In the year 1939, humanity was on the verge of destruction. Equipped with weapons of devastating power, a mysterious alien race, known as the Neuroi, began an invasion of the Earth, ravaging the planet, obliterating countries, and vanquishing human armies. To counter this seemingly unstoppable force, the world's powers united. A new device was produced, called the Striker Unit, capable of facing Neuroi technology. Girls equipped with the Striker Unit became known as the Witches, forming humanity's last line of defense. They began their fight against the Neuroi, utilizing their now-enhanced magical abilities, flaunting destructive weapons no human could manage.
Fast forward to 1944—Yoshika Miyafuji is a young teenage girl who eventually decides to join the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, known as the "Strike Witches." With no formal training however, can Miyafuji learn to cooperate with her fellow Strike Witches? And if so, can she save humanity from the Neuroi onslaught?
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
KaminaKai
*A Japanese government endorsed loli-pantsu anime.* Please don't say it is bad just because you find girls in panties horrifying. I admit it is lousy for the director to claim that girls in panties = fashion in the Strike Witches' world, but that alone is no reason to give a bad rating to an anime (if you do, I am sorry, you don't know how to rate at all). Strike Witches is MUCH deeper than one may expect to find from a fanservice-oriented series. --Updated on February 12, 2009-- The Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs has recently openly endorsed Strike Witches as an example of cultural excellence. Theworld of Strike Witches is pretty much parallel to our world up to 1939 (before World War II). At that time, mysterious beings known as Neuroi invaded Europe. Thus rather than the real WWII, this resulted in a war between Human VS Neuroi. The story revolves around a group of girls with special magical powers that allow them to equip the "Striker Units" to combat the Neuroi. The story proceeds nicely with these magical girls fighting Neuroi, but sadly the ending seem to be a bit "wishy-washy".
The art and animation quality is great for the most part. The battle scenes, in particular, are extremely well made. In short, we see a nice blending effects from the battle animation with the regular drama scenes. All episodes seem to have highly consistent animation and of course, the DVD includes polished artwork and fanservice.
The OP and ED are both good although not particularly outstanding and there's a good chance you'll forget about them after a few days. However, the melody of the songs suit the theme of the anime quite nicely. In addition, the battle themes and the Japanese version of Lili Marlene (a famous German love song that was popular during World War II) all contributed nicely to the series and are valuable assets to the show.
The production group did a nice job at introducing the main/supporting characters and then slowly further develop them. Actually, the character introductions might explain why the story started out slowly (after all there are 11 girls to talk about). If there is one thing I find the characters disappointing it is that some of the witches' specialty were not revealed until the end (most were never mentioned).
Though I didn't like to see girls showing off their panties the way they are done in this anime, but putting that aside, the show itself (from story to art to sound to character) is very well planned out and the fact that they include references to the real WWII is just that much more interesting to watch. (*edit* The ending was really surprising, hope you'll enjoy the show just as much as I did)
Skadi
I don't know what it was that intrigued me about this show when I first saw it but I was very interested in seeing it after the first episode. In the end it was a bit disappointing though because early on I thought it had the potential to be something very special. As others have said, Strike Witches is automatically going to appeal to a certain group of people, and you probably already know who you are. Basically SW is the battle of Britain with Loli witches riding mechanical brooms fighting mysterious aliens and carrying huge guns... without pants. Yes I don't understandthe last part either. If you love cute girls in their panties and LOTS of highly detailed shots of those girls in said panties, this is definitely your show! Also judging from the amount of bath scenes there is surely to be a lot of boobs for those who watch the DVD release.
Not that any of the above really offends me, because it doesn’t. But I hate to see the story suffer because of excessive fan service, and in Strike Witches case it does. In a 12 episode series there is very little time to develop the characters and storyline, and SW wastes at least 2 full episodes catering to fan service. One episode is devoted entirely to the girls walking around without their panties on and stealing each others.
The story which started with a lot of promise really loses steam as it winds down. So much is left unexplained and the motives of the Neuroi are never explained. A very significant plot hole remains unexplained in the final story arc and it just felt like a downer when you don’t get a very satisfying conclusion.
You might think because of the above comments that I hated this show, but I really didn't. The show does do a number of things right. First the animation is really good. The girls are really cute and I fell in love with all of them. The show does manage to develop all their personalities pretty well. There is a lot of action too, the air battles with the Neuroi are pretty fun. The OP and EN songs are pretty good but aren’t really anything special.
In the end the show was fun to watch but I am left feeling a bit let down. It just didn't live up to the potential it had early on. Some people are going to like this show a lot though. If you’re looking for some mindless fun for several hours with the bonus of pantsu then you should check this show out.
Splitter
Though Strike Witches isn't nearly as generic as the first few eps would lead you to believe, it's still nothing to get all in a tizzy about. Moe cliches and fetishism abound, you already know the audience with one glance, and if you're in that audience it's not half-bad. Strike Witches is about young girls fighting faceless enemies in an alternate WWII era. Inexplicably, they sprout animal ears and tails when they use magic and pants don't seem to exist anymore. As you can probably guess, this isn't a show heavy in plot. What makes it relatively enjoyable is that the plot (and use that wordvery loosely) is often negated in favor of servicey hijinks and yuri subtext. Well, at least the show knows it's audience.
This 1940s farce is headed by a gaggle of 16-year-old girls who look half that age, but somehow have boobs. The girls' personalities are relegated to such archetypes as tsundere, big-boobed klutz, brat, etc. etc. They're somewhat redeemed by being reverse-gender caricatures of famous WWII leaders. Go figure.
The art, though GONZO, is relatively subdued. It's aesthetically pleasing outside of the Neuroi and flows smoothly. Best of all, there's no CG glut commonly associated with anime of this studio.
The soundtrack is just a hair's breadth above mediocre, and the OP and ED are patchwork themes in music and lyrics. Hardly inspiring.
If you like cute girls showing their panties, then I don't see why you'd turn this down. But don't expect anything even remotely serious from Strike Witches. It's a 100% guilty pleasure.
Overall, Strike Witches gets a 6 out of 10.
AnnoKano
“Never in the animated medium has a cast of so many, worn clothes so few.” -Winston Churchill Strike Witches is perhaps the most elaborate method to showcase girls in their underwear that has ever been contrived; while other series make use of upward camera angles or ‘hillarious’ accidental groping to provide the viewer with their ration of sexual titillation, Gonzo decided that it was time to stop beating about the bush and start being candid. And what could be more candid than a five second close up of a girl’s camel toe? Admittedly it’s not exactly the most cultured form of entertainment around, andcertainly not one you’ll ever find yourself recommending to your parents, co-workers, prospective sexual partners or any Federal Agents that happen to be paying you a visit. However, for those of you who only need to worry about the last item on that list, Strike Witches is the perfect anime for you!
