And so it was that your humble hosts forged onward into the very heart of Strike Witches, that paragon of Japanese cultural excellence that inspires so much musing upon the structural function of fanservice and the emotive impact of shoujo-ai insinuations given particular cultural contexts. Though perhaps we phrased such things differently in our discussions.
On a related note: you know you’ve seen too much Gundam in too little time when “it’s about time somebody hit somebody.” What have you done to me, Zeta!?
You know the drill — I’m in white; Otouto-kun’s in blue.
Episode 4
(0:34) I have to admit, this is a pretty fun show. The thing that saves it is that it doesn’t take itself seriously at all. If it did we’d have some problems, but it doesn’t.
(3:10) “I was voted as having the most annoying voice ever!”
(3:19) That’s your character, man. It’s the quiet dojikko. Don’t insult her voice. That’s your waifu, as it were.
(4:28) I’m trying to figure out how to support what we’re saying with screencaps, and it’s really blowing my mind. I have no idea.
(4:45) You’re in the military. Come on. I’m sure you’ve eaten worse.
(4:48) Yeah, but it’s natto. I’ve heard natto described as tasting like gasoline, basically.
(5:54) See, it seems like the central conflict is always a personal thing. It’s never the combat.
(6:48) It seems like these depressing scenes are offset by the lack of pants.
(6:55) I feel like we’ll get used to it. I’m already starting to. But I worry that there aren’t enough episodes to get us used to it. Maybe we won’t be used to it until the second season.
(7:30) This is like Simoun. Just with less lesbianism and less pants.
(7:58) No, she’s just upset about having a bizarre name.
(8:01) Well she is a dog. She does have dog features.
(8:06) But having a pun name is terrible. How much shit did she get all through elementary school?
(8:50) Specifically she said “black tea.” “You shouldn’t slurp while drinking black tea.”
(9:24) You know what really sucks?
(9:27) Hmm?
(9:28) When you’re watching a show for the first time, and you’re like, “Man, I have seen more porn of this than I ever realized and would ever care to admit.” You know what I mean? You know that feeling?
(9:47) I know the feeling. It’s not happening with this show.
(10:13) Either the yen is in good shape, or the pound is in bad shape.
(13:54) “Her face is all melted now…I just don’t like to see it. It grosses me out.”
(13:58) They’re throwing all this fanservice at you nonstop from the beginning, so you’re just used to it.
(14:08) You know what? They’re not throwing it. It’s just there. That’s the brilliant thing. They’re not “throwing.” And that’s how they’re acclimating you to it. It’s just ever-present; it’s a fact of the setting.
(14:29) They still haven’t explained why they aren’t wearing pants.
(14:35) Because.
(14:40) I mean, how it all started.
(14:45) Because.
(16:04) Hey, it’s got a useless spinny thing, like the Argama.
(17:27) Chest wound. What’s that, the third torso wound? Of three wounds?
(17:40) Just drop a HoT on her and get back out there.
(18:49) So far these squad members have pretty typical squad member problems. Like the failure to protect someone, or the feeling of being useless.
(19:42) I just want to note the level of awesome inherent in a pantsless chick with mecha-shoes wielding a machine gun in each hand.
(20:03) It’s about fucking time somebody hit somebody!
(20:06) Yeah, no kidding. I’ve been waiting for that.
(20:22) She is alive. “But she’s so ugly now!”
(20:31) She’ll never get her legs back.
(20:35) That’s okay, just pop those mecha-legs on her. She’ll be fine.
(20:38) Huh. That’s a good idea.
(22:24) “Unfortunately my sister is still a quadruple amputee. But, eh, you know.” This is going to be an ongoing thing. The hideous reincarnation of Lieutenant Crazyname’s sister.
Episode 5
(0:07) It’s cool, she’s the tsundere, she’ll get better.
(1:16) You know, it no longer bothers me, actually, that they don’t wear pants. I think I’m okay with it now. It only took four episodes.
(1:24) Once you watch a few episodes, you move past it.
(1:29) And like I was saying last time, I really think it’s because it’s just there. It’s not thrown at you. That’s just how it happens to be.
(1:44) It’s all part of the setting.
(1:45) It just so happens that that’s how classy young ladies dress.
