BRAVE WITCHES

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME ActionStrike Witches
SPECIAL ActionBrave Witches: Petersburg Daisenryaku
NOVELBrave Witches Prequel
TV SHORT ComedyWorld Witches Hasshin Shimasu!

REVIEWS

• 

  ChartTopper60

  80/100
  What I expected was a straight Strike Witches clone—but what I received was a powerful underlying story.

  Brave Witches is the story of Karibuchi Hikari, who joins the 502nd Joint Wing, hoping to meet the expectations of her older sister and become a greatly skilled witch. It is a sequel and spin-off to the Strike Witches anime series, and the second anime in the World Witches series.
  When I started Episode 1, I'd expected a direct clone of Strike Witches. Due to the similarities in some characters, I didn't expect to like Brave Witches much at all. However, one concurrent theme used between characters in Brave Witches had me like it a slight bit above Strike Witches.

  I found Brave Witches to be its own underlying story about meeting the expectations of someone who is more skilled than oneself. Our main character, Hikari, aims to be like her older sister, Takami. However, living in the shadow of Takami, Hikari finds herself being treated as the much lesser and weaker sibling. Hikari's story arc is hinted from Episode 1 and is explored more thorougly throughout the Brave Witches anime. Yoshika had a similar character arc in Strike Witches, although it was more of an internal struggle where Yoshika wanted to have powerful magic like her mother and grandmother. Hikari constantly fights to be as strong and skilled as Takami, centering around both an internal and external struggle.

  By using Takami to tell the "expectations" narrative, it gives some of the best developmental moments for World Witches series' characters by far. Hikari goes through the challenge of trying to be like her sister, although she slowly learns that to grow her skills, she must distance herself from meeting Takami's expectations, attempting to do what Takami does, and to accept and be herself.

  Kanno, another character with a major story arc in Brave Witches, has become one of my favorite characters in the World Witches series. Kanno, along with Hikari, have brought the most interesting character arcs I've seen in Strike Witches yet. Kanno, at first, loathed Hikari. She simply saw Hikari as the "total opposite" younger sister of Takami; No skill outside of stamina. However, being exposed to Hikari's unwavering will to improve her skill, and that Hikari's undergoing a similar struggle of wanting to become stronger, Kanno opens up much more and becomes more relaxed around Hikari.
  Outside of her character arc, I enjoy Kanno's personality, as she has a slight "rebellious" nature. This is characterized by her dressing style, foul-mouth, and her fighting style. Oh man, Kanno's fighting style is awesome. She uses her fists rather than just firearms.
  Hikari and Kanno definitely get the most screentime, as Kanno's story arc closes around Episode 10. Though, because of the focus these characters get, the rest of the 502nd Joint Wing get little to no screentime. This is to the point that I don't even remember most of their names, save for Sasha and Krupinski, both of which have miniature story arcs.

  Furthermore, the art is a lot more pleasing than the 2007-2014 period of Strike Witches. It seems that the art style and animation for the World Witches series improves with every new release. I don't have any problems with fanservice, but when compared to Strike Witches, it has been severely toned down. Though in Brave Witches, the toned down fanservice has its benefits, mainly in action scenes where we get extravagant shots of a character's attack.
  Speaking of World Witches, Sanya and Eila, two characters of Strike Witches, had little screentime in Operation Victory Arrow and The Movie. So, the two receive spotlight for half an episode and an OVA, effectively a crossover between Strike Witches and Brave Witches.

  In terms of sound, there are some repetitive songs in the anime's soundtrack. They are not bothersome, nor memorable. The soundtrack is serviceable. The opening song, however, is amazing. It elicits emotion and describes how it would feel if an anime came back after several years, which for Strike Witches to Brave Witches was 6+ years (not counting the movie and OVA). The visuals in the opening aren't spectacular. Once again, they are serviceable. It gives you everything you need to know, including Hikari's story arc and the Brave Witches in action. The song itself carries the opening, being so good that there is not a single episode that I skipped it. The ending song is alright.

  Overall, I found the underlying themes of attempting to meet the expectations of someone that overshadows you, and the attachment the Brave Witches grew for Hikari incredibly moving. I can't wait to see the Brave and Strike girls return in 2020 with Road to Berlin!

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