Talk:Strike Witches

Proper OVA?

Is there really a proper OVA episode of this? The version that I have seen seems to be a preview, but at 8 minutes in length, it seems to be more substantual than most previews. We're guessing that it may be something like Grayson, a project to show what they could do, but they didn't have the budget or time to do a full-length version. CFLeon 19:34, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Besides the actual preview OVA, there's about 15 more minutes of additional footage in the DVD, consisting of preview commercials and a "tour" of the base. -selkirk 137.189.254.141 (talk) 15:27, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Trivia/historical reference list?

I read some posts on animesuki and thought I'd write a Trivia list but I'm not sure how to reference the relevant links to the animesuki forums and images I used. Can someone help with this list please and put it up if its ok?

• The fighter planes in episode 1 are Hawker Hurricanes and the ones in episode 2 are Mitsubishi A5Ms.
• The ships named in episode 1 & 2 are based on real war vessels of the Japanese Empire. They include the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi, the destroyer Amatsukaze, Urakaze and Isokaze
• The two men who appear at the start of episode 3 bear a resemblance to Winston Churchill and Hugh Dowding
• Gertrud's sister Chris is named after Gerhard Barkhorn's wife Christl.
• Sanya's role as a night fighter is a reference to the Soviet all female Night Witches.
• The glowing runes around Sanya's head are designed to resemble the Hirschgeweih radar antennas.
• The transport plane Mio, Minna and Yoshika are in in episode 6 is a Junkers Ju 52.
• The song sung by Sanya in episode 6 is a Jazz Piano Ballad which references Schrage Musik the colloquialism for Jazz Music given to name the upward firing cannons of German night fighters use as part of the tactic of flying beneath British bombers which at the time did not have gun turrets underneath.
• Erica receives the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in episode 7. She already had the first rank of the cross with Oak leaves and received the second rank with Oak leaves and Swords by the end of the episode. Neither of them nor any of the German witches have Swastikas.
• Gertrud mentions the Blitzkrieg in episode 8 when fighting for food with Charlotte.
• Minna and Lynette are driving Willys MB Army jeep in episode 8 when going to collect Erica's medal.
• Erica stealing Francesca's panties in episode 8 when she receives her medal is a reference to the "Hat incident" of Erich Hartmann where in which an inebriated Erich accidentally put on Hitler's military hat when he could not find his own when he was supposed to visit Hitler to receive his medal causing his superior officer to chastise him to which he responded by saying that Hitler was "big-headed" as the hat was too big for him.
• Minna drives a Volkswagen Beetle in episode 8.
• The Witches are issued with Walther PPKs but Yoshika refused hers.
• The evacuation event in the flashback of episode 8 is based on Operation Dynamo or the Dunkirk Evacuation.
• The song sung by Minna in episode 8 is the famous German love song Lili Marleen but with the original German lyrics replaced with Japanese ones.

These are the references though I'm not sure how to attach them as such. [1], [2], [3], [4] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.7.150.150 (talk) 23:23, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Most of this would fall under the category of "miscellaneous information," and Trivia sections have become a no-no here on Wiki. However, info pertaining to the major characters can certainly be integrated into the Characters article at your discretion. If you do, be sure to cite the info (the images would likely be best) as References in the page. Enyce02941 (talk) 02:48, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

I see, it's just that a lot of this seems interesting yet at the same time too trivial and irrelevant to add to character profiles. But alright if trivia sections are a no-no and I won't bother adding it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.7.150.150 (talk) 09:18, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Episode list

There should probably be one. I tried using the standard table format but, well, I failed miserably. These things require more effort to create than I originally thought. - Norse Am Legend (talk) 22:46, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

Can I make a request that someone makes an episode list or at least a starting layout so I can add additional episodes to it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Deus-Helios (talk • contribs) 04:26, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

Animal parts

New information's come out that tells what animal each girl becomes when they get into their Striker Units. I'm not sure where exactly to insert this info, so Enyce or someone else should do it.

• Yoshika: Dog, Mame-shiba(small dog)
• Mio: Dog, Doberman
• Minna: Wolf
• Lynette: Cat, Scottish Fold
• Perrine: Cat, chartreux
• Erica: Dog, Dachshund
• Gertrud: Dog, German pointer
• Franceska: Black leopard
• Charlotte: Rabbit
• Eila: Black fox
• Sanya: Black cat —Preceding unsigned comment added by Norse Am Legend (talk • contribs) 19:12, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the info, NAL. I weaved it in as best as I could; I also made a distinction to Gertrud's breed as I thought best fit the appearance of the dog ears and tail. Enyce02941 (talk) 21:44, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

Should the article mention that after transformation, Yoshika and others have four ears? It would help explain matters if there was an interview quote on such an anomaly since other anime shows logically keep the number of ears at two after transformation. Four separate ears means four cavities in the skull to make room for the ears.AnimeJanai (talk) 06:49, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Rank

Re-watching the first two episodes, I note that the official subtitles use Major for Mio's rank (shousa 少佐), using the common army ranking system rather than the specific air force ranks the article has now. If there are similar usages in future episodes (少尉 = Ensign, 大尉 = Captain, etc.,) I'll change the individual rank descriptions in the Characters section. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Enyce02941 (talk • contribs) 02:17, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

It was my understanding that according to this wiki article, Naval ranks of the Japanese Empire during World War II, that the translation merely said 'Naval Major'. It also seems to me that she was based of an IJN pilot, and she also wears the white officer's jacket for the IJN. So it'd proably make sense that she'd be a 'Naval Major' instead of an Army Air Force major. --ODST L. Bishop (talk) 05:42, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

