Strike Witches – Episode 2

I know I said I won’t blog this, but I found this to be so full of moe goodness that I just couldn’t help myself. So I’m going to add this as one of the only two animes I’m going to blog this summer season.

As for the actual episode, it’s clear that they decided to take a more serious approach. There was a lot of action and comparatively no fan service. I say comparatively because they’re flying around with no pant, pretty much every scene can be considered fan service, but it really eased up from last episode.

Summary

Mio takes Yoshika to the sickbay and demands that she stays there until the Neuroi is destroyed, or she gets vapourised along with the rest of the crew because the Major is wasting time in the sickbay. Generally, when there is an enemy attack, the soldiers are scrambling to defend the ship. I guess the Neurois are a patient bunch, and are willing to wait while Mio flirts with comforts Yoshika.

Sickbay: the safest place on the ship with all the scalpels and syringes that can get airborne.

After equipping her Striker unit, Mio takes off with a squadron of Zeros to combat the Neuroi. However, the fighters seem to have absolutely zero (no pun intended) effect on the Neuroi. Their sole contribution in battle is to serve as cannon fodder. This is completely illogical considering the destroyers and frigates are probably firing 25mm AA gun turrets, which would make Mio the equivalent of Chuck Norris with a BB gun. Thus I have to conclude that the Strike Witches are firing magic infused weapons of mass destruction.

The stare down before battle

Such expensive cannon fodder

Yoshika, unable to contain her deep seeded desire to help people, steals takes all the medical supplies above deck. It’s amazing how badly she wants to participate when she is so anti war. Mio brushes her off and tells her to go back to the sickbay and cower in fear.

“I just came back from the mall.”

We all know when the main protagonist is an idealistic pacifist, they will snap and discard all their ideals and eventually save the day with some previously hidden powers. She succeed in annoying the hell out of me with her attitude. I hate her. I’m going to assume that the girls are just cute to look like. Once they open their mouth, it’s a completely different story.

Time for some deep soul searching

It’s always the dead relative that becomes the catalyst to the dramatic change in attitude. Let’s not question the reason behind her dad’s desire to push his daughter into taking up arms and going to war. Taking your parent’s words out of context is very naughty Yoshika. You bad girl.

Yoshika… I-am-your-father!

Yoshika finds a spare Striker Unit, equips it and takes to the sky to save the day. She seems completely surprised that she was flying, which is bizarre. It’s like she took off with the intention of crashing into the sea, but unexpectedly ended up in the sky. Also let’s completely ignore the fact that a 12 year with no prior experience in aviation seems to have enough knowledge in aeronautics to fly with reasonable stability. Sigh… why am I still taking this anime so seriously.

“No! Why am I going up?”

Thoughts

Ridiculous is an understatement when it comes to this series, but the problem with this episode is that it was so serious. The battle with the Neuroi lasted an entire twenty minutes, and it felt like they were trying to make a serious military action. If that is the case I foresee spectacular failure.

Here comes the cavalry

Perrine’s reaction upon seeing Yoshika in Mio’s arms is just priceless. I’m hoping to see more hilariously awkward situations that results from this love triangle.

More nitpicking, my history teacher was wrong. Radios prior to WWII were not the bulky things that soldiers had to luge around in backpacks. They were miniaturised enough to fit completely in your ear. Damn you misinformed history teachers.

“The ear piece is so I can whisper passionate message of love to you.”

Screencaps

Overheating apparently causes gun jams

What a waste of toilet paper

So convenient

The Neurois suck at aiming

This ship had an inbuilt smoke machine

These propellers are suppose to run of magical powers right? So why do they sound like a diesel engine?

“I haven’t got my pilot’s license yet!”

“My shield is bigger than yours.”

“Not now, Sakamoto-senpai, let’s keep our love life in the bedroom.”

Don’t forget to turn the safety off

Not a single shard hit her…

Not a single bullet hit their target

Getting into a small boat prevents horrible death by laser… not.

I wonder what kind of propulsion system they have that leaves smoke trails

Nos vents working at 100%

Instant sky light