5/5 Very Very Innovative
  by L. B. Bryant (Astoria, OR)
If I really had to make a prediction for this series, I would say that the good money is on this series becoming one of anime's best kept secrets. The story and characters that this series attempts to showcase and present to us is absolutely fabulous on so many levels. It is an anime that absolutely deserves to have a wide audience and fan base but likely won't get one because of the hard sell this series is. The pacing is fairly slow and the action is not over the top explosions and in your face blood. This is presenting the war as a necessity that no one particularly wants to be a part of but is doing so for the better good. That's not an easy sell anywhere and in this case, it's beyond difficult.



While I think there are plenty of people who will want to pass on this anime after seeing the first volume, I am firmly saying that everyone should at least watch this first volume to give the series a chance. With the anime industry in a rut for various reasons, this is an anime that is openly going into almost brand new territory where only a couple has treaded before and it's doing a good job! That alone should be worth the support of many but hopefully this anime will be picked up by a few. Absolutely worth viewing.


4/5 Classic Takahashi
  by James Goodwin (Maryland, USA)
His name may not immediately ring a bell, but if you've seen 'Gasaraki,' 'Armored Trooper VOTOMS,' or 'Blue Gender,' you know the work of Ryosuke Takahashi. This noted creator/director ranks among my all-time favourites, due largely to his meaningful visuals and his intriguing military topics. Takahashi's images do an incredible job of telling a story; his shows are full of slow, careful shots that support the narrative quite well as it unfolds, while introducing characters in very poignant ways. Before coming across the show covered here, I'd previously checked out another recent Takahashi offering, the swashbuckling feudal epic 'Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihohetu,' only to be somewhat underwhelmed. With 'Flag,' however, we're definitely back in business, because Takahashi has returned to what he does best.

Just about everything you'd expect to find in a typical Takahashi show is present here -- military focus, political topics, and those ever-charming bipedal weapons. The twist this time is that character focus is decidedly kept to a minimum, as the story is presented documentary-style.

The central figure of 'Flag' is a young photographer named Saeko Shirasu. Get a good look at her in the first episode, because that's pretty much the most you'll see of our protagonist throughout a majority of the series. From that point on, rather than watching Shirasu -- who we catch brief glimpses of in subsequent episodes -- we mostly see what she videotapes and photographs. As explained early on, she's basically etched a spot in history by taking the most famous photograph of her time, which results in her getting a special offer from the UN.

The basic story line of 'Flag' is that a small, war-torn country is finally on the verge of peace -- until the titular object, which became a major symbol after Shirasu photographed it, is suddenly stolen by rebels. In order to keep things on a peaceful path, a small military team -- equipped, of course, with new bipedal weapons -- is tasked with finding the flag and getting it back within a brief time period. Along the way, they're challenged by political restrictions and a determined enemy, all as Shirasu follows along to document the retrieval effort.

As previously mentioned, the only thing that really feels absent in 'Flag' is the character focus that's present in certain other Takahashi shows. While there are small efforts made toward this -- as questions are sometimes raised regarding the nature of Shirasu's profession and what it means to her on a personal level -- it's pretty clear that the true star of this show is the story itself. There's nothing especially wrong with that, but as a result, the viewer doesn't really form an attachment to the protagonist, and only cares about her due to the fact that, like most anime girls, she's charming and cute. On disc number 3, there's an enjoyable interview with Rena Tanaka, the actress who provides Shirasu's voice, that offers further insight into the character's mind and how she herself relates to her.

Apart from the directing and writing, it can be noted that the music in this show is particularly nice, especially the opening theme, and the animation is great as well.

Overall, 'Flag' ranks as one of Takahashi's all-time best, presenting a finely done, entertaining look at the kind of territory he covers so well.

5/5 imo
  by Dizzy Dean (Altadena, CA USSA)
"dehumanizing fishbowl view"

hard to think of anything else but what war on earth is, unlike some posters i have a fishtank and happen to know what the .mil does to humans.

have some bowls or brews, watch and listen.

peace.

5/5 Artistic Genius
  by A. Gosa
I've seen allot of mech anime shows but FLAG is unique in it's delivery. The use of first person perspective to deliver the story takes what could have been another boring mech show and gives it a much more artistic feel. The attention to detail in terms of adding things like shutter speed, apperture, white balance, and other photographic elements that you would normally see when you look through the viewfinder of an SLR camera are extremely accurate. As a photographer myself it added a sense of realism to the show, like I was looking through the viewfinder of my own Nikon watching the story unfold in front of me. Sure it's not exactly the most action packed mech show out there, if you want that check out Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, but I believe the main point of the series is not to blow the viewer away with nonstop action, but with detail and a good story.

1/5 THROUGH THE CAMERA EYE
  by Sesho (Pasadena, TX USA)
If you were born in the last 50 or so odd years, then you are part of a multi-generation raised on images, especially those emanating from television, film, and, more recently, buzzing across the internet in a single lightspeed bound. The traditional news media like newspapers and magazines are outdated almost as soon as they are published and are casting an increasingly nervous eye at websites and bloggers. These days images can spark wars or take a hand in ending them. This is the case with Flag, a 13 episode anime series that was originally broadcast as a pay per view web video show.

The focus of Flag is a on a single photo taken by a war photographer named Saeko Shirasu in the civil war-torn country of Uddiyana which at times seems a cross between Afghanistan and Tibet, if that makes any sense. The United Nations has come in to help stop the fighting. Saeko takes a shot of a UN flag that highlights a silhouette of someone on their knees praying behind it, which comes to symbolize the call for peace between the government and the insurgents. But as is always the case in wars, there are some individuals or groups whose agendas are best served by fighting. On the eve of the peace talks, the famous flag from the picture is stolen by an insurgent group and is spirited away to a heavily protected fortress. A special forces military unit, the SDC, is prepped to steal the flag back before the fragile peace is shattered. The SDC is equipped with HAVWC technology, which in anime terms means "Mecha"! The UN wants someone to document the mission and the best person to do that is Saeko.

Flag has a very weird storytelling strategy, or "gimmick". The anime is shot from the perspective of image making machines, whether it be still shots from a camera, video footage, computer menus, sometimes, even through a character's reflection on a monitor. While this is somewhat unique, in the end it becomes annoying to see every cutscene done with a clicking mouse icon on a computer monitor or some such. It also makes the anime seem very cheap, like maybe that didn't do the camera perspective to be original, but to cut costs. I would say that about 75% or more of this first volume is still shots, menu screens, or scenes where there is very little motion. I will say the music is well done and atmospheric. But that's pretty sad when I can say that is the only thing done well. I think the MESSAGE of the show is very important and timely and it deserved a lot more tender loving than Flag gets. It also suffers from the whole Blair Witch Syndrome. I mean, do people actually record everything they do and and leave their cameras on even when they're eating? At some point the constant filming becomes a little unrealistic. The characters seem quite interesting and I would like to see them in a more traditionally styled anime instead of a dehumanizing fishbowl view.