While it is a cheap cop-out to say that "If you like this kind of thing, then you will enjoy this show", such words have never been more appropriate when describing Strike Witches.
This show is quite literally a storm of cliches. If you have ever watched any other war anime series, you know what to expect here. The main character is the newbie who joins the unit, she works under a tough-but-fair commander and the usual pick and mix of war movies and anime characters.
So what is there to recommend, then? The cliches are quite well done, and surrounded in an unique premise. The female, teenage version of world war 2 ace pilots fighting aliens in a fan service-laden alternate version of Europe? Certainly unique!
But while the characters and the premise are interesting, the story never goes anywhere with them. Aliens show up, teenage girl blow them up, one of the characters learn something that makes her grow up as a person. There isn't much feeling of a war going on at times. The aliens themselves are just plot devices; they showed up one day and started blowing humanity up for no reason. Unlike Evangelion or Attack on Titan, the show doesn't spend a lot of time concerned with humanity's future. While this is a refreshing change from the usual dark tone, it did strike me as missed potential for an already fairly insubstantial story.
So there is Strike Witches in a nutshell. Interesting premise that never goes anywhere, cliche characters of various nationalities that are fun to watch. It's the strange mix of a slice-of-life show and a wartime anime, with copious amount of fan-service thrown in it. If the above description caught your interest, it might be worth your time to check out. If not, I doubt that your opinion will change after having seen it.
A very enjoyable cliche storm that doesn't quite go beyond the line
While it is a cheap cop-out to say that "If you like this kind of thing, then you will enjoy this show", such words have never been more appropriate when describing Strike Witches.
This show is quite literally a storm of cliches. If you have ever watched any other war anime series, you know what to expect here. The main character is the newbie who joins the unit, she works under a tough-but-fair commander and the usual pick and mix of war movies and anime characters.
So what is there to recommend, then? The cliches are quite well done, and surrounded in an unique premise. The female, teenage version of world war 2 ace pilots fighting aliens in a fan service-laden alternate version of Europe? Certainly unique!
But while the characters and the premise are interesting, the story never goes anywhere with them. Aliens show up, teenage girl blow them up, one of the characters learn something that makes her grow up as a person. There isn't much feeling of a war going on at times. The aliens themselves are just plot devices; they showed up one day and started blowing humanity up for no reason. Unlike Evangelion or Attack on Titan, the show doesn't spend a lot of time concerned with humanity's future. While this is a refreshing change from the usual dark tone, it did strike me as missed potential for an already fairly insubstantial story.
So there is Strike Witches in a nutshell. Interesting premise that never goes anywhere, cliche characters of various nationalities that are fun to watch. It's the strange mix of a slice-of-life show and a wartime anime, with copious amount of fan-service thrown in it. If the above description caught your interest, it might be worth your time to check out. If not, I doubt that your opinion will change after having seen it.