Strike Witches 2

Title: Strike Witches 2 Genre: Action, Ecchi, Magic, Science Fiction Rating: 6.0/10

Summary: After discovering that Neuroi are capable of communication with humans and making peace with the nest above Gallia the Witches squads are now on a mission to reestablish communication when a sudden attack vanishes the Neuroi, they now discover a new and massive nest that just appeared covering almost all Europe. Ruthless and without mercy it annihilates allied forces along Witches. Word of the attack reaches Fuso and a support battalion is deployed to rescue the survivors, among the rescue team is the former Striker captain Mio Sakamoto and the now civilian Yoshika Miyafuji who want to save her dear friends.

Review: Referring back to my first look, I was quite pleased with my decision to stick with this anime. Despite my thoughts on Strike Witches, season two did amazingly better. The many parts I disagreed with in season one were changed and I would like to think it was because of my review (despite that making no timeline sense, but I want to feel important). Same basic storyline except now the invaders are actually causing quite a bit of ruckus. Not spoiling anything from season one, I can tell you that the battles get a lot more intense. I actually felt like this alternate world was in peril which I didn’t quite get in season one. There were even more political troubles that improved the story quite a lot. I felt the use of government intervention during war gave the series that added bonus it needed. There were still random filler episodes that I didn’t care for, but in comparison it wasn’t dreadful. There were less fillers in general, and they weren’t all that annoying to watch. Some gave me a chuckle which I didn’t see coming. So story wise I would say season two did a better job keeping things entertaining even though the general plot hasn’t really changed. The first big change I noticed, and very happy with, was the use of CG. There were some computer graphics in season one if I remember correctly, but it was nothing compared to Strike Witches 2. The battle scenes were astonishingly better because the computer drawn flight movement was smoother and free flowing. It wasn’t perfect mind you, but it definitely didn’t hurt. On top of more enemies, frequent fights, better choreography, and nice use of CG, the overall art style was easier on the eyes. This was yet ANOTHER improvement from season one. The final buffer I want to talk about partially tied into the story. Instead of the happy-go-lucky feel of season one, there was sacrifice and hardships that the girls needed to endure in season two. The ending was very fitting for this series and I couldn’t have been happier with it. I loved the final two-part battle and how everything was resolved. You may have seen this ending coming, but I personally didn’t expect it considering the atmosphere the entire series was giving off. A beautiful ending that trumps many other series I have seen. Now, there were still negatives that I wasn’t too fond of. For one, I am pretty sure that the pantsu got a little short than before, but I didn’t exactly take a magnifying glass to check. Secondly, butt clenches seemed to be the common theme for season two. It sounds strange and don’t ask why, but it just is.

Final statements: I’m glad that I was right about Strike Witches 2 having the ability to improve on its previous season. I wouldn’t go as far as saying this is a favorite of mine, but I would consider it a low priority watch even if season one had a very low score. I would say only watch season two, but you would miss a couple important details from season one, and getting used to the characters doesn’t hurt either.