But you don’t need your picture on the side of a Milk Carton in order to enjoy Strike Witches; if you just want to watch one of the most creative, action packed and entertaining anime series out there, then all you need to do is swallow your pride and take your first flight with the guys and girls of the 501st Joint Fighter Squadron.
Just kidding- there aren’t any guys in Strike Witches. Honestly, who on earth would want to see men flying around in their underwear? No, that would just be silly. Yup, they’re all girls. All eleven of them. With each one representing every country in the world that matters- Japan, Britain, The United States of America, Germany, France, Japan, The Soviet Union, Finland, Italy, Germany and Germany. If you’re feeling a little disappointed with that list, you needn’t worry too much—there are more German characters introduced later on in the show.
Of course, with a main character to episode ratio of almost 1:1, you might expect a few issues with character development. And you’d be right- almost half of the cast spend three quarters of the series effectively as background scenery- though the problem is alleviated to a certain degree by the fact that the whole cast has only a quarter of a personality between them.
It sounds terrible, and it probably is- a cast made up entirely of stereotypes is certainly not an artistic statement- but at the same time it’s what allows Strike Witches to work. We don’t need to know about each character, because we already know everything there is to know about them- because we’ve seen them a thousand times before. It sounds a bit illogical, but what’s the use of applying logic to a show about a group of girls flying through the air with aeroplane propellers strapped to their ankles?
And it’s not as if they’re unlikable characters. Quite the opposite, in fact- among the cast of eleven, you’ll end up liking at least eight of them. If nothing else, they certainly are an entertaining bunch to watch.
Now we’ve covered all the key points, let’s delve a little deeper and look at the less important elements of the story, like the story itself: Post World War 2, Alien invasion, Aircraft powered by magic. Got that? Good.
There is an overarching storyline here, but if you hadn’t already realised, Strike Witches isn’t exactly a work of literary genius. What does matter though are the individual episode stories, which are excellent- great fun to watch and reasonably original, which believe me is saying a lot for an ecchi anime. There’s a good mix of action packed battles, low brow humour and some melodrama that makes for some lowest common denominator entertainment of the highest calibre.
On the subject of melodrama, one unintentionally amusing aspect of the show is the use of overly dramatic orchestral music during the battle sequences. When juxtaposed to the high pitched, middle of the road J-pop of the opening sequence, it’s hard not to let out a snobbish little chuckle. Talk about delusions of grandeur...
Of course, when it comes to presentation, there are no delusions... just sweet, sweet grandeur. Whatever you may think of Gonzo Entertainment, of CGI visuals or of the moe aesthetic, there’s no getting around the fact that Strike Witches is quality animation at its finest. Particularly the battle sequences, which were fast paced, well choreographed and smooth.
The integration of CGI with traditional animation (by which I mean digital animation) has long been a burning issue for anime fans, without any clear resolution -should those responsible for it be burned at the stake, or would tarring-and-feathering them be justifiable- where you stand on the issue is entirely up to you; but even the most unreasonable of lynch mobs should be willing to consider letting Strike Witches off the hook, because it has actually made it work. That’s right; no obvious shade-free surfaces or objects that look out of place- everything is well done and kept in the backdrop, where it should be when it can’t be where it really ought to be (off screen).
This review has attempted to justify the unjustifiable. It has struggled desperately to sing the praises of a show that is little more than a cacophony of the worst vices in anime. Cynics will say that Strike Witches is a show that was made with only one goal; to sell to as many depressing single men as possible, and the fact that it’s hugely entertaining is a mere co-incidence -and maybe they’re right. But perhaps they can take a little comfort from the fact that it didn’t quite work out.
“A single sale is a tragedy; but even a million sales won’t save Gonzo from Bankruptcy”
-Josef Stalin
HopeFails
Strike Witches is the story of some flying panties, a bunch of girls and a few pairs of breasts. If that’s all it takes to make you happy, then great, because Strike Witches offers very little else. This is a fanservice anime, so if you're expecting anything deeper than a puddle in terms of plot or people, you might as well give up now. However, that's not an excuse for a truly awful anime. The premise is about as dumb as it sounds. We have eleven girls with magic powers and airplane propellers strapped to their legs, who are apparently the military’s only hope of defeating abunch of outer space aliens.
Sounds like fun, huh?
The bad part is, the story doesn't really go anywhere from there. More than half of the episodes have absolutely nothing to do with the plot. Most of the show is just a bunch of girls running around doing goofy things, taking baths, and beating up the obligatory bad guy. The ending tries to scrape together a plot at the last minute, but it’s so full of plot holes and unresolved stories it ends up being a mess, too. If you were waiting for a conclusion to the loose ends strewn all over the place, you’re out of luck. At the end of the series, all I could say was, “zuh?”
The characters are pretty paper-thin. Only about four of the eleven characters get regular screen-time, the rest of the gang is pretty much scenery. In lieu of character development we’re supposed to be satisfied watching cute girls do cute things. (But really, who doesn't love watching cute girls do cute things, right?) By the end of the series, the only things you’ll remember about the characters are their hair color and sexual orientation.
The villains (if you can even call them that) of the story are a band of aliens called the Neuroi, and they’re among some of the most laughable bad guys in all of anime history. First of all, nobody knows a blessed thing about them, not even the military or the Strike Witches themselves. We never figure out who they are, what they are, where they come from, or what they’re doing. The design for these extraterrestrials is baffling. Most of them look like they were lifted from some bad Cinema 4D tutorial. In one episode, we have the girls fighting an alien shaped like a giant Rubik’s cube. On top of that, the enemy isn't even remotely threatening. Apparently they’re so little of a threat that the Strike Witches don’t even bother to go after them, they just laze around at home base until one flies overhead.
The fanservice isn't anything you haven’t seen before. If, for some reason, you haven’t seen enough of girls scrabbling at each other’s breasts, it might amuse you. But, while I like naked lolis as much as the next guy, the fanservice is stuck in place of a coherent story. There’s literally an entire episode about panties. After a while it just feels like a waste of time.
Strike Witches is an absolutely terrible anime, and I can only hope that I have saved you from the pain of watching it. In the end, the only reason you should ever watch this is if you need an anime that will make you sit back and think, "What the hell am I doing with my life?"
