War Witches, Part 5 - Strike Witches III

WAR WITCHES

~part 5~

Strike Witches III

Hasshin Shimasu! spinoffs produced by Acca effe and Giga Production

• 501 Butai Hasshin Shimasu! aired during the Spring 2019 season
• 501 Butai Hasshin Shimasu! Movie released in October 2019
• World Witches Hasshin Shimasu! aired during the Winter 2021 season

Road to Berlin produced by David Production for the Fall 2020 season

 

During the sunset of the 2010s, the long promised third season of Strike Witches was slowly but surely creeping up over the horizon. On the ten year anniversary of the World Witches anime series in 2018, the franchise stewards at Kadokawa boldly announced three new anime projects as a show of faith toward Humikane's vision. The first was an adaptation of 501 Butai Hasshin Shimasu! (501st JOINT FIGHTER WING Take Off!), a 4-koma gag manga that parodies the adventures of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing throughout both seasons of Strike Witches and its feature film. They also announced the production of a new spinoff television anime that was in the early design stages with the working title "Ongakutai Witches". This was the earliest preview of what would become known as Renmei Kuugun Koukuu Mahou Ongakutai Luminous Witches (League of Nations Air Force Aviation Magic Band Luminous Witches); a show that was delayed multiple times due to production issues at SHAFT during one of the most tumultuous periods of the studio's history. The real jewel of this event was the official announcement and release window for the third season of Strike Witches, now with its official title: Road to Berlin. David Production, a studio well known for its adaptation of Hirohiko Araki's beloved manga series Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, was attached to produce the newest entry in the 501st Joint Fighter Wing's story after over half a decade of detours. It was an exciting proposition after Brave Witches fell short of matching the visual direction and animation quality baseline that the series had established thus far. David Production is a bigger catch than SILVER LINK, that's for sure. At the time, this onslaught of announcements seemed like the next big catalyst for the World Witches franchise that would ensure its survival for at least another decade. Whether or not that was the case is still up for debate as time marches forward into the second half of the 2020s.

Road to Berlin needed extra time in the oven to meet the expectations built up over the long wait. As such, 501 Butai Hasshin Shimasu! got the earliest slot on the schedule to tide fans over with cheap junk food content as they awaited the proper return of the 501st. The original manga version was published in Kadokawa's now-defunct magazine 4-Koma Nano Ace shortly after the second season of Strike Witches concluded. In this deformed, nonsensical version of the series, the 501st finds themselves with too much free time because the Neuroi rarely ever show up to attack. In the rare moments that they do appear, someone else takes care of the problem off screen. This leaves the cast no choice but to engage in shameless buffoonery around the base as diluted versions of themselves. These moeblob caricatures of our heroes lean heavily into their individual quirks. Remember how Yoshika was obsessed with boobs in the first season? That's a major part of her personality now. Erica, Shirley, and Francesca are now a trio of knucklehead troublemakers that exist just to cause problems. Trude's obsession with rules and decorum play second fiddle to her new role as a siscon - a reference to her episode from the first season. Eila is portrayed as an insane lesbian stalker who is incredibly possessive of Sanya. Perrine's character growth has been reversed and she's back to leaking every time Mio walks into the room. Minna only exists to punish the squad pranksters or to milk the tired "woman who can only cook purple miasma slop that everyone struggles to eat" gag. Lynne looks like she wants to kill everyone despite having the same happy smile as usual. All of this is put on display during loosely adapted events that took place during the real anime without any of the fighting or drama. It's the kind of media that only true fans could stomach, and even that isn't a guarantee.

Co-produced by Acca effe and Giga Production - two studios with almost nothing worth mentioning in their body of work - the anime version of 501 Butai Hasshin Shimasu! is essentially a barely spruced up version of the source material. It's a web comic in motion with tweens and animation shortcuts giving it a flash cartoon vibe. I could've been watching this on Japanese Newgrounds. The opening animation is hilariously misleading with the art quality largely exceeding how the meat of the show really looks. Part of this is due to the involvement of a third, completely different studio known as Team Till Dawn that are only credited for the backgrounds in the OP and ED sequences. Decently animated moeblob slapstick gives way to incredibly crude and inconsistent shots that are at best faithful to how the source material looks. Imagine a preview segment in a normal television anime where they go for a low fidelity comic strip portrayal of the characters or those low budget side shorts that would air along old KyoAni shows and some modern isekai fluff. Now imagine if those segments were nine minutes long if you exclude the OP and ED from the total runtime. That's what we're dealing with here. It was a rough time getting through the first handful of episodes. There's a particular frequency of spastic comedy that really works for me but is borderline unbearable when done poorly. In some ways it's a test of faith. Does loving the characters and the series actually make it easier to enjoy? Sometimes it's harder. When you truly love something, a poor man's copy can seem hollow in comparison.

 

Lynne blasts False Mio just to make Perrine suffer

I got over it! Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I remembered. Back when it aired, I was really frustrated to see this release before Road to Berlin and was not amused at all by its presentation. The next chapter of the story was coming and I didn't feel like rehashing all the old jokes to death. Older and wiser, I simply rewired my brain and came to an understanding. This is just a convenient excuse to get all the voice talent back and screw around in the booth. Listening to the voices became the main attraction. It's really impressive how Chiwa Saitou can still do the squeaky loli voice for Francesca after decades in the business. Miyuki Sawashiro sounds like she recorded all her lines for Perrine with a cold. Erica is the only character that Sakura Nogawa has voiced for the last thirteen years and that's why she nails it every time. Listening to the vocal delivery increased the chances that I would actually laugh at a joke. Every once in a while a gag would land properly on its own, but the seiyuu stretching their performances and twisting their characters into absurdity is largely what gives the Hasshin Shimasu! experience its flavor. Each episode generally covers two segments of fast paced 4-koma slapstick before throttling into the ED with a final punchline. The long tradition of ED songs being performed by each of the characters holds strong with the finale rounding up the whole cast for a climactic ensemble. Despite the dragging sensation I had with the early episodes, the half-length cuts started to go by surprisingly quick after the midpoint. This has all the charm of an officially sanctioned dub of someone's fan comic found in a YouTube playlist. I laughed, I cried, I cringed, and I relented. Then I remembered this was only the beginning.

The conclusion of 501 Butai Hasshin Shimasu! was followed by a thirty minute "film" that debuted later in 2019. It was an adaptation of the manga's sequel that parodied the events of the 2012 Strike Witches film, with 501st newbie Shizuka Hattori making her grand return on the big screen after seven years. Thanks to the scope of the project and the intention to screen it in theaters, the visual quality was raised noticeably. While it still has the appearance of a motion comic, there's an extra level of detail that helps sell the experience and enhances the visual gags throughout its half hour runtime. During the TV series, the 501st was largely confined to the base with limited backgrounds and environments to hash out its zany routines. As a parody of the film, there is a greater amount of material to play around with. Some of the side characters who appeared in the film and Operation Victory Arrow get to toss their own quirks into the ring like Heidemarie and Fernandia. This helps prevent the humor from spinning its wheels too much on the same old punchlines. It also splits focus between the different groups which allows for the gags to be more self-contained and varied. The TV anime would generally cram every single member of the 501st into a single episode which turned it into a maelstrom of rehashing quips and expressing the most unsightly traits of each character for the umpteenth time. The white noise that would sometimes infiltrate my brain during those segments was surprisingly absent while watching this film! They still play the hits, but it's the deep cuts that keep the comedy engaging enough to stick with its tempo. It's also the only time we see the witches participate in any form of combat, albeit briefly and crudely portrayed in its signature deformed style. I was happy to hear that Miyuki Sawashiro recovered from her cold and brought Perrine's voice back at full strength. 

