Strike Witches 2 (TV).

[einhorn303]

The previous discussion thread was pre-emptively deleted because a mod claimed the original post "didn't have enough substance" (possible case of moderator bias"). But I really think there should be a discussion thread for this show as it airs, so here it goes.

ANN page: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=11313
Simulcast on CrunchyRoll: http://www.crunchyroll.com/strikewitches
FunimationR1 DVD splash page: (Coming in the future)

Although it's retained most of the original directorial staff, Strike Witches 2 has an undeniably different feel from the first season. From a magazine interview:

Q: What kind of story will season two have?
A: It will have a greater number of cheerful episodes than the first season. The setting of the Adriatic sea, and its endlessly brilliant sky and warm climate had an influence perhaps. Also, in the broadcast, it's a time when everyone has been set free. (Takamura)

Although S2 hasn't had anything as grim as S1's "I've lost everything dear to me" Episode 4 so far, it still has plenty of action and military fanservice. The constant neuroi attacks are actually starting to feel very "monster of the week." Despite it's military trappings, Strike Witches has a narrative structure similar to classical magical girl anime:

1. There's some sort of emotional problem among the characters.
2. Monster attacks.
3. The emotional problem is somehow resolved through the defeat of the monster.

The most recently aired Episode 6 ("Higher Than the Sky") exemplifies this. It's also blown away all my previous worries about worse writing and attacks on suspension-of-disbelief (katanas cutting lasers? Actually riding on brooms?). It even uses the dimensions of the monster battle as a metaphor for the emotional conflict. From one perspective, Strike Witches 2 isn't just a "lighter" take on the 1st season, but a condensation of what the show was always about: the character's relationships and bonds.

 

[key]

Strike Witches 2 (TV)

The previous discussion thread was pre-emptively deleted because a mod claimed the original post "didn't have enough substance" (possible case of moderator bias").

You're flirting with some dangerous territory here, friend. I went back and looked at the previous thread which got locked, and a thread on any series with that kind of minimalist content in the OP would have gotten locked.

An inadequate OP is an inadequate OP, no matter what it's about. Please be sure to remember that in the future before tossing around baseless accusations.

 

[Skylark]

Aaanyways this thread is heading into grey territory pretty damn fast so let's get onto the show. I've caught up with both the first season and what has aired so far this season (6 eps I think). It might surprise a lot of people who know my stance on fanservice and moe blah but for whatever reason the combination of the two is working? Well not really, but I am enjoying the series. The visuals are excellent and for some reason I really get the feeling of freedom the girls feel when they are flying; something about the camera weaving in and out of their flights and battles, defying gravity and direction, makes it really fun to watch. Sure the plot is predictable as hell, and the only bad thing that will happen to any character at any given time is that they catch a summer cold; but hey for a fluff series I think it's great.

I wish series would stop flirting with yuri and just go all out though. Although I'm pretty much just talking about K-ON, Sora no Woto and this. You built us up for it, now give it to us! Damnit! ;_;

But yeah, it's fun.

 

[Psycho 101]

Aaanyways this thread is heading into grey territory pretty damn fast so let's get onto the show. I've caught up with both the first season and what has aired so far this season (6 eps I think). It might surprise a lot of people who know my stance on fanservice and moe blah but for whatever reason the combination of the two is working? Well not really, but I am enjoying the series. The visuals are excellent and for some reason I really get the feeling of freedom the girls feel when they are flying; something about the camera weaving in and out of their flights and battles, defying gravity and direction, makes it really fun to watch. Sure the plot is predictable as hell, and the only bad thing that will happen to any character at any given time is that they catch a summer cold; but hey for a fluff series I think it's great.

I wish series would stop flirting with yuri and just go all out though. Although I'm pretty much just talking about K-ON, Sora no Woto and this. You built us up for it, now give it to us! Damnit! ;_;

But yeah, it's fun.

I have not watched the entire first season. I watched a handful of episodes here and there though. I wanted to see if the claims of the action scenes being so awesome were true or not. I have to admit, and it pains me a bit to do so, that they really are. Sure they do not follow physics that closely, or at all, but it's anime. Anyone bashing the mid air battle scenes for not being realistic needs to really remember that they are watching FICTION. Now that being said I won't lie, the constant crotch close ups.....yea those are annoying. The idea of the constant close up on pre-pubescent girls was creepy to me at first. After watching several episodes it's lost much of the creepiness to it, and has rather become annoying as hell. It's like any plot device used over and over and over and over and over again within just 2-3 episode back to back. Like the constant panty shots in say Agent Aika or Nagica Blitz Tactics. Either you love them and can't get enough (you dirty dirty people lol) or they just become increasingly annoying. I can almost sit and just predict when a panty shot will happen. Much like with SW I can sit and predict to within 2-3 seconds "oh look another crotch shot is coming" and be 99% accurate. The battles are nice. Hell, they're really nice and really well animated with gorgeous graphics. But every time I start to enjoy them in the episodes I saw my joy was sharply cut off by more random and pointless (that being the real problem, they are pointless and serve no real purpose)crotch shots. If season 2 can tone that down I might just watch the show all the way through. Though generally speaking it seems to me most shows get WORSE with a second season with whatever failings they had in the first season. Ikki Tousen, Rosario + Vampire, and Negima come to mind instantly.

