English Dub Review: Strike Witches: 501st JOINT FIGHTER WING Take Off! “501st, Are You Feeling Stressed?”
Ironically, it doesn’t seem like these episodes are being piloted very well.
Overview
The girls begin to discuss the concept of “combat stress,” which is the effect of being in a combat zone where a soldier is under stressful physiological and psychological conditions. Symptoms are slightly similar to PTSD (nightmares, hyper-vigilance, irritability, etc) but no one seems to actually be experiencing any mental repercussions of being in combat.
Since that plot point lead to exactly nowhere, the focus shifts to a cavity that Lucchini has. Sakamoto and Yoshika approach Shirley and Hartmann about Lucchini’s fear of dental surgery, and they use Sanya’s magic to find her. Lucchini is then held captive by the girls as they struggle to fix her cavity through magic and forcible removal methods. When Lucchini trips and falls in her mad dash away from them, the tooth comes out on its own — revealing it wasn’t a cavity, but a baby tooth all along.
Our Take
Chibi shows aren’t meant to be masterpieces. They’re just meant to entertain — usually mindlessly. However, at what stage is the “chibi” style an excuse for art that is simply lacking in appeal? Strike Witches 501st looks like an Animorph. Remember Animorphs? It looks like the middle phase of transformation between a legitimate anime style and a full-blown chibi — some affront to god born between the two. At certain points (specifically when the characters show their side profiles) it looks as if the style is ripped right from the infamous How to Draw Manga book.
It wouldn’t be so easy to be harsh on the art if this show also didn’t take characters — who are already minors — and draw clear, detailed panty shots (referencing that upside-down Shirley scene, here) while making them look even more baby-fied in this style. It’s genuinely gross for a whole slew of pedo-friendly reasons.
Aside from that, this episode was so mind-numbingly aimless (which is bad, considering it’s a show about the piloting.) It’s almost as if it couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be serious or take a more slapstick-y turn. While it wound up going with the latter, but the idea of combat stress being introduced as a concept only to have no development on it can leave an audience member feeling high and dry. As mind-boggling as the show’s concept is, these characters are still soldiers and it would have been interesting to see their mental struggles.
On the note of characters, it also feels like there’s just too many. Being bounced around in the plot is already bad enough, but it ricochets from one character to the next without ever really doing anything more than giving them purposeless screen-time.
Obviously, this is a show that was made for those who are already fans of the original Strike Witches — because there’s no feasible way that anyone introduced to the franchise by watching Strike Witches: 501st JOINT FIGHTER WING Take Off! first would stick around to see any more of whatever-the-hell is happening here.