JuicyBuddha
Strike Witches is a fresh, entertaining anime that has been unfairly criticized by a handful of spoilsports who claim moral superiority over the rest of the internets, all the while ignoring the excellence and vibrancy of this fine series. It's a story that has been done before, of course: mysterious aliens invade earth. They attack our cities and villages one by one, and conventional military weaponry is useless against them. Luckily, an elite band of young people have been found and given experimental weaponry that can be used against the xenos. This kind of story usually creates all kinds of angst and bawwwing, but Strike Witchesavoids this cliche since it's set in the last good war. In fact the series is full of vitality and optimism, and the heroines are a squadron of cute flying catgirls that you will surely grow to love.
The art style reflects the good nature and spirits of the series with a vivid palette of colors that will delight your eyes and mind. In fact, the production values in general are excellent, from the cheerful, quirky character designs to the gorgeously animated aerial battles between the witches and their alien foes. There are a few scenes of war-ravaged Europe to show the stakes of the battle, but the series in general is bright and clean. There are a few darker twists towards the end of the story, but it finishes with a positive note, even though many parts of the story are left to be wrapped up in the second season.
It seems, however, that a few people known to the world as moralfags have taken offense to the fact that females in this alternate version of earth have foregone the useless and unpleasant shackles of wearing pants. Why these people would bitch about such a thing is anyone's guess, but this bit of trivia doesn't hurt the entertainment value of Strike Witches in the least, and in fact only adds to its quirky charm.
Kimura_Sensei
Strike Witches is by far the best anime of the year. It will not only save Gonzo, but also influence lots of animes in the near future. Story (9/10): The story is not pretentious, but it's quite interesting. Simple and enjoyable it delivers what it pretends. Art (10/10): Even those that dislike the series have to agree that the art in the series is great. This is one of the best parts of the series and critics may say, the reason why the series is so popular. Sound (10/10): Great sound effects and cute songs. The Ending songs are really good. Character (10/10): Strike Witches is a character basedseries. Every witch is very likeable and pretty cute. In fact, the characters in this series are so good, that you can really love one of the witches and at the same time have her as your 10th favourite witch.
Enjoyment (10/10): Cute girls, fun episodes, great action scenes and character interactions and historical references.
Overall (10/10): This underated series deserves a 10. Best anime of the year so far.
ukonkivi
You've probably heard a little about Strike Witches already, I'm willing to gander. You've probably already heard something about it being a fanservice anime if anything. And have already formulated your opinion about it from that. The likelyhood of that opinion being that it's just a fanservice anime and is therefore not good. And while there are quite a few fanservice anime that would make you to think that way, being since there are a lot of poorly done fanservice anime, that is not the case here. Oh, but it is not the case at all. Strike Witches is in fact a fanservice anime. But it isan exceptionally well done fanservice anime. In fact, it is a perfectly done fanservice anime. And a recommendation to anyone who wants to see a fanservice anime done right.
And since it's given me criteria, I think it's time for me to move on from my preface and work on into the various ratings and why I rate them so.
1. Story.
I really wanted to rate this a ten, but...I don't know how to say this without spoiling it, it builds a decent amount of story and plot and could very well be worked on. But instead of delve into this properly, they focus almost purely on character development. Which is good, considering what it is, that's a good thing. But still, it only leaves for only development like it's an unfinished anime.
It's really hard to rate this, because you have to take into account heavy character development is necessary, and that it is a fanservice anime. And that it does at to a whole which I rate a ten. Because even at it's enjoyable pace and good character development and adding to a perfect whole, I can still only rate this an 8.
2. Art
Art is one of the main things that makes this anime what it is. It is truly superb and a magnificent thing to watch. I don't think an anime, much less a fanservice anime could get much better than this in terms of art. It's animated well, and the character design is flawless. It doesn't make any big deviations from the traditional Japanese animation art style, in fact it only forwards the standard style, but it forwards the style so well and perfectly it's really taking it to what we expect it to be doing, remaining, but only developing and improving that style and raising the bar for it.
So in perhaps more simple words, you have the moe anthropomorphic art style fully realized and rendered. Beautifully used as ever. There's no question that the artwork is what makes this anime. It's not the only thing that's good about this anime of course, but it's something that helps it stand out and be the good anime that it is.
3. Sound
This anime has superb sound. The character voicing is fantastic, the sound effects are good. And after watching the show, and going back and listening to the soundtrack, realizing, what an amazing job they did on the soundtrack so much that it stands on it's own. It may not be epic, but it does what it asks to be, it's charming. And it fits the mood perfectly. And it's a great piece of musical creation that can easily be enjoyed for hours at a time without any other thing involved.
4. Character
Well, considering I already mentioned character development is the biggest part of this story, it's needless to say it has good character development. I don't think you can say anything bad about the character development, it IS one of the main focuses of the show, and it does it well. They want you to get to know the characters, and the character and made to want to be get to known. They also spend a very decent amount of time on most all the characters. Doing a very good job not to neglect a single one. It's one of the very best parts of this show that keeps you coming back for each episode.
5. Enjoyment
Well I think that's what gives this a ten. Even if it's a fanservice anime, it never stops being fun for one second. It doesn't overload you with ecchi or fanservice, and when it is that way, it provides in a very amusing fashion that most fanservice anime completely and utterly lack. If I could set a standard for what even an ecchi anime should be, Strike Witches would be on the list. And way up on that list. It's easy to even forget it's an ecchi or fanservice anime, because it's just so much pure fun.
Forget the words and associations that come to mind when you hear the words fanservice and ecchi. Because those things are not what makes this anime. What makes this anime is that it is just a ride of pure fun. Or might I say, a ride through the clear blue skies with a bunch of fun girls.
6. Overall
Well, as an anime being pure fun, this results in the same thing for me as Lucky Star. I think something is pure fun overall and a ten in the scale of enjoyment, it's a ten in the scale of overall. Because isn't that what makes an anime? I say this anime is %100 Outstanding. You just really can't be this sort of anime in the area of overall charm. I think it should become a model for what it is, and become it's own sort of mini-genre. I can already feel the influence of Sky Girls and Strike Witches.
Without Sky Girls, we wouldn't have Strike Witches. And with the success of these, at least Strike Witches, I can see this helping to spread and eventually create a flood of panty clad women with guns and superpowers, it seems to be it's own genre already. And if it is, I can certainly say this is the Godfather of what's to come. It's really a masterful work, and I can really only, like many others, hope for being graced by a sequel or at least another anime along this lines.
10/10. My life wouldn't have been complete without watching this anime.
