Brave Witches (2016–2017) User Reviews

Worse than the "Strike Witches" so it's a pass

[dameon_green · 3/10 · 4 May 2020]

Some "copypasta", wish I was less OCD and could tap out of a series..

The story is predicable, worse than the "Strike Witches", making it painful to watch.

Combat with the Alien Invaders quickly become repetitive, there is no real threat and when they could make things more interesting with standard military losses it's all whitewashed and ignored.

Animation is worse as well, irregularities in sizing, some spots that seem overly CGI'ed for shortcuts in the animation and generally bland.

Add in I'm not a fan of the Lolicon/Hebephilia genre, the young girls running around with frequent lower torso zooms is a serious detractor in my opinion.

Overall it's a soft pass, not the worst I've seen, but down in the bottom 20%.

not as fun as strike witches

[tangomargarine · 3/10 · 6 June 2020]

I was excited to hear we were getting more "seasons" of Strike Witches, but compared to the original anime, this spinoff disappoints.

Brave Witches minimizes the fanservice panty shots, if that's your bag, but it also takes the plot much more seriously, which in my mind makes the show a lot less fun. Everything is treated a lot more straight-faced. Presumably this (and the removal of panties shots) is because they've decided they can make more money off the franchise now/they want to be taken more seriously. Which is fine I guess, but not what made SW fun in the first place.

A 'Strike Witches' spin-off without the nudity

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 6 January 2017]

This series, a spin off from 'Strike Witches' is set between the first two seasons of that series and follows the activities of the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing… The Brave Witches of the title. In case anybody hasn't watched 'Strike Witches', this is set in an alternate universe where some girls have magical powers and instead of the second world war taking place the Earth has been invaded by aliens known as the Neuroi. We are introduced to the 502nd through Hikari Karibuchi, a young witch, who is sent to Europe with her sister Takami, a leading member of the 502nd. Takami is injured in a Neuroi attack so Hikari asks to join the 502nd rather than go to her original posting. The other members aren't keen to let someone so inexperienced join their ranks but she ultimately proves her worth as the battle Neuroi to protect St. Petersburg.

Anybody who watched 'Strike Witches' will immediately recognise this as being set in the same world; the cast may be different but characters look very similar in style… and lack of trousers. The fights against the Neuroi are similar with good exciting animation. There is one very notable difference though; the fan service is considerably reduced; there is no nudity and even though these characters still don't wear trousers the camera doesn't dwell on that fact anywhere near as much. The characters are decent enough but nowhere near as memorable as those in Strike Witches as less time is spent getting to know each of the members rather it concentrates on Hikari; the only other really memorable other character is Naoe Kanno; a friend of Takami who isn't happy with Hikari joining the 502nd. The series has a proper ending but leaves things open for a second season; I hope we get one. Overall this was a fun spin off; perhaps not as good as 'Strike Witches' but people but off by that series gratuitous nudity are likely to enjoy this more.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.