 

[PetrifiedJello]

...the constant crotch close ups.....yea those are annoying...

I've seen this series twice, and I only recall one crotch shot and that's because it was impossible to miss given it took up nearly the entire screen.

I'll be watching for this closely on the next re-watch, because I have to say, everyone's seeing them but me. What I noticed was the incredible detail of the ships during the flight scenes. Given the framerates (higher than normal, and I'd bet 18 minimum), the ships were remarkably detailed while the perspective changed.

I completely agree those scenes are worthwhile for anyone to see, even if the rest of the series is ignored. If I remember, I'll note some timestops so people can instantly jump to them so they can judge for themselves.

I enjoy this series and I'm ready for the second season.

 

[the Rancorous]

If season 2 can tone that down I might just watch the show all the way through. Though generally speaking it seems to me most shows get WORSE with a second season with whatever failings they had in the first season. Ikki Tousen, Rosario + Vampire, and Negima come to mind instantly.

Season 2 doesn't tone down the crotch-shots at all. And I must say, I'm confused that you have Negima in that list as it's first version was worse in that field.

I think when it comes to Strike Witches people will either 1: be immediately turned away by the pervy side, 2: slowly acclimate to it, 3: slowly get turned off by the pervy side, or 3: not be affected by or even like the pervy side. I fall into the 2nd category; I was rather creeped out at first, but I slowly just got used to it. But I still wish they could have either toned it down, or made the girls older. Anyways, moving on...

The 2nd season is actually on par with the 1st; they're finding interesting things to do. I liked ep 5 when Francesca,

Spoiler

the one who tends to screw everything up, actually ended up doing something that got her positive recognition and benefited the team.

It was better than her hayday in the 1st season

Spoiler

when her whole ordeal was having her panties stolen, taking someone's panties and being chased around :roll: .

EDIT:

I've seen this series twice, and I only recall one crotch shot and that's because it was impossible to miss given it took up nearly the entire screen.

I'll be watching for this closely on the next re-watch, because I have to say, everyone's seeing them but me.

:? ^100 I just went back and watched the first 5 minutes of the first episode, and the number of crotch-shots in just that amount of time was in the double-digits. Anytime there's an areal battle, the crotch-shots are abundant. Brief, but abundant. Did you not watch the episode titled "Nice and Breezy"? I don't get it...

 

[Spastic Minnow]

The first season was not great but I'm really finding the second season rather boring, not because of the lack of important fights with the enemy- it was same situation in the first season during the training period, but because of the complete lack of character intrigue. We already know everything thing important about these girls now, there are no

Spoiler

secret sisters in a coma, no dead boyfriends left behind during evacuations,

I'm not even sure if any of the girls are now from a land currently occupied- If there are (Sanya?) it's not an issue that's being dealt with. If there are character conflicts they are quite minor and fabricated.

 

[12skippy21]

Well I am finding the second season rather lackluster compared to the first. The first had some good character development through introductions. some silliness, great animation and a somewhat interesting story.

However I agree with einhorn303 in that the second season is very 'monster of the week', it's strengths do lie in its characters and animation but I wished for more backstory of the Neuroi but instead we get episodes based upon what the characters did in season one. Nicely done when introducing the characters but very'been there done that' when viewed in the second season. I expect the final episodes may deliever what I am interested in but until then the second series just does not match up to the first in my opinion.

 

[PetrifiedJello]

Did you not watch the episode titled "Nice and Breezy"? I don't get it...

It seems our definitions aren't the same for this discussion. I was under the impression a crotch shot wasn't the same as a pantsu shot.

The above image is an example. Which was the most obvious: The crotch shot or the aircraft carrier?

It call comes down to what people are wanting to see rather than what they're really seeing. The more people talk about the crotch shots, the more noticeable they become.

