First of all, before I start my review, I want to explain that I am an avid fan of the World Witches and I went into this new anime with unbearable levels of excitement. I am very well versed in the franchise by reading the novels, manga, short storys, watching the anime, translating several works, and operating two Strike Witches fan communities with the intent of using the powerful fanbase to create new and exciting things. So... while I intend this review to be more of a constructive-criticism type... it may come off to some people as overhwelmingly negative. This doesn't mean that I didn't
...
like it... it just means that I went in with exceedingly high expectations, only to set myself up for disappointment when Brave Witches brought nothing new and exciting to the table. So if you want the brief review, here it is: Brave Witches is a stagnant installation to the series and is at best, a mediocre product that is the result of a careless cash-in opportunity.
So uhh.... if you wanna hear more misery like that, please read on! If not, I hope you will read my words and garner a better understanding of my critical perspectives. Enjoy!
SETTING – 7/10
For those familiar with the World Witches franchise, I don’t have to do a lot of explanation on the setting. Set in an alternate World War II situation where mankind is fighting a common alien threat, the Neuroi, Brave Witches is the third anime series produced in the World Witches franchise after a movie and 3 episode OVA series. It is the first animation project to adapt the story of the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing based in Petersburg, Orussia, A cold, desolate, and snow-covered territory being overrun by a Neuroi hive known as ‘Grigori.’ When the announcement for a new World Witches anime was made, I was incredibly excited that we’d be following a different squadron in a different location. The grittier and less luxurious nature of the Orussian base is in stark contrast to the posh and colorful Mediterranean setting of the Strike Witches anime. While more detail of the Orussian front could’ve been explored over the 12 episode TV run, it still offered a new perspective on the series that I think a lot of the fans stuck on the surface can dive into a little more. The producers’ decision to move on to another squadron is progressive and crucial to keeping the series alive.
The Neuroi enemy itself doesn’t shine quite as brightly in Brave Witches as they did before, feeling more like an episodic “Villain of the Day” type of antagonist rather than a looming, dangerous, and mysterious one with a solid backstory. In fact, Brave Witches did little in the way of explaining anything about the Neuroi or where they come from – something that has bothered Strike Witches fans for a very long time. Instead, there is a sense of detachment between the writers of the anime and the original works in that they are adding too many complexities and new concepts such as shape-shifting and ice-forming Neuroi into a setting that is already very complicated and not fully fleshed out. Magic has also been used in new ways, almost as a convenient plot device where it could've benefited the 501st JFW, had they been given the same skills in their anime. In this way, Brave Witches almost feels like a step back because they have essentially written themselves into a bigger hole to climb out of. Instead of getting the answers we wanted from this series, I believe it only raised more questions. Luckily a few hints of creativity and a refreshing snowy white battlefield was just what we needed to get the series rolling again and hopefully more anime features in new and unique locales will follow.
STORY – 7/10
Upon the initial announcement, fans could easily assume that the story would be a fairly close adaptation to the original short story written about the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing, but in fact it never even touched on the literature. Instead of Shimohara Sadako taking the lead role, we are set to follow the Karibuchi sisters in their life-changing experiences with the Orrusian unit. Brave Witches is nothing short of a predictable and old-fashioned story of triumph in the face of adversity as we watch the young and zealous Hikari take place of her elder sister Takami whose overconfidence put her in a life-threatening situation. The story of how Hikari joined the 502nd and her attempts to fit in are admittedly more brief and sincere than the Yoshika’s tale of the 501st JFW, but at times it does feel a bit rushed and hammered by clichés. All-in-all, there are points where the story feels genuine and likable.
Progression of the plot in Brave Witches is very slow but never really builds up to much. There is a shockingly long and unexplained absence of Takami through the middle of the series that made watching every new episode feel like she had been completely forgotten. However, a startling return later on shows that tension had been building between the sisters. This actually came as a surprise to me and many other viewers, but sadly I think that was only time I was caught off guard. The drama, while more scarce than it should be for a war story, was handled fairly well and I did find myself almost tearing up at one point. Thankfully, after the story teases us with a dreaded repeat of Strike Witches season 1 and 2 featuring “Neuroified weapons,” the story takes another more reasonable turn. Perhaps it’s a bit too reasonable because from start to finish, every moment of Brave Witches was being played safely. Nothing really new or exciting found its way into this plot, leaving it as just another anime pushed out the door for profits. It’s a shame really, considering the incredible amount of well-written source material at their disposal. In comparison to what could have been, Brave Witches fell disappointingly short.
CHARACTERS – 6/10
As previously mentioned, what most folks anticipated would be a story following the 9 members of the 502nd JFW turned out to be more with the addition of the Karibuchi Sisters. Fortunately, despite stealing the spotlight from Sadako, Hikari and Takami karibuchi turned out to be rather remarkable characters and held a strong lead in the entire anime. Character development in typical Strike Witches fashion, is strong for some, and weak for others. With 11 characters to develop and only 12 episodes to do so, time is very limited to learn about each character’s personalities, backstories, and their shortcomings. Brave Witches understandably spends most of its episodes focusing on Hikari’s growth and triumph, but the balance of character development for the rest of the 502nd JFW is quite troubling. Characters like Naoe Kanno and Nikka Edvardine-Katajainen, who some people have complained about are annoying, also spent a long time in the spotlight, detracting from other characters such as Gundula Rall, Edytha Rossman, and Shimohara Sadako mostly. With each character given an average of 1 episode to grow, it feels like most of them never had the chance to shine. Strike Witches solved this issue by adding a second season. Perhaps Brave Witches will endure the same treatment.
