Brave Witches

Anime's featuring girls with magic that fight against invaders are one of the most common and popular anime genres in japan and as a result is quite popular and common. What sets brave witches apart from this is that its set within an alternate world where the various powers that would have fought ww2 have united to defend against the threat of an invasion by an alien race called the Neuroi. As a result Brave witches which is a spin off that takes place between the the first and second seasons of the strike witches anime is a combo of a military and magical girlsanime. The main story of Brave witches follows the adventures of of Hikari Karibuchi a young witch that lives on the island nation of Sasebo as she joins the 502nd Joint fighter squadron in Orussia as they fight in the war against the Neuroi. Just as it is in fighting the war a crucial point of the story also deals with Hikari's establishments of friendships with the members of the squadron and her quest to get strong as well. As stated the story of the anime takes place within an alternate earth and in this case largely takes place within the country of Orussia which is the alternate alter ego of Russia. Being an international effort other nearby countries that existed in that time period also contributes personal to the squadron. Hikari voiced by veteran seiyuu Ai Kakuma of Asterisk wars and Rokka of the six flowers fame is one of the main characters of the show. A young witch that lives in the country of Sasebo thats part of the island of Fusu thats also the alternate version of Japan. Hikari is the younger sister of Takami Karabuchi a veteran witch and a rather famous one that is known for her accomplishments in the war against the Neuroi. Hikari's relationship with her sister Takami is one of the central points of the story and a well executed one at that. Personality wise Hikari is brave, determined and kind with perhaps her determination being her most prominent trait. Hikari's skills as a witch is not as powerful as her sister and indeed not much use to the squadron that she joined due to her low magic but instead of feeling dejected she consistently trains herself with endurance runs that take place in any weather. It is especially comical seeing Hikari do her runs in just her uniforms and bloomers when the areas around her are frozen solid. Hikari's determination to get stronger both to be of use to her friends in the squadron and to make her sister proud is an enduring trait of hers and seeing her manage to beat every trial that was stopping her really is nice to see. It was also nice to see that her quest to get strong has also allowed her to bond with and make friends with her squad mates who had low opinions of her at the beginning and eventually join them as a full member. Hikai i felt was a pretty good character that showed that with determination and perseverance one can clear any hardship and trial thats stands in your way. Takami played by new seiyuu Rie Suegara is one of the main characters of the show. The older sister of Hikari Takami is a veteran witch and a veteran of the Neuroi war that is well known for her accomplishments in many battles of the war. Due to her abilities she was reassigned to the Orussia front to take part in a major operation there at the start of the anime that turned out to be anything but. Takami is confident, friendly and professional person that has little ego in the way and gets on well with people. Takami's relationship with her sister is an interesting one in that she cares deeply for Hikari but at the same time she is very protective of her knowing the limits of her magic and tries to protect her by not having her on the field at all. This does clash against the wishes of both Hikari and her squad mates and form one of the sub arcs of the last part of the anime. This aspect of her personality is actually quite understandable as having seen the ravages of war anyone would try and prevent their friends and family from entering it and taking the risks that are inherent on the field. Despite being a new seiyuu i felt that Rie Suegara did a great job portraying Takami. Naoe Kanno that is better known by her family name Kanno is one of the main characters of the show and is voiced by veteran seiyuu Rie Murakawa of log horizon fame. An aggressive and somewhat arrogant witch that is also a bit of a tsundere Kanno is a part of the 502nd joint fighter squadron and is one of Hikari's squad mates. Kanno and Hikari had a rather cold start to their friendship as Kanno had expected Hikari's sister who Kanno admires to be the one that would join them only to see Hikari instead. As a result their relationship was a bit rocky at first and true to her tsundere personality it wasn't until Hikari started to prove herself to her and the others that Kanno herself started to warm to her. Despite that Kanno still acts like a typical Tsundere well after that fact despite being one of Hikari's eventual best friends. Nika better known as Nippa to Hikari and co is one of the main characters of the show and is voiced by veteran seiyuu Natsumi Takamori of Orange fame. A witch from the country of Suomus Nippa is a carefree, honest and fun loving witch that also has a big heart and often tries to stop arguments from breaking out between Hikari and Kanno. Nippa is part of the break witches group a group of witches that consistently trashes their engine units accidentally while engaged in their duties with Nippa being the worst offender of this group. Nippa was one of the first members of the squadron to befriend and bond with Hikari as both share similar circumstances with both being posted to a place where they know no one. This shared bonding i felt was interesting and quite natural given the circumstances. Nippa cares a great deal about Hikari and is one of her closest friends and allies in the squadron. Edytha Roffman known as Roffman sensei to Hikari and sensei to the others is one of the main characters of the show and is voiced by veteran seiyuu Hiromi Igarashi of high school fleet fame. A veteran witch from Karlsland which is the alter ego of Germany in this alternate earth Edytha is a calm, methodical and logical person that acts as the second in command to the squadron and specializing in tactics and instruction. Within the story