Ernis-
When I first stumbled upon this anime I expected nothing of it. I thought it's just going to be some wishy washy ecchi show. However, after watching a few episodes I got so hooked I watched both of the seasons, the movie, the brave witches spin-off in a matter of a few days. Why? Because of the amazing character development. You can consistently track the progress of the main character Yoshika Myafuji throughout both of the seasons and the movie, there are no jumps in the story, it feels very satisfying seeing your beloved character grow. And with the new Road to Berlin movie comingout the character will progress even more, and I can not wait. This is the only anime in my life that I'm waiting for new stuff to come out because it is just so action filled and fun.
In conclusion - It's really fun, action filled, and with some ecchi on the side (even though when you get immersed, you simply forget panty shots even exist).
SatanTheNix
I figured my first review would be on my favorite anime. It may not be for everyone, but this is my thoughts and not to just speak to everyone. Story 6/10 - When You hear the story for this anime, you may think it’s going to be terrible. I’ve seen worse stories, but this isn’t one I’d brag about. There’s been a ton of historical fiction animes that have much better stories. Art 9/10 - I love the animation of this series. It’s exaggerated, comedic moments are very detailed and there’s many scenes where the animation looks beautiful. Only reason I don’t put this as a 10is because there is some cgi animation when they could’ve just hand drawn it (but hey I don’t know what difficulties the studio was dealing with). Plus, I hate that in the subbed version, they censor more fanservice than the dubbed version.
Sound 9/10 - The dubbed voice acting makes this anime for me. It’s some of the most memorable for me. Plus, the soundtrack has some great tunes. The opening and ending are catchy and the other music ranges from pretty good to uplifting or even calming.
Characters 9/10 - There isn’t a main character in this series I don’t like. Then, why is it a 9? The side characters aren’t too special. Not to mention the main characters I have to admit can be considered tropes. You have the energetic loli, the main character with a dream to help people, the shy one with big boobs, and the easily flustered/irritated one. Yeah, it’s an all female cast. Take it for what it’s worth, but I love seeing them all interact off each other.
Enjoyment 10/10 - I admit this is more a guilty pleasure, but there are some legit good moments in it. Although I’m really more into the dubbed version. The voices just felt more natural. Admittedly, there’s moments that even I admit are dumb that I can’t defend, but I can tolerate it.
Overall 10/10 - If you can tolerate the fanservice there’s a lot to be said about this anime. I love the characters and I’m always with them and the animation is great to look at (for the most part). I’ve seen it about a million times and chances are I’ll see it a million times in the future.
_Arcadia0
Strike Witches OH MY GOOOOOD....... This was amazing, absolutely fantastic, a whole ton of FUUUUN. Ecchi, a good plot, an amazing twist, a brilliant cast of characters, beautiful girls (seriously pretty), ecchi!! Strike Witches is an absolute fantastic anime. Strike Witches follows Miyafuji Yoshika, a girl who has incredible magical power capabilities and is thrown into a world she didn't expect to get involved in, because her wanting to protect people overcomes all her fears. The story in Strike Witches is really very good; for 80% of the anime, it's sort of slice of life based, revolving around magical girls who use Striker Units asa modern replacement for "brooms", hence the witches in Striker Witches. Yoshika is at the center of just about everything and in every episode, helps a girl discover something about herself or simply helps out a girl and friendships are built.
In Strike Witches, we have a large cast of what are essentially young girls (♥ Lolis). Yoshika, the lead, Sakamoto, a strong and brave girl who helps Yoshika train and become a Strike Witch, Lynette, a really pretty girl who ends up being Yoshika's best friend, and in my books, a one true pair. Perrine, a stubborn and massively jealous girl; jealous because Sakamoto is focused on training Yoshika. There are other girls too, Minna the leader of Strike Witches, Sanya, a total cutie with white hair and an extra cute voice with an awesome magic power. There is also Hartmann, Shirley, a girl with large breasts and a killer body; she's also a speed freak, Lucchini, the smallest of all the girls and loves to fondle breasts whenever she gets the chance and Eila, a really smart girl who is always seen with Sanya, because of an adorable crush.
All the girls are pretty amazing, they're all cute, and the ecchi is most definitely something to be warned about. Panty shots or hot pants or whatever.... it's most definitely in every episode and tends to be a focus too. Heck, sometimes the artists draw out a lot of detail in the pantsu shots that... well let's just say that it can be very exposing as to what is being shown. Most of the pantsu's on the girls aren't on properly either, falling half way down their waists and things of that nature, or being very small. Breasts are shown all the time when there are bathing scenes and things. It should be noted, none of the girls wear skirts or anything of the sort, it's all very much pantsu and hot pants. The point is, Strike Witches can be very ecchi at times, but don't let it put you off from the story. (Though if you like ecchi, just go ahead and watch Strike Witches, you won't be disappointed)
Speaking of which, once 8 episodes have passed and Yoshika has made a good impression on all the girls, the story really opens up. The Neuroi, the main enemy of the show sees a huge twist that honestly, I should have seen coming a mile away, but was caught up in other things. It's because of this that I feel like the build up, the more slice of life direction for most of the show works so well. There are so many girls and all of them have a story, not all are told, but the important girls get an episode and then some, it helps build a believable world and it's easy to follow the logic involved when these girls make decisions, you really feel like you understand them. I think the Neuroi are fantastic, because of what happens. I wish this was a 2-cour series instead of 1, but thankfully there is more content available.
Art style in Strike Witches is freaking fantastic. Beautiful colors that symbolizes that even though this world is in a war, it's no where near as bad as one would think. The colors are bright, they're vivid, they would make you happy just watching! The detail of the girls is well done, *cough* especially the ecchi shots *cough*. The animation is fantastic, having a very smooth and well maintained animation throughout all 12 episodes. The last episode is a huge job well done to the animators, the fight scene was incredible and it just flowed so well.
Music and Sound is.... I actually think I have no idea what makes something bad in this regard. I enjoyed the OP and ED a lot. I felt like the sounds were really good, the background music meld well with the corresponding emotions and scenes. Maybe I should review this section on how memorable it is, because I don't believe it's possible for most anime studios to get this part wrong. OP and ED are most definitely good though, I liked listening to them a lot.