Characters are the stronghold for the World Witches Series. With well over 100+ witches to explore, it’s got more than enough content and lovable characters to keep coming back for more. Most of them even have incredible depth and uniqueness, without ever being adapted for the TV screen. and Brave Witches’ best quality is the expansion of anime characters that we have waited so long for. It does my heart good to see a new cast, taken mostly from existing witches of Humikane’s creation. The anime does have a few weird moments however, with the appearance of an unnamed Brittanian witch that was never even properly introduced. Also the acknowledgement of Land Witches and brief cameo by Aurora Juutilainen at the very end are a subtle nod to fans, but kind of unexpected. Brave Witches does miss out on a lot of chances however, to feature even more background characters. Especially that the entire time the anime was aired, the 507th JFW was consistently mentioned and shown on the map, but never played a role in the story. Nor did the Suomus witches who sent gifts for the Saturnus Festival episode. The producers decided instead to bring back Eila and Sanya from the previous anime. I cannot complain because this gave these characters the screen time they were robbed of when they were excluded from the Operation Victory Arrow shorts and even though I’m not a fan of either character, their presence was rather comforting in the otherwise unsettling new atmosphere.
ART & ANIMATION – 5/10
I don’t mean to sound like a meme here, but it’s 2016 and we really deserve better than this. I think fan reception is pretty unanimous in saying that Brave Witches’ weakest aspect is its sub-par artwork and animation. This new anime was their chance to refresh the series and give it a new tone, maybe even closer to Shimada Humikane’s fascinating artworks which are gritty and rich with earth tones that add to the war setting. But instead, what we got from SilverLink studios seems to be using Strike Witches season 2 as a starting point, and then regressing steadily to the point where it almost looks like a major downgrade. World Witches has jumped animation studios 3 times since its inception and although SilverLink showed consistency and promise with the Operation Victory Arrow series, Brave Witches is not quite on the same level.
The most notable issue with Brave Witches’ animation, apart from a few goofy and disproportionate characters and recycled or discolored frames, is the excessive use of CG. While CG has its place in animation, the liberal use in Brave Witches is really jarring and distracting. From one moment of typical hand-drawn expressions you could suddenly be looking at a lifeless potato flying though the sky and back again by the next scene. The lack of detail is utterly disturbing and furthermore the choreography and movement of the CG characters is very poorly planned, killing off all sense of danger and action that should’ve been present. Most of these issues can possibly be blamed on a rushed animation schedule, using CG only to as a quick placeholder for upgrading at a later date. We can only hope that by the time the BD/DVD is released, SilverLink will have been wise enough to reanimate large segments of the anime to bring it up to acceptable levels of quality. Sadly it looks like they have a lot of work to do if they want World Witches anime adaptations to continue to be taken seriously.
SOUND & MUSIC – 6
Music and sound has always been a rather prominent part of the original Strike Witches in my mind. I remember the astonishing quality of the sounds that the Striker Units and various weapons used. It was as if the sound engineers actually recorded each and every airplane and gun specifically for each character which added so much to the realism and immersive nature of the original series. Add in the wonderfully catchy and grandiose tune of the 501st JFW theme song, and it was a winner. Now while I may be in no position to judge because my surround sound system is currently broken, I felt as if Brave Witches did not make as much effort and is leagues behind competitive anime such as Girls und Panzer who dominate in the sound effects department.
The original compositions for background music are nice and pleasant, but lack the mystique and emotion of the Strike Witches soundtrack. It’s important that the music is indicative of the 1940s time period and honestly more could be done to enhance that atmosphere. OP and ED songs are par for the course and to me don’t fit the military theme very well, but there is nothing wrong with the otherwise well made into and outro songs. There is no memorable 502nd JFW theme to speak of. Guns and Strikers, while still loud and clattery as usual, felt a bit more generic this time around too and every gunshot and engine startup sounded the same. Had Brave Witches been a bit more ambitious in it sound and music, I think it would’ve done wonders for making the series more memorable and charming.
OVERALL SCORE – 6.2/10
Overall, despite my negative ramblings, Brave Witches has a bar minimum solid base to stand on. It’s not a “bad” anime by any means, but it’s certainly not anything new or special, especially compared to some of the rival anime being produced today. World Witches could’ve used this chance to revitalize and bring more people into the series but instead it rested on its laurels and is destined to let itself fade to mediocrity unless something can be changed soon. And I do think the high expectations of long-time Witch fans like myself do play into this disappointment factor, but underneath this mumbling I am truly happy that Brave Witches was made and I am glad I have had the opportunity to watch and analyze it. I hope they will continue to produce more anime adaptations and hopefully I will get to see my beloved 507th JFW in the form of a film or OVA in the near future. I’m just hoping that in the meantime, producers of the anime will look back and what they have created and start focusing on how they can improve the series to make it more satisfying for fans and more competitive in the ever-advancing and extremely cut-throat anime industry. I think all of us in some way could say "I would have differently," but we just have to play with the cards we are dealt.
Is Brave Witches worth watching? I will say quite readily that it is only right for people who are truly fans of the World Witches series. Outsiders might find it a little unwelcoming and hard to understand. They probably won’t find themselves latching onto the characters too well either. I never thought I’d actually say this because I’m not particularly fond of the 501st JFW, but I have looked at my given options and decided that I got far more enjoyment from Strike Witches than I did with Brave Witches. Let’s hope whatever comes next will blow our pants off in true Witches pantsless fashion!
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Jan 13, 2017
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First of all, before I start my review, I want to explain that I am an avid fan of the World Witches and I went into this new anime with unbearable levels of excitement. I am very well versed in the franchise by reading the novels, manga, short storys, watching the anime, translating several works, and operating two Strike Witches fan communities with the intent of using the powerful fanbase to create new and exciting things. So... while I intend this review to be more of a constructive-criticism type... it may come off to some people as overhwelmingly negative. This doesn't mean that I didn't
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