First Impressions / STRIKE WITCHES

「翼をください」 (Tsubasa wo Kudasai)
“Please Give Me Wings”

We’re only at episode eight and AIC Spirits has already opted to cut out the opening in favor of a more movie-like introduction to the long-awaited new Striker Unit. Yoshika’s magical abilities have outgrown her A6M Zero, forcing her to upgrade to the J7W1 Shinden, a.k.a. “Magnificent Lightning”. For the most part, the movie-like feel stemmed from her struggles to fly using her current unit, as no one was aware that it was a problem with the engine’s internal magic limiter and not Yoshika’s abilities. At times, it was a bit cheesy since stuff just happened inexplicably — such as Yoshika hearing her father’s voice and the Shinden magically appearing before for — but I’ll admit that I got caught up in the touching mood they were developing with her desire to protect people. The only part that I found a bit irksome was the opening scene where Mio was trying to learn the Shin Reppuzan. (It’s always got to be “shin” 「真」 when it comes to the “real” deal in Japanese techniques). I don’t know what Yoshika was on when she asked Mio to teach her the technique, seeing as she doesn’t even have a magically-imbued katana to begin with, nor the skills to wield one properly. If anything, she should specialize in the one area that she excels in and that Mio has no power whatsoever in anymore — shields. I could understand Yoshika’s earnest desire to do whatever is in her power to protect people, but I thought it was pretty dumb of her to get ahead of herself and think she can just hop onto any promising idea that she comes across.

The rest of the episode involving Yoshika’s struggles and her coming to terms that she may never fly again was really well played out, and also brought some emotion-filled scenes I wasn’t expecting from this series. None of the screenplay was overly melodramatic nor terribly forced, which the music helped a lot with. This isn’t the first time that I’ve mentioned how well the music sets the mood in this sequel and likely won’t be the last, as the soundtrack deserves a lot of praise for bringing out all sorts of emotions in the various scenes. This includes the peaceful track played when Yoshika and Lynne were frantically saving all the injured personnel on board the Yamato and the more urgent one with the sudden appearance of the Neuroi out to sink the Yamato flagship that was on route from Fuso. I’m a sucker for acts of chivalry too, so I was pretty caught up in Yoshika’s feelings of helplessness when Lynne went out on her own to try and protect the fleet, thanks to the music that went along with it. I also felt the emotional flood gate on the verge of opening at the sight of Yoshika’s tears and the sound of her apology to her father for not being able to protect anyone, which made her launch on the Shinden all the more epic. Yoshika going all out and unleashing the largest magic circle I ever recall seeing only added to that impression, and I love how she actually got pissed off for a change when it was Lynne’s life on the line. This new Yoshika means business!

It’s interesting to note that while the progression of this episode wasn’t any different from ones prior, the emotional aspect sure was kicked up a notch. The script was still fairly lighthearted, but had an element of depth that helped reiterate that there’s more to this series than pantless mecha-girls. Unfortunately, those who were quick to judge would have never gotten this far to realize that, so this was more of a treat to those who were already aware of that fact. For now, I’m curious as to what we’ll have in store in later episodes and if anything will live up to what we saw here. I’d definitely like to see more desperate battles where there are casualties, since it gives a much better impression that there’s an actual alien invasion going on. It was a nice touch bringing in the Yamato to add some urgency to their latest encounter with the Neuroi, and I couldn’t help but seem some resemblance to the “Fat Man” atomic bomb in its design (whether intentional or not). In any case, I’m enjoying this sequel a lot more than I’ve probably been letting off and am looking forward to seeing what else Yoshika can do with the Shinden. Hopefully this is the start of upgrades for all the other witches as well.

 

ED7 Sequence

ED7: 「Over Sky」 by 福圓美里＆名塚佳織 (Fukuen Misato & Nazuka Kaori)
Watch the 7th ED!: Download, Streaming ▼

Preview

23 Comments

  4. If the other witches suddenly develop super witch powers that require them to switch to the Shinden engines it will be a bit cheesy for sure. Shirley and Barkhorn, especially, are reaching that age when their magical power is decreasing (late teens) and the other girls haven’t shown any particular growth.

    Anyway…How long til Yoshika finally gets her first promotion?