DarkDaySaturday
Good: Young girls with guns and no pants...Hell Yes! Good characters-All of them stood out among each other and they all mesh very well while still clashing with each other. Air combat-Well it's no Area 88 or anything like that but it's still pretty cool to watch if I do say so myself. Forced homosexuality-Though there is no lesbian action here, you can pretty much tell are either gay (Perrine especially) or are still exploring their sexuality (Yoshika), and that adds some nice humor. Archetype aces/characters somewhat nailed-They definitely nailed the whole Erich Hartmann/Gerhard Barkhorn thing pretty well. Anyone who's read "The Blond Knight of Germany-TheStory of Erich Hartmann" will know how well that was translated into Erica and Gertrud. Saburo Sakai was very well translated into Mio Sakamoto, and Chuck Yeager's spirit of adventure seemed to be very well present in Charlotte. The aristocratic side of Pierre Clostermann was also pretty well translated into Perrine as well.
Negatives:
Weak plot-Yes, I understand the whole saving humanity thing, but it took about eight episodes in a twelve episode series for the plot to really pick up and things to get really juicy. And then it just ended. Lame...
Animal parts-Okay, I know lots of people like this, but I don't. It just looks rather disturbing and not very cute to me at all. While watching Strike Witches I was able to mostly overlook it, it still got on my nerves at times.
Not enough done with certain characters-The biggest thing that got to me, Erica didn't play a bigger role. Come on, she was based off of the ACE OF ACES Erich Hartmann himself, the greatest fighter pilot of all time. Why didn't she get more spotlight time in air combat? Who knows, but I don't think it does the guy a lot of justice.
Better archetypes could have been made-I don't understand why Minna wasn't based off of Adolf Galland and instead was based off of Wolf Dietrich Wilcke. Sure he was a high scoring during WW2 (175 kills), but if you know anything about WW2 air combat, no one ever talks about him. Lynette should have been Johnnie Johnston (highest scoring British ace of all time, 35 kills against the Luffwaffe) and not Billy Bishop, who was Canadian and not British. While not that bad, it would have been cooler to see Sanya be based off of Alexandr Porshynkin rather then Lidiya Litvak simply because of the gender thing, but that wasn't as bad as basing Minna off of a relatively unknown ace and basing Lynette off of someone who was Canadian and not British.
Archetype/characters messed up a bit-Pierre Clostermann's aristocratic side was rather overdone, and Erich Hartmann's free spiritedness was also a bit overdone. Also Billy Bishop wasn't very translated well into Lynette, the real guy was a pretty daring pilot and yet she was pretty shaky and not very confident of herself. I can't say much about characters like Francessca, Minna, Eila, Sanya, and others on how they lived up to their pilot archetypes.
Striker units-The whole idea of basing them off of other planes, well it just seemed like one more side note to make them stand out that kind of just failed. I don't understand why Erica's striker was painted black and gold when it was Gerhard Barkhorn who did that in WW2, Erich actually painted his black and red (read on how the Soviets feared what they called "The Devil's Tulip" when they saw him in the air). Only really Charlotte's stood out as looking anything like the plane it was off of.
One final note that's a bit sad, all but one of the aces used as pilot archeytpes are dead. Erich Hartmann (cause of death-a cold due to a weakened immune system from another disease), Gerhard Barkhorn (cause of death-car accident), Lidiya Litvak (cause of death-KIA), Billy Bishop (cause of death-natural causes), Pierre Clostermann (cause of death-natural causes), Saburo Sakai (cause of death-natural causes), Tetsuzō Iwamoto (cause of death-blood poisoning after surgery), Kaneyushi Mutoh (cause of death-KIA), Ilmari Juultainen (cause of death-natural causes), Franco Lucchini (cause of death-KIA), and Wolf Dietrich Wilcke (cause of death-KIA), those guys are all gone. The only one that is still alive is Chuck Yeager, who as of today is 85 years old, healthy, and still alive and goes around the country to speak at various demonstrations and such. Apparently because of some fans of his on his myspace page, he may even know about Strike Witches as well. I wonder what he thinks of all this?
Well, I guess for history buffs like me, Strike Witches was an interesting watch. I guess it's worth watching again, though not without serious thought and caution. It's a fun series and one that isn't too serious, and I think that may be it's greatest charm. One thing's for sure, I can't wait to hear what Chuck Yeager has to say about all this.
BudokaZ
One of the worst Animes I have ever seen. The premise is that young girls wearing flying boots modelled off of WWII era aircraft are the only things on this alternate version of Earth that can consistently defeat the attacks of an unknown invading force hell bent on razing the planet for unknown reasons. Lets get the 'good stuff' out the way. The art isn't all that bad, generic character designs and such, but the boots modelled off of WWII aircraft do look good. Also the designs of the Neuroi enemies based on prototype aircraft were also pretty good. The sound wasn't terrible. The OP and ED weren'tvery memorable and the actual sound design didn't really have any faults.
The story is full of plot devices designed for fanservice. Only gender with magical powers are women, and they 'reach their magical peak' at 18 years old. The lack of trousers and skirts is put down to the girls needing to be ready at a moments notice to sortie, although in this version of Japan, it seems young girls generally just only wear underwear.
The actual plot is full of rehashed ideas and tired cliches borrowed from a variety of other anime. Unassuming young teenage protagonist is thrust into a world of magic and/or battles against mysterious and powerful enemy, and suprisingly has great untapped potential. Each episode revolves around some plot point for minor character development which is resolved in the end by usually overcoming a challenge to destroy a bad guy. The required forseeable plot twist near the end is also present.
Character development is incredibly minimal for characters outside of the protagonist Yoshika, which leaves the show with a cast of one dimensional stereotypes with different body design to appeal to varying fetishes.
All in all, its a terrible show, and only for those who need more loli fapping material.
KitsunehimeMilhi
I might as well as let it out there, that Strike Witches is my favorite series; I'm not saying that season 1 is necessarily my favorite, but I haven't re-watched season 2 yet, so I'll just let season one represent the series on my favorites list for now. Honestly, before I even get into the review I'll say something kind of contradictory. I'm not going to sit here typing to try and convince you that this is a must watch for everyone because of amazing the story , art, music, etc are. I believe wholeheartedly that Strike Witches is a seriesthat only people who like shows that handle 11 main/side characters being present all for a good amount of screen time well, beautiful sky scenes and lower-upper age teenage girls drawn not wearing actual pants, a story about a new Witch wanting to become stronger and help everyone she can even if it means taking reckless moves, etc. Basically, there are many things that I believe can turn someone off from Strike Witches , although I'd definitely say it's way above average, and I don't find it likely that the anime would convince you to like it, if you're extremely off put by something beforehand. It's just not a show that you can talk about how well written it is, like Death Note, and Fullmetal Alchemist, how great the characters are, how stunning all the different visual types are, etc. It's a fairly simplistic show that I don't think would change people's opinions much if they're inclined to not like it before viewing. Anyway, I've rambled on enough now. Time to start the review. I won't be rating each category individually like I've been doing recently though, since it's a perfect 10 for me.
As I said, the story is fairly simplistic. Yoshika Miyafuji is going to a normal school, until she receives a letter from her dead father handed to her from Mio Sakamoto. Mio is attempting to recruit her into the Strike Witches since she has an amazing healing ability, but Yoshika refuses at first. She doesn't even agree to join the Strike Witches until after being taken on a carrier ship in order to see her father's grave, and equipping a striker unit for the first time, the device the witches use to fly, and helping to fight off a neuroi during her travels with Mio. Her journey of self growth and her meetings with all the wonderful members of the 501st joint fighter wing, the Strike Witches, start. Unlike other stories of self growth, the main character doesn't go from being one of the weakest to one of the strongest. Yoshika at best, moves up into a middle spot, but she still remains lower in power rankings among the unit. She may act rashly at times, but she's also the one who encourages everyone else when they have doubts and brings about conclusions that nobody expected until they saw it. You find out the internal struggles of most of the remaining cast, as well. Minna, Mio, Gertrude, and most others all have something that bothers them internally during the season and it's generally about something in the past that affects them in such a way that they don't act like themselves, until Yoshika ends up breaking them out of their shell, and sometimes other people help a little too. It's not that she's a plot device, but that's just the way she is. Yoshika is very good at giving and or inspiring hope to/in others. One of the bests parts of the story definitely has to be that it doesn't try to be tear jerking despite the tragic events that occurred in many of the girl's lives. There will be some boob jokes and playful grabbing now and again too, along with other comedy, but it just makes the experience so much better. it's world war 2 based as well, but with the unknown neuroi attacking earth and Witches rather than feuding countries. I believe the ships are suppose to be modeled after war war 2 ships as well.
The art is fantastic, at least on blue-ray. All the surroundings from the sky to the water to the ships, and everything seemed so realistic, even though you can tell it's a drawing. the neuroi may have weird designs, but it doesn't matter. All the Witches have such memorable character designs, despite that they're drawn not wearing pants. No female character in the Strike Witches universe ever wears actual pants, and tights are the closet it ever comes. It's certainly a weird choice to make, but it actually makes their designs so much more memorable, a long with allowing the show to have an easy way to go about providing some fan service, making the striker units more noticeable, and eliminating any hindrance the pants may have made to the visual appeal while the witches are flying through the sky. It's an art style that i'll never forget.
The sound is similar to the story, in the fact that it may not seem special at first. I'd say that the opening and ending theme convey one of the best messages of encouragement and working to discover your potential along side your friends out of all the theme songs that convey similar messages. The songs are extremely memorable , if you're a fan at least and don't try to forget them. The background music is fantastic too. It's not that it's the best calming music out there, the best pumping up music, or anything like that. The music just has a unique feel to it that can only be experienced in Strike Witches show or something, like Brave Witches, which is very similar but different; Brave Witches suffers in the art department a bit due to the sub par 3d cgi used though. the animation is also amazingly well done in Strike Witches. The fights are not the most action packed, but everything is so fluid and lively.
The characters are all unique in their own way too. I already said most of my thoughts on Yoshika so I'll just leave it at that. Unfortunately, Strike Witches is another show where I don't think describing the characters will actually convince people. Strike Witches, Brave Witches, Armed Girl's Machiavellism, and Seven Mortal Sins, are four shows that I have this opinion about their characters, for the most part. I wouldn't mind going into how great of a singer Minna is and describing her past, talking about Gertrude's past, the problems Mio faces, and many other characteristics and personalities. It would just make for too long of a character section when they are 11 Strike Witches and I don't think it would convince many people because the cast would sound generic paper, despite their liveliness and colorful personalities. It's kind of a shame, but I'd rather keep it shorter and not make my favorite cast sound generic unintentionally. It's a cast that needs to be experienced, as long as any prior knowledge you have about the show doesn't deter you from watching it already.
Now for the enjoyment. Strike Witches was one of those shows that I always loved and didn't watch for a particularly good reason. I read in a review or something that the main character grew dog ears and a tail when she fights and I wanted to try and discover the reasoning behind that. I already started to like cat girls at the time, so the humanoid aspect pulled me in, especially since it sounded so bizarre. My question was not answered until I read one of the manga series, Maidens in the Sky, though. I still loved it even though my question was not answered. I realized it was one of my top 5 favorites when i thought about it a few months later. After another 2 or 3 months, I was thinking about what my favorite anime is, and after Noir, which was the first anime i saw, being my favorite for a while, I realized after thinking about my opinions on it after i started to re-watch it, that it doesn't hold the title of my favorite anime anymore. as I watched more shows, Noir wasn't even in my top 10 anymore. I decided that Strike Witches is my favorite anime after Noir lost it's place, and I just re-watched this season over a period of four days. I enjoy watching Strike Witches so much and it definitely brings the most joy to me, overall, when I consider every aspect. It's well deserving of being my favorite anime and I don't regret giving it that title. I hope that many people who read this at least have a positive experience while watching the season.
erwinmm89
Watching this series was painful, long, boring and tedious; I can hardly believe I endured until the end. This anime is just plainly too innocent, naive, happy, friendly, whatever you want to call it. The "problems" that are presented in the anime are all very dumb and not interesting, and the way the characters act is too childish. If you like fast-paced animes, with good action in it, you can stop reading this immediately and look elsewhere. The story starts out with some mysterious "Neuroi" race that has appeared on Earth and has suddenly started attacking humans all around the world. That's about as much asyou get to understand about Neurois since, after the first episode, they appear spontaneously only to disturb some other, not-entertaining activity the witches were holding. They suddenly decide to keep developing the Neuroi story in the last two episodes of the series, but they just act as if they're getting somewhere, as if they're going to uncover and explain something new, just to leave the viewer expecting something that never happens.
Art is alright, it's better than many other anime series, but it's nothing astonishing; you can find the same art and animation quality, even better, in many other series.
Voice acting happens to be good, and the intro song might be just a little bit catchy, but it's nothing to be surprised or "touched" by. Sound effects are alright as well. It has a fairly good sound, overall.
I must admit that the characters are explained in a nice manner; you get to know a bit about everyone, enough as to understand them. However, the characters are all based on anime standards; in other words, every character in this series resembles some other character from another series. And, as stated before, they all act too childish; extremely childish. For some reason, too, female characters apparently hate wearing pants; they always hang around wearing panties and some shirt (although Perrine wears pantyhose, too).