 

[Skylark]

The first season was not great but I'm really finding the second season rather boring, not because of the lack of important fights with the enemy- it was same situation in the first season during the training period, but because of the complete lack of character intrigue. We already know everything thing important about these girls now, there are no

Spoiler

secret sisters in a coma, no dead boyfriends left behind during evacuations,

I'm not even sure if any of the girls are now from a land currently occupied- If there are (Sanya?) it's not an issue that's being dealt with. If there are character conflicts they are quite minor and fabricated.

I'm enjoying the fact that the series has moved past the struggles of the individuals to their movement towards unity and work as a whole against the Neuroi, although the

Spoiler

human-shaped Neuroi and its hive getting destroyed at the beginning by a bigger, meaner hive just seemed like a big, stupid, plot-momentum blu-tac blob on an otherwise not too unbelievable story.

With regard to the crotch shots, this might sound funny to some people but even in the first episode I didn't really notice them so much in the flying scenes. I know there were lots of them - holy crapper lots - but I dunno, I was so immersed with the flying scenes that it just felt like the person flew over or in front of the camera at that point. The constantly changing camera angle and position helped me here I think, but I found it so easy to let my mind go off flying with the witches than thinking "oh no another panty shot".

That said, I'm never ever going to be able to purchase or import this series in Australia. The in-barracks panty shots and the censor-less breasts in one of the first season episodes (what ever happened to subtly hiding the money shot?), coupled with the broomstick-rubbing stuff... well I've grown acclimatised to it but it just doesn't really fit the atmosphere of the series for me. The witches apparently lose their

Spoiler

shield ability at the age of 20

, so is it just that young girls all have raging hormones, that they need to feel up each other's breasts every now and then?

Some of the fanservice is hilarious though, like earlier in season 1 where both Yoshika and Lynne are exercising and collapse, and Sakamoto comes over to talk to them; they are lying in opposite directions with red faces and panting, and the camera keeps shooting in on them breathing heavily without showing their legs. The insinuation had me in stitches. It was like anime 2 minute noodles: instant fap material - just add imagination.

I dig the character relationships even if they are cliche and predictable, and even if the characters themselves are as deep as a spoon. It was more interesting in the first season, with some of the higher ranked witches being more mysteries (particularly Barkhorn), but eh; I can't really complain. The flight scenes are so good that it just about makes up for everything else, and the consistently high budget helps in that regard I think. This has to be the first series that panders to every form of male otaku I can think of - loli, big boobs, furry, moe, tsundere, panty/crotch shots, freaking everything - that I have actually liked. I can't even justify it to myself, looking at it logically. It's just fun to watch.

EDIT:

It call comes down to what people are wanting to see rather than what they're really seeing. The more people talk about the crotch shots, the more noticeable they become.

That might be true for that shot, but that picture isn't representative of the series itself in terms of panty shots. Like another user said, in the first episode of season one it nailed a full blown, fill the screen panty/crotch (dunno what we're calling them now) shots for every main character in the series.

For example, the ED of the first season, you have two chord strikes to start the song; the first shows Miyafuji's face, and the other is a full gaping second of just front on panty shot filling the screen. It doesn't get much more blatant than that. People are seeing it because it's being shoved in their faces lol

 

[lkplkplkp3]

Just shooting out my opinion (we're all entitled to our own opinion) --- As a big fan of many fanservice titles, I find SW to be almost gross. Which is a shame, because if they didn't feel the need to occasionally zoom in on a 14 year old girl's crotch, it could have been a pretty cool anime. Good artwork, good action scenes, etc. Although, I'm not alone here: http://taikutsuremedy.blogspot.com/2008/11/strike-witches-review.html (WARNING: This reviewer uses dirty language, so do not read if you can't stand swearing) --- Seriously, the girls are 14, who's finding this hot?

 

[Daimyo]

Did you not watch the episode titled "Nice and Breezy"? I don't get it...

It seems our definitions aren't the same for this discussion. I was under the impression a crotch shot wasn't the same as a pantsu shot.

The above image is an example. Which was the most obvious: The crotch shot or the aircraft carrier?

It call comes down to what people are wanting to see rather than what they're really seeing. The more people talk about the crotch shots, the more noticeable they become.

That image is too tiny. You can barely see the aircraft. You had to re size that just to prove your point.

 

[Spastic Minnow]

The first season was not great but I'm really finding the second season rather boring, not because of the lack of important fights with the enemy- it was same situation in the first season during the training period, but because of the complete lack of character intrigue. We already know everything thing important about these girls now, there are no

Spoiler

secret sisters in a coma, no dead boyfriends left behind during evacuations,

I'm not even sure if any of the girls are now from a land currently occupied- If there are (Sanya?) it's not an issue that's being dealt with. If there are character conflicts they are quite minor and fabricated.