    Booty Hole
    Reply

    1. Oh please, spare me the tought of that, at least the little oppai hunter is not a former-terrorist-turned-freak that wants to become a Gundam. If any, it was more of Yoshika turning into Kira Yamato when he upgraded to the Freedom in GS. Now, if “Vestige” is played every time Yoshika has to take off from now on, we’re in deep trouble.

      Forget tactics, Yoshika with the Shinden and Trude with the mass-produced Schwalbe (ME-262) can win the war by themselves. Other than that, I hope to see an unholy joint op with the 501st, the Yamato and the Bismark.

      SeedStriker
      Reply

  8. The main plot should start next week if this is to continue mirroring the first season, though ironically this was the first episode to not explicitly do so. New mecha for Yoshika and Mio is learning the Final Getsuga Tensho, so we should see them in action soon — unless there’s Strike Witches 3.

    AuroraFlame
    Reply

  9. i kinda enjoy the fleet battle though…. see some serious carrier action and the 46cm main guns and not forgettin some spitfire action….

    *i really got to go and get tamiya’s yamato… her sister’s bit lonely in my cupboard*

    c2710
    Reply

  10. Yoshika is a very good character. Best on the show (should be when you are the main character).I hope she gets some sort of an offensive power up soon. Something only she can do and is amazing.

    Karmafan
    Reply

  11. hmm I must have amnesia now since I forgot how Mio lost her shield regenerating abilities and what job Yoshika’s dad did that was suppose to be important. I always liked episode where there is character (upgrade) development. I was actually those who dropped this series but then picked it back up to watch after the many reviews I keep getting out from this. 😛

    Pikachu
    Reply

  12. They played the episode’s emotional pull nicely. I thought Mio refusing to teach the Reppuzan touched Yoshika’s confidence so much she couldn’t mentally cope with it. I did know it was a bit out of touch with Yoshika’s abilities but she is young and emotional in that sense. I guess her desire to protect everyone numbed her thoughts at that moment.
    D pointed out she should focus on her known abilities (shields and medic) and although I agree, I can see Yoshika being a possible powerhouse with her new striker upgrade. We’ll have to wait and see.
    I’d also want to see a nice joint op between a full fleet and the 501st but in all the previous episodes, the fleets served as cannon fodder more than anything else. Seriously tho, am I wrong to think that a fleet should be able be stronger than the 501st or at least be able to hold its own (with its own aerial support)? With that in mind, the 501st would be stretched real thin (read annihilated) if the Neuroi started to show in numbers rather than one at a time.

    Shinjiro
    Reply

  14. We saw, a little Glimpse of Yoshika’s Anger/Hate (of Protecting a Important Person) Spirit. In the entire Serie so far, She was mental fixed on Protecting Peoples and Friends. The Captain Mio is aware of that.Mio’s ability is to Dangerous for Yoshika. I Think, Mio is worried about Yoshika. in Short. “Yoshika is about to lose her Innocent!” (No Hentai toughs please)

    Germanguy
    Reply

    1. Oh, and i forgotten. She can be as Fast as “Jaeger”(forgotten her fristname) Unit, or faster. You saw, how She break trough the Neuroi’s nose?. Yes, this Clouds.. in this short Distance.. This Striker Unit, is a Miracle thing of G Forces ;).. Well we are in a Anime World where all is Possible 🙂

      Germanguy
      Reply

  17. “When a usually easy-going person who rarely gets angry becomes pissed off, he/she can be VERY scary.” – Quote from Hayate no Gotoku

    The Neuroi made a fatal mistake in pissing off Yoshika of all people, and boy did it get its ass kicked by her.
    https://randomc.net/image/STRIKE%20WITCHES/STRIKE%20WITCHES%202%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2032.jpg

    Besides Yoshika, we also finally get to see the Yamato kicking some major ass. Now we just have to hope that the Yamato doesn’t end up getting absorbed by the Neuroi like the Akagi did in last season, or we’ll truly be seeing a “Space Battleship Yamato”. LOL

    Questions remain of the A-bomb-shaped Neuroi.
    1. The Neuroi seems to have anticipated the Yamato is coming.
    2. If it did not came from the Venice hive cluster, then surely it must come from another hive cluster which the allied forces aren’t aware of.

    Another question is how did Yoshika’s dad communicate with her from the dead? Was her upgraded Shinden unit magically activated by the letter he sent to her posthumously?

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

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