At this point, the manga was fully adapted and Road to Berlin would air the following year in 2020 as scheduled. Somehow, the Hasshin Shimasu! series returned against all odds. When it became clear that Luminous Witches was not going to make it through the production pipeline in time for its 2021 air date, a new project was suddenly announced out of the blue to take its place. Despite exhausting all the source material, the teams at Acca effe and Giga Production felt confident enough that they could create a successor from scratch. The end result is World Witches Hasshin Shimasu! (World Witches Take Off!) - another cour of half-length gag scenarios that introduces our friends from the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing. Despite what the OP animation implies, the two groups barely interact in the actual show and instead are given six episodes each with a loosely running plot thread to contextualize all the humor. On the Strike Witches side, Trude is tasked with recording a propaganda video starring Yoshika and the 501st gradually reforms to help her shoot the footage. The other half is a straight up parody of the Brave Witches plotline that mixes some of the original episode concepts together and takes the piss regarding the melodrama that pervaded the series. Because the writers were able to come up new material and didn't have to adhere to an existing work, the gags are actually pretty good! Every once in a while they milk the old material to keep it consistent with the other releases, but I was genuinely pleased at how rarely it ever felt stale. Bouncing back and forth between the groups was key for accomplishing this since the dynamic of the 502nd is much different with their own idiosyncrasies to warp and exaggerate. It was also nice to hear the voice talent return, especially Rie Murakawa as Kanno who had a major boost to her career the same year Brave Witches aired thanks to landing the role of the pink-haired oni maid Ram in Re:Zero. Her delivery has been strengthened by years of voicing tough-as-nails women. Even the animated comic look got a noticeable facelift and the visual gags were far more expressive. It's still the same vein of parody fluff as the 2019 anime, but it's the most refined version of this formula. I also enjoyed that each group gets their own ED song.

 

The 502nd is forced to suffer the Orussian hellscape in their swimsuits

That's enough of the small potatoes; let's talk about the main attraction. After eight years waiting for the narrative to take even a single step forward, David Production came through and completed the next chapter of the story just in time for the Fall 2020 season. Road to Berlin begins as if very little time has passed since the climactic events of the 2012 film. The 501st Joint Fighter Wing has reformed in spirit and is waiting for military leadership to officially sanction their return. In the meantime, our heroine and series mascot Yoshika Miyafuji is hard at work furthering her education as a student attending Lausanne Medical School in Helvetia. Michiko stayed behind in Fuso to hold the fort down, so Yoshika had to find a new plain girl to be friends with - the Helvetian medical student Althea. While hauling a stack of books from the library, Yoshika is shocked by the arrival of her former squad leader Mio Sakamoto and her loyal assistant Hijikata (one of the rare male characters with any presence in this series). After expending the last of her magic during the conclusion of Strike Witches II, Mio has fully retired from combat and now serves in the Fuso navy to support the next generation of witches. In the brief downtime before the next operation, Yoshika and company decide to go see a show at the traveling circus that is in town. Everything goes south when a trained polar bear experiences a cortisol spike and goes into a rampage before attacking Althea who was also attending the show. Thankfully, our heroine already has experiences with bear attacks and swoops into action by using her massive magic shield to block the assault. Yoshika's divine healing aura soothes the beast, saving her friend from certain harm. After being introduced to Mio, Althea requests a wellness check for her father who is the captain of a Venezian warship. Using her connections, Mio gets Althea's dad on the line and the situation seems copacetic. That is, until it turns out his battleship is being pursued by a massive, sentient iceberg that seems hellbent on sending them to the bottom of the sea!

As usual, Yoshika jumps into action to help her friend when nobody else is willing to make the call. Forced to use a poorly maintained Striker Unit, she flies out from the cover of the Alps to the sea where the battleship Doge is fleeing from the hostile iceberg. The contrail from her junk unit is so noticeable that every member of the 501st is able to see it from their respective posts. It turns out that the iceberg is in fact a Neuroi that has overcome its innate weakness to water; an evolution that has turned the enemy into an even greater threat. Took them long enough to catch up to the WORMs from Sky Girls. Even with supporting fire from the battleship, Yoshika struggles to take out the Neuroi iceberg thanks to her junker unit crapping out at the most inopportune times. Fortunately, Mio called in the squad and all the members of the 501st come soaring into the battlefield! They manage to obliterate the Neuroi nuisance, but it turns out the iceberg was not part of the unit's body and was being manipulated from the inside. With too much momentum and not enough distance to slow down, the enemy gets the last laugh as the Antwerp port facilities are turned to rubble by the impact of the iceberg. The witches escort the Doge as close to the port as possible and Althea is reunited with her father. Unfortunately for our heroes, the damage to Antwerp delays the start of Operation Southwind; a joint operation between allied nations to counterattack the Neuroi occupation forces in Karlsland's northern capital, Berlin. In order to prevent the enemy from gaining the advantage, the official reformation of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing is sanctioned by the top brass with a newly established base near the frontline in Nederland. Mio's role as squad leader is inherited by Barkhorn who is determined to do anything to take back Berlin before her magic begins to fade. Filling the vacancy in the group is a former student of Mio's at the Fuso naval academy who viewers are already well acquainted with - Shizuka Hattori, the military regulations expert and Yoshika's strongest soldier.

Road to Berlin is the most ambitious effort in World Witches series history and this is made evident on multiple fronts. The writing team realized they couldn't afford to play it safe after the long wait and took initiative to overcome the challenges ahead. Shizuka needed a lead role to establish her as a proper member of the 501st while also concluding her character arc that started during the events of the film. The Karlsland trio also required a major presence in the overarching narrative as the focus was squarely placed on liberating Berlin which came with higher stakes than ever before. But the greatest trial for the writers was how to deal with Yoshika. She reclaimed her magic at the end of the film through friendship-no-jutsu and the climax precluded any chance for explaining how this was possible. Instead of trying to logically square away her return to the witch life, much of the plot surrounds Yoshika's struggle to properly wield her magic after its miraculous return. The magic system in World Witches is defined further with every new entry after starting as a rather nebulous concept with mahou shoujo familiars that have little to no presence in the anime canon. Brave Witches emphasized the idea that witches can channel their magic distribution intentionally toward different actions and parts of the body. This is explored when Hikari has to channel her magic strength solely into her hands to climb the tower for her hazing ritual. To explain Yoshika's struggle, it is established that the power of a witch is defined by their ability to produce raw mana, how much they can draw from the mana pool at a time, and how well they can distribute their magic power. Our protagonist may have reopened her mana production pipeline, but the damage it endured from wielding Mio's cursed sword has left her internally crippled. Yoshika's ability to produce mana is massively impaired and she is no longer able to properly stabilize the output. With no way to reliably assist the 501st in missions, she serves as Shizuka's training partner and the two Fuso witches support each other through their respective struggles.

 

Yoshika literally hand holding Shizuka through basic training

Out of the three Strike Witches seasons, this is the one that is most committed to driving the plot forward at all times. The episodic structure is generally the same - there's two bookends that begin and conclude the major plot thread while the middle batch of episodes are primarily character driven stories along with the traditional seventh episode romp. However, unlike the preceding seasons, developments aren't just minor scenes scattered about the entire run. The push to make Operation Southwind a possibility dominates even the character focused episodes save for the first couple. General Gerald S. Patton, whose name might inspire the thought of a real world general, is a major character who reappears frequently alongside Mio as she becomes fully embroiled in the world of military politics. Where most of the prior conflicts with the Neuroi were by chance, the majority of the fights in Road to Berlin are waged in the pursuit of an objective. There are only three episodes that adhere to the slice of life formula that was more prevalent in the early seasons. One is an episode that focuses on Shirley trying to reclaim a speed bike record that turns into a spat between her and Francesca after the latter modifies her bike without permission. This is easily one of my favorites this season as it cashes in multiple developments from prior episodes, most notably Trude returning the favor after Shirley saved her life during her struggle with Ursula's experimental Striker Unit in the second season. The ending is an especially powerful expression of the episode's themes with Shirley choosing her companionship with Francesca over the knowledge of beating the speed record she was aiming for. The subsequent episode is another fun story that involves Yoshika, Shizuka, and Perrine taking on a diplomatic assignment to assist the reigning monarch of Nederland. They are assigned to a team of gardeners to ensure that a batch of blue tulips - the country's symbol - are able to bloom properly. This becomes a multi-pronged setup that cleverly accomplishes multiple goals. Yoshika is able to stabilize her magic output after powering a boiler to keep the tulips from wilting. Perrine learns more about her family heritage after discovering her grandmother took on a similar request twenty years prior. Shizuka becomes more self-reliant and capable of fending for herself after discovering a Neuroi hidden in the nearby well. It's a beautifully executed story that remains self-contained even as it shifts the status quo. Naturally, that leaves the seventh episode as the final calm before the storm. Though, perhaps calm isn't quite the word for what happens.