Dates

Just making another note here about my recent edit to the Plot section. Episode 1 states the first Neuroi attack occurred in 1939. Assuming that Yoshika's father left that same year (when she was six years old,) then eight years had passed by the time that Yoshika meets Mio. If we go by this, then the story takes place in 1947. Enyce02941 (talk) 18:00, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

Well, in the latest episode they show the date as 1944, so my previous thoughts were mistaken. Enyce02941 (talk) 00:45, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

The first attack by the Neuroi is given as 1939 (the year is actually shown onscreen), and the first episode states that it is now 1944; the date at the end of episode 12 is "September 1944". Yoshika states that she was 6 (her first day in school) when her father left, mentioning the Neuroi. She received the last letter (the report of his death) on her 10th birthday, and that was 2 years before episode 1 starts. So there's an error somewhere. I was watching fansubs, so there may have been a translation error. (There are several calendars shown during the series, but I haven't bothered checking them out.) The school uniforms shown in episode 1 appear to be those for elementary school (making her 11-12), so it seems that the error is by the offscreen information trying to make her older. (The only other likely option may be that the 1939 date is when the Neuroi attacked Europe, and they had been around for several years before.) CFLeon (talk) 04:21, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

Just checked: Yoshika turns 15 in episode 6 and a photo is shown that she's written her age on. Assuming that the translation is correct, I'm leaning towards the Neuroi having been around for several years before 1939 as the best explaination. CFLeon (talk) 04:47, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

Clothing

Is there a reason female characters do not wear pants at all? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.119.210.17 (talk) 17:36, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

It's explained in the article as skin contact being necessary to use the Striker Units, but that does nothing to explain why we saw even average school girls in episode 1 not wearing pants or even skirts, or why Perrine can get away with wearing stockings while in flight. It's just one of those things in anime that you're better off not questioning, else you'll just dwell on it endlessly while missing the rest of the show. ;) --Billdorr (talk) 12:33, 24 July 2008 (UTC)

Well I love WWII stuff. I love how nearly everything is based off of WWII equipment. But i seriously can't even watch this. The Fan service utterly ruined it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.119.210.17 (talk) 15:05, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

It's not just the Japanese girls. The nurses and non-Witch girls in the military that we see all are pantless. They don't even seem to have invented mini-skirts, just a slight lengthening of the tops. But it's only attractive young females: Yoshika's mother & grandmother wear normal clothing, and they are the only females outside that age range that we see in any detail. (I have NOT seen the second series.) CFLeon (talk) 04:21, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

Can't we just conclude its an anime where pants/skirts doesn't exist for the young? This anime gets trolled on clothing too much. --128.193.241.54 (talk) 00:17, 28 October 2010 (UTC)

It's called "criticized" not "trolled" and it's clearly asking for it.

This is actually adressed in the movie's beginning where several time periods and people are shown (including what seems to be Joan of Arc as a witch) and according to the time elapse and material shown, even the witches of Ancient Greece wore this style while fighting alongside the (male?) soldiers. The style eventually became popular with even the general population who try to emulate the witches, if not in magic then at least in looks due to idolisation. Yoshika for example doesn't know where it comes from but since it's the school uniform (and kind of cute) wears it anyway. Older women meanwhile don't wear it since witches in the setting are almost exclusively young since they lose their powers when turning 20 something (like Mio) and thus also decide to stop emulating the style. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.230.224.28 (talk) 12:41, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Refs dump

Season 1 Mania.com review Anime News Network Season 1 review --KrebMarkt 15:47, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

• Mania.com season 2 stream: Ep 01 Ep 02 Ep 03 Ep 04 Ep 05 Ep 06 Ep 07 Ep 08 Ep 09 Ep 10 Ep 11 Ep 12 --KrebMarkt 16:05, 9 July 2010 (UTC)
• ANN Summer 2010 previews: 1 2 3 4

Strike Witches season III ?

At the end of the last movie there was a message that claim more SW is on production:

Anyway, fans of the Strike Witches anime should be excited to know that the movie ended with words つづく (to be continued) so we could expect more from the franchise. [5] Maybe someone should add this info too. Reikasama (talk) 17:00, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Opening Paragraph

The story revolves around teenage girls who are essentially moe anthropomorphizations of military airplanes

Uh. I believe it would be more appropriate to describe the central characters as something like "'moe reinterpretations' of World War II aces". Sure the striker units are based on the military airplanes in the past, but the characters themselves are definitely not so. If an editor finds this suited or has similar but better description (I found that the character detail page uses "ace pilot archetype"), please improve the opening paragraph. 27.135.128.82 (talk) 13:42, 18 April 2012 (UTC)

No reception section?

I just realized that this article has no reception section. We'll see what sources we can find to create one. Lord Sjones23 (talk - contributions) 04:07, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

Doujinshi section

Why are the doujinshi publications notable here? Did they win special awards, reach national acclaim, or become best-sellers? -AngusWOOF (talk) 21:06, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Strike Witches Maidens of the Sky

I was perusing the main article and didn't see Maidens of the sky anywhere. It is the most recent manga series that has been released, to my knowledge there are only 2 volumes out (i only noticed this because in one of my many manga from seven seas i saw an ad for it)here is an amazon buy page as proof of the mangas existence: http://www.amazon.com/Strike-Witches-Maidens-Sky-Vol/dp/162692029X