First Impressions / Shuumatsu no Izetta

「魔女の秘密」 (Majo no Himitsu)
“The Secret of the Witch”

Bit of a lighter episode this week, in that where the previous three episodes have had fairly consistent action, this week there is not even an explosion to be had. After the showstopper that was episode 03, it seems that Shuumatsu no Izetta is pulling back a bit to set up the larger plot (and perhaps save the art and animation, which dropped a bit this episode, for the next big fight). I had thought that the plot would be kicked into frenzy with the Archduke’s passing, but it seems instead that Shuumatsu no Izetta intends to spend the interregnum on a short breather. So, mostly getting some backstory out of the way, explaining some mechanics, introducing the characters we’ve already seen in the ED. In particular, we finally get to meet what we can for now nominally consider the Big Bad of Shuumatsu no Izetta, a Maybe!Hitler (prison camps and all) reigning from, er, Neue-Berlin. Implying that there’s an old Berlin. Which, I dunno, the Germans accidentally burnt down in a fit of pique or something. Or maybe they wanted a second capital and just weren’t very imaginative with names.

So, it’s a transition episode. I think this is the point where Shuumatsu no Izetta officially pivots to being the story of the titular Izetta. Sure, she had always been a big presence and brings all the cool magical action, but that was still as part of Finé’s struggles and Elystadt’s war. Now, as she gets the symbolic costume upgrade and begins to be crafted into Elystadt’s champion, Pygmalion style, she steps into the fore. Just as she will be expected to carry the nation, she’ll have to sort of carry the show. There’s already indications of how heavily-worked a character she will be; in an episode of mostly exposition, Izetta is expected to maintain audience attention by serving as the cheesecake factory. But Izetta is the main character now not because she shows the most skin (important on the resumé as it no doubt is). She’s the main character because we know what her conflict is going to be. Arguably, The Secret of the Witch is not that her powers are geographically limited (we already kinda knew that when she fizzled in ep02) but the story of the White Witch, considered a traitor by her fellows. So Izetta, in donning that mantle, is also commiting a betrayal of sorts. Does being the last of her kind make it better or worse?

No doubt it’d be some poignant morality tale about the use of power and the responsibilities it brings. There’s potential for tragedy here. Izetta is a very idealistic character, but she’s party to a rather cynical strategy. It’s almost a certainty that here grandmother’s warnings will come back to bite at some point, the only question is how hard. For starters, we already know that the plan is not going to work. Sure, using propaganda of your magical superweapon as a deterrent is a solid idea on paper, but over in Germania there’s a personal interest in witches, an interest that may have prompted the invasion in the first place. All the better for us, I guess. We wouldn’t have much of a story if the Maybe!Nazis just gave up. No explosions this week, but more in the future, I’m sure.

Full-length images: 33.

41 Comments

  1. Having fanservice is hard to dodge when the writer is the dude who came up with Seikon no Qwaser (The original manga is written by the same guy who’s writing this show)
    I mean, I find SnQ’s idea of actually using elements from the periodic table (rather than the traditonal earth, wind, fire, water, etc) actually great. But then you have the fighters in the show recovering their MP by drinking breast milk.
    Looking at the guy’s resume, I seriously don’t know if he’s a genius or an utter hack. ·We can only pray he can deliver for this show as he’s mostly done until now

    bassgs435
    Reply

    1. Eh? The guy wanted to write something lewd with action so he did it? I mean he set out to do something and succeeded. How does that indicate him being a hack?

      This show is him probably trying to write a more serious story.

      TitanAnteus
      Reply

      1. Because there’s some terrible shows in his resume. Seriously, the guy’s a mixed bag.
        I mean, he’s written stuff like Guilty Crown . But he’s also done stuff like Mai-HiME and Mai-Otome. And Mai-HiME was great until that ending. So, Izetta could shit the bed suddenly on the last episode even if the rest of the show’s great. And it’s hard to have a serious show if you constantly use fanservice. I guess I’m just being paranoid because of that mess called GC. But maybe I should trust the fact he also wrote 2 shows I love (Mai-HiME and Mai-Otome) and hope for the best.
        It’s just this episode’s sudden increase in the amounts of fanservice don’t give me good expectations. Because I think cheap sexual fanservice like what we saw in this episode doesn’t work at all when you want to write a serious show

        bassgs435
        Reply

      2. Completely agree with you on Mai Hime….

        I personally don’t think Guilty Crown was that bad but I’m definitely in the minority there. I thought it was a good experiment on making a more realistic MC. Let’s be honest, those that would actually act like a Shounen MC in real life are a very small minority even if we all like to imagine that we would act that way. In reality though I think that most of us would be like Shuu. You run away from the gunfire and explosions and not towards it. That said, the show suffered terribly from the pacing especially on the home stretch.

