AnimeJapan happened this past weekend in Tokyo and with it came a virtual boatload of anime news! While we just don’t have the ability to cover every single news item that was revealed at the event, there were definitely some highlights that are worth shining a spotlight on, starting with the official premiere season and promotional video for the upcoming Strike Witches spinoff series, Luminous Witches.
In this new take on the Strike Witches franchise, the story focuses on a special band of witches known as the LNAF Aviation Magic Band Luminous Witches. While other witches within the war against the Neuroi fight the enemy directly, this group of girls helps the war effort in another way: by helping to soothe those who have been displaced by the war with their songs and dances. The series is set to premiere in July 2022 after being delayed from its originally scheduled 2021 premiere.
It’s been a very long road for this project. Can you believe that it was first announced in 2018?! Since that initial announcement, the original cast has undergone several changes including one actress, Kyō Tachibana, going on hiatus in the summer of 2021. That was followed by another actress, Miu Kotasaka, retiring from the industry in late 2021 before the series could be aired. They were both eventually replaced by Rino Yoshikita and Rio Mamesaki.
Shouji Saeki is directing this series at studio SHAFT and, with all the delays and changes, you certainly can’t envy him the task that was put in front of him with this project. With that in mind, it might be worth your time to give this series an extended preview. A lot of people put a lot of hard work into this series over the last four years. Would it hurt any of us to check out the final results?
I’ll admit it, I have a soft spot in my heart for this franchise. I’ve enjoyed the antics of the brave witches around the world who, in an earlier alternate timeline, kept us safe from alien invaders so that we could have a brighter future.
Source: Crunchyroll News
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