I'm enjoying the fact that the series has moved past the struggles of the individuals to their movement towards unity and work as a whole against the Neuroi,

Although not completely invalid, that's a slightly weak interpretation, almost every episode has also still done the same as the first... featuring one of the girls going against their explicit orders from their superiors and/or the wishes of the group in order to fulfill their own, sometimes selfish, wishes (

Spoiler

prove she can fly the super dangerous experimental unit, spend the base's money out on the town, personally protect your girl"friend" despite no proof you can do so

) . Of course it always luckily works out for the good of the group and the individual maybe learns a valuable lesson but the only time the expressed ideal of "working together" has been put into practice was in the broom riding episode.

 

[the Rancorous]

Like another user said, in the first episode of season one it nailed a full blown, fill the screen panty/crotch (dunno what we're calling them now) shots for every main character in the series.

Yeah, even if it is just for a few frames, both its imagery and intent are still quite blatant. It's not a difference in definition, you (PJ) have just somehow managed to not be looking at the screen through most of it or something. I mean, come on:
NOT IN THE LEAST BIT WORK SAFE:
bam, bam, bam bam bam Tell what's the most noticeable thing in each of those shots.

People are seeing it because it's being shoved in their faces lol

This is true. This is why I can not blame anyone for being completely turned off from the show because of that factor alone; like Zac said in his Summer Preview of the 2nd season's 1st episode, you can't ignore the fanservice on this one.

 

[Skylark]

Although not completely invalid, that's a slightly weak interpretation, almost every episode has also still done the same as the first... featuring one of the girls going against their explicit orders from their superiors and/or the wishes of the group in order to fulfill their own, sometimes selfish, wishes (

Spoiler

prove she can fly the super dangerous experimental unit, spend the base's money out on the town, personally protect your girl"friend" despite no proof you can do so

) . Of course it always luckily works out for the good of the group and the individual maybe learns a valuable lesson but the only time the expressed ideal of "working together" has been put into practice was in the broom riding episode.

I don't really think that is entirely case, though I can't be sure which episodes you're referencing. The girl using the

Spoiler

Jet Striker leg attachment _did_ go against orders specifically; but not selfishly like Miyafuji leading all her friends into a neuroi hive (which is exactly as you said; a completely selfish act that somehow managed to turn out alright but could have gone horribly wrong) - rather to save the group which was pretty much screwed. Though the one chick was in trouble specifically, they were all going to be at threat if she hadn't acted (against orders specifically and only designed to protect her own health, and for no other reason).

That doesn't particularly scream selfish for me.

Can't defend Lucchini, don't like her character at all from the start of season 1 to now she has been a selfish, childish brat. Not helped when coupled with bad and grinding voice acting.

As for

Spoiler

the latest episode with the shieldless girl conjuring a shield for a friend... hey, it's tickling my soft spot for yuri so I might have overlooked that example. That said, they all strove together as a team with their various supports of the overall mission of reaching the top of the spire despite massive risk, so I don't think it entirely contradicts my point either.

Don't get me wrong, so far the second season has been a little weaker, but I'm still enjoying it. I phrased what I said completely wrong. What I wanted to say was that I like how it's gone from being individual woes and tribulations, to the interaction of the characters with each other (whether as an entire group, or groups within the whole).

As for the fanservice side of things.. eh, I can make a distinction between reality and fiction. I'm not one of those kind of people that will say lolita character fanservice is ok if the series makes it clear that said character is over 18, yet is damnable and hell on earth if the series admits that the age the character looks is her actual age. Seriously there's no difference. Also, we can't be sure that all the girls are that young - Miyafuji is a graduate middle schooler so she is quite young, but Sakamoto has explicitly said that she is 20. I'm not real keen on fanservice in general but like I said, despite its blatant use in the flying scenes I don't really notice because the scenes are so damn immersive.

One thing that took me ages to get past with the series is that none of the younger female characters in the series where any kind of pants. Why no pants? If you want to do egregious fanservice, at least give them miniskirts. It didn't make any sense to me why none of the young female characters are walking around as if it's normal to wear a swimsuit every day, or nothing but underpants on your lower half; take that away and they're terribly embarrassed though. Yet any mid to older aged female characters are wearing normal clothes. Where's the link?? It would make sense if the witches did it because of the legs malfunctioning with clothing getting in the way or something, but Miyafuji and her school friend were dressed like that from the get-go. It's like the anime was set in an alternate world where every male and female over the age of 25 is a massive pervert.