        Juan
        Reply

    2. The guy is certainly rather versatile. 😛 One reason I’ve been inclined to consider him a better writer than many do (aside from really liking a couple of the better shows he’s worked on) is that I sometimes get the impression what his critics consider bad writing is actually him delvering exactly what he was asked to deliver for that particular project. I don’t know whether that was the case for Qwaser because I don’t know if he came up with the basic concept for that one or whether he was supporting the mangaka’s creative vision, kind of like how his writing would support the director’s creative vision on an anime project.

      Darthtabby
      Reply

      1. To answer your question I’d like to reply with a quotation from Gi(a)rlish Number (ep3):

        ‘-(what Chitose does is) hardly worth calling acting…
        -maybe, but that’s what they want from us, so isn’t that good enough?’

        So similarly if the writer delivers exactly what he was asked to deliver just to cater to certain audiences I would say that is still bad writing and we can argue that is it still the writer’s responsibility or the messed up anime indutry is at fault here.
        (Off-topic but it is truly remarkable how effectively Gi(a)rlish Number can adress those trends in anime which plague a lot of shows nowadays, so it would be such a pity if it wasn’t covered here in RC)

        Faolin Eye
        Reply

  2. https://randomc.net/image/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta%20-%2004%20-%2004.jpg
    Germania’s a case of historical mashup – their army uniforms and capital are modeled after those of the Nazis and their supercity plan of Germania respectively…
    https://randomc.net/image/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta%20-%2004%20-%2006.jpg
    but the clothes of the Emperor, his aide and the audience hall are more in line with 1900s European royalty.

    Some history fans have noted the technology and uniforms of Eylstadt’s army are severely outdated, and are still at WW1 levels.

    I’m assuming the Atlantans are the Maybe!Americans.

    zztop
    Reply

    1. Eylstadt’s outdated tech makes sense to me: The nation probably has a tiny military budget, and their tanks could be hand-me-downs/war surplus bought from another nation.

      Hanover Fist
      Reply

      1. Eylstadt’s equipment was actually in use by France and many minor countries. Eylstadt’s tanks would have pulled a WWI battlefield it’s just that tank improvements were steadily moving along in the between war period. America’s M-60 tank put out first in 1960 was used with modifications into the 1990’s by US Army and even saw combat with the Marines in the first Gulf War. Many nations still use M-60’s although I would hate to use one against the current tanks.
        Eylstadt’s tanks could have handled Pz II’s but Germany was quickly upgrading. Still in 1940 nothing compared to the Soviet T-34.
        So Eylstadt are outdated in equipment but not that much outdated. It tank tactics that Eylstadt has done poorly with from what we have seen. In part I assign that to trying to use their tank as equal to the PZ III’s and PZ IV in use. If Eylstadt uses their tanks in a more ambush role or to exploit a Witch caused hole they can still be useful. In the last battle used in a ambush role and then pulled behind the trench line the tanks could have slowed up the offensive by treating the flanks of the offensive.

        RedRocket
        Reply

      2. Eylstadtäs equipment is an odd mix of outdated and top of the line French gear if we look at the actual designs portrayed rather than their anime performance.

        On one hand you have outdated equipment like the FT-17 tanks and the Hotchkiss M1909 Light machine gun, on the other thand the service rifle used by Eylstadters are the MAS36 which was described as a “ugly, roughly made, but immensely strong and reliable” service rifle”. And the at-guns seen in short flashes in ep.3 are actually the canon de 47 mm SA mle 1937 which as essentialy the best anti-tank gun in the world in 1940, accurate and hard hitting it could kill any German tank in use in 1940 at at least 1500 meters. The only gun that outperformed it was the German flak 88 which was a very diffrent beast.

        Likewise the AA guns seen in ep1 are a modern design and not something you want to try and dive bomb unless you like losing some of your fancy STukas.

        Gars
        Reply

  3. Likely the 1st White Witch was considered a traitor by her fellow witches because her actions wih helping people then exposed their secretive community to public scrutiny, explotation and prejudice by everyone else. Clearly the witches felt public attention brought more harm to them.

    zztop
    Reply

    1. Only I believe that doesn’t apply anymore because, as Izetta herself said, she is the last witch, which means she basically has nothing to lose on that front. I’m thinking this “traitor” secret must be alluding to something else, and we can only speculate on what that is.

      yoloalchemist
      Reply

      2. Neuberlin. Hyphens are being used only if the parts are proper name by themselves. We can probably rule out the possibility that in this case Neue is meant to be the name of a place. When constructing compound words the adverbial form (neu) instead of the adjective (neue) is used.

