Plot
Set in a world similar to Earth in the mid twentieth century, Strike Witches tells the story of a fight to protect that world using a combination of magic and technology. The titular Strike Witches are young women with high magical potential who are recruited into militaries around the world to fight against the enigmatic Neuroi, which began an invasion of unprecedented scale on human territory in the year 1939. This puzzling enemy force has appeared frequently and without warning in many areas across the world throughout history. The weapons of the Neuroi mostly take on forms similar to aircraft, but their most troubling tactic is the spreading of a corrosive miasma. Not only do normal humans have no defense against this miasma, but the remnants of the land affected by it are processed by the Neuroi into new weapons, crumbling huge sections of former nations into the sea. As the miasma seems to be unable to spread across large bodies of water, humanity has designated such areas as their main lines of defense.
In order to bring out their potential for use in battle, each Witch equips a unique machine onto their legs: the Striker Unit. With the Striker Unit equipped, they gain the ability to fly and their tapped magical potential provides the strength to utilize weapons far too heavy and powerful for a normal person. Also created is a defensive field that can protect the Witches from the Neuroi's miasma as well as other physical weaponry, making them humanity's trump card in the war. The franchise's main media focuses on the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, defending the Britannian home islands, in a parallel to the Battle of Britain.
Production
In a postscript column in Comp Ace, Humikane Shimada had mentioned his desire to use his Mecha Musume concepts across a variety of media, leading to the production of the Strike Witches OVA by Gonzo. However, at about the same time Humikane was also contracted to create the character designs for Sky Girls, which had its televised run in late 2007. During this time there was no word on the further development of a Strike Witches animated series, although promotional items such as plastic figures of the OVA's characters were released. Not until December 2007 was the anime officially announced, after which details were slowly released, such as the casting of the remaining main characters that had no lines in the OVA.
While Shimada had participated in the initial production for both Strike Witches and Sky Girls, the two contrast in their execution of the mecha element. Sky Girls' Sonic Divers exemplify a futuristic approach, while the Striker Units are more fantastical with a closer connection to Shimada's original illustrations. With the use of World War II era prop fighters as a direct base for the details of each Striker and the weapons used by each Witch, the aerial combat aspect of the series is highly emphasized. In the OVA's mock battle sequence one can see various characters use tactics common to dogfights, such as exploiting the advantage of a smaller turning radius and attacking with the sun to one's back. Additionally, each main character uses a real ace pilot as their archetype, to varying degrees.
Episode 01 | Episode 02 | Episode 03 | Episode 04 | Episode 05
Episode 06 | Episode 07 | Episode 08 | Episode 09 | Episode 10
Episode 11 | Episode 12
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