World Witches is a Shared Universe created by Fumikane Shimada. Beginning with Strike Witches in 2008, World Witches has since spun off into a mixed-media franchise, with the primary focus on the adventures of the 501st and 502nd Joint Fighter Wings. The franchise involves humanity fighting back against alien invaders called the Neuroi, who've started their invasion throughout history. Generally, regular weapons are useless against these invaders but, girls with magical powers are capable of defeating the Neuroi. They've been given the name Witches. Come the 20th Century, Witches have been given a particular weapon to help fight the Neuroi called "Striker Units" which are mechanized legs based on airplanes and tanks that allow them to utilize their magical powers while generally using firearms. In addition to aliens and girls with magical powers, this franchise has one notable quirk - the girls don't wear pants.
Works in this franchise:
Main Animated Works:
- Strike Witches (2008): Alien invaders called the Neuroi invade Europe in the year 1939, forcing humanity to not only unite but to develop a new weapon called a Striker Unit for girls with magic powers called "Witches" to fight the Neuroi. Five years had passed since the war had started and Yoshika Miyafuji, the daughter of the inventor of the currently-fielded Striker Unit, finds herself recruited into the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, known as the "Strike Witches". Spanned 12 episodes.
- Strike Witches 2 (2010): After the liberation of the Republic of Gallia by the Strike Witches, Yoshika Miyafuji continued her studies in her homeland of the Fuso Empire. However, a chain of events leads her to re-joining the Strike Witches as they've been assigned to the Duchy to Romagna. Also spanned 12 episodes.
- Strike Witches: Road to Berlin (2020): Following the events of Strike Witches: The Movie, Yoshika Miyafuji is now in the middle of her medical studies. However, hearing that a new friend of hers named Althea isn't able to contact her father, a captain of a battleship in the Venezian Navy, Yoshika races to help as usual, which will pit her against the Neuroi yet again.
- Strike Witches: The Movie (2012): After the Duchy of Romagna's successful defense by the Strike Witches, in which the neighboring Duchy of Venezia is also liberated, Yoshika Miyafuji again continues her studies in Fuso. However, a Witch by the name of Shizuka Hattori tells her that she's been accepted into a medical school in the European country of Helvetia, prompting another trip to Europe. However, Yoshika gets herself into more situations that will lead her to fighting the Neuroi again.
- Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow (2014-2015): A trilogy of OVAs where the members of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, after the liberation of Venezia, are involved in events across Europe.
- World Witches Series: Brave Witches (2016): Unlike earlier animated works, this focuses on the titular "Brave Witches", formally known as the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing who are tasked to defend northern Orussia from the Neuroi. The protagonist, Hikari Karibuchi, unexpectedly joins the Brave Witches in the place of her older sister.
Spin-Offs and Side Stories:
- Strike Witches: Suomus Misfits Squadron (2007-2008): A light novel series depicting the titular unit of Witches, known formally as the Suomus Independent Volunteer Aerial Squadron, tasked with defending Suomus from the Neuroi. However, the eccentricities of each member threaten the ability to act like soldiers... Most of the novels reek of Early-Installment Weirdness that they were rebooted in 2018 to fit into modern canon.
- Strike Witches 1937: Fuso Sea Incident (2010-2011): A prequel manga where adolescent Witches from Fuso get a first taste of combat against the Neuroi, which will propel them to greater fame in the future. Among these future heroes is Mio Sakamoto, who is struggling to learn how to properly utilize her Neuroi Eye ability.
- Strike Witches: One-Winged Witches (2011-2012): Set at the same time as the first season of the Strike Witches TV series, this manga is focused on the Isle of Wight Detachment Group, tasked in defending Britannia like the 501st Joint Fighter Wing. Some of the members appear to have connections with the 501st.
- Strike Witches: The Witches of Aurora (2013-2015): Set in 1942, the manga focuses on the Witches of the Suomus Air Force's 24th Squadron. Among these Witches are Eila Ilmatar Juutilainnen and Nikka Edvardine Katajainen, both of whom will respectively join the 501st Joint Fighter Wing and the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing.
- Strike Witches: Deep-Red Witches (2014-2015): A manga set prior to and during Strike Witches Season 2. The manga focuses on the 504th Joint Fighter Wing, also known as the "Ardor Witches" and their defense of the Duchy of Romagna while keeping the eccentricities to themselves.
- Noble Witches: The 506th Joint Fighter Wing (2014-2018): Focuses on the titular unitnote , tasked in defending Gallia from the Neuroi after it's liberation from the alien invaders by the 501st Joint Fighter Wing. However, the unit being formed by a combination of blue blood and those not from blue blood will complicate the matter. Had a manga adaptation that ran from 2017 until 2018.
- Brave Witches Prequel (2016-2018): Set before the Brave Witches TV series, this focuses of the members of the 502nd Joint Wing as they defend northern Orussia from the Neuroi. Received a manga adaptation in 2017.
- Strike Witches: Erica Hartmann 1941 (2016): Set in 1941, the manga is focused on the titular Witch. A side of Hartmann not shown before is the focus of this manga's story.
- Strike Witches: Contrail of Witches (2016-2017): Focuses on Witches fighting in various fronts across Eurasia.
- Luminous Witches (2022): Focuses on a group of Witches who sing and perform music.
The World Witches franchise provides recurring examples of:
- The '40s: Most of the World Witches works are set in an alternate version of the 1940s.
- Alternate History: According to official artbooks
, while history went normally in the BC era, the divergence began when Julius Caesar survived his assassination and went to become Emperor of the Roman Empire, ultimately leading to the series proper where several countries have different names and different borders and World War II is replaced with fighting off an alien invasion, with all of the witches based on real WWII pilots, including General Chuck Yeager. More divergences in history included Chingiz Khan becoming the Mongol Emperor, a war between the Mongol Empire and the kingdoms of Karlsland (Germany), Oda Nobunaga escaping his assassination thanks to Mori Ranmaru being a witch, unifying Fuso (Japan) and defeating the Spanish Armada, and the Britannia East India Company battling the Dutch and their Fuso mercenary allies for the spice routes which later led to two Britannia-Fuso wars before both nations made peace and became allies. - Anime Accent Absence: The series has a Multinational Team, but not a single foreigner (in both the Japanese and English dub) speak in a noticeable regional accent.
- Bittersweet Ending: Each of the Strike Witches anime's three seasons end with Yoshika returning to the 501st JFW and helping them liberate the countries (Gallia for the first season, Romagna for the second season and Karlsland for the third season). However, the ongoing war with the Neuroi is far from over.
- The Cameo: Since World Witches is a Shared Universe, characters frequently make a quick appearance in works outside their own sub-franchise. For example, Yoshika Miyafuji briefly appears in Brave Witches as a nurse who heals Takami Karibuchi.
- From Zero to Hero: Yoshika Miyafuji, the daughter of the late Ichiro Miyafuji, is studying medicine. One day, Mio Sakamoto recruits her into the 501st JFW. From that point on, Yoshika trains to become a Witch and joins the fight against the Neuroi.
- Iconic Sequel Character: Strike Witches: The Movie introduces Shizuka Hattori, who eventually becomes the 501st JFW's new recruit in Strike Witches: Road to Berlin
- Opening Narration: All of the Strike Witches entries begin with a narration detailing the history of the Witches and Striker Units.
- Simultaneous Arcs: Both Strike Witches: One-Winged Witches (beginning with the seventh chapter) and Luminous Witches take place concurrently with the first season of Strike Witches.
