Sky Girls (スカイガールズ) is a Japanese anime franchise produced by Konami and animated by J.C.Staff. A 30-minute OVA episode was released on August 25, 2006 and a television series adaptation aired on Chiba TV from July 5, 2007, to December 27, 2007.

Plot

In the year 2071, humanity sees the appearance of mechanical cell clusters, known as WORMs. The technology begins sweeping away the human race on a massive scale, destroying one-third of the human population in just under two years. This leads humanity to overcome their national differences, and unite as a single force. Not being able to turn the situation in their favor, humanity decided to permit the use of weapons of mass destruction. Finally, they succeeded in the annihilation of the WORMs, but after paying an enormous price, and wreaking havoc on the planet. All the major continents were broken apart. Antarctica disappeared, and half of the remaining land mass was submerged. The largest damage this war caused was the loss of 90% of all military-age personnel, namely men in their twenties and thirties. Over a decade later, the WORMs re-appear, to the surprise of those who thought they were eliminated.

Characters

Sky Girls

Secondary characters

Technology

These are fictional technologies unique to Sky Girls. Artificial life forms consisting entirely of thousands to millions of 'cells' approximately a foot in diameter, which are themselves created by nanotechnology. These come together to form large monsters that wreak havoc. WORMs are responsible for the destruction of one-third of human population. WORMs mimic the appearance of the first lifeform they see, which is why almost all of them have similarities with maritime lifeforms. Sonic Divers are a new technology where a pilot with sufficient innate ability and compatibility controls an exoskeleton that can fly and combat WORMs. The pilots are exposed to air inside the Sonic Divers. Aside from the default "G" mode (glider mode), which is similar to a fighter plane, the Sonic Divers have a humanoid mode called "Mode A" (armor mode), in which the Sonic Diver mimics its pilot's movements. Every Sonic Diver unit has different weapons: Aside from these weapons, most of the Sonic Diver units seem to be equipped with either a machine gun or a pistol as a backup weapon. In Episode 17, it is shown that the Sonic Divers are capable of independent movement. While they don't seem to be able to fight all by themselves, they can follow simple orders given to them by their pilot. A form-fitting flight suit that resembles a very thin one-piece swimsuit. When used in combination with a nanoskin, a data circuit is created between pilot and sonic diver. The pilot can then operate the Sonic Diver until the nanoskin degrades. To protect the pilot during operation of the Sonic Diver, a nanoskin gel is applied over the entire skin. This is made up of nanomachines. This coating lasts only for exactly 21 minutes and 32 seconds, but during that time the body is protected from the rigors of both flight and combat. Piloting it in the absence of a nanoskin gel is referred to as extremely dangerous and probably fatal. An aerial combat procedure where a weakened WORM is surrounded by three (Delta Lock) or four (Quadra Formation) Sonic Divers. The Sonic Divers attack the WORM and sync themselves to the nanomachines that comprise the WORM's body. The nanomachines become unstable and begin to disintegrate. The WORM can then be destroyed.

Episodes

The English translations of each episode title are unofficial, and neither the OVA nor the TV series have been licensed for foreign release.

TV DVD specials

Theme songs and soundtrack albums

Opening Song (OP): Ending Song (ED):

Other media

Several characters from the series saw releases as action figures in Konami's MMS line. The series has had a collaboration with the Busou Shinki arcade game Battle Conductor which had Sonic Divers usable as equipment. The series has had a long-running series of pachinko machines, with three lines: Sky Girls: Yoroshiku! Zero (2013), Sky Girls: Zero Futatabi (2015), and Sky Girls: Zero no Tsubasa (2020).