With the stakes raised, there simply isn't any time for the 501st to have too much fun. This might seem like a negative trend, but I think it works really well. Strike Witches had multiple seasons, OVAs, spinoffs, and a feature film to get to the point where the military drama needed to take the wheel for once. The cast is already well established with their personalities and motivations made clear to the viewer. This contrasts heavily with Brave Witches which had to wear multiple hats with too little scalp real estate to accommodate them. It's easy to forget that the first season of Strike Witches is almost entirely focused on building the cast and their personal struggles with the Neuroi fights being a mandated action sequence. Drama is confined to their individual stories and exposition with very little of the military side being present until the last couple of episodes. Brave Witches tried to establish a dense cast and prematurely took its shot at a dramatic narrative while also delegating plenty of screen time to Hikari overcoming her weakness; an endeavor that takes the entire season to accomplish. Yoshika's hangup over her father's death ends in the second episode before she even joins the 501st. The story of the 502nd needed another season to do even half of what it was attempting to accomplish. It was simply too ambitious. Road to Berlin thrives as an ambitious project because it has all the foundation and support necessary to be bold and it pays off with major returns. The sixth episode, "Hounds of Vengeance", stands proudly as one of the greatest stories in the series. The slow build between the Karlsland duo Trude and Erica reaches its emotional apex as Erica is shot down by a blisteringly fast Neuroi while trying to liberate the port of Kiel for the next stage of Operation Southwind. Trude, emotionally overwhelmed and determined to strike back, goes through a brutal training regimen to strengthen her core while losing the weight necessary to keep up with the Neuroi's speed and maneuverability. She even relies on Shirley to give her the final push to make it possible. What follows is a masterfully directed action sequence packed with suspense and blissful catharsis as Trude and Erica reunite closer than ever. 

Stories of this magnitude become common in the second half of the season. The writers farm Road to Berlin for every ounce of drama and kayfabe they can squeeze out for greater returns. There are three fake out deaths and only one of them is made clear to the viewer while the characters are unaware. Sanya finally gets an episode where she drives the plot for once after a fog generating Neuroi threatens to delay Operation Southwind even further. When top brass decides they're going scorched earth on the port, she overhears Minna lamenting the reality of losing her magic before Berlin is liberated if the operation is postponed again. Sanya, whose homeland in Orussia is plagued by the worst of Neuroi occupation, feels the pangs of empathy toward her Karlsland companions and cooks up a secret operation of her own to take out the Neuroi before Kiel is bombed. She enlists the help of Eila, Yoshika, and Shizuka to create a formation that can take out the enemy in the low visibility environment. The first attempt is botched when Eila's foresight of a second enemy causes her to prematurely fire off before Sanya's signal, causing an unprecedented rift between the two. Sanya kicks Eila out of the operation, leaving the latter stuck at base and determined to complete preparations for the Saturnus festivities. With only one chance left to save Kiel, Sanya makes another attempt with Yoshika and Shizuka to destroy the enemy only to find out that her radar failed to detect the host body of the Neuroi unit they were pursuing. In the face of certain death, Eila returns to protect Sanya and uses herself as a targeting guide for Sanya's missiles to hit the enemy core. With the fog cleared, the bombers are able to strategically pick off the Neuroi encampment without harming the port. Eila's celebration moves forward, and she receives a rare gift from Sanya herself that provides a subtle yet significant development between the two girls. This is yet another flex from the writers who were hungry to prove that a high stakes drama environment could produce some of the strongest character developments in the series. It's an approach that was somewhat polarizing to longtime fans, but from my perspective was well worth the risk. There's a clear vision at work here and the execution is nothing short of impressive. 

 

Trude princess carrying Erica at the end of a long battle

There's no need to lament the loss of its ecchi heritage as those elements haven't gone anywhere. They were simply repurposed. We've swapped firmly from comedic titillation to cool nudity where seeing a girl's nipples makes her seem more badass in the context surrounding the experience. That being said, the moe otaku approved ecchi nonsense is not completely scrubbed from the experience. One of the aforementioned fake out deaths is portrayed in a massively dramatic sequence with an insert song to play the viewer's heartstrings like a harp and is immediately followed up with a punchline where fuel used for an operation melts the clothes of all the characters involved and they have to go home naked. Then, of course, we have the seventh episode. You might be wondering where they dared to go after the previous two. First we had slapstick underwear thievery. Then we had a Neuroi bug that was addicted to hiding in the butt crack of every witch at the base. This entry in the lineage is penned like the writers believed they may never have the chance to do this again, so they took the limiters off. Lynette gets to be the star of this episode as she tries to find a herbal remedy that can help Yoshika overcome her mana fatigue and stumbles into discovering an ancient artifact - a sealed witch's idol that was created to enhance the harvest of crops through a "fertility" ritual. Its intended use is warped when Francesca manhandles the idol and becomes possessed, giving her a massive pair of boobs and the ability to pass on the curse by fondling the other witches. This wild experience quickly turns into an ecchi parody of a zombie film as every member of the 501st becomes infected (which in turn increases their bust size) to ensure the ritual is carried out. Yoshika is captured as the sacrificial offering to complete the ceremony, leaving Lynne as the only sane witch left to put a stop to it. She hauls her anti-tank rifle to the function and saves Yoshika before executing an awe-inducing trick shot through a small gap in several witch barriers to shatter the idol and dispel the curse. This episode marks the return of Yoshika's boob obsession which has been absent from the mainline series since the first season. She almost restores her magic power from touching Lynne's well-endowed chest, but the temporary effect is far too brief to help our weary protagonist overcome her problems. Sad!

Even some of the earlier drama focused stories manage to sneak a brief ecchi comedy scene here and there, like Trude searching for Erica's panties prior to their risky operation to liberate Kiel, but the show firmly plants its feet in the realm of serious business in the final stretch. Going into the climax of this season was an interesting experience. My memories were incredibly vague regarding the ending of Road to Berlin despite being able to recall other episodes with decent enough clarity. This made me apprehensive toward the possibility that the conclusion wasn't all that great. Now that I've rewatched it, I question how it slipped my mind in the first place. This is a bombastic, high concept operation that is completely unlike anything else in the series. The final conflicts in all the previous seasons were very fantastical and rarely sell the military aspect of the conflict. They had to knock out a human-made Neuroi weapon in the first season. They had to fly a Neuroi transformed battleship into a nest in the second one. Now we have a full scale assault operation with multiple fronts and the non-witch military offensive has a major role in the events that take place. The first stab at the operation is ultimately unsuccessful, with the 501st and General Patton's bombers lured into a Neuroi trap at the heart of Berlin. Shizuka manages to score a win when she fends off a Neuroi aircraft by herself, allowing Yoshika to preserve her magic for the final operation. When a similar Neuroi intruder appears to wreck Kiel, Shizuka is harshly wounded in the fight and Yoshika has to drain her reserves to prevent disaster. This prevents our protagonist from participating as a witch in Operation Southwind, devastating Shizuka who passes out from intense sadness and guilt as she holds herself responsible for failing the mission. After recovering, Shizuka learns that this operation is part of a larger offensive with multiple JFW teams tackling different objectives to ensure the complete liberation of Northern Karlsland. The 501st is tasked with protecting Patton's army and its crown jewel - the Neuroi-resistant Landkreuzer Ratte. This gargantuan beast of a tank has the load bearing strength to shoot highly destructive rounds that can obliterate the Neuroi walls that encircle Berlin.

From here, this entire sequence is split between two perspectives. Shizuka serves as the eyes from above fighting with her fellow witches to protect Patton's offensive push. Yoshika, who the 501st believes is hanging back at Kiel, catches a ride by serving as a volunteer medic in Patton's army. This results in Yoshika's most unique role in any final conflict thus far; one that's more fitting for her career aspirations. With her medical school education and the tutelage she received at the Miyafuji clinic, Yoshika is soaked in blood and sweat as she does everything in her power to keep the wounded alive without her magic. When Patton's outfit is trapped by a Neuroi dome and separated from air support, the general takes a nasty hit which leads to Yoshika supporting him directly. This unlikely duo become comrades in arms as they hole in a concrete fortress to fend off the Neuroi assault. The dual narrative swaps between Shizuka's struggle from above and Yoshika's struggle on the ground below the dome in a suspenseful war drama that frequently impressed me with its sharp visual direction, stunning vocal performances, and masterful pacing that give the final two episodes the feel of a short cinematic experience. Shizuka is forced to stay behind with Mio after her Striker Unit is damaged during the Neuroi dome's formation, with the rest of the 501st following Trude through Berlin's underground railway to flank the Neuroi from below. This splits the focus yet again into a three-way assault. Yoshika and General Patton make a last stand on the ground as the 501st find the Neuroi's main body underground. Shizuka attempts her own push by using Yoshika's Kai Shinden unit to manually deploy a bomb that temporarily pierces the Neuroi dome. In a character defining moment, Shizuka defies Mio's orders for the very first time and enters the dome to rescue Yoshika despite knowing that she'll be trapped in there with Patton's troops. This entire operation is consistently gripping and engrossed my attention with every twist and turn in its unrelenting barrage of developments. It had me genuinely questioning if I gaslit myself into believing I'd watched this when I really hadn't. Was my brain too fried during the onset of the 2020 pandemic? It's so baffling that I don't have a good answer. This is easily the strongest climax in World Witches history. I was straight up weeping. It had me soberly reflecting on how the suspense of disbelief is such a powerful tool within the human spirit.

 

Yoshika and General Patton admire Shizuka's exploits from afar

The naive optimism within me wants to believe with my whole heart that the epilogue is true; that the 501st, after helping rebuild Berlin, will continue the fight in order to liberate Southern Karlsland and its neighboring country Ostmark. No matter how unlikely it is, a small part of me keeps the faith alive. However, if this is it - if this is the final time the Strike Witches get to grace television anime with their continued exploits, then I have no notes to give. Road to Berlin is as close to perfect as this formula may ever get. The scale of ambition, the hunger of the writing staff, and the full commitment to every facet of this universe has unleashed something truly remarkable upon this franchise that only the most bitter and joyless of hearts could reject wholesale. All of this was made possible by the exceptional talent of David Production at their peak, fresh off the conclusion of their widely acclaimed adaptation of Golden Wind, the fifth main entry in the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure series. They did not view this is a frivolous detour before moving on to produce Stone Ocean. There is so much love and care put into selling the visuals and enhancing the action sequences at every possible junction. The studio's 3DCG pipeline, well refined through their prior work, brought back the silky smooth transitions between 2D and 3D animation from the first season and leaped well over Gonzo's quality threshold to create some incredible combat sequences. The camera is more dynamic than ever yet the storyboarding is clever and sharp, never allowing the viewer to lose sight of the action. The brief moments of whimsy and playfulness are emphasized greatly so that the dramatic throughline of the plot would not impede the fun factor that the series is known for. Even when the drama is unrelenting, there is an astronomical level of effort imbued into the experience to sell its commitment to the stakes. Not a stone was left unturned. Not a single detail was left neglected. A series so late in its lifespan being able to produce a work of quality to this level is nothing short of a real world miracle. I will never take it for granted. We are lucky to have this. Even those who reject that notion are blessed. They know not what they do.

As of writing this, Road to Berlin is the final World Witches project to involve series director Kazuhiro Takamura. He would not direct another anime until six years later with the announcement of Vertex Force - an original project that very recently aired its debut episode. This may forever be his greatest achievement; one that is tragically unsung due to its existence as the third season of an already niche franchise. The target audience of late '00s moe otaku with a passion for military technology is not a growing one. Its role as a major voice in the conversation of this medium is long over. The glory days are behind us. But isn't that what really makes this entry so beautiful? There's still beating hearts out there who believe. In the great apparatus of the anime industry, there are still dreamers who fight for something that doesn't have widespread appeal. It doesn't have data or metrics to back it up as a proven success story. There's only raw grit and the belief that a small group of people will see and experience the full force of their vision as intended. I honestly believe, devoid of shame or hesistance, that this is the kind of art that can actually dig deep into the human heart. A widely appealing success can be good, even great. On exceptionally rare occasions, it may even ascend to a cultural touchstone. The art that truly reaches our souls, however, only survives the journey in the same way an arrow can only pierce deeply with a narrow tip. A work that speaks to the individual with its finely crafted intent and rejection of universal sentiment can make a direct impact without slowing down. Instead of being stragglers in a widely cast net, we're the intended target. I'm the catch. If there's anything I sought to prove with this writing project, it's that the World Witches series is uniquely tuned to my emotional center. It's a series that appeals to my tastes with forms of expression that experience no resistance as they become flashing lights in the constellation of my limbic system. After tasting something so distinctly seasoned for one's palate, it becomes difficult to settle for less. It's a blessing and a curse; a gift and a consequence that follows.

Art does not exist for critics to validate. It does not exist for awards or ceremonies. We create to turn our abstract emotions into tangible experiences. I seek art to feel alive. To outline the stupidity, the nonsense, the bizarre and controversial elements of World Witches was to establish an essential thesis. An easily written off premise with fantastical elements and a high ceiling of disbelief is just as capable of any critically acclaimed and socially approved work to deeply move someone. I'm my own proof. This series has meaning and I'm the evidence. I'll grandstand and soapbox my pretentious sentiments to the bitter end in pursuit of that belief because it colors my world. There's a vibrance in art that prevents the cruelty of daily life from subsuming the beauty of human expression. Ask the most bitter person you know about art and they've already rejected it. Our golden age has been compromised to a permanent end. Nothing good can be created anymore. They've chosen a path without color or warmth; to stew in their own filth and spread it like a disease to others. So much of the passion I put into my writing is to avoid even the smallest possibility invisible to the naked eye that I could ever be plagued by such a mindset. Strike Witches is a form of unconventional beauty that not everyone is wired to appreciate. That doesn't bother me at all. I simply want those who are curious and the open minded to understand the perspective of someone who does love and cherish a series like this one. Most of all, I did it for myself. It's a selfish deed to capture my feelings in amber so they can forever remain within me. This is an anchor that proves I was here putting in the time and effort to commit these thoughts to the page. I'm testifying to my future self. This time was not wasted. The feelings I've experienced have improved my life, if ever so slightly. Road to Berlin is a triumphant note in that symphony. The years will pass, and time will fade, but love is still alive and well. The end is not the end.

 

It's not Strike Witches without Lynne catching Yoshika at the very end!

Next time, War Witches will conclude with the most recent entry in the World Witches series that is also its most controversial release. Luminous Witches is a project that is both fascinating and baffling in equal measure. It is a walking contradiction that defies the rest of the franchise while being a loving tribute to its roots. All the quirks of SHAFT's rocky period in the early 2020s are present here while simultaneously being one of the studio's most unique projects (for better or worse). It's a spinoff. It's an idol program. It's an advertisement. It's a reflection of the future for a franchise that may not have one. It's a terrible place to end but a remarkably fitting end point for this writing project. A retrospective that began with a show that isn't technically part of this series should end with a canon entry that could be its own thing altogether. If you've been reading all the parts up until now, I'd like to thank you for sticking around and I hope that you have gained something of worth in the process. I'll see you at the finish line. Until then, stay moe, friends.

