Eila and Sanya face a confounding Neuroi covered in fog, which complicates military plans to retake a vital port.
Episode 8 – “The Fog”
Hmm.
Strike Witches returns to Neuroi of the Week starring the lovey-dovey couple Sanya and Eila. Like we saw in the episode featuring Shirley and Lucchini, the story needed to manufacture a fight between the two girls who are in a solid relationship. The source of the bad feelings was also the same formula, where one girl acted to “help” the other, but the other girl didn’t appreciate the effort in the short term. The motivational elements to bring Sanya and Eila into conflict worked well with what we know about the current situation on the road to Berlin and how there’s an element of time tied to some of the Strike Witches’ participation in the military campaign. That in-world verisimilitude brought a natural flow to how Sanya acted to rush ahead with her side mission in support of the larger mission against Kiel.
The smaller conflict between Sanya and Eila framed itself as a matter of trust, but it also showed the contrast between Sanya’s and Eila’s outlooks on life and how they relate to their magic powers. Sanya uses her magical radar for the Strike Witches, which is a powerful sensory tool for offense and defense. However, Sanya developed a bias for only “seeing” what she can ping. She lives in an objective reality. Eila, by contrast, has foresight, which has made her untouchable to enemy attacks and an excellent sniper. She can tell where an attack will land beforehand and just move out of its way. She can also tell where an enemy will be and attack that point at the right time. Eila developed a bias towards relying on her intuition. This is a subjective reality.
When Sanya and Eila are in balance, they make a great fighting duo. A pivotal point in the Strike Witches episode introduced an element of mistrust, which caused a rift between the two because of how closely that mistrust identified with their innate qualities. Sanya appeared more hurt by the disagreement than Eila, but that was due to Sanya’s personal reasons for pushing ahead with the mission to help the older Karlslander witches gain personal satisfaction in liberating their homeland from the Neuroi. As with all the interpersonal conflicts between the Strike Witches, the short-term hard feelings come from wanting to help another witch without explaining things first. The Neuroi of the Week is there to be the source and resolution of the conflicts to bring about heavenly yuri on earth. It’s the Strike Witches way!
Heh.
Sanya and Eila are on patrol. Will they be the featured couple in Strike Witches’s Neuroi of the Week? Fog. There’s a Neuroi in there, of course. These Berlin Neuroi know how to control the weather, like making ice and fog.
Oh? This is the Strike Witches Christmas episode. Ahem. Saturnus Festival… Fun. Shirley and Lucchini’s room is the designated arts and crafts headquarters. Oh, I remember Nipa from Brave Witches. They were, uh, she was great! Eila makes decorations for the Saturnus tree. These shapes will be important. Playtime is over. Emergency briefing!
Trude and Erica took out the Neuroi on the way to Kiel in that previous Strike Witches episode, but that Fog Neuroi covered Kiel up, so the next bombing campaign will be saturation bombing instead of targeted to take out the Neuroi emplacements. The military will have a pyrrhic victory in retaking Kiel but destroying its port.
Sanya overheard Trude and Minna complaining about postponing the mission to rescue Berlin. Both are nineteen years old and about to lose their magic. They want to help liberate Karlsland but that’s not possible if they age out beforehand. Sanya wants to grant her fellow Strike Witches’ wishes.
Sanya has a plan. Kinky. Training with blindfolds to mimic whiteout conditions inside the Neuroi fog. Yoshika needs the practice. They got better. Eila didn’t need any help. She’s so attached to Sanya anyway.
Game time. I don’t expect success. It’s too early in the Strike Witches episode. Sanya’s plan uses a search grid. Contact! Uh oh. Eila’s clairvoyance triggered. There’s more to this Fog Neuroi than what Eila and Sanya found the first time. Eila doesn’t need a shield thanks to her foresight. Sanya’s plan failed and she blames Eila. Lovers’ quarrel. Eila felt an enemy’s presence that Sanya couldn’t detect.
Sanya apologized to Minna. She gave a hint of extra motivation to clear the Fog Neuroi for her. Harsh. Sanya called Eila “the uncertain element.”
Eila and Sanya feature in the eye catches. What are they wearing in that dark pool?
Relationship issues always find solutions in the Strike Witches’ sauna. Yoshika puts things as bluntly and embarrassingly as possible. Yes, Sanya and Eila got in a fight and Eila wants to make up. Shizuka adds her own bluntness. Eila gets the tag team from Shizuka and Yoshika. Eila has the payback. Har. Shizuka is “above average.” Big boob fanatic Yoshika just learned something useful. Everybody loves Yoshika.
Oh, so now Sanya tells Eila why she wanted to dispatch the Fog Nueroi so badly. That could have helped before she grounded her soulmate. Eila took the news well. Shizuka sides with Sanya because Eila disobeyed orders. Eila didn’t understand what Sanya meant about Minna running out of time. Her and Trude’s 20th birthdays are coming soon, so if the Kiel port is out of operation, they won’t be Strike Witches anymore, or able to help take back their homeland. Sanya has a personal motivation because Orussia fell to the Neuroi too. Oh! Eila just figured something out with light beams traveling right through a tree decoration. Smart girl. Time to rescue her girlfriend.
Ugh. Sanya’s crew took out the visible Neuroi, but the core is somewhere else. Sanya realized her mistake. What a coincidence that the controller core looks like a tree decoration. Strike Witches follows the formula. The hero always arrives right on time. Eila will use her foresight to direct her partner’s shot. Teamwork! Boom goes the dynamite. The fog clears from the skies and between Eila and Sanya.
Merry Christmas! I mean, Happy Saturnus Festival! Eila even received a present from Sanya. It’s her best day ever.
Next time, we concentrate on Minna’s butt. Yeah! Oh? Oh, her sky. Minna’s Sky. I’m sure that’s important too.
Strike Witches Road to Berlin streams on Crunchyroll and VRV.
