Flag (TV series)

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  FLAG is built around a photograph taken in the fictional war-torn country of Uddiyana. Saeko Shirasu, a 25-year-old front-line war photo-journalist, captured civilians raising a makeshift UN flag in the middle of a conflict. That image became an instant symbol for peace. Just before a peace agreement could be finalized, an armed extremist group stole the flag to obstruct the truce. UN peacekeepers responded by covertly deploying a Special Development Command unit to recover it. Because of her connection to the original photograph, Shirasu was offered the role of embedded journalist with that unit. Veteran director Ryosuke Takahashi created and directed the 13-episode Japanese mecha-genre anime. It began streaming on Bandai Channel on the 6th of June 2006, as a pay-per-view web video. Episodes 1 and 2 were also scheduled for broadcast on SKY Perfect Perfect Choice channel 160 Anime from the 18th of August 2006. Who made up the SDC unit, and what visual approach did Takahashi choose for a war story told entirely through camera lenses?

• 2. The Documentary Lens

  ›

  Ryosuke Takahashi structured FLAG around the viewpoints of people holding cameras. Still photography, video footage, and web cam images form the visual language of the series. Together, the three modes produce a documentary-like narrative, a quality the series sustains despite being an animated drama. The series presents its story as footage gathered from within the narrative rather than observed from outside. Character design is by Kazuyoshi Takeuchi. Mecha design is by Kazutaka Miyatake, whose work provides the visual material at the center of the covert retrieval mission.

• 3. Seedac and Havoc

  ›

  The High Agility Versatile Weapon Carrier, known as the HAVWC and pronounced "havoc," is the SDC's primary armored vehicle in Uddiyana. The SDC itself stands for Special Development Command and is pronounced "Seedac." Captain Chris Eversalt commands the unit and also serves as one of its two HAVWC pilots. First Lieutenant Shin Ichiyanagi is the second HAVWC pilot. Two helicopter pilots provide the unit's air support. Second Lieutenant Nadi Olowokandi flies the transport and scout helicopter. Second Lieutenant Hakan Aqbal pilots a second transport helicopter. First Lieutenant Rowell Su-Ming serves as intelligence officer. First Lieutenant Jan Nikkanen serves as backup pilot and intelligence support officer. First Lieutenant Christian Beroqui handles engineering, mechanics, and technical support. Keiichi Akagi tracks the same conflict from a separate position, working through channels entirely outside the SDC's official mission.

• 4. Journalists and Fixers

  ›

  Horizont, the photo agency for which veteran cameraman Keiichi Akagi works, gives the civilian journalists in FLAG a distinct institutional identity. The series groups Akagi and his colleagues under the label "Akagi's Front," treating their work as a separate operational track from the SDC's military mission. Among Akagi's field contacts is Naraya, a local informant based in Uddiyana. A journalist named Lisa also operates in the same conflict zone. Naraya serves as Akagi's link to local knowledge inside Uddiyana. Akagi's role as Shirasu's senpai and friend bridges the two journalist fronts the series tracks through Uddiyana.