Aaron's Review: Strike Witches

Everyone has that one show they know they should hate, but they don’t.

Guys, Gal, & Non Binary Pals. This is Animated Aaron’s review of Strike Witches.

! Background !

Set in the 1940’s, witches exist as teams of them are formed to help use their magic along with militarized guns against an alien invasion. But instead of brooms, they fly with ‘Striker Units’ to fight the ‘Neuroi’ which attack with areal assaults.

The story follows the newest recruit, Yoshika, as she learns how to fly, use guns and spends time with the other Strike Witches of the 501st.

! Story !

Now, it’s a monster/problem of the day. The girls are either hanging out or training as Yoshika gets to know one or two members of the 501st Strikers. A Neuroi attacks, and Yoshika either helps the witch of the day defeat them or uses their influence to do so.

! Characters ! 

There’s 11 witches and each witch has their own distinctive personality. But some were just an anime cliché and nothing more.  Perrine is a salty sun dried tomato. Sanya is the emotionless doll. That sort of stuff. Others however like Shirley start out as just an egocentric thrill seeker but develop into someone who prefers to have that adrenaline rush, but won’t put herself at risk. Just as well, there’s an episode where Shirley tries to talk to another witch out of harming herself just to reach a goal.

That’s the other thing I like, no two interactions are the same. Yoshika & Barkhorn don’t hit it off very well and they’re relationship is based on the older witch trusting the kid a bit more and more. The leader, Major Sakamoto, is always trying to get her squad to improve their own skills and not slack off. But she gives them their own little bit of breathing room to grow. The interactions are well done, if not dry at times.

! The Show !

The animation is usually kept simple until an action scene happens. As a bonus, they’re really intense. The camera keeps everything just far enough so you can see everything and the pacing and music always match creating, not a phenomenal scene, but a good action scene where they take down the alien.

That is until there’s a sudden zoom in on the 15 year old’s ass breaking the tone completely.

….Oh by the way, the oldest Strike Witch is 19 while the youngest is 12, and the trademark of the show is that none of them wear pants and panty shots are everywhere.

I’m not against a team of lesbian & bisexual witches, named after famous pilots (Chuck Yeager-Charlotte Yeager), fighting aliens in a WW2 setting with sci-fi elements as they bond over past experiences before and during the war as well as their own unique personalities with hints of fan service in a tactful way. What I am against, is a serious scene being ruined by, again, a random panty shot of teenage girls who apparently don’t wear pants for what seems to be no reason.

The other thing that hindered the show were that the attempts at comedy aren’t all that funny. The conversations can be very dry and the stilted animation during those scenes didn’t help.

! Grade ! 

It gets so close to being a great show, but it gets dragged down by common anime tropes that didn’t need to be there. Specifically the sexualizing of a 14 year old.

Grade: C- 

I’d give it a D, but again, Shirley was a good character and the season finales are when they cut the crap.

What’s Your Opinion?