History YMMV / EightySixEightySix

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Lena is a very polarizing character for many, especially in the beginning of the story. Her naivety and unconscious racial bias, as well as the touch of self-righteousness in her demeanor, can be off-putting, especially to anime-only viewers. Her lack of screentime in the second major story arc further hurt for those who didn't stick around long enough to see her return. For light novel readers, another controversial thing about her comes in Volume 8 [[spoiler: when she becomes panicked after Shin's LoveConfession to her and ends up giving him very wishy-washy [[MasterOfTheMixedMessage mixed messages]] on exactly where their relationship stands, causing enough readers to get fed up with her indecisiveness and wonder why in the world it takes Shin almost dying again to finally make up her mind to want to be with him.]]

* HarsherInHindsight: Real war has a lot of frightening parallels

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: General Jerome Karlstahl is ripe for this, as the man hardly ever speaks his personal opinion on matters except for a few select occasions, and much of his dialogue consists of matter-of-fact statements describing the situation as it is. Most notably, the story never gives a clear answer on what exactly his feelings on the Eighty-Six are. While he never expresses any racist sentiments towards them, he is also completely dispassionate and seemingly unmoved by their plight. One could argue he either has just as low of an opinion of them as he does his fellow Alba San Magnolians, or that he may be secretly sympathetic towards them but that his position requires him to follow the letter of the law to the slightest jot and tittle and not allow any personal emotion get in the way.

* FriendlyFandoms: With [[VideoGame/ArmoredCoreVIFiresOfRubicon Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon]]. ACVI is the most recent (2023) and widely available action MechaGame that allow players to build and play a high mobility quadruped mech. ACVI's ingame image editor allow players to create their own custom decals and emblems. This has fans recreating decals used by the Spearhead Squadron, such as Shin's [[https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Farmored-core-6-decals-v0-o232vv6r3amb1.png%3Fwidth%3D560%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3Dbc55555e8397d059d165d5204621d0fd0c8ee64c Undertaker]] decal.
** Armored Core VI's story trailer also drew a lot of comparisons to the bleak tone and feeling of 86 where Walter's "Hounds" are sent on what looks like a sucicide mission.

** [[ShovelStrike Shovel sharpening intensifies]][[labelnote:explanation]]Borne from a scene in Volume 8 when Shin makes a mock threat to kill Vika using a shovel thanks to him making Lena wear the [[VaporWear Cicada suit]], an insanely skintight suit that practically exposes every part of her. It has become a meme associated anything or anyone pushing lewd, or even highly suggestive, fanart of Lena[[/labelnote]]

** Especially among American viewers, frequent comparisons between Shin and Wrestling/TheUndertaker were abound thanks to his Shin's callsign. This got even funnier when [[spoiler: it is revealed Shin's overriding goal is to fight his brother Rei to the death]], leading to further comparisons between Undertaker and Wrestling/{{Kane}}.

** Especially among American viewers, frequent comparisons between Shin and Wrestling/TheUndertaker abound thanks to his Personal Name. This got even funnier when [[spoiler: it is revealed Shin's overriding goal is to fight his brother Rei to the death]], leading to further comparisons between Undertaker and Wrestling/{{Kane}}.

* EvilIsCool: This is a mecha show, and the iron rule of mecha shows is that the bad guys get most of the best toys. Mechanical designer I-IV delivers handily - the Legion are sleek, stylish, and as awe-inspiring in their power as they are terrifying.

* FanNickname: Lena and Shin are often referred to as "Discord/Skype gf"[[labelnote:*]]girlfriend[[/labelnote]] and "Discord bf"[[labelnote:*]]boyfriend[[/labelnote]] respectively especially in earlier parts of the story, due to the fact that the two's behavior begins to draw a lot of similarities to real-life {{Long Distance Relationship}}s.

-->''"AS GOD IS MY WITNESS, HE HAS BROKEN THAT LÖWE IN HALF!"''

