If 86: Eighty Six has been sitting in your watchlist, bro, this is your sign to stop delaying.
The acclaimed sci-fi war anime has reportedly been removed from Crunchyroll in multiple regions, including North America and other international markets. On top of that, fans have noticed that its availability on platforms like Netflix may also be ending in the coming weeks, depending on region.
For now, the series may still appear through certain Crunchyroll add-ons on services such as Apple TV and Prime Video, and it can still be purchased in some places. But the important bit is this: its easy streaming access is becoming messy, and nobody knows how long those remaining options will stay available.
That is frustrating because 86 is not some random forgotten seasonal anime. Based on the light novel series by Asato Asato and illustrated by Shirabii, the anime first aired in 2021 and ran for 23 episodes across one season. Among sci-fi anime fans, it has built a very loyal reputation as one of the stronger modern war dramas of the last decade.
The premise is already heavy from the jump. Society believes its wars are being fought by unmanned machines, but the truth is far uglier: young people from the oppressed Eighty-Sixth Sector are forced into combat while being treated as disposable by the state they are defending. It is mecha, yes, but not the fun toy-commercial kind. This one digs into racism, propaganda, class privilege, military trauma, and what happens when a country pretends certain lives do not count.
For Malaysian and SEA anime fans, this matters because streaming access here can already feel like a gacha pull. One month a show is available, next month it vanishes, then suddenly it is split between different apps or locked to another region. If you are the type who waits until “later” to watch serious anime, licensing removals like this are exactly how great shows quietly disappear from the casual conversation.
It also hurts discoverability. 86 is the kind of anime that gets recommended by word of mouth — your friend says “trust me, just survive the first few episodes,” and then you get emotionally cooked. When it is not easily available on major services, new fans are less likely to try it, especially in markets where people already juggle Netflix, Crunchyroll, Disney+, Prime Video, Bilibili, and sometimes region-specific catalogues.
As for Season 2, there is still no confirmed comeback. The light novels continue beyond where the anime stopped, so there is definitely more story material. But the first season also ended in a way that felt emotionally complete, which may be one reason the anime has not moved forward publicly despite years of fan demand.
To be fair, streaming removals do not always mean a show is gone forever. Anime licences expire all the time, and sometimes titles return after a new deal is signed. Other times, they migrate to another platform entirely. But there are also plenty of shows that leave Crunchyroll and just… stay gone for ages.
So if 86: Eighty Six is still available in your region, consider this a friendly warning. This is not an anime you want to leave buried in the backlog until it becomes impossible to watch legally.
Source: ComicBook Anime