Strike Witches Poster Art
© BOST TV

Mania Grade: C
Audio Rating: N/A
Video Rating: N/A
Packaging Rating: N/A
Menus Rating: N/A
Extras Rating: N/A
Age Rating: All
Region: 0 - All Regions
Released By: BOST TV
MSRP: 1.99
Running Time: 24 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Disc Resolution: 480i/p (mixed/unknown)
Disc Encoding: MPEG-2

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Strike Witches Episode 03

Adapting to what life is like in the military, Yoshika tries to keep to her principles once again.

What They Say:

Yoshika makes her decision to join the Strike Witches. Lynette Bishop, another rookie witch who is 15 years old, shows Yoshika around. Although Yoshika is nervous about her new assignment and understands nothing about the arrangement of the troop, Lynette acts in a somewhat unfriendly manner, adding to Yoshika’s anxiety.

The Review:

The third episode of Strike Witches carries on much as the first two have in that it really does seem to be more intent on the basic character material rather than lots of action. There are action moments to each episode, as well as copious amounts of fanservice and panty shots, but it isn’t the kind of all out action piece you’d almost expect from the way the show seems to be designed. The good side of it is that you get to know the characters better and they are fairly personable once you get to that point. The downside is that even as personable as they are at times, they still are rather bland and predictable. This episode starts to introduce the rest of the core cast and they’re all still just archetypes at the moment.

With her decision to join, Yoshika runs through some of the basics of becoming familiarized with the base and its practices. Most of the other Witches on the team aren’t all that enamored of her for various reasons, but the primary one is the way she seems to be so… incapable of proper teamwork. This becomes readily apparent during the first meeting in which she refuses her standard issue sidearm since she doesn’t intend to use weapons. Of course, she used them in each of the previous episodes and does so again in this one, so it’s a very tricky thing they’re trying to pull off with her stance on this and they’re not doing a good job of it. Yoshika comes across as someone who just can’t stand by what she says she believes in and it’s likely going to turn into a running gag if they keep it up.

While several of the other Witches get introduced here, the one that gets the most face time is Lynette Bishop. She’s very similar in the way Yoshika acts and is undergoing a lot of the same issues, though she’s been there for a bit longer. She’s got some strong magical abilities but lacks the ability to really focus and utilize it. She’s not exactly looked down on by anyone but they’re not seeking her out for actual full on combat duty yet and that strikes her deeply. The two girls certainly do gravitate towards each other because of their personalities and it’s through Lynette that Yoshika starts to become more comfortable within the base and its operations. It’s all fairly standard material and that’s what really seems to hurt it the most. For all that is explored here, nothing really stands out as memorable at all.

In Summary:

A quarter of the way into Strike Witches and it’s all feeling very bland and predictable. This is another series where everything that’s being presented is something that I can imagine myself being all excited about back when I first got into anime. It has some interesting hooks – even if they are pretty specific fetishes among the current anime fanbase – with lots of fanservice and some solid character moments. But as it stands, it really doesn’t offer anything yet for those who have been around the block a few times and seen a few things. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s something where it’s going to appeal to very specific audiences. The historical/alternate history side of the show is what keeps me interested but they plays very little into this particular episode unfortunately.

Features:

Japanese 2.0 Language, English Subtitles

Review Equipment:

Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70" LCoS 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer