Jan 11, 2013
Strike Witches is one of those animes that are so bad that it makes you wonder if Japan holds a yearly competition to find the worst piece of work in existence. Strike Witches is 2008's would-be winner, hands-down.
Now let's get down to business--major points only:
THE GOOD:
Many will point you to the excessive ecchi scenes and tell you this anime is trash. This is not true.
The fact is, the single redeeming factor in this anime is the panty shots. They are drawn and animated with extreme detail and grace so that the viewer immediately knows that the creators put a considerable amount of work into them.
...
Too bad nothing else in Strike Witches is worth noting--not even the battle sequences, for which there is maybe one or two nice, though unfortunately short, ones.
THE BAD:
The story is about as predictable and idiotic as they come. It's the type of story we must bear with--to try with all of our might not to surf reddit on the side, lest we gouge our eyes out with a rusty spoon. The ludicrous gear invented by possibly the most moronic of engineers that somehow drives the existence of the Strike Witches may be enough to turn some away. Giant robots would have been better.
The plot? Easy: we are witches (magical girls), and we are fighting aliens and there may or may not be a twist at the very end. Please don't fall asleep.
THE UGLY:
The most dreadful part of this anime is the characters.
Miyafuji, Yoshika is about as annoying as they come. She is the "I want to protect everyone pacifist with uncommonly strong feelings" type that seems unfortunately common in most Animes.
Strike Witches takes it one step further and makes her out to be some kind of angel (yes, she's that flawless). Everyone else is just there to slow her down. Strike Witches pretty much becomes a show about a Japanese Loli angel going about unleashing her latent awesomeness at key moments and fixing everyone's problems with her feelings.
By the end of Strike Witches, it is clear that Miyafuji could probably win the war by herself and achieve world peace if it wasn't for her strong feelings and her annoying comrades/higher-ups. Her personality is pure, unadulterated molasses, flawless to the core. It's acceptable to some, but many may want something more than unchanging perfection so that we might witness something grow, or watch more than a single angle for the duration of 12 episodes.
Too bad the creators didn't stop at Miyafuji. They decide to inflict upon the viewers another near-angel type character: Sakamoto, Mio.
Sakamoto, Mio is seemingly the only other character that doesn't do too much to get in the way of Miyafuji's greatness. She is equipped with the most annoying laugh in the show and a personality that can only be described as strong-willed but with hidden super feelings on reserve. Sakamoto is the one who has discovered Miyafuji and wants train her and watch her "grow" to surpass her. She is in the end, without fault. Her personality is infused with enough sugar to make the sweet-tooth puke. While she isn't even half as annoying as Miyafuji, she still ranks as the second worst character in the show.
All other characters are there for comic relief, ecchi scene composition, and getting in the way of Japanese Loli Angel Miyafuji so as to drive the "plot". They follow typical character models, which for some viewers may become a tad tedious, but their dialogue is thankfully terse and useless anyway. They can be grouped into the the "white loli girls" or "evil white higher-ups" categories. They are ostensibly essential.
Overall, one must have a stomach for this type of holier-than-thou type story in order to truly enjoy Strike Witches. The ecchi, while serving its purpose in pulling the Anime back into the realm of the watchable, may not be enough for some. Watch at your own risk.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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