The final episode of Strike Witches finally brings to a close the short saga of the yuri not-pantsu wearing loli-witches, and it has to be said the series deserves a mixed evaluation. More on this, and plenty of images of pantsu resembling things below.
Regarding the final episode, it can be said to have been much as expected; the dramatic series end boss was overcome by all the witches coming together, etc. Why the boss came about is left woefully unclear, the boss itself is ridiculous (it should have at least been the Yamato), and what happens afterwards is also completely unclear.
That there was no service to speak of can probably be taken for granted.
Regarding the series as a whole, there is much to be said for it, though ultimately it is none too impressive as a martial drama, and the service portions are downplayed so much it looks very much as if a drama was what was aimed for.
On the production values side of things, there is little to fault the anime on; animation, character design, CG and voice acting are very good. The characters themselves are also well enough conceived, and most appealing. However, when we consider the story, or lack thereof, and the painfully strong vacillations between high drama and low comedy, the series is perhaps much less strong.
The dramatic portions of the series seem to have been in conflict with the rather better service or normally paced portions, and this is exacerbated by how seriously the anime takes itself, really having pretensions far above its station – I suspect this can basically be laid at the feet of the director, but enough is gotten right to rescue it.
Perhaps if they had spread the same amount of drama over a series twice the length, and injected a little ironic self awareness, things might have gone more smoothly?
My thoughts would be that as a serious drama, the anime lacks detail and exposition, is full of plot holes and clichés, and is generally rather predictable. There are much better titles out there in this genre. As a loli-not-pantsu-service anime, there is not enough of it, but otherwise it is of interest.
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If you wish to see more of the Pantsu Witches, there is a quite substantial collection of images on the Channel, and you can always ponder what might have been.
However, I’m sure this is not the last we’ll be hearing of them…
Ah the smell of Moetards. I love it
Age is not what makes the l♥♥i, body proportions are. None of them look like little girls, therefore none of them are lolis.
They would not be out of place in the likes of LO, and everyone writing about them in Japanese has been calling them l♥♥i, so they are l♥♥i. Yoshika pretty much indisputably so.
Stop being retarded. They are not. -__-
Just because a bunch of idiots say they are doesn’t mean they are. They all have tits. It’s just some random stupid fanservice show. There’s nothing l♥♥i of it.
These guys seem to think they need to be toddlerkon or something for it to be l♥♥i, sheesh. Glad to see some sensibility ere.
Actually Anon, what marks a l♥♥i is the presence of neotonous traits.
Putting that aside though, Strike Witches does indeed contain lolis. In my experienced eyes, I’d qualify pretty much half the cast as being lolis.
They’re l♥♥i, get over it.
You’re the only person to assert they are not, Japanese or not. Calling everyone who disagrees with you retarded or a bunch of idiots only illustrates how desperate your position is.
There’s no l♥♥i in that show…
Lucchini is 12, Sanya is 13, Yoshika is 14. l♥♥i pantsu.
I loved the show, and am entertaining thoughts of someday getting the DVDs. Of course I’ll be watching them as soon as they get out.
Still, the series did feel too short. The mecha musume fanservice+light hearted episodes, the show’s best aspect, did take up too much airtime to properly flesh out any backround story. Compare to Sky Girls, for example. First 6 or so episodes (and the pantsu-stealing masterpiece) were really the highlight of the show for me.
The ending gave me the impression that they wanted to be safe and give us both a a closure episode along with a possibility for a sequel in case they do manage to make one.
As a post-modern consumer, I can easily appreciate shows with two schizophrenically different sides to them.
Also, I liked the drama. I ;_;’ed for Lynne, Perrine, Yoshika, Minna, and Sanya so many times.