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