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Digital Downloads
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Written by maehara
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Sunday, 27 July 2008 16:00 |
 Yoshika's life in the military gets off to a rocky start, as her lack of experience and natural pacifist leanings mean that gaining the trust of the other Strike Witches isn't exactly easy - but when the unit's base comes under attack, it falls to Yoshika and fellow new recruit Lynne to save the day...
Yoshika's life in the military has begun. Mio has promised to take her new recruit under her wing and make sure she settles in, but not everyone in the unit is pleased to see her - especially as she seem to be on such good terms with Mio, who is something of an idol to them all. Fellow new recruit Lynne is assigned to show Yoshika around the base, and listening to her gives Yoshika some idea of just how big the job of defending against the Neuroi is. Big enough that both Yoshika and Lynne are feeling the strain of what's expected of them - especially when some of the unit members start telling them to go home. But when a Neuroi attack forces Yoshika & Lynne into action, they get their chance to prove themselves to the others...
Having some of the girls take an instant dislike to Yoshika for little more than her lack of experience annoyed me - you can't become proficient without training, and Yoshika will no doubt get there in the end, especially with Mio pushing her though training exercises like a slave - time is all she needs. Of course, in true anime fashion she also has a surplus of natural talent, which soon shows itself once she's back in the fight.
While there's a veritable horde of new characters introduced here, it's only Lynette Bishop that gets any real airtime, as she and Yoshika begin to hit it off together. Lynne's go no shortage of talent herself, but her quite nature and lack of self-confidence has so far meant that while she's great on the practice range, in action she tends to go to pieces. She makes a good pair with Yoshika, though, and when the two work together - ah, the value of teamwork - she finds that she can put her skills to real use. Here endeth the lesson for this episode.
All this is done without too much of an emphasis on the fanservice. There's no denying that Strike Witches is playing to the fanservice crowd, but as the series has gone on it's become less and less "in your face" (although with only three episodes down, I couldn't guarantee that the trend would continue). Instead, the series is working more on building some of the characters and making you like them for their personalities, not just for their skimpy outfits. The only real issue is that pretty much every one of the girls plays to a well-recognised archetype - that's a handy way of making sure that you can quickly get a feel for the characters, but it also limits what the writers will be able to do with them over the course of the series, and that's a shame.
Still a good episode, though, if not anything spectacular. Strike Witches is unlikely to be a series that's remembered for years to come, but there's enough going on here to keep you entertained for the duration. Catch the free YouTube showing and you'll have little reason for complaint. Whether it's worth US$3 an episode, though, is a harder call.
It's been brought to my attention that there are two versions of Strike Witches currently airing in Japan - one "uncut", the other edited - you can see a comparison of some scenes from both versions of this episode here. If such things matter to you - and in this case they do seem rather petty, as were not talking about covering up nudity or anything - then you'll want to adjust the rating accordingly. Paying US$3 for a edited show doesn't exactly sit well with me...
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