Oh wait, there was also the action. And the character interaction. Okay, okay, the show was decent, I admit it.
As much as I’d like to not like Strike Witches, I can’t fault the show too much. The premise was irritatingly similar to Sky Girls, which I ended up hating with a passion, so I of course went into this series skeptically. And then I saw first episode.. and we had the infamous week of THEY’RE NOT WEARING ANY PANTS. People decided to lable the show as fanservice and let it go. Hell, I was going to let it go, but I kept watching for two reasons.
1. I have extremely low standrads when it comes to anime. Unless something’s outright horrible or boring, I’ll keep watching it.
2. I was captured by the fact that the characters HAD NO PANTS ON. I seriously just watched the second episode to see if this was some sort of joke. ‘TWAS NOT.
But as the series progressed and the setting, characters and plot developed I found that under the piles of fanservice, there was actually a decent series to watch. But I had to realise that I couldn’t take this show seriously around the episde where we had a massive panty stealing chain that didn’t end up in a yuri orgy.
So what was good about Strike Witches?
- The character relationships. Not only did having a pretty much all female cast make for awesome yuri scenes and bewb grabbing, but every character was uniquely defined. None of them felt like typical stereotypes and I couldn’t really predict what they were going to do next. It helped to have an episode devoted to most of the characters (not sure why they’d miss out Francesca and Sakamoto). But there were a couple of problems, like how Yoshika did that complete 180 in episode three and becamse an orgasmic boob fetishist, and how Sakamoto was cold and frigid through most of the series for no reason. Other than that though, it was great. PERRINE X SAKAMOTO WHERE?!
- The World War 2 Setting combined was an innacurate but interesting time to have the plot take place. i’m still not going to forgive them for teh mapz though.
- The animation was consistently good throughout the series, especially the action scenes. If Dragounaut had been even half as well animated as this, it still would’ve sucked, but it would’ve sucked in style. It was also a nice example of CG not done shit.
- There was also one track in the BGM that was easily one of my favourites, and made the show seem more EPIC than it really is. Which is always a good thing.
And what wasn’t so good?
- The plot and the rushed conclusion. If the series hadn’t spent so much time dossing about with fanservice episodes, we couldv’e looked a bit deeper into the actual REASON the Neuroi were killing mankind. And if it was really a war, wouldn’t they just station the 501st Strike Witches squadron somewhere else if there were more Neuroi hives to beat? And why did Yoshika say “Thank You” to the Neuroi core? And why did her Strikers destroy it so easily? And why did half the characters only introduce actual magiacal abilities beyond flying and shooting only in the last episode like “Sturm” and “Tonerre”?
- Excessive and pointless fanservice. Also hampered by the fact I’m not into lolis. NEED MOAR SHIRLEY SERVICE.
So overall, I’d not really recommend this show, but nor would I say avoid at all costs. It’s all a matter of taste and whether you’re a pervert or not. Although these two just can’t get enough. I’ll probably check out the ep 13 OVA but other than that, I’ll say goodbye to SW.
P.S Best episode is 5, Shirley’s Supersonic Speed Breaker is UNRIVALLED.
One for the road.
GONZO thought that this series would at least save them from bankruptcy for a while but… again, they fail.
@kanzeon
Apparently, the DVD’s are selling well, once again proving that at least a quarter of otakus are perverts. Though that’s not necassarily a bad thing.
“actual magiacal abilities beyond flying and shooting only in the last episode like “Sturm” and “Tonerre”?”
Are we forgetting Sanya radar and Sakamoto sight all of a sudden?
And that gif is getting avatar’d.
@xephfyre
I’m just wondering why they didn’t use any of these abilities when fighting other Neuroi.
Plus the many foreign fans paying for the show via BOST and CrunchyRoll.
@omisyth: Plot-induced stupidity. Best excuse ever.
“Excessive and pointless fanservice.”
I’m sure you meant not enough fanservice.
Still its actually a superb offering by Gonzo’s standards and they have restored my faith in them somewhat. No mean feat i guess.
i like the show actually and for some reason found myself waiting for the next episode just to see what would happen next. a bit sad that the ending was rushed though, but it’s Gonzo were talking about and we all know they haven’t done anything good since gate keepers
@Setsuna-san
Key phrase “By Gonzo’s standards”.
I actually think a much more overlooked anime by Gonzo this past season (or two) is Blassreiter. It had all the makings of a great story, and even executed it well, but still just didn’t get the attention it deserved. It’s definitely restored my faith in them. I think ^^;.
@AnimeXploit
Hopefully, Kurogane no Linebarrel won’t SUUUUUUUUCK but I don’t have my hopes up for that one.
hehe boobies and panty shots oh right the show! wait whats the difference…
Overall I had a fun time watching Strike Witches. It’s entertaining (referring to the plot and not the pantsu), has good CG, and a mix of everything as compared to the other series that were aired. If there’s to be a season 2, good. If there isn’t, it’s alright too because season 1 wrapped up nicely. (: