English Dub Review: Brave Witches “We Won’t Know Until We Try”

Brave Witches scored a surprise with its “Big Sister and Little Sister.” Hikari is transferred from her post after losing a contest to her sister, Takami. Hikari says her goodbyes, and it’s clear her fellow witches will miss her. Naoe gives Hikari her gloves, and Waltrud bestows her good luck pistol to Hikari.

Then The remaining witches prepare for a mission to transport the military’s railway cannons to close proximity to Grigori. When in range, the cannon will fire off a special anti-Neuroi AP round. Unfortunately, the mission doesn’t go completely as planned.

First, one of the cannons doesn’t fire. Then when the witches manually launch the shell, they discover the second core in Grigori which Takami can’t quite focus on. Hikari listens to the mission on the radio and becomes increasingly concerned about her sister Takami’s safety as well as that of her witch friends. Therefore, Hikari sets out to aid in the battle.

I was impressed with the twist where Hikari lost to Takami and was sent off. I didn’t expect the protagonist to get banished. However, that’s sort of rectified at the end of “We Won’t Know Until We Try.” Hikari travels to aid the Brave Witches unit.

The animation is pretty, though the transitions from 2D to 3D are admittedly rough. There’s still a bit of unnecessary fan service. But it’s reasonably toned down. I like watching the epic teamwork of the brave witches as they battle the Neuroi. Additionally, the way Hikari is brought back is really neat and allows for the earlier twist of her leaving.

“Brave Witches” is a rather safe show. You can safely assume that Hikari will return and that when missions go awry, something will compensate. Yet it’s fun and exciting, and chock full of likable characters. “We Won’t Know Until We Try” emphasizes the characters, and proves why it’s such a successful show.