This series lies in the borderline of "bad" and "just acceptable". I wouldn't invite anyone to see this anime, though; do so under your own risk (although it might be good to watch it at night, in order to fall asleep quickly).
Thaiberium
I've heard much about Strike Witches before I first watched it. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised by its actual depth than what common hearsay has informed me of. Allow me to elaborate. Picking up slowly, with the introduction of the setting and characters, it eases us in to a somewhat formulaic format. We begin with our heroine, Yoshika Miyafuji and her initial anti-war sentiment and her joining the titular organisation. It then segues in to the exploration of the respective members of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing with a Neuroi usually present to showcase the ability of that particular member. Thereis a twist of course, but I leave that for you to discover on your own. I have a particular gripe about the plot's pacing though. It feels like the plot twist was constructed in a hurry and tacked on for the last few episodes. All in all, not too shabby.
The 501st Joint Fighter Wing is an aerial unit circa WW2 and its task is to stop Neuroi who deploy in the air. Beautiful aerial dogfights ensue with pretty explosions and very "nice views". Many seem to discredit Strike Witches solely for the fanservice and in a sense I understand, its enough to cause a fatal nosebleed. But that isn't the only fault it has. Rendered English countrysides look plastic when the 501st have some field exercises. My god do they look plastic. Otherwise, the 3D rendered art looks detailed, especially the Japanese Carrier Akagi, the 2D backgrounds look up to snuff and the lighting is justly positioned.
The sound is not spectacular though it does a good job of providing us with good audio cues. Few parts have audio that I feel does not go with a scene. Sound effects too sound a bit off kilter and it feels like all the guns sound the same. Those who watch quite a lot of anime may recognise some familiar voices too but this is where your mileage may vary.
At its heart, Strike Witches is the 501st's war story and in war stories, it explores the characters and their relations to each other. Some of it feels too sudden though, such as Yoshika's sudden change of heart to enlist. However, as the bulk of character development is on a per episode basis, we get enough of a feeling for each of the characters, showing interpersonal relationships, personalities, hopes and fears, particularly of the veterans of the conflict.
This was a fun and mostly light show. In fact, if you look past the fanservice and the initial blood loss involved, its something that could be recommended to anyone interested in magical girls or aerial combat action. However, it was more the little parallels to our history that had me appreciating Strike Witches, especially mirroring Erich Hartmann wearing Hitler's hat with Erica Hartmann's wearing someone else's "pants" (they have the gall to call them pants) as a result of their stupor. As far as enjoyment goes, taking an alien threat and putting it in a WW2 era setting while replacing actual ace pilots with loli magical girls with no pants sounds like a winner to me.
Smithy
“Strike Witches” is a magical girl series rife with action, comedy and fanservice with a zest of yuri. Originally based on a light novel series, it first spawned an OVA in 2007 and a 13 episode anime series in 2008. The story of “Strike Witches” takes place during the 1940's on an alternate version of our earth, where magic and technology coexist and most countries have different names. Thrust into a conflict that spreads across the globe by an unknown race or entity called Neuroi, the human race is put on the defensive after the Neuroi quickly wipe out several nations. Humanity's best hope to defeatthe airborne Neuroi lies with the 'strike witches' of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, young girls with high magical powers that are able to fly when donning their striker units, propulsion devices that envelop each leg.
Undoubtedly one of the series' prime and most visually obvious aspects are its copious amounts of fanservice. One could judge “Strike Witches” solely by its abundant fanservice, but this would be a short-sighted judgement.
The level of fanservice is obvious from episode one on, as in the alternate world that “Strike Witches” takes place in, women do not wear pants or skirts, they simply walk around with their panties or swimsuit bottoms showing in plain view. Each episode is packed with blatant pantsu shots and is rife with other fanservice scenes such as glances at character's bosoms, scantily clad bed attire or bikini's while during the obligatory beach scenes. On top of that each of the witches displays animal ears and tail when activating her magical powers, most likely this was intentionally added to appeal to the fans of animal eared girls.
To fully enjoy the series viewers must be willing to accept these high amounts of fanservice, so “Strike Witches” might not be for all audiences.
At first I was reluctant, assuming the series would be mere mindless fanservice of a questionable level such as in “Kanokon” or “To Love RU”. Watching the first few episodes I was quickly proven wrong and discovered this terrific series holds much more. Though present in large amounts, the fanservice stays digestible and never becomes offensively rude or of poor taste. “Strike Witches” shows how fanservice laden series should be, cute and even daring or sensual, but never without reserve and all in sufficient good taste.
Furthermore, the series offers other well executed elements, such as its homage and accurate references to World War II era air combat, it has flawless animation, and classic but well executed plots such as personal growth, overcoming challenges.
Character design for the anime series as well as artwork for the “Strike Witches” light novels was done by Humikane Shimada, who was also responsible for the character designs of “Sky Girls”, hence associations between both series can easily be made. Next to character design similarities, both series show young girls on the front lines of an apocalyptic war where the human race must defend itself against annihilation from an inhuman entity.
There are also quite a bit of differences, from more obvious ones such as the series' length, “Sky Girls” being animated by JC Staff while “Strike Witches” is animated by Gonzo, “Sky Girls” with its post-modern setting has the girls use futuristic mecha while “Strike Witches” used the concept of magic to have the girls fly around with propulsion units inspired on World War II era aircraft.
With this World War II air combat element one of the other main themes in “Strike Witches” becomes apparent, all of the witches' striker units are reminiscent of existing propeller fighter planes such as the Mustang P51, Mitsubishi Zero, Messerschmitt Bf-109,...
The witches themselves are based or named after famous World War II ace pilots such as Pierre Clostermann, Erich Hartmann, Chuck Yeager,...
“Strike Witches” is full of references and homages to combat aviation from that era, including these direct references to air planes and pilots but also showing accurate recreations of fighter plane combat manoeuvres and tactics.
Furthermore the series accurate and detailed depiction of historic weapons and military equipment is remarkable and helps immerse the viewer into a World War II era atmosphere. Plenty of attention to historical details was made to accurately recreate era weaponry and equipment, such as the Maschinengewehr 42 or M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle.
While most characters may seem generic, they never come off as uninteresting. “Strike Witches” features quite a large cast, there are no less than 11 witches in the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, nearly four times as much as the girls of “Sky Girls”, yet “Strike Witches” has only half the episode count. With those time constraints it is to be expected that not all characters get the same amount of airtime or background depth, yet “Strike Witches” manages to give every character its moment in the spotlights which introduces her better to the viewer or reveals more about her past background.