        “Neues Berlin” would also be a (unusual) possibility, which would become “Das Neue Berlin” (no hyphen) if the article is present.

        camper47
        Reply

  6. I was really disappointed by the groping bit in this episode, which stretched by suspension of disbelief and makes it more difficult to recommend this show to the uninitiated. I don’t know whether that ended up in there because the writer likes that kind of stuff or because someone wasn’t confident the material could keep the audience’s attention without fan service. One poster on a forum I’m on was reminded of a scene in Game of Thrones where a character talks about his motivations while a couple girls make out.

    Anyway, I think I would have preferred a bit less fan service and a bit more attention paid to some of the new characters. The writer for this show has demonstrated a talent for taking seemingly stock/archetypical characters and developing them into ones with depth on other projects, but so far I don’t consider Bianca’s characterization all that strong.

    Darthtabby
    Reply

      1. Can you blame them? Fine is awesome. 😛

        More seriously, there were two lines in the first episode where Fine credits the trust/love of her people for keeping her alive. While the show doesn’t seem to have done much with that idea yet, the fact that it was stressed in the first episode makes me wonder if it will come to play an important role at some point. I’m kind of hoping it does.

        Darthtabby
        Reply

      3. Even if I like Fine, the constant adoration of her subjects seems too much. Until now, it looks like as if every Eylstadtian character exists to sing praises about their princess. What’s next, the only citizen that doesn’t love her will be revealed as a Germanian spy?

        I mean, Fine would deserve credit without the writers drilling the point. Has risked her life several times, always has in mind the situation of the people around her (even if they don’t mind), and has a good balance between being able to relate to “commoners” and knowing when to be regal, and also a balance between idealistic values and realistic pragmatism.

        Mistic
        Reply

  7. “The white witch is a traitor”
    Man, that granny is such an unlikable tease. I just don’t wanna take her word for it, because I’m fond of characters that are more of the “forge your own path” kind of variety, which Izetta is pleasantly shaping up to be….is what I would really like to say, if only it weren’t for those 2 simple yet very foreshadowing-heavy words. “Even so…”
    That, along with this
    https://randomc.net/image/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2025.jpg
    tell me that Izetta hasn’t told them everything there is to know about the white witch, or witches in general. What is she hiding? How dangerous of a secret is it? If spilled out, will it cause a fallout between her and the country that is now the subject of her protection? If spilled out, will it cause a fallout between Izetta and Fine?
    https://randomc.net/image/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
    And as sinister as it may sound, I have a feeling that whatever Izetta isn’t letting on, Maybe!Hitler and Belkman are already aware of it, and are willing to exploit it.
    It was natural for opposing forces in real WWII to use whatever weapons they could get their hands on to strike hard at their enemy. Only, those weapons didn’t have a soul or their own sense of self. But now Izetta does, and it is her point of view in all of this that I feel will be the strength of this story.

    yoloalchemist
    Reply

    1. One more thing I forgot to mention.
      I think it’s a good thing that Izetta’s magic works by proximity to certain areas. That means there is no worry of overusing one’s own magic (so far at least) and risk death. If there is to be tragedy coming Izetta’s way, it will be from something else. And therefore less predictable.

      yoloalchemist
      Reply

    2. Her power can go out of control and she knows.
      I wonder if the power is sentient or it is affected by her negative emotions building up.
      Maybe down the road Fine could get injured covering Izetta again causing Izetta to go berserk then making Izetta gloomy and fear using her power.

      Could Emperor/King/Führer Otto know something?
      Hmm…
      Hard to say.
      Maybe something happened in the past? The storywriters can play with that.

      Is Izetta really the last witch?
      What are witches really? Humans born with the ability to use leylines? Witchcraft cannot be learnt?

      iron2000
      Reply

  10. We learned that it was a infantry division that was defeated by Izetta so the armor was attached to the infantry division which was quite common with the German army. And thus the reason the German artillery was not at the battle as it was horse drawn for most infantry formations. The infantry must have rode on the tanks and the few trucks available plus the infantry probably arrived first by rail to the area.

