Brave Witches – 02
Have you heard…?
 |
Well, like I said in last week’s FI, Hikari looked like she was going to have an early trial by fire, and indeed she did. But this episode comes with an unwelcome surprise… |
One Thousand Paper Cranes
..and here I thought the witches only had fuzzy animal ears…
So on the long trip to Europe, we find out that Takumi was to be assigned to the 502nd stationed in Petersburg, Orrusia, and Hikari was to go on to provide support and undergo training in the northerly neighboring Suomus; that’s Russian and Finland if you happen to come from our reality, which I guess would be their alternate reality. Hikari looks very much settled into the long trip with her fan club members, she’s happy to support her sister and the war effort. On top of that she’s got the spirit and provides inspiration to her fellows, and all the while she keeps to her own personal training regimen;which is to run like the dickens and build up stamina, the boys can’t keep up. Of course Takami keeps her training up as well, providing us with another bit of foreshadowing in the form of her experimental Striker Unit, the Chidori. This was a good time to reinforce the sisterly bond between the two, and show how much they both admire, love, and respect each other.
It was a large attack, to say the very least…
But the quiet would soon be broken. Nests of Neurois are common the closer the convoy gets to Europe, and this flight of nasties looks to be throwing them a huge welcoming party. They waste no time meeting the threat and Takami joins the fight. At first I thought that she was getting beaten a bit too easy, but then it struck me that she’s used to fighting with other witches, and that this batch of Neuroi just had the numbers to overwhelm the convoy’s forces. It was a nasty shock, and a rude surprise all in one, and if it wasn’t for the arrival of the proper 502nd, then the day would have gotten much worse. But keep in mind that the Neuroi are a narrative device only, not an “enemy” the audience can suss out any motivation or need from. As it stands, Takami gave her full measure, and paid the price, pushing her power to get one final good shot in, one that depended on her reaching deep for a hidden power? This leads Hikari to take up arms, but she had to get her butt good and stamped, she wasn’t remotely ready for any of this, no matter how hard she tried. It was a terrible trial for her to have to face so soon, but she remained resolute, determined to take her sister’s place, when the chance came up. It seems those two have a a great deal in common…
Brave Extras…
Keep up with the specs, folks!
Well the show came out pretty straightforward, so I don’t have to go on and on for this blog post. It was serviceable. But it gave us some tonal thrust for the rest of the series, and I’m thinking that Hikari will push herself, rely on her stamina, and master the Chidori and her new power from here on out. And of course the rest of the company is her to help, and frustrate, and do all the things the franchise calls for. On the other hand, I feel pretty bad that her sister is in a “drama induced magic coma”, as it feels a bit cheap to take her out like that so early, just for some oddly convenient character growth – but thems the breaks. As for the animation, it was of mildly lower quality that its initial outing, with some noticeable off models and some flatish composition; it wasn’t horribly distracting, but it did stand out. The CGI could use some work as well for this show, and this is not up to Silver Link’s typical color palette, it’s a bit washed in comparison to the colors of their Victory Arrow OvA series and to AIC’s production. Overall an average second episode in terms of structure, pace, and what you get on the screen. I was a bit upset that the appearance of the rest of the cast was a series of commas more than it was a group of exclamation points. But this season we’ve already had plenty of the latter…Stay Tuned!
Next week, we punch things…
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Correction: they only have fluffy animal ears.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Darn, I thought I corrected that! The point being, I had thought that the girls only channeled mammals, not any other type of animal. Takumi channels a crane in her magic, and her mimmi is crane inspired.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
There were other bird-based witches in older Strike Witches works.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Major Gunther Rall, 275 victories, 3rd highest scoring ace in history. In October 1943 he scored 40 victories.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
…also shot out of the sky 8 times, and wounded three of those times. He doesn’t have much of a resemblance to his World Witches counterpart (I am also reasonably sure he wore pants most times…) but I’m sure she’ll exhibit much bravery…
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Yes, and spent considerable time hospitalized due to his wounds, which makes his score even more remarkable.
I wonder if any of Gunther’s history will find its way into Gundula’s such as knocked out of the sky by the Neuroi and hospitalized. That could make for some pretty dramatic story-telling and could be a way to bring Takami back into the story as the replacement squadron leader. But I don’t really expect either to happen.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I am aware that the writer’s start with the historical figures in mind when conceiving the plots and scripts; they are all confirmed military otaku. But how much of that survives the filters on the way to production? I’m afraid that I’m not the one to say, as that facet of the program hasn’t been my area of interest; which isn’t to say that it’s uninteresting or uninspiring, quite the opposite. But I think I’d pay more attention to the history and figures in a proper documentary…which this will never be! LOL! But the detail you mention is something well worth looking out for. Please keep us in the loop if it comes up!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
There is a story of Eric Hartmann stealing a superior officer’s cap…which inspired Erica Hartmann’s theft of pantsu…Inspiration is wonderful thing…