No characters jump off-screen as being novel or unexpectedly deep, most are based on well known character formula, but because we are either shown their background story or they get enough scenes to make them familiar so that we as viewers will end up knowing all of the witches well enough to care for each of them.
The writers did a terrific job, certainly so seeing the number of characters and time constraints. While we're never told much about the pasts of Lynette, Perrine, Erica or Lucchini, their actions and interaction with the others firmly establishes their characters. We're shown scenes or sub plots about the pasts of Minna, Gertrud and Shirley, which immediately makes us feel more involved. So even though there's so many girls next to Yoshika, the leading character, throughout the episodes the viewer will become attached to each and everyone of them.
With an all female cast, several yuri or shoujo-ai pairings and scenes are a given. While some of the girls have strong bonds of friendship, like Lucchini and Shirley or Mio and Minna, others are hinted or plainly shown to be more than friends, which either leads to humorous scenes such as Perrine's jealous fits, Yoshika's infatuation with Lynette's bosom or to more endearing, romantic scenes like those between Sanya and Eila.
Animation by Gonzo is absolutely stellar in the series. Quality almost never drops and retains a high level throughout all of the episodes, with gorgeous scenes and renderings of all the cute witches with a lot of attention to detail. The many air combat action scenes are fluid, fast and well done.
The 3D CGI generated Neuroi are portrayed as alien flying entities built up from black honeycomb structures which makes them not only simple but also makes them seem more realistic and acceptable compared to the Worms from “Sky Girls” which appeared as large animal-like things.
Many series should have consistent animation levels like “Strike Witches”, especially the characters are so well animated, a true feat Gonzo accomplished here when compared to their other creations.
The first Japanese DVD releases of “Strike Witches” have shown Gonzo took it a bit further for the DVD versions, removing any censoring present in the episodes of the television broadcast, where steam, rays of light, shadows or other obstacles obscured full view of the character's bare breasts and the likes. Hence the DVD versions seems more niche oriented than the television broadcast version and as such may not appeal to the viewers who are not keen on the fanservice element of the series. Such casual viewers may be best served by watching the regular television broadcast episodes.
Music is more generic in “Strike Witches”, while the soundtrack is solid, it does not particularly excel on its own but contents itself by accompanying and supporting what is seen on screen, a job it does well. The opening track 'Watashi Ni Dekiru Koto' (the things I can do) is an upbeat song full of hope, which accentuates the theme of Yoshika's struggle to be able to achieve her goals as a witch.
I do recommend “Strike Witches” to everyone looking for a nice series with a good mix of action and humour, regardless of the more niche elements it has like its fanservice it will no doubt be a fun series to watch for all.
garbadorable
The Strike Witches series follows Yoshika Miyafuji, teenage girl who goes to school (in a skirtless uniform) and helps her mother and grandmother around their medical clinic. Her father, Dr. Miyafuji, the inventor of the Striker Unit (what you're here for, if not the butts) has been MIA for some time. Yoshika, appalled by war, ends up enlisting in the navy in order to find out about the fate of her father. Hilarity ensues as she enters the boob-and-butt-festival that is the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, a group of elite ace pilots, even though she has no combat experience whatsoever. Doesn't it sound idiotic? Guesswhat? It's actually not half bad.
As part of the Strike Witches fandom, I've endured many a slight against my favorite anime. Every single one has been accurate. Yes, this show is 75% fanservice and 25% inaccurate WWII history. Yes, it caters to fanboys who just want to see boobies and big guns. But does it have potential? You bet. Nearly every character has the major components of a good one. They have reasons for their behavior, they have motives, they're relatable. The writers and animators could have focused on this aspect, and Strike Witches would have been a whole lot better. Hell, they could have kept in all the butts and cameltoe if they wanted. A little character development would have made this show a great challenge to the general flat-as-a-board ecchi character group. However, they decided to appeal to a mishmash of historical buffs and drooling, mindless fanboys.
Despite all this, I think that Strike Witches is worth watching. As a SW fan, I've learned more about WWII than I ever learned in high school. People claim the same thing of Hetalia, but somehow Hetalia manages to annoy me even more than Strike Witches does. That's beside the point. Strike Witches has a huge universe to build on, appealing animation, and is basically a big bundle of untapped potential. Until that potential is tapped, I'll keep searching for an anime with character, story, and sweet butts.
JigoIchirou
"Can I... have my clothes?" "No, this has been kept as an evidence." "Uh, but..." "You are not wearing any panties? Then I let you borrow mine." And so, she got started taking her panties off. (from the episode 7 of Strike Witches) Strike Witches, is a light-hearted military based anime with some magical abilities such as healing wounds just by concentration itself; seeing distant things clearly and even its hidden inner parts with a magical eye. And, I think this is one of most ecchi fanservice-orientated anime in the Japan animation history. For some mysterious reason, in the world of Strike Witches all young girls seem like they don'tput any skirts or pants on their bottom. Therefore, their underwears of their bottom parts, or at least their barely-covered crotches can always be seen by everyone around them so easily. This hilarious- I mean terrible habit of the world made me in a panic before I realized that they probably *have to* be without skirts or pants at all times in order to immediately mount the Striker Units on their legs whenever the alien invasion warning issued. My goodness. That perfectly makes sense because the aliens would appear possiblly in every minutes and wearing a skirt for the witches might be a problem when mounting the Striker Units. I was pretty impressed by those young fighters. Although the witch girls look young and cute, they are professional army officers after all. Showing people their underwears or barely-covered crotches doesn't make them feel embarrassment because of their high-spirited sense of mission. With this rational conclusion, I finally managed to settle myself on watching their brilliant actions in peace... until I had happend to see a nurse with no skirt! She was not a member of the witches for sure. What the heck were she doing in a hospital? What is wrong with this Strike Witches world? So, I eventually learnt that no skirts for girls is like a principle nature of this anime. Furthermore, interestingly enough, the girls seem like they have no question nor a complaint about it.
Now, please let me review the other aspects of this anime other than just about panties. To be my good surprise, the other aspects like the battle with the enemies, and the plots of each episode were also very nice, unlike the saying of some other reviews. The battle scenes with the aliens is very loud and exciting, thrilling that is worth watching. The plots may seem typical to anime buffs but it suits the whole relaxed mood of this show. The opening/ending themes are maybe not super great but still they are pretty fine and I like its innocent, optimistic lyrics, which I listened to it almost every time I watched the show.
I have given it a 'great' score because the show is totally very well balanced as a fanservice-orientated entertainment piece of work mainly for anime freak gentlemen. So, make sure if you are an airhead 'freak' before trying it. :)