 

Francesca's statement speaks for itself

War Witches, Part 4 - Brave Witches

WAR WITCHES

~part 4~

Brave Witches

OVA produced by SILVER LINK from December 2014 to July 2015
Brave Witches produced by SILVER LINK for the Fall 2016 season

 

After the completion of the Strike Witches feature film and the subsequent implosion of production giant AIC, the series needed a new home. Thankfully, this wasn't the first time the witches had endured a studio shakeup. They were welcomed with open arms to Shin Oonuma's otaku haven known as SILVER LINK - the animation studio that was once a spiritual offshoot of Oonuma's tenure at SHAFT and was rapidly transforming into a beast of its own (for better or worse). Unlike Gonzo who invested in the project's infancy and AIC who had several production studios to maintain output, SILVER LINK was a growing outfit and their pipeline was too backed up to immediately start work on another TV anime. Instead, to make good on their intent to support the series, a smaller project was cobbled together with a cheeky title - Operation Victory Arrow (check the abbreviation). The project resulted in three roughly half-hour episodes that served as a bridge between the second season and the events of the film. These were debuted throughout late 2014 and early 2015 with theater screenings preceding their home video release. Each episode focuses on a different group of witches and  their homeland following the second dissolution of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing. These self-contained stories are similar to the experiences Yoshika and Shizuka had on their road trip to Helvetia, focusing more on how the witches conduct themselves at home and the culture that surrounds them.

The first episode follows our Karlsland heroes 'Trude' Barkhorn, Erica, and Minna and their time being stationed at St. Trond Base with support from night witch Heidemarie W. Schnaufer (who appeared in the film). The plot serves as a continuation of the second season episode where Barkhorn experiences complications testing out an experimental Striker Unit. Ministry of Technology engineer Ursula Hartmann - Erica's twin sister - visits the base with a new test unit free of the magic obliterating side effects that plagued the previous model. The typically lethargic Erica passionately objects to Trude's involvement in another test experiment, but Barkhorn and Minna insist that it is necessary for the future liberation of Karlsland. Erica's frustration surges when she gets roped into testing a tandem flight unit with her sister that requires the power of two witches in sync. This ends in a disastrous crash that leaves Erica grounded and at odds with Ursula. If that wasn't bad enough, a surprise Neuroi invader starts raising hell from the clouds and the witches have to spring into action during unfavorable circumstances. There's something here for anyone that's a fan of the Karlsland group. Trude gets to dogfight in another cute outfit. Erica's dynamic with her sister is the major crux of the episode and she grows even more protective of her nagging best friend Barkhorn. Minna gets to prove her rank isn't just for show with a magical ability that allows her to track the enemy as she holds back the assault to buy time for her subordinates. There's a fishing interlude that would make Sky Girls proud. Naturally, the Hartmann sisters make up and use their combined powers to deal the finishing blow on the Neuroi attacker. Heidemarie returns at the end of the episode to wear a cute dress of her own so the viewer doesn't immediately forget her.

Our next adventure follows the inseparable pair of Shirley and Francesca as they hang out and play around in the now-liberated vineyards of Sicily. The fun and games are cut short after Shirley receives a distress call that a Neuroi has holed up in the nearby island of Delos. Francesca visited the island with her father as a young girl and is determined to protect it from destruction at any cost. The two sortie and arrive for a mission briefing in Crete to discover they're working with the Karlsland Storm Witches straight out of Africa. This includes the Star of Africa herself, Hanna-Justina Marseille, who appeared in the second season to aura check Trude and rekindle her rivalry with Erica. At the helm of the operation is Field Marshal Ernst Rommel, the leader of Karlsland's Afrika Korps. He's an awfully familiar figure. A commanding officer of Not Germany named Rommel who serves in the African front and specializes in tank warfare? Well, whoever this guy is, he's determined to obliterate Delos to drag the Neuroi out of hiding for a clean kill. However, this plan deeply upsets Francesca who is willing to do anything to prevent the island's destruction. As her best friend and surrogate onee-san, Shirley steps in to suggest an alternate course of action to lure the Neuroi out of its shelter and destroy it. After failing to obliterate it with bombs, Francesca accepts that Delos will likely be reduced to sea rubble. Shirley hasn't given up, though; her hot-blooded Liberion spirit and daredevil ingenuity give her a spark of inspiration when she notices a shipwreck near the Neuroi's location has a operable cargo winch that can yank this worm straight out of its hole. Despite protests from Marseille's squad leader Edytha Neumann, the witches and even Rommel himself band together to liberate Delos. Francesca and Shirley yet again prove themselves as one of the most likeable duos in the Strike Witches canon in an action-packed adventure with an explosive but decidedly happy ending. After all, who in their right mind would ever allow the precious and empathetic Francesca to be sad? Even Marseille's ride-or-die wingman Raisa couldn't let her down.

 

Trude being cute in her dirndl dress

We've had enough Karlsland energy for now. The final episode is focused entirely on Gallia which is still undergoing restoration work following its liberation at the end of the first season. As we saw in the film, Lynette is helping our resident Gallian princess Perrine keep the skies safe with support from Perrine's wingman Amelie. During a routine supply check, they run into a feisty young boy named Julius who is trying to treat his ailing sister Rose. Perrine (a noble who looks after children) and Lynette (an older sister with many younger brothers) are the ultimate power duo for this situation. They take the young siblings back to the Clostermann Manor to recover, but it's not quite smooth sailing from there. Julius is a rude prankster who seeks to make Perrine's life hell for being a strict and pompous caretaker. Thanks to her onee-san charm points, Lynette is able to get Julius to open up about his situation. His father died defending the now occupied city of Arnhem after being promised that the Gallian 506th Joint Fighter Wing would protect them. Now he has a seething hatred for witches - an awkward situation for Lynette and Perrine who have yet to reveal their true identities. Amelie later shows up to help with the relief effort, but Julius decides to throw a tantrum and kicks a scaffold that sends a massive load of child-killing bricks down on his head. She has no choice but to use her magic shield to save his life, but now the cat is out of the bag. This snot-nosed, frustrated little nuisance can't help himself and covertly stows away on a supply truck to Arnhem to go find his family heirlooms that were left behind in the rubble. Perrine and Lynette decide to pursue him, but their Striker Units are at the base undergoing maintenance! Thankfully, Perrine's resourceful butler Jean-Paul has a weapon cache handy so they can protect themselves. As is tradition with interpersonal conflicts in this universe, Perrine comes to the rescue to protect Julius from Neuroi forces despite enduring his torturous pranks for weeks on end. Lynette gets to snipe a water tower and look cool doing it. This is obviously my favorite episode as someone with an unashamed bias for Lynette and Perrine as characters and the earnest feel-good conclusion that punctuates the story. After saving Julius and nursing Rose back to health, Perrine decides to adopt the orphans into the Clostermann household and becomes their personal educator. It's not fair. Why can't Perrine and Lynette be my teachers? Is it because I'm a crooked old man now?

I'd go as far as saying that these three OVA episodes might be some of the strongest material out of the Strike Witches canon. As much as I love seeing the 501st together and flaunting their chemistry as a dynamic ensemble cast, there's a special kind of charm from seeing the smaller groups operate on their own with new characters further expanding the world they're fighting for. The writers made a brilliant choice of taking the strongest aspects of the film and pushing them further with self-contained adventures. As much as I love Yoshika, it's nice to see the characters outside of her magnetic influence for a change. Not to worry, though; each episode ends with our protagonist diligently studying at home in anticipation for her medical school debut. Her childhood friend Michiko is there to support her as they look over postcards from each group of witches after their individual experiences. The final episode inverts this by showing Perrine and Lynette receiving a letter from Yoshika announcing her intent to attend medical school in Helvetia, closing the time gap that immediately precedes the events of the film. While it may seem like this should be experienced before the film, I think it's more gratifying to watch these OVA episodes after the fact to better appreciate the 501st coming together to help Yoshika in her climactic return to battle. Despite no confirmation that this was ever the case, I can't help but feel there was supposed to be a fourth episode produced. The only evidence I can point to in regards to this claim is the OP that was produced for the OVA series. Each of the main groups are shown in sequential order during the OP, but it doesn't end with Lynette and Perrine. There's a fourth group - Eila and Sanya - who only receive a brief post-credits scene at the very end. Perhaps it's because the writers knew these two would be reappearing again shortly in the next project they had lined up.

