Strike Witches 2 (ストライクウィッチーズ2) First Impressions

Yoshika Miyafuji and CS, 501st Joint Fighter Wing ie. the sukumizu crews are back for the second season of Striker Witches. A quick summary for those who have not watched season one, the story sets in mid 20th century and it’s about fighting to save the world from Neuroi, a mysterious entity that tries to conquer the world.

To prevent Neuroi’s invasion in Britain, 501st Joint Fighter Wing is formed and consisted of many Witches from different countries around the world (interestingly, they all speak Japanese ^^;;). To improve each Witch capability, she is equipped with a Striker unit (hence the name, Striker Witches).

In season two, Italian peninsula was taken over by Neuroi and 501st Joint Fighter Wing struggles to take it back. The new breed of Neuroi has tougher armor, higher regeneration ability and moving core. First episode starts with scenes with Yoshika in her hometown and her daily school life. Her peaceful life is disturbed by the arrival of a letter from her dad, Dr. Miyafuji who are supposed to be dead.

Being a curious girl she is, she goes to a military base nearby looking for Major Mio Sakamoto who was her supervisor, mentor and idol back in season one. Unfortunately, major Mio is  currently out ,however, she sees a new type of Striker unit.

While she’s reminiscing the day she spent with 501st Join Fighter Wing in Britannia, an emergency message was received at the base mentioning that Neuroi appears in Venezian airspace and Venezia falls to the hand of Neuroi that same day. To response Neuroi, Romagna 504th Joint Allied Wing engaged the enemy and has suffered massive casualties. One of Yoshika’s friend , Lynette Bishop is part of 504th and mentioned that they didn’t have enough Witches to defend.

Suddenly, Major Mio appears and told Yoshika to leave the place at once. To support Europe, Mio prepares to leave for Europe immediately. Being told to go away does not make Yoshika giving up after seeing Major Mio is about to leave for battle against Neuroi despite the fact that Major Mio can no longer use shield. Mio feels that Yoshika had done enough in previous battle which was why she told her to leave.

An interesting point about the second season is that Mio was not voiced by the same seiyuu and for the second season, Mio’s seiyuu is not a well-known one and she also sings the ED song in episode one and two. Another interesting point is the animation produced by AIC instead of Gonzo. Does Gonzo still exist? Last time I heard they almost went bankrupt. AIC seems to be doing really well this summer since a lot of summer anime is produced by them. Quality wise, I don’t see much different between AIC and Gonzo; second season is well animated.

During the first episode,  fan service was kept to minimum surprisingly with occasional panty shots when transforming to a witch , although, it cannot be denied that there may be a lot fan service in this series in future episodes.

Aside from sukumizu factor, story line does not offer much other than the usual ‘Saving the world’ theme similar to 912030913901230192 anime out there ^^;; so I put this under ‘one time watch’ category since  I will most likely watch it once. However, despite all of those, you may still enjoy watching this anime but don’t expect too much, otherwise, you’ll find yourself be disappointed.

Additional tidbits

Opening theme	“STRIKE WITCHES 2 ~Egao no Mahou~ (STRIKE WITCHES 2 ～笑顔の魔法～)” by Yoko Ishida
Ending theme	#01: “Over Sky” by Misato Fukuen and Saori Seto (eps 1-2) #02: “Over Sky” by Misato Fukuen, Kaori Nazuka and Miyuki Sawashiro
Official website	ストライクウィッチーズ
Animation Production	AIC
Notable Seiyuus	Misato Fukuen (Eve in Black Cat, Yin in Darker Than Black series, Yami in To-Love Ru, Kurumu in Rosario Vampire series, Hime in Yozakura Quartet) as Yoshika Miyafuji Ami Koshimizu (Aika in Agent Aika series, Kallen in Code Geass, Yumi in Kimikiss ~Pure Rouge~, Nina in My-Otomo series, Nodoka in Saki) as Charlotte E Yeager Chiwa Saito (Aika in Aria the Animation series, Hitagi in Bakemonogatari, Lavie in Last Exile, Mao in Shining Tears X Wind) as Francesca Lucchini Miyuki Sawashiro (Mint in Galaxy Angel, Shinku in Rozen Maiden series, Saeko in Highschool Of The Dead) as Perrine-H. Clostermann Rie Tanaka (Shuri in Asura Crying, Yomi in Azumanga Daioh, Chii in Chobits, Lacus Clyne in Gundam Seed series, Suigintou in Rozen Maiden series, Simca in Air Gear) as Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke Sakura Nogawa (Nemu in Da Capo, Mizuki in Lovedol ~Lovely Idol~, Hinaichigo in Rozen Maiden series ) as Erica Hartmann
Character Design	Humikane SHIMADA (Strike Witches, Sky Girls )
Episodes	12

Trailer

Rating: 7/10

Source: ANN, Wiki

More screenshots below

Popularity: 2% [?]

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