Girly Air Force

Girly Air Force (ガーリー・エアフォース) is a Japanese light novel series written by Kōji Natsumi and illustrated by Asagi Tōsaka. A manga adaptation by Takahiro Seguchi launched Monthly Shōnen Ace in October 2018, and an anime television series adaptation by Satelight aired from January to March 2019.

Plot
Earth has come under attack by the Zai, an unknown "armed organization" using unusually highly advanced weapon systems far superior to any Terran military technology. In Shanghai, Aayoung Chinese-Japanese teenager named Kei Narutani and his Chinese friend Song Minghua are force-evacuated to Japan when the Zai attacks the city. During their escape by sea, several Zai fighters begin sinking the evacuation fleet when Kei suddenly witnesses the Zai being repelled by a strange airplane. When the plane subsequently crashes, Kei rushes to aid the pilot but is surprised to find a pretty girl at the controls.

After arriving in Japan, Kei begins investigating the origins of the strange plane, and before long he is captured by Japanese secret service agents. He learns from them that it was a Swedish fighter retrofitted with JASDF-developed special technology which is reverse-engineered from the Zai. Those fighters are codenamed "Daughters" where they can function to their max potential by its interface unit called "Anima", android shaped human-like girls made from salvaged Zai parts.

The girl Kei encountered, by the name of Gripen is such an "Anima" unit who formed an emotional attachment to him when he came to her aid. When her supervising developer notices that effect, he invites Kei into the Anima project and act as Gripen's partner in order to boost her flight performance and prevent her from being scrapped.