Edytha was one of the members that did not place must faith in Hikari which is the reason why she decided to train her in the first place. Despite appearing to be somewhat unforgiving towards her students Edytha has a strong sense of responsibility and would like to see Hikari succeed under her care. Edytha actually has a strong personal reason for being strict that i thought was interesting and seeing Hikari struggle in her training actually reminded her of that. Edytha like the others eventually saw the good in Hikari's skills and become one of her strongest allies and friends in the squadron. I thought that Edytha was a pretty good character and that her seiyuu Hiromi Igarashi did a great job portraying her. Seeing Edytha actually be moved by Hikari's determination was a nice thing to see. Aleksandra known as Sasha to her friends is one of the main characters of the show and is voiced by veteran seiyuu Yumi Hara of Log Horizon fame. A veteran witch and a captain within the Orussia air force Sasha is generally in charge of combat operations in the absence of Rall. As a captain Sasha is a capable commander and strategist and additionally serves as the squadrons mechanic as her ability as a witch is related to maintenance of equipment. A professional, by the book and somewhat up tight person Sasha tries to remain detached during operations and only look at missions from a objective point of view that can clash with the likes of Hikari. Ironically that her story arc had her revisiting her hometown that she has not been too for some time and revisiting buried memories that she never knew she had. One of her most prominent traits is perhaps her uniform in that she is the only one that wears a skirt that really stands her out among the cast. A running gag within the series is her arguments with Nippa over her breaking of her units which i found to be pretty funny. Waltrud is one of the main characters of the show and is voiced by new seiyuu Kayo Ishida. A veteran witch of the Karlsland air force like Edytha Waltrud is a mature, funny and professional person that never less can be easily distracted and also be quite reckless in battle. She is part of the Break witches along with Kanno and Nippa. However despite appearing laid back and humorous Waltrud can get serious when she see's her friends in danger and when she does gets serious she's a far different person to her usual joking self. A recurring theme of Waltruds is her horrible cooking skills and her womanizing ways and indeed Edytha is always the one that keeps her in line. Shinohara Sadako is one of the main characters of the show and is voiced by new seiyuu Marin Mizutani. Like Hikari and Takami Shinohara comes from the country of Fusu and is one of the flight leads of the squadron specializing in recon duty due to her special abilities of magic eyesight. Additionally Shinohara also serves as the squadrons cook being an accomplished chef of her own right. Seeing Shinohara manage to make the characters happy with her food alone is hearwarming to see. Personality wise Shinohara is more like a mother in that she is caring, motherly and compassionate towards other while at the same time caring of others as well. The story arc that allowed Hikari to befriend both Shinohara and Georgette was a great one that i quite liked due to its simplicity. For a new seiyuu i thought that Marin Mizutani did a great job portraying Shinohara. Georgette portrayed by veteran seiyuu Haruka Terui of Haito gensou no grimgar fame is the combat medic of the squadron and one of the main characters of the show. A witch from Gallia which is the alter ego of France in this alternate earth. Within the squadron Georgette serves as both the combat medic charged with keeping the squad members operational and also the resident cleaner as well. Despite being a healer she also actively takes part in combat with the rest of the squadron and has some skill in defensive maneuvers. Personality wise Georgette is a rather shy and meek girl thats also very quiet as well. Georgette doesn't deal well with strangers which is the reason why she avoided Hikari in the first place. However as a result of the arc that she shared with Shinohara Georgette eventually become good friends with Hikari. Georgette is one of my favorite characters of the show in that she's a rather gentle character thats at the same time kind and caring towards other while not being a total klutz lol. Haruka Terui i felt did a pretty good job portraying her. Arts and animation Art for the series i felt was pretty good with the character designs being especially detailed and impressive. The environments shown was also detailed and well colored. The designs of the flying units that the girls use as well as the guns that they fired i felt were pretty well designed and animated. The combat scenes within the anime i felt were well designed and animated and some of them were very impressive. Music Music for the series was pretty good especially the opening and ending themes. Voice acting Voice acting as a whole was pretty good and i felt that the series had a well rounded and talented cast. The series had a number of new seiyuus whose role in this anime was their first main roles and i felt that these which in this case included Kayo Ishida, Rie Suegara and Marin Mizutani did a great job in portraying their characters here. It also helps that the series also featured a number of veteran seiyuu's like Yumi Hara who voiced Sasha and Ai Kakuma and Haruka Terui who played the characters of Hikari and Georgette respectively that were able to help them and support them. Conclusion In conclusion i felt that Brave witches was a great anime in that it had a great story that emphasized on duty and friendship and a great setting that allowed witches of different countries to come together to face a common threat together. The series had some great characters that were all unique in their own right and a great cast of seiyuu's to portray. The arts and animation i thought was pretty good and the combat scenes got better and more detailed as the series went on. In the end i really enjoyed the story and while i haven't seen the strike witches anime that Brave witches sits between i might give that a ago as i liked the concept of girls armed with magic fight against alien invaders.