** [[ShovelStrike Shovel sharpening intensifies]][[labelnote:explanation]]Borne from a scene in Volume 8 when Shin makes a mock threat to kill Vika using a shovel thanks to him making Lena wear the [[VaporWear Cicada suit]], an insanely skintight suit that practically exposes every part of her. It has become a meme associated with lewd fanart of Lena[[/labelnote]]

* SpiritualAdaptation: The world, characters and general atmosphere of ''86'' are incredibly similar to those of ''Anime/CodeGeassAkitoTheExiled''. The story revolves around a squad made up of discriminated minorities who are meant to die on the battlefield who fight primarily with [[SpiderMech spider mechs]]. Their military handler is a NiceGirl from the wealthy nobility who does her best to treat them in a humane and compassionate manner who relies on her HonoraryUncle military general to protect her from political consequences. The main character of the story has a [[spoiler: [[ISeeDeadPeople supernatural ability to somehow sense the souls of the dead]], which he awakened to after his brother tried to murder him in a church as a child, and he has made it his goal in life to find and kill his brother on the battlefield.]] The top government and military officials of the racist country that the main characters fight for keep denying they are losing the war, and in both stories, it does eventually collapse. In addition, the HumongousMecha used in both series have a BrainComputerInterface network linking the whole squad and their handler together that allows for instantaneous communication yet comes with a risk of [[HatePlague emotional bleeding for each user]] (significantly, there are no other examples of such an interface existing in the rest of the ''Franchise/CodeGeass'' franchise): they even have similar names, with the ''86'' version called "Para-RAID" and the ''Akito'' version called the "Brain Raid System (BRS)." While some of the details, such as character motivations, are different enough to warrant SpiritualAntithesis, it's hard to deny that ''86'', at least in its first volume, doesn't feel like some kind of grand {{Homage}} or WholePlotReference to ''Akito the Exiled.''

* AwesomeMusic/AwesomeMusic: Seriously, the soundtrack of the anime, composed by Music/HiroyukiSawano are all absolute bangers, such as THE ANSWER,RE:g1-ON. The tracks by the other composer, Kohta Yamamoto, are quite good in their own right.

* HarsherInHindsight:

* AwesomeMusic: Seriously, the soundtrack of the anime, composed by Music/HiroyukiSawano are all absolute bangers, such as THE ANSWER,RE:g1-ON. The tracks by the other composer, Kohta Yamamoto, are quite good in their own right.

* BrokenBase: A long argument continues among fans regarding Volume 1's second epilogue "Reboot" on whether people new to the novels should skip reading it or not. [[spoiler: This is because "Reboot" takes place after a two year timeskip that shows that all 5 members of Spearhead Squadron eventually return to San Magnolia under the banner of the Federation of Giad and meet with Lena in person for the first time.]] Readers in favor of skipping it say it should be read after the ending of Volume 3 because it [[ForegoneConclusion takes away a lot of the tension in Volumes 2 and 3]], while the other side thinks the spoiler aspect of it is way overblown and encourages people to just read it as normal. Even Asato Asato herself [[https://twitter.com/Asakura_Toru/status/1406952697249419272 weighed in on the issue]] by telling anime watchers who wish to avoid spoilers to not read past Page 321 (of the Japanese release, obviously) unless they were really curious to see what happens next.

* FandomEnragingMisconception: Anime-only viewers who think the series takes place on Earth due to [[BaitAndSwitchCredits the opening theme blatantly featuring a map of Earth, with Tunisia highlighted on it]], and further think the series is simply an AlternateHistory or set in the far future. The truth is, the image of Earth is completely random and unrelated to the plot as ''86'' takes place in a ConstructedWorld with completely different geography from our real world.

