History Anime / Stratos4

* ChangingOfTheGuard: (In)gloriously subverted. With the two male rookies getting a Test Pilot job and the four heroines off to take their Comet Blasters exam and the introduction of the three new rookies, the ''Advance'' OVA seems set to start with brand new characters. Cue the news that the 4 main characters have failed their exam and has to return back to Shimoji island. This also meant that the aforementioned trio were reduced to the usual PluckyComicRelief.

%%* {{Meido}}: The three newcomers in ''Advance'' has to wear maid-fuku for their role instead.
* MildlyMilitary: The Interception Base (or at least Shimoji Island's) operation is explicitly said to not be military at all, and as such, Shimoji Island Base doubles as a flight school, and their pilot candidates still has to earn their keep being waitresses at the local watering hole. That, and the skirt uniforms.

* ThePowerOfFriendship: Played straight, deconstructed, and then reconstructed at the same time. The Organization, who knew about [[spoiler: Karin's]] infected status deliberately put her in Shimoji Island Base to observe what she would do. They did not expect that her infection stayed dormant; it was suppressed precisely because her bonds of friendship is strong enough, and later, it can be determined with great certainty that she could even achieve a level of coexistence.

* {{Leitmotif}}: If you pay attention to the soundtrack, you might pick up on a tune that appears every so often, in several different forms, and usually in a minor key. (The major key version is in fact officially named "Mikaze's theme".) It turns out that these are all based on [[spoiler:the second ending theme, which is used in the final episodes of each season, and is quite pretty]].

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: The Americans at the control tower in Guam.
--> Controller A: "Look, no landing gears!"
--> Controller B: "Say ''what''?!"

''Stratos 4'' is an anime series produced by Studio Fantasia, and directed by Takeshi Mori (who also did ''Anime/{{Vandread}}''). Theme songs were written/performed by {{Melocure}}, except for the last one which is only by Megumi Hinata (as Melocure's [[RitsukoOkazaki other member]] had passed away). Not related to ''LightNovel/InfiniteStratos'' or the character [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Lockon Stratos]].

* ArmorPiercingSlap: Ayamo delivers a ''painful'' one onto Mikaze's face after [[spoiler: Mikaze screwed up spectacularly and let a big piece of meteor make landfall]].

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: [[Film/{{Armageddon}} ''Does the plot sound suspiciously similar to some Bruce Willis movie?'']]

* {{Qipao}}: The main characters work as waitresses at the local Chinese restaurant in their spare time, and they have to wear the customary high-cut cheongsam.
** {{Meido}}: On the other hand, the three newcomers in ''Advance'' has to wear maid-fuku for their role instead.

* CoolPlane: The anime never shies in depicting "repurposed" old technology. In fact, more than the PantyShots, the sheer amount of jets employed in the anime is a fanservice all unto its own for aviation enthusiasts. For example:

* PantyShot: Comes part and parcel as a [[Creator/StudioFantasia Studio Fantasia]] title. Even in-universe characters lampshade this: Mr. Sako, the mechanic, tells Mikaze that a nice young lady like her shouldn't be showing off her panties by curling up while napping in the engine cowl he's working on.

* MildlyMilitary: The Interception Base (or at least Shimoji Island's) operation is explicitly said to not be military at all, and as such, Shimoji Island Base doubles as a flight school, and their pilot candidates still has to earn their keep being waitresses at the local watering hole. That, and the DangerouslyShortSkirt uniforms.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Or green, in the case of Mikaze.
** Talk to the Comet Blasters about their hair.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The last names for Annette Kerry [[note]]アネット・ケイリー[[/note]], Betty Boozeman[[note]]ベティー・ブーゼマン[[/note]], and Chris Calman[[note]]クリス・カルマン[[/note]] can be romanized as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Cayley Cayley]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Busemann Busemann]], and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_von_K%C3%A1rm%C3%A1n Kármán]] respectively, referring to famous mathematicians and aerospace engineers. See NamedAfterSomebodyFamous entry above.

* ConspicuousCG: Used liberally with flight scenes.

* RealPlaceBackground: Shimoji Island [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimoji-shima actually exists]]. The eagle statue with the broken right wing that Mikaze usually visits early in the series [[https://www.google.co.jp/maps/search/%E3%83%95%E3%83%8A%E3%82%A6%E3%82%B5%E3%82%AE%E3%83%90%E3%83%8A%E3%82%BF/@24.861112,125.1780303,156m/data=!3m1!1e3 also exists]] (with the difference being that the wing is not broken in real life). Shimoji Island Base is the island's real-life civilian airport, and looks [[http://www.pref.okinawa.jp/airport/index/sm/smphoto900.jpg exactly the same as well]], even [[http://img.yaplog.jp/img/18/pc/t/y/u/tyu-kyu-2/0/356_large.jpg down to the wooden pier at the end of the runway]]　and the [[http://img.yaplog.jp/img/18/pc/t/y/u/tyu-kyu-2/0/353_large.jpg control tower as well]] (with the obvious difference that it is very much ''not'' a base for rocket-powered, meteor-shooting fighter jets). More of the comparisons can be found [[http://yaplog.jp/tyu-kyu-2/archive/30 in]] [[http://yaplog.jp/tyu-kyu-2/archive/31 these]] [[http://yaplog.jp/tyu-kyu-2/archive/32 posts]].

* {{Fanservice}}: It's ''Studio Fantasia'' of ''Anime/NajicaBlitzTactics'' fame, after all.

* ForeignFanservice: The Comet Blasters. Subverted that one of them is actually Japanese.

** Later in the OVA series, the [=MiG-31MS=], a redesigned Cold War Mach 3 interceptor was employed in Meteor Sweeper duties.