okay

Strike Witches is the single greatest achievement of humankind.

>>1530
LOL

I liked it for the story, but there's so much unnecessary fan-service that most of the time people will think you're bullshitting them when you say you watched it for the plot.

I felt that season 2 was kind of a cop-out because it blatantly ignored several subtle plot-points of season 1 that were hidden behind the fan-service, like the neuroi hardly ever firing first, and how the humans got access to the cores. It really seemed like they were going to expand on those points when they had Neuko show up in the first couple of episodes, but then on an impulse they blew her up and replaced the "possibly sympathetic" neuroi with "evil for the sake of being evil" neuroi.

I really hope that one day we'll get some official material that's more focused on the story instead of witch ass.

>>1533
Not gonna happen. Ever since Gonzo shifted from the Techy OVA to Girl-bum and Oppai grabbing TV series, they realized that Fanservice was more marketable.

As much as I like more focus on the Neuroi War, the silly fanservice is where it's all about.

Like they say, Body sells. We could also apply that here in Strike Witches.

I watched Strike Witches for the plot. Oh and for Sakamoto. God she's awesome.

>>1536
And since the director of SW cares only about panty shot
(Most plot points are made by Creator and Character Designer Fumikane),
I don't really think there'll be much plot development.

>>1538

Which is a real shame.

At least we still have Africa series.
There are fanservicce and pantyshots, but still has big focus on plot and characters (especially the novel part by yamibun).
Only concern is that now it's going official, it may follow the same path as the predecessors...

Maybe, that's how Humikane wanted it to be. After all, the original mecha musume designs he did have girls in their panties. When you have a character design as ridiculous as that, it can never be taken seriously. Bloody deep plot with characters battling around wearing only underwear? That's bullshit! Majority of people will laugh their asses at something like that.

Like what's the rationale making witches wear only panties? For the sake of the striker units? If that were the case, Sanya would've suck in her mid-air performance.

Mecha Musume is such an awesome concept and it doesn't require girls to wear only their underwear! There are some designs out there that have girls in decent outfits. Nevertheless, it's a shame the groups/studios adapting them into anime are just making a lame cash cow out of it.

Maybe something was learned by all the creators of anime after the show Negima came out, that being that only with fan-service will most shows get cleared for production. The fact it is getting more intense with it could simply mean they are trying to ensure that they can actually continue making the show as the economy gets worse.

I'm probably wrong but it's just a guess, you can never really know why someone does something unless you're that person (or a villian in anime/games).

The one(s) funding the production of Negima first refused to fund it unless it had more fan-service, which is why the fan-service aspect diminished with time.

>>1543
>it doesn't require girls to wear only their underwear!
Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's not say anything we can't take back.

>>1546
Why? Are you implying ALL Mecha Musume MUST ONLY WEAR PANTIES?

I'm talking about the Mecha Musume genre in general and not Strike Witches.

Not only Africa JFW, remember that there is 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507 and 508 squadronds that MUST have material, maybe a minichapters or and an OVA of 15 minutes, i dont know, after the 501, the 502JFW is the most popular.

>>1554
>Mecha Musume genre in general
...is created and owned by Humikane, and they don't wear pants 90% of the time.

The phrase you might be looking for is Mecha Shoujo, which is the generic non-Humikane version of Mecha Musume and not what this board is about.

>>1563
I never even knew the term Mecha Musume as "copyrighted" title since 90% of the time, any word that comes out of Japan changes meaning, for better or for worst..

e.g. Otaku, kinda negative in Japan but outsiders seem very proud calling themselves one and is only associated with anime & manga..

I mentioned the so called "Mecha Shoujo" genre since there's another anime out there that revolved in similar theme as Strike Witches. They wasted it's potential for the sake of being a crappy harem story..

Going back to the main of this thread, I still agree with the 1st poster. >>1528

Strike Witches pantless design is the very reason it's stuck in the Yuri-Ecchi-Fanservice swamp. There's probably no growth for it. Besides being a Yuri-Ecchi-Fanservice anime.

>>1565
It's like a paradox, you want people to like your creation, add fanservice. You want hard serious plot development (See Full Metal Panic), fundamentally you can't have that much fanservice.

Think about it, if SW is just about fighting WW2 in alternative universe where girls replaces men to be the main forces, with no setting about that panty fanservice, will you still watch it?

BTW, I hope the situation has changed, but in one of last year's SW events, the director was asked about some characters from 502, and he admitted he know none of them. As you can see the movie still features 501 and the new guy, but there's like more than 100 world witches left unexploited by the mainstream anime. I seriously hope we can see more different witches.

>>1565
The point is that Strike Witches is an otaku pandering show. It always has been and it always will be. That's what sells.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love for SW to actually tackle serious issues like the emotional and psychological problems these children would have fighting a fucking war and all, but that's just not what the show is about. The creators themselves have said it before; Strike Witches is a happy anime. The writers don't want to tackle serious themes. That's not the kind of show they want it to be.

Someone else pointed this out before, but Humikane's mecha musume designs have always had lots of fanservice. The exposed panties are part of the mecha musume style itself.

SW is a fanservice anime with historical references. If you can't accept that and have fun instead of bitching that it's not grimdark enough for you, then maybe you shouldn't be here.

>I never even knew the term Mecha Musume as "copyrighted"
It is not copyrighted in the literal sense, but in Japan it is used strictly to refer to Humikane's art. It is not a general term.

>>1569
I think the people in this thread haven't really said that they wish it to be grimdark, just that it should have slightly more plot and development and less plotholes and fanservice.

I think the excessive fanservice in SW actually had a negative impact, driving away people who would have actually enjoyed the show if they ever saw it in the first place.

Remember how the trolls on /a/ called the show "pedoshit"? Anyone who watched the show can see how often big tits appear in the fanservice.

>>1573
>trolls
There's your problem.

>>1573
This is a point. I know Something Awful isn't that relevant anymore but it's bannable to try to have a discussion about Strike Witches on their Anime section. The show is considered nothing but pedoshit and no one wants to talk about it.

>>1575
So I guess most people there complained about the show they didn't even watch. That's really ludicrous.

At least when I whine, there's a reason for it since I watched the whole damn thing, both seasons and the OVA.

>>1575

i didn't even know that thing was still around