Ask John: Why is there So Little Talk About Strike Witches 2?

Question:
Is it just me, or was there not a single word about Strike Witches 2 in the American fan community last season? Did all the hype die down, or was it just that people got used to the panties, so there was nothing to pretend to be outraged over anymore?

Answer:
Anime has never been especially bashful, and fan service has been a prominent aspect of anime for decades. The 2008 Strike Witches television series is certainly not the first anime to exhibit a fetish for exposed female panties. Anime including Idol Project and Aika have done the same prior. But anime including Idol Project and Aika were OVA series rather than mainstream television series. And a bit more significantly, Strike Witches remains an anomoly not just because of its prominent focus on underwear, but because of its depiction of underwear for no explicable reason. The Strike Witches anime never explains nor even hints at why seemingly most of the young girls in its universe wear bikini bottoms. So some degree of mildly shocked confusion does hover around the first television series while, by the 2010 second series, otaku had become accustomed to the unexplained prominence of pantsu in the series.

But there’s a more incisive explanation for precisely why the 2010 Strike Witches 2 television series hasn’t spawned the amount nor passioned discussion among American fans that the first series did. The second series simply isn’t as good as the first series. The 2008 Strike Witches anime series had a tightly constructed linear narrative filled with excitement, tension, and conflict. The first series also prominently included unexpectedly powerful scenes of character revelation and personality development. While some of the 2008 discussion of the show was knee-jerk outrage about sexist exploitation and the crass gimmickry of contemporary anime, an equal amount of discussion was empassioned defense of the show – fans moved to argue that the series was much more substantial and artistically commendable than casual observers gave credit for.

Since shows like Strike Witches, Sora no Otoshimono, Kanokon, and Ladies vs Butlers have appeared over the past two years and set a new standard for prominent, gratuitous fan service in television anime, outraged fans have become more desensitized, and the anime industry has pulled through. Strike Witches obviously didn’t cause the immediate and poetical justified demise of the anime industry, and fans have gotten used to constantly seeing female cast members’ panties. While the opponents and critics have less motivation to attack Strike Witches 2, proponents have less reason to defend and recommend it. Unlike the tightly scripted, economically effective 2008 series, Strike Witches 2 feels very much like a series constructed out of left-over parts. Although the art design and animation quality are just as good as the first series, the narrative in Strike Witches 2 often feels arbitrary and artificial, and the tense, dramatic moments that made the 2008 series so good are in short supply in the 2010 series. Simply put, there’s been less talk about Strike Witches 2 because the show itself offers less to talk about.