![]() It is this dimensionality that allows the 501st, and Yoshika in particular, to have left such an impact on how the Joint Fighter Wing performs. However, through Yoshika, Strike Witches appears to be emphasising that the fictional Witches themselves are not meant to be seen strictly as soldiers: they’re dynamic, three-dimensional beings with their own beliefs and desires. From a real world perspective, this is true: there is a chain of command and strict structuring in the armed forces to maintain order, and to ensure that unnecessary loss does not result from lack of discipline. Thus, Shizuka spends much of the film berating Yoshika, stating that “orders are absolute”. As Perrine remarks, Yoshika will disregard orders that seem contrary to her own internal sense of right and wrong: this is exemplified when the Akagi strikes an iceberg, and despite lacking any magic, uses all of her resources to save a trapped sailor. Initially, Shizuka becomes quite impatient with Yoshika: the latter has never treated military protocol or formalities with any real degree of seriousness, and this attitude was what landed her in a variety of situations during the TV series. Throughout the movie, it becomes clear that the film is meant to follow Shizuka’s journey with of the 501st’s most illustrious members. In comparison to Strike Witches’ first two seasons, Strike Witches: The Movie begins to develop a more substantial narrative to explore how the different characters eventually culminate in meeting up and engaging an unexpected Neuroi threat. However, despite the commonly-held misconceptions about Strike Witches and its unusual design where characters forgo pants, Strike Witches: The Movie nonetheless holds its own merits as a film, and moreover, foreshadows the future directions of the Strike Witches franchise as a whole. Grossing around two hundred million yen (2.35 million CAD with the current exchange rates), Strike Witches: The Movie does not hold a candle to some of the more popular anime movies that have come out (the Love Live! The School Idol Movie grossed 2.86 billion yen, or 33.74 million CAD) or even some of the larger anime movies I’ve had the chance to enjoy ( K-On! The Movie grossed 1.9 billion yen, roughly 22.42 million CAD, and Madoka Magica: Rebellion Story totalled 2.08 billion yen, roughly 24.54 million CAD). Commander Minna subsequently reactivates the 501st after learning that the Neuroi are mounting a counteroffensive. Hearing the thoughts and feelings of her friends, Yoshika recovers her magic and, upon receiving her old striker unit from Mio, takes to the skies to aid the 501st in taking out the Neuroi. Shizuka comes to and manages to escape the Neuroi’s jamming field long enough to rally the 501st, who become notified of Yoshika’s situation. Despite the pair’s efforts, Shizuka is shot down and Yoshika’s efforts to engage a Neuroi, while successful, leaves her critically wounded. Continuing on their journey, Yoshika and Shizuka stop at a village along the River Rhine to aid landslide victims, and later, encounter additional Neuroi. Back on the Akagi, Shizuka grows frustrated by Yoshika’s disregard for military protocol, and upon their arrival in Gallia, she shares a conversation with Perrine about how Yoshika’s actions and beliefs have benefitted the 501st as a whole. Concurrently, Charlotte and Francesca are forced to engage Neuroi in Venezia, following a gondola race with some members of the 504th Joint Fighter Wing, and back in Karlsland, Commander Minna sends Erica and Gertrude to investigate the presence of Neuroi that are apparently coming out of the blue. Two months following this, Yoshika has set her sights on becoming a medical doctor and is studying to enter medical school, but after Shizuka Hattori informs Yoshika that she is to study abroad at a prestigious medical school in Helvetia, Yoshika accepts the offer. ![]() ![]() ![]() Released four years ago on March 17, 2012, Strike Witches: The Movie follows in the aftermath of Strike Witches’ second season, during which Yoshika had exhausted her magic reserves in destroying a Neuroi hive to save Mio. I am very interested in the moral path, doing the right thing.” -Kate Atkinson “Ethics are not necessarily to do with being law-abiding. ![]()
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