    German imperial ambitions were not created by the Nazi and the German Army, Air force and Navy were not created or developed by the Nazi they were the product of regular army, air force and navy officers who’s developed a lot of the idea’s before the Nazi came to power. All of Germanys early success in WWII were done by regular forces not the SS which did not have significant military units till 1941 and the powerful SS formations not till 1943 mostly. So it is quite believable that a Kaiser might go on a military conquest attempt without all the racial superiority of the Nazi movement. Maybe in this world Teddy Roosevelt was president during WWI and sent the US Navy to break the British blockade of Germany which was in violation of international law. The US could have gone on the German side for believable reasons, not aggressive president and great British vs poor German propaganda resulted in the US on the British and French side.
    Britain and France also had imperial ambitions so I do not consider them morally superior in this situation by intent.

    I find the anti sex fan service but love violence fan service complaints very illogical but understandable. The sex is evil killing is good moral view is still quite strong and I see it all over the place. If one is into men and complaining about the lack of fan service with males I understand. But the twisted sick idea that seeing women being killed is cool but sexual things being shown are bad bugs me. No if fan service is to be banned the combat must be cut first as it is also not necessary to tell a story as proven by many great plays. I recommend take the fan service like humor to break the tension, enjoy it if your into females don’t let some puritanical outdated value make you fell like you must reject it. Make Love Not War!!!

    I quite enjoyed this slow movement of the show before the next fast movement of the show.

    RedRocket
    Reply

    1. Most people complain about the fan service in Shuumatsu no Izetta, because they are outdated puritans, but because it feels misplaced. Yes, they try to use it to give the show some light-heart touch and for comic relive, but imho it works rather poorly. The fan service doesn’t fits in the flow of the story neither it matches how the characters perceive each other, so it feels like “now we interrupt the show for some seconds of fan service”. Can you believe Izetta kept her childlike nature, if lot of people she meet where fascinated by her breasts?

      Fan service is not per se bad, for example the fan service in NewGame was really done well. It was used in a way which fits the character. The panty shots of Kou-chan for example stressed that she is a nerdy girl which cares less about her appearance. So the fan service was part of the show and not some interruption to it.

      Enan84
      Reply

      1. This is exactly my issue. No problems with fanservice but just with shitty writing, and I feel like they just don’t know how to do it right for this series. If they can’t make it fit with the flow, they should avoid it.

        Alice
        Reply

    2. Maintaining the large horses was greater than the tractor. Veterinary animals is needed to check the condition of the horses and large hey of stacks and watering to feed them day and night.

      Also all light field guns wheels were made of woods. While traveling in the long-distance cross-country there are broke and repair by Mechanical crews.

      In Russia and Italy (when German took over in 1943) most of captured civilian vehicles and trucks turn them into fully motorized service to pull there guns but spare parts and maintenance is needed to look elsewhere.

      Private
      Reply

  11. Seeing that I” watching both Brave witches and Izetta in one sitting, I can’t help it but to run crossovers in my mind.

    https://randomc.net/image/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
    On one hand, you have a scene where you get a glimpse of Berlin before neuroi tore through the place

    https://randomc.net/image/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
    And how Karlsland’s Kaiser might have looked like. Minus the belligerent tendencies.

    But back to Izetta.

    https://randomc.net/image/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2031.jpg
    I like how they included the idea and concpet of leylines in European settings. This far, anything with leylines are pretty much set in an Eastern setting. With this in mind, I wonder how will the Eldystadtian High Command plan out and how or if OKW would reply in kind or not. Tell you the truth, since it’s Germany by other name, I pretty much gave up trying to refering it using canonical names. It’ll be interesting to see how US and UK plays a part in the show.

    https://randomc.net/image/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
    I really do find Izetta’s child like innocence, self-deprecating and loyalty to be endearing. Chances are, she might be heading for a mental breakdown somewhere in the middle or end of the series.

    https://randomc.net/image/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
    NOW KISS DAMN IT!!!

    Velvet Scarlantina
    Reply

  12. I might have preferred it if this episode had avoided ecchi hijinks entirely, but if the staff [I]had[/I] to go that route perhaps a better way to do it would have been to have Elvira start undressing Izetta to take her measurements instead of groping her. It might have seemed more believable, and they could tie the scene back to the earlier one with the maid and Izetta’s culture shock. The scene could end with poor Izetta plaintively wondering why everyone keeps trying to strip her. :p

    Darthtabby
    Reply

  14. I think everyone should have realized what they were getting into here when the very first episode had a random nude shower scene, out of nowhere, for no reason at all and the OP is basically just boobs and a girl riding on phallic imagery.

    capncrunch
    Reply

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