Despite having many character, plot, and structural elements that are very typical for magical girl series, this original 2013 production from Strike Witches), transformation scenes stress the girls in their underwear, a beach episode is naturally involved, and both suggested and direct frontal nudity will eventually come into play, too. And it should be no surprise that the fusion Vivid forms are also sexy, full-figured adult women. Even the attacks used by the girls get in on this by typically having “Naked” in their names (Nakedrang for the boomerang, Naked Impact for the jet-powered hammer, etc.). So yes, if you are a male anime fan who likes the seemingly contradictory notion of magical girls that are innocent and cute but also have sex appeal then this title is targeted like a laser at you.

But as crass as this may all sound, one need not be interested in Neon Genesis Evangelion (the nature of the Alone and what they do).

So how does this series avoid being relegated to utter mediocrity by its dearth of originality? One major key is that, for all of the series' otaku-pandering elements, director/writer/character designer Yuki Kajiura) so rarely get robust musical scores that one can easily underestimate just how effectively quality orchestration and the occasional light rock number can drive a series to a level of entertainment value well beyond what the series could otherwise accomplish. Action scenes have grand, sweeping numbers which power the events without overpowering them, while everyday scenes have breezier numbers which set the tone just right. The opener may not be anything terribly special, nor are any of the closers (the first six episodes each use a different one, with the sixth one ultimately being the regular entry), but even they still suit the series well.

That the artistic and technical merits aren't shabby certainly does not hurt, either. CG renditions of the Alone and military craft are integrated in more smoothly than normal and action scenes have plenty of thrill factor and movement. Ordinary scenes late in the series do occasionally depend on still shots, but on the whole the animation effort is still better than average. While nothing original may be done with the character designs, the artistry still generally looks good, the coloring of the girls' combat uniforms and weaponry are vibrant, and color schemes are consistent almost to a fault for the girls; each one has hair and eye color similar to her uniform color, for instance.

While only Samurai 7's Shimada Kanbei) gives a fine ing job as the grandfather who seems not too inconvenienced by being a stuffed otter.

dub and is only available on DVD. It only provides a truncated list of English credits as a separate entry on the disks and does not offer offer translated lyrics for the opening and closing themes. The only Extras included are clean versions of all of the openers and closer and the longer Next Episode previews that are available online. A set of character-featuring post cards is present as a physical Extra, and the case does have a reversible cover inside of a slipcover, but one is still getting no more than a typical sub-only release from other companies for an MSRP that is $15-$25 higher than typical DVD prices.

Despite the descriptions given above, exactly how this one succeeds as well as it does is still a little mysterious. Unless one finds the fan service inappropriate, though, the series never lets viewers down, and may even occasionally surprise with the comedic or lightly emotional impetus it sometimes achieves. It still is definitely not for younger audiences and will not turn the anime world on its head like a Madoka Magica, but it cannot simply be pushed aside as “just another magical girl” series, either.