** The Phönix is basically one big TerminatorImpersonator, with many of its abilities seemingly inspired by the T-1000 and the T-X from ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' and ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines''. However, one of the abilities it reveals it can do in Volume 6, [[spoiler: splitting off a [[DoppelgangerAttack less-capable copy of itself]]]] is right out of the REV-9's playbook, which is incredibly funny considering the volume was published a month before even the first trailer for ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'' was released.

* TheScrappy: Few people like Frederica in the western fanbase. She's seen as incredibly annoying and oftentimes petulant to the point one wonders what is she ''even doing in the main cast''.

** Much like San Magnolia, Russia has also been accused of using ethnic minorities from poorer parts of the Russian Federation as little more than cannon fodder. This has been seen by some observers as an indirect form of genocide, aimed at getting rid of troublesome ethnic groups who might demand greater rights and autonomy in the future. They have also been recruiting prisoners with promises of freedom, much like how the Republic promised to restore the Eighty Six's citizenship in return for military service. These convicts have reportedly been thrown into the worst fighting as disposable cannon fodder, leading to speculation that Russia likely doesn't intend to hold up their end of the bargain either. The one silver lining is the fact that they currently seem to be losing the war because of these practices, much like San Magnolia. The fact that Russia suffered its worst military defeat since WW2 in the middle of a festival celebrating the founding of Moscow is in many ways reminiscent of San Magnolia ignoring its own collapsing defenses during the Revolution Festival.

** Much like San Magnolia, Russia has also been accused of using ethnic minorities from poorer parts of the Russian Federation as little more than cannon fodder. This has been seen by some observers as an indirect form of genocide, aimed at getting rid of troublesome ethnic groups who might demand greater rights and autonomy in the future. They have also been recruiting prisoners with promises of freedom, much like how the Republic promised to restore the Eighty Six's citizenship in return for military service. These convicts have reportedly been thrown into the worst fighting as disposable cannon fodder, leading to speculation that Russia likely doesn't intend to hold up their end of the bargain either.

* HilariousInHindsight: The Phönix is basically one big TerminatorImpersonator, with many of its abilities seemingly inspired by the T-1000 and the T-X from ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' and ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines''. However, one of the abilities it reveals it can do in Volume 6, [[spoiler: splitting off a [[DoppelgangerAttack less-capable copy of itself]]]] is right out of the REV-9's playbook, which is incredibly funny considering the volume was published a month before even the first trailer for ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'' was released.
** When the first trailers for the anime were released, viewers who weren't familiar with the series made constant jokes that Lena must be [[Manga/AkameGaKill Esdeath's daughter]]. Come Episode 9, and [[https://imgur.com/ujSSroF one dark shot of Lena]] makes her look nigh-''identical'' to Esdeath herself!

** Much like San Magnolia, Russia has also been accused of using ethnic minorities from poorer parts of the Russian Federation as little more than cannon fodder. This has been seen by some observers as an indirect form of genocide, aimed at getting rid of troublesome ethnic groups who might demand greater rights and autonomy in the future.

** The Republic's refusal to allow the Eighty Six to recover their dead in order to hide the true costs of the war is a practice that has become a disturbing reality in the real life Russo-Ukrainian War. Ukraine reportedly has thousands of Russian bodies sitting in morgues that Russia has refused to repatriate. This is likely part of an effort to hide the true extent of Russian losses from the public and avoid paying compensation to the families of the deceased.

* HarsherInHindsight: The devastated streets of San Magnolias capital are harder to look at when compared to the real world destruction in Ukraine that occurred during the anime's hiatus.

* HypeBacklash: The show had some from veteran mecha fans at the peak of its' (seasonal, apparently) popularity, as some of the media covering it were ''again'' going for the "it's not mecha because it deals with character drama" excuse (something already seen with ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' and ''Anime/CodeGeass''). Said excuse is often considered a cowardly cop-out to keep perpetuating the myth that mecha as a genre never was good, except for whatever ends up popular as a flavor of the month anime on MAL/Reddit/whereever.