Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan
Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan is a Japanese anime television series created by director Shinji Higuchi, screenwriter Mari Okada, and animation studio Bones. Toshinao Aoki is responsible for the original character designs, Yoshiyuki Itō served as the animation character designer, and Taisei Iwasaki composed the music. The anime project was revealed by the staff at the 2017 Tokyo Comic Con in December 2017. It began airing on April 13, 2018. It was licensed by Netflix for domestic and international streaming, and released internationally on September 21, 2018.
Plot
Hisone Amakasu is a rookie in the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, where she is situated at the Gifu air base. She decided to join the force to distance herself from people as, her whole life, she had found it difficult to interact with others due to her candid style of speaking and oftentimes hurtful words, despite that not being her intention. Hisone's decision leads to her life being changed when the concealed "OTF" – Organic Transformed Flyer, or dragon – inside the base chooses her to be his pilot, leading her to discover her destined role as a dragon pilot during their ascension in the skies together. According to legend, dragons are thought to possess a key to unlocking the future of the world.Characters
Pilots
; Hisone Amakasu; Nao Kaizaki
; Elle Hoshino
; Lilico Kinutsugai
; Mayumi Hitomi
Other characters
; Sada Hinomoto; Haruto Okonogi
; Yutaka Zaito
; Remi Kakiyasu
; Iboshi
; Hiroki Ikushima
; Hiroshi Sosoda
; Natsume Misumi
Organic Transformed Flyers
The dragons used as OTFs by the JASDF are habitually dressed in transforming armor shaped like military planes to avoid drawing public attention. In order to be flown, the dragons swallow their pilots, who then steer them from within their stomachs via a naturally activated holographic display control system. To protect themselves from the dragons' digestive juices, each pilot is required to wear a special acid-resistant suit. In addition, a D-Pilot must reserve her feelings exclusively for her personal OTF; if she establishes a love relationship with someone else, the bond between them is broken.;Masotan / F-15J
;Norma / F-2A
;Futomomo / C-1
;Akemi / E-2C
;Mitatsu-sama
Media
Anime
The opening theme song titled "Shōjo wa Ano Sora o Wataru" is composed by Taisei Iwasaki and performed by Riko Fukumoto, featuring lyrics written by Mari Okada. The ending theme song titled "Le temps de la rentrée: Koi no Ieji " is a cover of France Gall's "Le temps de la rentrée," arranged by Iwasaki and performed by D-Pai, a vocal unit comprising voice actresses Misaki Kuno, Tomoyo Kurosawa, Maki Kawase, Satomi Arai and Kaori Nazuka.Manga
A manga adaptation by original character designer Toshinao Aoki began serialization on March 9, 2018, in the April 2018 issue of the Monthly Dragon Age magazine published by Fujimi Shobo and ran for five chapters.Reception
Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan received the Excellence Award in the animation category at the 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival.JASDF Gifu AFB 'Masotan' F-15J's
Thanks to the series popularity, the Air Development and Test Wing of the JASDF, based at Gifu AFB have painted four of their F-15J's noses with open 'eye-doors', and a representation of Masotan's eyes looking out when the dragon is in Fighter Mode. This is seen on Gifu's website main page.The four aircraft were first displayed at the 2018 Gifu AFB Airshow.
- Serial 02-8999, Nose number 999
- Serial 12-8078, Nose number 078
- Serial 32-8942, Nose number 942
- Serial 52-8853, Nose number 853