To further Humikane's vision of the encompassing World Witches series, the highly anticipated third season of Strike Witches was put on the back burner in favor of pivoting focus to another group of witches whose stories had yet to be told. SILVER LINK's intention to produce a proper TV anime for the series bore fruit in the form of a spinoff series covering the unsung heroes of the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing - the titular Brave Witches. Airing in 2016 with twelve episodes and a single OVA produced the following year, Brave Witches takes place between the first and second seasons of Strike Witches while the 501st is still disbanded. As such, barely any of the characters viewers are familiar with make an appearance here with two notable, obvious exceptions. Eila and Sanya get the screen time I believe they were promised for Operation Victory Arrow thanks to some convenient alignments in the series timeline. That being said, I'm not implying they're the stars of the show by any stretch. We have a whole new cast of characters to introduce here! I absolutely understand why they chose to produce a spinoff at this juncture; the franchise was rapidly growing and Humikane made his intentions clear with the earliest pre-anime material that multiple groups would get their time in the spotlight. Still, I can't help but feel like this was a bold choice with plenty of risk when the 501st was left hanging on a "to be continued" thread. With such a strong cast already fully established and beloved, living up to expectations with a whole new ensemble was undoubtedly a challenge. It's one thing to tease the existence of new characters, but running an entire spinoff with them is a greater task to accomplish. Nevertheless, the writers and longtime director Kazuhiro Takamura were undeterred as they built up the legend of the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing with new conflicts on the horizon.

 

Perrine bullying children - a typical sight in Gallia

Brave Witches begins yet again in the island nation of Fuso with a brand new protagonist. As the younger sibling of a highly accomplished witch, Hikari Karibuchi struggles to catch up with her older sister Takami. Unlike the walking powerhouse that is Yoshika Miyafuji, the scrappy Hikari has below average magical aptitude that is only shored up by her rock solid determination and massive reserves of stamina. Everybody is dragging Hikari's ass physically and metaphorically for the first several episodes because of how little magical power she has. She attends a specialized witch school in Sasebo and is known for her terrible assessment scores, but even judgment from her peers is not enough to deter our heroine from pursuing her dream to fly alongside her sister and help liberate the world from the Neuroi threat. When Takami briefly returns home to touch base before heading to Europe, Hikari becomes more stubborn than ever to close the distance. Her prayers are answered when the school announces its intention to send a volunteer to the reserve force in Europe to meet demand for more witches to support the war effort. Hikari quickly volunteers, but is obstructed by her haughty rival Miya who has it all - looks, wealth, and talent. Despite all the obstacles in her way, Hikari proves that her greatest strength is never giving up in the face of adversity. She trains relentlessly to pass the selection exam and faces Miya on a rainy day. With poor visibility and weighed down by the elements, the two rivals clash and ultimately crash short of the finish line. Seeing that Miya is unconscious and moments away from drowning, Hikari's good nature shines through as she risks it all to skip over the raging current using her magic. With the leverage of momentum, she hoists Miya to safety and both girls accept that they failed the exam. However, the exam proctors witness this heroic act and pull some strings to ensure her deployment to Europe.

Hikari may look and act similar to Yoshika, but she is quite a different character both in personality and in regards to the trials she must overcome. Yoshika never had to prove herself much; her massive mana pool, healing prowess, and homely cooking skills were more than enough to solidify her worth to even the greatest doubters in the 501st. Not to mention the fact that Yoshika's dad invented the Striker Unit. Hikari's battle begins from downhill without raw power or respect. Her older sister is considered a hero and casts a shadow on our protagonist, leaving her no choice but to relentlessly claw her way into acceptance. Destined for a quieter station as a member of the Kauhava reserve force in Suomus, Hikari rides along with her sister on a Fuso aircraft carrier that is prioritizing Takami's deployment to the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing base in Orussia. After two seasons with the second episode taking place during naval transit to the home base, it should be clear how this journey shakes out. Orussia's supply lines are massive impaired by the presence of two fully grown Neuroi nests and the budding of a third close at hand. The third nest - later designated as Grigori - deploys a large Neuroi formation right as the aircraft carrier is approaching Orussia and forces Takami into the sky to keep the fleet from being wiped out. Hikari attempts to pull a Yoshika by deploying with her training unit to help her sister, but this is promptly destroyed by a stray laser shot from the sky. The 502nd learns of the attack and swiftly deploys to back them up, but they are too late. Takami is not only gravely injured but also forced to use a forbidden technique that completely drains her magic reserves. Without the ability to self-repair, she falls into a coma to avoid certain death and Hikari is forced to hold back the remaining Neuroi forces until the 502nd arrives. 

Despite cleaning up the Neuroi formation and expediting Takami to a hospital in Orussia, it's clear that Hikari's sister won't be waking up any time soon. This leaves her spot in the 502nd vacant to the frustration of her fiery partner and fellow Fuso witch Kanno Naoe. Grieving over her sister's condition and agonizing over her lack of strength, Hikari makes the bold declaration to fill her sister's role in the organization even if it kills her. Kanno fiercely objects, but her squad leader and Karlsland war hero Gundula Rall is amused by our spunky heroine and agrees to give her a fighting chance at the risk of being shipped back to Fuso empty handed. Thus begins Hikari's trials of humiliation to overcome her role as an underachiever in an environment where nobody has any faith in her. Commanding officer and Orussian native Aleksanda "Sasha" I. Pokryshkin writers her off immediately as a defective witch with the magic equivalent of erectile dysfunction. Gallian witch and squad medic Georgette Lemare frequently avoids her. The notorious Karlsland womanizer Waltrud Krupinski does little to support her. She finds no solace in her Fuso brethren; Kanno frequently bullies and intimidates her while the designated squad chef Sadako Shimohara keeps at a distance. Her brutal training regimen is conducted by Karlsland witch Edytha Rossman who openly expresses her belief that Hikari is a flight risk who will get herself killed and harm the rest of the group in the process. The only member of the 502nd who shows her any sympathy is Suomus witch Nikka "Nipa" Edvardine Katajainen, a good friend of Eila and Sanya who once felt like an outsider herself. Hikari clings to her inability to give up and her often repeated mantra "we won't know until we try" even as she is frequently told to pack it up and go home.