(1:53) And by God I’m going to enjoy it.
(1:56) I know you are. You know, I bet the aliens stole all the pants.
(2:00) Maybe. Maybe they’re trying to get the pants back. It’s not the war on pants, it’s the war for pants.
(2:10) But then, once they get them back, they realize, “You know what? We never needed pants to begin with. We’re fine just the way we are.”
(2:20) Oh shit.
(2:39) Are they just not going to explain that at all?
(2:43) Honestly, it’s probably more exciting if they don’t explain it.
(3:51) Oh man! Did you get the pun?
(3:56) Apparently not.
(4:00) Apparently however you say “formation” is similar to “hentai.” So probably what Miyafuji said is something about perverted stuff, and what Lynette heard was flying in formation. [The confusion is between hentai/編隊 (formation) and hentai/変態 (the word you're familiar with already).]
(5:00) You know what would be fantastic? If, in the next episode, Miyafuji becomes a harem protagonist. That’d be just great.
(6:13) That’s a really thin finger.
(6:30) Now that we’ve gotten past the first couple of episodes, we’re in the lazy art zone. This is the middle stretch where they slack a little, inevitably.
(10:41) How could that have been an accident, that grope? There’s no way.
(11:10) I know what that is.
(11:12) What, a Brightburger?
(11:13) No, the place.
(12:02) I just don’t think that’s safe.
(12:04) She’s going to kill herself!
(12:18) Well, people in planes do it. In planes.
(12:55) Real efficient. They let one of their people sleep for 23 hours a day.
(13:34) How much do you want to bet she accidentally modified them such that they can now go the speed of sound?
(18:10) Did you see the map? Lomdom. Never heard of that place. Is it anywhere near London?
(20:59) She just did a Macross Attack with her body.
(21:22) Well if that’s the only side effect, I guess that’s acceptable…
(21:27) …Oh. Shit.
(22:05) She’s totally a harem protagonist.
(22:10) I believe they call that “rape.”
(23:00) So, what did we learn? We learned that our protagonist likes boobies. Which makes her relatable. I do as well.
(23:17) I’m a big fan.
(23:27) So is it still ambiguous enough that we can say they’re not actually lesbians, they’re just friendly? The flat-chested girl is just fascinated with people who are not? Can we say that still? Has it crossed the point of no return yet?
(24:03) I think it depends on who you are.
(24:05) I think it depends on what you want.
(6:55) I feel like we’ll get used to it. I’m already starting to. But I worry that there aren’t enough episodes to get us used to it. Maybe we won’t be used to it until the second season.
(1:16) You know, it no longer bothers me, actually, that they don’t wear pants. I think I’m okay with it now. It only took four episodes.
That is how they get you, after you finish watching it the next anime you see you’ll feel some kind of disturbance and then suddenly you feel that what you are watching is wrong and then you’ll be begging for a second season, that is folks why this anime is pure genius.
These conversions are great, I’m enjoying how you are experiencing this show and it saves me to re-watch it :P
It’s an insidious tactic. But effective. The war on pants is won.
It’s good to know that a few people seem to be getting some enjoyment out of our rambling. I can’t say I’m not a little surprised :p
I think it was episode 5 (with Charlotte E. Yeager getting all naked in the middle of Her Sentimental Moment) that was just like “oh COME ON GONZO, you can turn the knob down from 11 to 9 or 8 or something for a couple of minutes to at least PRETEND to respect your audience. I will even let you turn it up to 12 afterwards.”
They did not heed my advice here, although they did turn it up to 12 for the next couple of episodes.
Yes. They turned it up to twelve. And a half.
It seems to me that Gonzo had a choice: “Should we allow our viewers some modicum of self-respect, or should we forget about such frivolous things and give them what they want, whether they know they want it or admit to wanting it or not?” Given how Strike Witches seems to have worked out as a product, I imagine whoever was responsible for going with the latter option earned a promotion or two. For good or ill.
Not that I hate Strike Witches, per se, but I still wonder sometimes what happened to the Gonzo responsible for Last Exile and the Blue Submarine no. 6 OVA.
Yeah. This is the greatest serie sof Strike Witches posts ever. You’ve perfectly captured how I reacted to the series myself.
Hi,this is really a good jeans,I like the classic pants.