The premise sounds ridiculous because it is: five idol singers piloting fighter jets for a privatized air force. The OVA commits to that absurdity completely. You get earnest idol drama, legitimately tense aerial combat, and a director willing to let both exist without winking at the camera. The 1993 production treats a five-woman pop group as combat pilots with the same weight it gives their chart ambitions. By the final episode, you stop questioning why idols are in cockpits and start caring whether they'll survive the next mission. This is what happens when you let a concept that should collapse under its own weight actually stand on it.

Japan's air defense has taken an unconventional turn. The government has handed the country's air force over to civilian organizations, and some of these companies have put their aspiring idol singers in the cockpits of their fighter planes. One such group is Hummingbird, five sisters named Satsuki, Uzuki, Yayoi, Kanna and Miina Toreishi. At a taping session, video director Kudo sees promise in the girls and steps in to direct their debut video, hoping to carry them to the top of the charts. The four-episode OVA mixes action, comedy, drama and music.