Aliens called Neuroi invade Earth; wipe out a good portion of the populace and stand up to most all military. How does humanity stave off extinction … flying witches of course. Strike Witches from FUNimation puts young witches in leg engines called Striker Units and sends them into the skies to battle the invading Neuroi. Sounds a bit odd, well yeah it is but there are things to like and a niche for this particular anime.
The Neuroi invade. The year is 1944 and no force on the planet can stand up to these invaders until it’s discovered witches have the power to do battle. With the development of the Striker Unit, engines crafted and strapped to the witches’ legs, humanity has a good fighting chance. These young witches are sought out and trained to battle the Neuroi as they appear and it’s the latest recruit, Yoshika Miyafuji who’s the latest into the fray. As Yoshika learns the ropes and battles the Neuroi she grows close to her fellow pilots and begins to learn more about the Neuroi. Will she hold the secret to turning the tide of battle in humanities favor or just be another weapon in a lasting battle?
Strike Witches is … interesting. First the animation is solid and simple. If there is a poster child for anime girls then is it. Strike Witches is not amazing looking or original but it’s solid. There are plenty of girls for all fetish flavors and yes I point this out due to the plentiful leg and panty shots. It’s not over the top but also not needed for a solid series so total fan service. The animal ears and tails that appear when a witch uses her powers is also very plushy. The ladies of Strike Witches will make many an otaku happy, but what about the story? Well the World War II setting and substitution of aliens for Nazi and flying girls for military is interesting and really does have so much more ground to discover. The 12 episodes presented offer many answers and create so many more questions that may (MAY) be answered in future releases. For some reason the story reminds of the PlayStation 3 video game Resistance where alien chimera invade and take over Europe. It’s the alien and WWII setting but that is all that creates comparison.
Overall from an anime fans perspective what you see on the cover is really what you get as this is an anime with good quality action and animation of flying girls with magic, ears and tails taking on a faceless and mysterious enemy. If this is what you want then go to it.
