I'm going to post as I'm watching, and it's spoilers so it's below the fold.

I could have done entirely without the first two minutes of this episode. Ye Gods.

Something that wasn't clear before is made explicit: the shield is a function of the Striker Unit, not something that witches inherently can do. That makes sense, actually.

It isn't possible to reach the speed of sound with a propeller-driven aircraft. In practice the limit is somewhere between 450 and 500 mph. (The speed of sound depends on air conditions and the altitude but it's on the order of 770 mph.)

Of course, when you're talking about something with magical propellers, who knows what's possible?

And now we've got another case of Miyafuji groping someone. WHAT IS THIS SHIT?

It seems that the subtitle translator has settled on "Liberion" as the romanization of Yeager's home country. The web site actually makes it "Rebellion", though.

UPDATE: This episode is just as bad as I feared it would be. ANOTHER case of Miyafuji groping someone?

A complete loss. What a waste of time. I did not need this one.

I don't know which bothers me more: that Miyafuji is groping Yeager, or that Yeager didn't mind.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 06:57 PM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
Post contains 210 words, total size 1 kb.

1 Obviously the answer is the ROCKET WITCH. Unfortunately, this aspect of design is controlled by the owner of the figurine line.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at July 31, 2008 07:21 PM (/ppBw)

2 Well, it's one of the few cases so far where one of the characters is making a reference to the real-world pilot on which she's based. Whether that's good or bad is a different question.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at July 31, 2008 07:24 PM (+rSRq)

3 I missed that reference. Glamorous Shirley is obviously a play on Glamorous Glennis, but aside from that? Care to provide a hint or time offset, please?

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at July 31, 2008 07:30 PM (/ppBw)

4 Chuck Yeager was the first person to break the sound barrier, flying the Bell X-1.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at July 31, 2008 07:41 PM (+rSRq)

5 Yeah, this was the first time I've ever gone "ewww!" to yuri. Somehow that just wasn't right.

Hilarious that Charlotte came through without a scratch, despite the complete disintegration of her clothes.  Also, too predictable that the supersonic striker unit was lost at sea. 

Posted by: ubu at July 31, 2008 08:36 PM (qKD7L)

6 Well, wasn't Yeager already knocked out when Miyafuji made her sneak groping attack? I found those moments funny rather than disturbing because I see it as another random aspect of our protagonist.

I felt that the fanservice in this episode wasn't more than in other episodes. However, there's much more of a focus in this one than in others, so that might be off-putting. I just found it all hilarious.

Posted by: TheBigN at August 01, 2008 05:44 AM (+X06z)

7

wasn't Yeager already knocked out when Miyafuji made her sneak groping attack?

Not the first one, at the beach.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at August 01, 2008 06:29 AM (+rSRq)

8 Obviously, the breast-groping is there to help the viewer identify with the protagonist. "See, she's just like me!".

-j

Posted by: J Greely at August 01, 2008 08:03 AM (2XtN5)

9 Unfortunately, you're probably right. (Also, as of Haruhi, watching a girl molest another girl is now officially "moe".)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at August 01, 2008 09:23 AM (+rSRq)

10 It's not really moe to me, but it's just the idea of the type of person that we've seen Yoshika to be... and in addition to that, she apparently really likes breasts. That strange juxtaposition works to make me laugh at least.

Posted by: TheBigN at August 01, 2008 10:02 AM (+X06z)

11 In fact, I thought parts of it were funny, too. But it was a total break in characterization, among many other problems.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at August 01, 2008 10:05 AM (+rSRq)

12 ...and Sanya Litvak is not a trap, AND she gets the next episode to boot.  Good times, good times.

I was... amused by the whole episode.

Posted by: Wonderduck at August 01, 2008 10:09 PM (AW3EJ)

13 We don't yet know that about Litvyak. I admit that at this point it's looking unlikely, but they haven't yet outright rendered it impossible. Next ep will tell the tale, for sure.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at August 01, 2008 10:25 PM (+rSRq)

14 Shirley is drawn with the wrong sort of tail for a rabbit, but I can't think of what else the ears could be.

Something I found:

http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Strike_Witches:Volume1_Prologue

Interesting thing is, it turns out that they fought off the Neuroi in the WWI cognate. The ears and tail come from a familiar that each witch has. I would think, that if mechanized air infantry (MEI) are the only force that can counter the neuroi, and only young girls with the right genes can become MEI, then if the Neuroi can continue the fight for a few generations, humanity will soon fall.

My reaction to Haruhi was 'Someone, please put that girl in the hospital.' I am appalled at what Haruhi gets away with. I do not find the groping here endearing or particularly funny. I do think it may be in charactor for Miyafuji, take a look at the sweaty and exhausted lying on the ground scenes with Bishop. Would it be too much to ask for to have an anime where a charactor is interested in groping a woman/girl, but does not do anything and keeps their hands to themselves because it is inappropriate to touch a lady without her permission?

I think it is impossible for Sanya to be a trap with quite a few of the pilots knowing, however.

Posted by: PatBuckman at August 02, 2008 06:36 PM (JR4YN)

15

Pat, I don't think that's a translation of anything. I think it's fanfic.

In the OVA, all the witches had animal familiars but the TV series dispensed with that part. So even if that is a translation of something, it's not clear it matters to the TV series, which has already made several continuity and characterization changes.

Not just that Miyafuji is revealed to be a perv. In the OVA Sakamoto was a much less nice person, having very much the personality of a Marine Drill Instructor.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at August 02, 2008 07:14 PM (+rSRq)

16 Steven,
The website seems to be a massive translation project for various light novels. I think it is not a fanfic, but rather a translation of a light novel, which might be as you say very alternate continuity. I suspect somebody commissioned a light novel series, either to sell on its own, or to boost sales of the rest of the strike witches media.

I think the TV series has familiars as mystical totems, which the witches likely pick up when they are younger during their training in the fundementals. There would be no need cover this during the series if it is the case. I assume the OVAs had the familiars as seperate animals.

Posted by: PatBuckman at August 02, 2008 07:49 PM (JR4YN)

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