Anime REVIEW: Brave Witches

Before Kantai Collection came along and flooded Japan with moe ship girls, the skies were ruled by the bare-legged plane girls of Strike Witches. With two anime seasons, a movie, multiple OVAs and a whole host of spin-off media, Strike Witches tapped into that same demand for cute anime girls, military hardware and of course buckets of fanservice. The franchise made a return to screens in 2016 but with the story of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing over the torch was passed to a new team of witches. Instead Brave Witches follows the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing in their fight against the alien Neuroi forces – taking place between the first and second seasons of Strike Witches elsewhere in Europe. 

First Impressions: Brave Witches

Before Japan was invaded by moe girls wearing boat parts, there was a series doing a similar thing with school girls, aeroplane parts, magical powers, animals ear/tails and a lack of trousers. This series goes by the name of Strike Witches, and after two seasons, a movie, multiple OVAs, novels, manga and more it has evolved into a fully fledged franchise. After some time out of the spotlight it’s back for a brand new spin-off series, this time going by the name Brave Witches. Featuring the same production staff as the previous Strike Witches animated entries, Brave Witches is animated by studio Silver Link – who previously worked on the Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow OVAs as well as Watamote!, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya and more.