As part of the Strike Witches fandom, I've endured many a slight against my favorite anime. Every single one has been accurate. Yes, this show is 75% fanservice and 25% inaccurate WWII history. Yes, it caters to fanboys who just want to see boobies and big guns. But does it have potential? You bet. Nearly every character has the major components of a good one. They have reasons for their behavior, they have motives, they're relatable. The writers and animators could have focused on this aspect, and Strike Witches would have been a whole lot better. Hell, they could have kept in all the butts and cameltoe if they wanted. A little character development would have made this show a great challenge to the general flat-as-a-board ecchi character group. However, they decided to appeal to a mishmash of historical buffs and drooling, mindless fanboys.
Despite all this, I think that Strike Witches is worth watching. As a SW fan, I've learned more about WWII than I ever learned in high school. People claim the same thing of Hetalia, but somehow Hetalia manages to annoy me even more than Strike Witches does. That's beside the point. Strike Witches has a huge universe to build on, appealing animation, and is basically a big bundle of untapped potential. Until that potential is tapped, I'll keep searching for an anime with character, story, and sweet butts.