 

Hikari admiring Kanno's small gun instead of Nipa's big gun

It was a wise choice, necessary even, to give Hikari her own establishing shot that deviated significantly from Yoshika's experience joining the 501st. Still, I feel as if the end result here is a pretty mixed affair and reflective of some general issues I have with Brave Witches. The first four episodes are almost entirely running on the drama of Hikari having to overcome several trials to become an accepted member of the 502nd. This is a stark difference from Strike Witches where, even during the early drama of Yoshika trying to break Lynette out of her shell and befriend her squad mates, there were plenty of hijinks, banter, and ecchi comedy to get viewers invested in the characters. That aspect of the experience is almost entirely missing during Hikari's battle for recognition. There's a few factors that play into this. One is that the Brave Witches cast is significantly more dry than their main series counterparts. The 501st has a perfectly balanced assortment of personalities ranging from energetic and chaotic to dry and reserved. This is further strengthened by characters having plenty of dynamic expressions which are experienced throughout the anime. Strike Witches is rarely ever boring or slow as a result, even at the apex of its dramatic ambitions. The 502nd has too many characters who rarely have a chance to meaningfully express their personality traits. As such, Hikari's ascendance to an officially recognized member of the group is deprived of some viewer gratification. What it does accomplish, however, is solidifying the main trio who are by far the strongest part of the anime. Hikari is great protagonist who has clearly defined ambitions and is more comparable to Otoha from Sky Girls than Yoshika. Nipa is friendly and supportive, providing the highly desired warmth and whimsy the group needs. Kanno grows from being a spiteful bully to a tsundere supporter who, over the course of the series, slowly accepts Hikari as her true partner and best friend. When Hikari is moments away from failing her final exam to join the 502nd - climbing a massive tower in the pouring rain by using the magic in her hands and feet to retrieve an item - Kanno relentlessly taunts and berates her, triggering Hikari's stubbornness that allows her to ascend the final push and succeed. This is reciprocated in a later episode where Hikari berates Kanno for being too scared to lead a risky strategy during a key operation. This back and forth between the two girls with Nipa as the willing mediator is a dynamic with the greatest sense of chemistry and camaraderie within the cast and perhaps the sole reason I could enjoy Brave Witches as much as I did.

Not to say the other cast members are bad per se, but they are severely underutilized. The writers make an admirable effort to mitigate this in the middle stretch of episodes which are more akin to the character focused stories of Strike Witches, but it's too little substance without the necessary supporting tissue to flesh out the cast to my satisfaction. The first of these episodes is by far the strongest and involves Hikari taking on a Neuroi capable of generating a cold front alongside squad members Georgette and Sadako. While I enjoyed the chemistry between these characters and the ingenuity on display with the plot's resolution, it begins a running trend of characters outside the main trio having little to do once their personal arc has been concluded. Georgette confesses to Hikari that her avoidant behavior was out of guilt for failing to prevent Takami's coma and the two make up. Then she spends the rest of the show vaguely being a clean freak with little else to do. Sadako and Hikari bond after mutually supporting each other in taking down the Neuroi, but then she's relegated to the background cook. Sasha has a teary eyed backstory involving her witch powers and suppressed memories of her upbringing in Orussia that ends with an emotional moment between her and Nipa. Her entire presence is downgraded to comedy relief, frequently punishing the "Break Witches" of the group who constantly wreck their Striker Units. Krupinski has the opposite problem, being sold as a complete gag character who hits on other witches constantly and gets drunk on "adult grape juice" before getting her own episode to prove she's actually one of the strongest members in the 502nd like Erica if she was significantly more annoying. She exists almost entirely to be put through humiliating punishments by Edytha after she satisfies her role as Hikari's instructor in the early episodes. Once again, I found myself confused and questioning why there was so little downtime or silly moments to let the cast breathe and exist outside of brief one note gags that add so little to the experience.

The two strongest episodes really say it all. Brave Witches slightly subverts the traditional episode seven as pioneered by its forebearers but still pays some respect by making it a long needed downtime episode. Nipa fights to hold the traditional Saturnus festival at the base in the face of supply shortages to surprise Hikari who is overcoming illness. She pulls out all the stops and cashes in favors with her fellow squad mates to make this a reality, but it all comes apart when the ignorant Krupinski picks mushrooms with psilocybin in them for a traditional dish, incapacitating the whole base with fits of drug-induced laughter except for Nipa and the sickly Hikari. Determined to salvage the festival for her closest friends, Nipa has to sortie alone to take out a stray Neuroi in proximity of the base which almost ends in disaster. Thankfully, the spirit of the winter holidays is saved by our beloved 501st duo Eila and Sanya in full Santa gear as they trash the enemy while towing along enough goodies to raise everyone's spirits back up. This is chronologically followed up by the OVA episode - officially designated episode thirteen - which unintentionally serves as a cipher to decode my feelings on this anime as a whole. The ecchi nonsense, the comedic antics, the wide range of cast banter, and the deprived personality traits; every single key element that was missing from the television run of Brave Witches has inexplicably returned for one episode. Extended screen time is provided to Eila and Sanya who unceremoniously vanish after their cameo in the TV series. Georgette's clean freak nature is amped up for slapstick purposes. Sadako suddenly has a complex for doting on small and cute things which she takes out on Sanya - a trait that is not expressed even a single time outside of this OVA. Krupinski butting heads with Eila while trying to woo Sanya is funnier than the majority of her gags. The writers try to milk more humor from the dry personalities in the cast, most notably Gundula and Edytha. This all concludes with a bombastic Neuroi battle with Hikari, Sadako, and Edytha supported by Eila and Sanya that produces literal fireworks. It's an all killer no filler slice of fun and action that had me shaking my head in disbelief. Where was this energy during the other episodes? Surely the presence of Eila and Sanya is not the sole reason that the 502nd can enjoy themselves for once.

 

Sadako ominously deploys her knife in Edytha's presence

 

There's one last hurrah with Kanno's episode that sees her struggling in the middle of a competency crisis following her inability to keep up with Krupinski in the previous battle. Kanno, who values strength over everything else, becomes impatient to improve herself and engages in a series of careless actions that end up wounding Sasha and nearly getting herself killed more than once. It's more of the drama that Brave Witches so frequently engages with, but the difference is that Kanno was already one of the most likeable members of the cast and it is easy to get invested in her rare moment of weakness. This is a girl who utilizes her dog-like rage and wears special gloves to destroy Neuroi by punching them really hard, yet is unable to hide her empathy for those she truly cares about. It makes the aforementioned pep talk from Hikari hit that much harder on top of their already established rapport built on the transformation from adversaries to trusted comrades. This is proof that the presence of drama itself is not the key issue that Brave Witches stumbles over. If every character had something going for them on a significant enough level by the time their drama card was thoroughly punched, then most of these episodes would be landing much better. It's not like Strike Witches didn't indulge in its own strain of melodrama, but as I mentioned before, a necessary balance was struck to create a contrast of moods that prevented the experience from growing stale. The ratio is severely lopsided in Brave Witches, as if the writers were afraid viewers could no longer take the premise seriously if it didn't spend the majority of its runtime as a fantastical war drama with characters having to overcome their personal hangups. Despite how it seems, the ecchi comedy and foolish misadventures often present in Strike Witches are not just fluff or the sinews of filler to tether plot relevant scenes together. They are essential aspects of the experience that serve many purposes, but most importantly allow the other characters to exist in the world and play around even when it's not their turn in the episodic spotlight. They're a pressure valve built into the DNA of this series down to its very atoms. The most baffling aspect of this anime is its insistence on rejecting that truth. Were they afraid the dynamic would be too similar to the 501st? Were they trying to expand the niche audience of the series by de-emphasizing its most controversial elements despite the witches still fighting in their underwear? Whatever the reason, I can firmly say that it was not worth it. Nothing made me more sure of this belief than experiencing the last few episodes.

Takami finally wakes up from her coma after three long months with the help of Yoshika during her only direct appearance in the show. With her borderline holy healing abilities, our temporarily former protagonist steals Hikari's sister from the clammy grip of death and it seems like a tearful, heartwarming reunion between the two sisters is fast approach. Psych, motherfucker! You thought we were due for the sweet spell of emotional release? Think again. The only gruel waiting for us is the most piss-your-pants melodrama writing possible with all the blemishes an experienced anime veteran grows to hate. On the eve of a massive operation to take out the Neuroi hive Grigori to restore the supply line to the Orussian front, Takami makes her triumphant reappearance at the base. Hikari joyfully sprints out to the runway with tears of relief that her sister has recovered from her injuries just to be met with a smile-destroying cold shoulder. Takami, a character who was portrayed as a doting and supportive figure in Hikari's life, deploys the controversial moe technique of revealing the hidden side of her personality as she essentially tells her now accomplished younger sister to fuck off and take a hike. After all the blood, sweat, and tears Hikari shed fighting for a place she could truly belong, Takami is selfishly depriving her of the tangible results of that hard work. The failure of the cast to gel properly is clearly illustrated when legitimately nobody is asking why Hikari and her sister are avoiding each other except for Nipa and Kanno. After yet again aura checking her younger sister in a futile attempt to make her leave the base, Gundula provides Takami a convenient excuse to drop a weepy confession. She's actually doing this to protect her sister! Hikari is too stubborn to give up so this is the only way to keep her from getting hurt! How noble. How truly just. How self-sacrificing and tragic. It's the perfect cocktail to piss me off and test my patience to its limit. I'm supposed to feel bad for Takami because she has to be cruel for her sister's best interests? Cry me a river, you self-righteous prick. I knew Hikari would never blame her sister. She's a ball of sunshine that has forgiven every single person who has treated her like dirt from the very start. That doesn't mean I have to! Takami is on my shit list and no amount of teary eyed apologies or belated catharsis between the two sisters did anything to budge me even slightly toward a change of heart.

