In contrast to last season, which had one really good fanservice show (Kamen no Maid-Guy), two mediocre ones (To-Love Ru, Kanokon), and one with ups and downs (Penguin Musume), it looks like this one’s got three. Ikkitousen is an acquired taste, at best, and Serikei is getting panned for art, animation, voice acting, dialogue, and plot (which really doesn’t leave much), and I’m sorry, although I actually found Strike Witches to be enjoyable, I’m just a tad disturbed by constantly gazing at the well-rounded asses of 14-year-olds. Except of course, when I, the viewer, find myself doing a faceplant into their crotches.
Now if I were still 14, that would be so cool. But my age is on the far side of those two digits transposed, which just makes it a little creepy.
Update: to be clear, it’s Serikei I’m terming the disappointment. Strike Witches isn’t bad so far, but if some folks have Engineer’s disease, wondering “how could that possibly work,” I have “wargamer’s disease,” wondering how the hell the battle is (apparently) a stalemate. The Neuroi seem to have strong defenses, really powerful weapons, and shitty fire-control. It takes the entire Strike Witch Squadron to destroy one Neuroi airship, but the girls are hit only twice, and then it’s when they’re diving straight at the enemy. It’s obvious that the witches have magical shields, to the front, at least.
Later, when the Neuroi attack the Akagi’s battle group, it looks like one cruiser is cut in half by a single hit and explodes. Other cruisers fire at the Neuroi, but if they score any hits, the airship shrugs them off. Other Neuroi hits aren’t as devastating; it sounds like the Akagi takes at least one. We see an air group queuing up on the Akagi’s deck*, but Major Sakamoto is the only Strike Witch available. If it takes the entire SW squadron to down one, what are Zeros going to do? (You know the planes will turn out to be classic Zeros, even if it is 1947.) So why can’t the Neuroi send in one airship high to distract the SW, and then another to wipe out merry ol’ England? Can they only make and operate one at a time?
I’ll assume the reason the rest of the world hasn’t been conquered is logistics…although Charlotte’s rank is in the U.S. Rebel army, which indicates that the Neuroi bypassed England. If the Fuso Empire is sending girls to England, what’s defending the homeland?
*They prepped those planes damned fast, considering the Akagi’s biggest flaws were the elevator was in the middle of the fight deck, and the unventilated hanger deck meant that planes had to be lifted to the deck and the engines started/warmed there. I don’t know if it was just their engines, but trying to start them and go to full-power for launch without properly warming the engine would result in seizure. If it’s 1947, perhaps the Japanese have fixed that problem, but the Akagi still has that damned elevator; unlike the side-elevators of the American carriers, she couldn’t spot and launch at the same time, and the planes had to be started on deck due to the ventilation. Today’s jets on supercarriers also start engines on the deck, but I think that’s because jet engines require too much air and have too much blast to be run in the hanger.
Update 2: Ok, it’s (SerKei) finished downloading. I’ll know soon if it is as bad as claimed. “Soon” as in “Soon as I log off WoW” that is….
Update 3:Um. It’s not quite Rosario + Vampire bad…. yet… but it’s bad. The art and animation were uninspired at best, cheap and lazy at worst. Don’t they try to make the first one look really nice, and then the art drops off? This one dropped in the first five seconds after the OP. The opening sequence was obviously meant to signal “deep and violent plot hiding under the surface!” but I’ve become sufficiently jaded to sneer at such a transparent attempt at adding “serious plot” to the paper-thin story. The voice acting was pedestrian, at best. I kept waiting for the male lead to do or say something that would distinguish him from any other hopeless harem lead, but no. (Edit to add: The closest he came to unique was admitting to liking seeing what’s-her-name’s bare breasts. And she actually kisses him twice in the first episode, which amazingly, doesn’t trigger a nasal bloodbath.)
I can’t read Japanese, so I’m not sure if the text said “Warning: Lark’s Vomit” or not, but it probably should have. If I had to characterize it in a few words, I’d say, “A poorly drawn Ikkitousen, with none of the schlocky charm, awful fight choreography, and half one-third the witty dialogue.”
