative, traditional Mafia, takes a very dim view on illegitimate sons (bi-racial or otherwise), even those of important men like Farina. Likely, for Kanzaki to get anywhere in the Mafia, he would have been required to start at the bottom.

* Area 88 seems to have no other Asranian officers except for Saki himself. Even Major Roundell appears to be foreign. This hammers in the relative low status that Saki appears to have. Even the French Foreign Legion officers are mostly French nationals. A mercenary base should probably have more officers (lieutenants and captains) to keep these mercenaries in line and then they wouldn't have so many BunnyEarsLawyer types for pilots. Although it would be understood that the officers were not there to pilot missions, they were there to maintain some discipline.

** Despite the many references to the Foreign Legion and the fact that the contracts are handled in France, the Asran mercenary air force seems to have no plausible connection to the Legion Etrangere. In the French Foreign Legion, one must go through a battery of tests and qualifications to even be considered for training. And then there is the four months of hard training (that one may still fail) for you to actually be officially accepted and get your white Kepi. Also, no contracts or paperwork would ever leave the Legionnaire office. So Asran is definitely a "mercenary" unit in the truest sense that even the Legion is not.

*** Maybe he can speak a certain amount of Arabic, but can't read it.

* Deserting by stealing a fighter plane (or even using your own) is just about the worst way to desert. You would have to find a place that will clear you for landing, no questions asked; something that doesn't happen anywhere. You will surely be detained for serious questioning, especially since you are a "under the table deal" mercenary and not on any official buisness with any country. Chances are high that you will eventually be positively identified. The time it takes to do this will be time enough for Asran's military (or the Escape Killers) to locate their escapee.

* Right before making his move, Charlie revealed to Shin [[spoiler:" I've been hired to kill you. Can't say by whom. It's just buisness."]]. The problem is, he did this over the radio while they were in combat. Isn't it a possibility that this might have been overheard by other pilots. Channels are generally open to all squadron members during combat.

** Most likely they just get their fuel, ammo, parts, and the like on credit from the Aslan military like normal, and what they owe gets added on up. So they keep flying and doing missions for reward money as usual, but instead of it being put in an account for them specifically, it gets applied to their debt first, until that debt is paid. in fact the pilots begin in debt, since they have to 'buy' their aircraft when they join as well. these sorts of financial tactics are a fairly straightforward "company store" system, similar to how the company run stores in many mining towns used to operate. since they were so isolated, the mining company owned the housing and stores, and prices were usually inflated so that the workers as much or more than they earned in the same period (and credit was always available.. from the company.) as a result, many workers ended up in virtual slavery, because until they paid off the debt they couldn't quit, and the longer they worked, the deeper into debt they usually got.

* A pilot must pay for all of his expenses. So what happens if he goes broke and can't afford to fly? Especially if it happens long before the end of his three year contract? Obviously this wasn't an option for getting out of your contract as Shin probbly would have easily chosen to do this. But what if they survive a crash and can't afford another plane? Are they demoted and carted off to one of the regular low budget infantry (assuming the strong likelihood that they also have merc ground troops), where they can expect a much lower pay rate as a ground troop? There's no indication that {McCoy} offers loans or payment plans for broke pilots. It wouldn't be good business anyway since if they get killed, they can't repay him.

* A far more glaring one springs to mind: Why didn't Shin ever pick up a phone and call Ryouko? It's never explained in the 2004 series at least.

* The robot f-18s aboard Farina's land carrier were meant to be a cost effective way to deploy a large and expendable air force. The fact that living pilots are expensive to train has been brought up so there is a savings there. But the cost of the cutting edge f-18 (for its time) offsets that savings. Even if you strip the airframe of all but the basic neccesities, it seems to make the idea still more expensive than it's worth. Why not go with older model fighters or more importantly, smaller, more compact airframes from much less expensive fighters such as the reliable Mig-21s? It should be noted that the advances made in more recent fighters are for the purpose of more efficient pilot function as related to performance. However, an AI (Artificial Intelligence) will greatly compensate for the lacking performance in older jets. Since all this was with the purpose of selling to a customer, this would have made for a more attractive package. The fact that Shin and Mick were able to steal two of these f-18s and escape from Farina's carrier also indicates that they were not as stripped down as they ought to have been. To be economical, they should have been unusable by human pilots due to the absence of avionics, instrumentation, controls, seating, and other elements neccesary for a human pilot. The robot (or more properly A.I unit) would replace all of this. Also, at that time, the militaries of the world had already been experimenting with scaled down drone aircraft. The units used in Vietnam were about 33% smaller than an F-18.

* During Act III, in a very awkward moment, Mick and Shin very briefly meet Traci, Mick's former fiancee whom he left in order to become a merc. She is with her new husband and the man innocently walks up to them and asks Mick to take their picture. He probably wouldn't have known who Mick was and although speechless, neither Mick, nor Traci reveal that they knew each other. In fact, they don't even directly exchange words during the encounter. After taking the photo, Mick openly wishes the two happiness. Why was a vacationing couple in a warzone like Aslan? And did Traci later explain who that nice guy was?

* Kanzaki, a full blooded Japanese man, poses as an illegitimate son of Farina [[spoiler: after assassinating Farina]]. The real Mafia is quite racialist and takes lineage very seriously (hence the rule that only men of Italian descent may join). They would require him to prove his claim and even then, the very conservative, traditional Mafia, takes a very dim view on illegitimate sons (bi-racial or otherwise), even those of important men like Farina. Likely, for Kanzaki to get anywhere in the Mafia, he would have been required to start at the bottom.

* Kanzaki, a full blooded Japanese man, poses as an illegitimate son of Farina [[spoiler: after assassinating Farina]]. The real Mafia is quite racialist and takes lineage very seriously (hence the rule that only men of Italian descent may join). They would require him to prove his claim. Also, even if he was of Italian lineage (or there was any truth to his claim), the very conservative, traditional Mafia, takes a dim view on illegitimate sons (bi-racial or otherwise) inheriting the position of their father, no matter who the father is. Likely, he would have been required to start at the bottom.

* A pilot must pay for all of his expenses. So what happens if he goes broke and can't afford to fly? Especially if it happens long before the end of his three year contract? Obviously this wasn't an option for getting out of your contract as Shin probbly would have easily chosen to do this. But what if they survive a crash and can't afford another plane? Are they demoted and carted off to one of the regular low budget infantry (assuming the strong likelihood that they also have merc ground troops), where they can expect a much lower pay rate as a ground troop?

** The fact that Saki is only a Lieutenant Colonel (not even a full bird Colonel) in the Asran miliary may be an indication of how low on the ladder Saki is. He is not a crown prince (being a nephew of the King) and he is for the most part expendable to do such low-echelon work like manage a mercenary base. Also, according to a story that Charlie told Shin, Saki has a history of being a screwup. His scar was due to an error in judgement that resulted in a suprise attack that got his unit killed. He scarred his own forehead in penance.

* In the manga, Mario Bandini was a former member of the Frecce Tricolori, the Italian Air Force's aerobatic team. Mario repeatedly demonstrates unprofessional behavior such as grandstanding, endangering other pilots, and disobeying orders. How did Mario last five minutes in the Italian military, much less long enough to earn a place on the Frecce Tricolori team? Any air force worthy of the name would have kicked out a soldier who demonstrated so little discipline and professionalism.