Hikari's older sister, who should be spiritually disowned as a sibling, forces her off the base by just barely winning a decisive competition to locate the enemy Neuroi's core first. Despite being more accurate thanks to her Contact Eye ability (this allows her to see the core of any Neuroi she physically touches), Hikari is forced to leave her found family behind as she tearfully accepts being transferred to Kauhava base according to the terms of her original deployment. Nipa reminds everyone that she's one of the best characters by being the only person to chase after Hikari and berates her friends for allowing their cherished ally to be shipped off. Kanno almost put me through a crisis of faith by shrugging off this event and remarking that Takami was her intended partner in the first place (though she did give her prized gloves to Hikari as a parting gift). At this point, I placed my hand on a metaphorical button that would immediately drag my opinion of this show down a complete letter grade if Kanno didn't make up for this transgression later. Even the brief reappearance of Eila and Sanya to help Hikari safely reach Suomus did little to subside the growing resentment within my soul. What really sealed the deal here was that I felt this way despite knowing how the drama would resolve itself. Hikari is the protagonist, after all. It was one hundred percent guaranteed - divined even - that she would be necessary to defeat the big bad in the final hour of the climactic battle. I knew Takami would fail, despite her accolades and raw ability, to end the conflict. I knew that Kanno would be genuinely happy and admit that Hikari is the only one who can be her true partner and that the two of them would destroy the Neuroi nest by relying on each other. Above all else, I watched this damn show a decade ago and felt the exact same way! Age can change a person, but some parts of us never truly go away. You're damn right that Hikari can never be replaced. There is no Brave Witches without her! That's my protagonist you're robbing of purpose!

 

Takami dramatically climbs a big tower just to intimidate her little sister

One could say that the drama succeeded in making me feel something, but it was not the intended emotional response and I resent the stimulation that sent me into a crash out. There were plenty of ways to execute the necessary stakes required to build up the climactic arc of the story, but this had to be one of the worst possible choices. I don't like the forced miscommunication self-sacrifice weepy bullshit drama where characters who should never be at odds are feuding for massively contrived reasons. Takami is a poorly written character who was unremarkable at best in the early moments and insufferable when I was supposed to be feeling bad for her in the last stretch. Most of the 502nd was too lacking in real character personalities to express meaningful emotions toward the idea that Hikari might be getting kicked out after everything she did for them. The presence of Nipa and Kanno saved this anime from the full force of my ire, and it's no mystery why. The writers prioritized them as major side characters and provided them moments of critical growth throughout the show. This allowed them to stand proudly as characters with the same level of quality as the members of the 501st who I love dearly. It's just too bad the rest of the 502nd were left behind in the rubble to exist as living tropes capable of speech who never express themselves when their perspectives are needed most. It's a fractured group that reflects the key failure of Brave Witches - its disproportionate presentation and quality. Even in the visual department, there's a roller coaster of quality fluctuations that never seem to settle down. Believe it or not, it was significantly worse in the version that originally aired on television. SILVER LINK did some touching up for the physical release to mask the most egregious 3DCG shortcuts and awkward framing, but even the best looking cuts aren't matching the quality of the Operation Victory Arrow episodes they produced. Sasha's episode where they chase a shapeshifting prop hunt junkie Neuroi throughout an Orussian city is hands down the lowest quality release out of all the World Witches anime material up to this point. Even after corrections in post and adding more 2D animated cuts, it has such a drastic plummet in visual direction and execution compared to just about everything else that this series has offered up. Considering the studio's trajectory and their priorities at the time, I can't say I was surprised. Yet, surprise is not a prerequisite for disappointment.

Brave Witches is a frustrating experience to pin down because it rejects consistency. There are unique qualities to this entry that I truly love and differ from the formula that Strike Witches established. Hikari, Nipa, and Kanno are a trio that rival some of the 501st groups in my personal rankings. Their share of the story is a significant reason that I'm willing to graciously judge this anime despite its valleys and nosedives. It's so close to being great and that's worse than being firmly bad. Spinoff syndrome can have some nasty consequences and this is one of the many byproducts that can result. As contrary as it may seem to what I've expressed, I still think this is the best of the Strike Witches spinoff material and worth watching for the gold that it does manage to provide fans of the series. I'm not walking away from it with nothing. In fact, I probably appreciate it more now than I did back in 2016! Watching this weekly as it aired was a frustration-inducing migraine that left me bitter. Why didn't they just do Strike Witches season 3 like they promised? Now my perspective is more broad and educated, and I do see the purpose in producing Brave Witches and expanding the universe of this series further beyond its initial perimeter. As someone who yearns for better, I simply can't help myself from wishing this was a stronger entry overall. I don't want to give them the excuse of a potential second season fixing these issues when Strike Witches didn't have the same drawbacks when there was only one season to watch. Like any experiment, there's plenty of good and bad to take away from the end result and I find value in that despite the many complaints I've expressed. I do think it's terribly sad that the only animated appearance left for the 502nd happens in the World Witches comedy spinoff from 2021. It is one of the only animated releases from this series I haven't seen, and it's largely because of how I felt about the first comedy spinoff they produced.

The SILVER LINK era would be the final time the World Witches franchise would ever have a stable home for any period of time. Every entry from here onward is produced by a different studio. Anime as a medium was about to have a massive international popularity surge that is still to this day transforming the industry and how anime production is handled. As a series that was carrying on the spirit of a fading era, there's no doubt that Strike Witches was fighting to stay alive out of passion from its creators and faith in forms of expression that have polarized the modern audience. The conflict between artists and executives is an ongoing phenomenon with no victor in sight. Anime is being refined as an idea by parties in opposition with each other over ideology. In that respect, the perseverance of a franchise like this one is impressive and a testament to how resilient anime is as a medium. We still have the fortune of experiencing so many quality ideas and experiments despite its rapid growth, but it's natural that there are some casualties in that process. No matter how much intellectual property drives the conversation, there are plenty of interesting concepts that producers still take a chance on. But that's enough preaching for now. I'm glad the Witches got to stick around well into the current decade. Luminous Witches aired only four years ago, which isn't that old in the grand scheme of things. There's plenty of original anime franchises that don't have half the mileage that the World Witches series accumulated in its storied history. That being said, we've still got a few more entries to talk about. The journey isn't over yet!

 

Hikari heroically carries Kanno away from the battlefield

In the next volume of War Witches, I'll be covering the entirety of the Hasshin Shimasu! comedy spinoff series. Two seasons of half-length episodes and a thirty minute "film" of comedic nonsense that ditches the drama and action for flash cartoon quality meme segments. All the characters are deformed versions of themselves and the humor dangerously toes the line between unbearable and incidentally funny. Then I'll dive right into the long awaited third season of Strike Witches, also known as Road for Berlin, which to date contains the most recent events depicted in the series. Produced by the talent behind the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure anime series, David Production brings the visual quality of the series to new heights with the least amount of 3DCG of any entry. That'll be discussed in more detail next time. Until then, stay moe, friends.

 

Twist ending where Nipa smothers Kanno to death