Anime: Shuumatsu no Izetta

Review
Shumatsu no Izetta (Izetta: The Last Witch) is a charming tale that has already been told hundreds of time in animation, movies, and other media. It follows the trend of Valkyria Chronicles, GATE, and the other medieval releases of the last few years, mixing guns and magic in a story that is told at a decent pace but with a generic atmosphere.

It begins as the German Empire starts its march towards the small mountain principality of Elystadt. Princess Fiine, a young natural leader, attempts to forge an alliance with the more powerful nations to the north to defend her land, yet it seems few are interested in wasting their military prowess against the massive evil empire for the sake of a small nation. This all changes as Izetta, the last remaining witch of the region and an old acquaintance of the princess, breaks free of her captivity and decides to help Elystadt and its people.

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1. An Alternative World
   Izetta: The Last Witch is told in an alternative World War II setting, with Elystadt being some kind of nation located where Switzerland is. The show mentions the southern Italy, Great Britain, France, Poland, and many other nations with different names and takes a fantastic approach to the event that shaped our modern world. Like Code Geass and Man in the High Castle, this kind of setting is helpful by making it feel familiar to the audience, yet allowing you to think out of the box and imagine alternative ends and events to the second war.
   
   It's Decently Paced
   Although marred by anime tropes and an art style that has zero difference from anything else released in the past five years, Izetta: The Last Witch is a compact show in its dozen episodes, delivering action, resolving conflicts, and rarely wasting its time with the annoying fan services plaguing the industry. Unlike GATE and Junketsu no Maria, it rarely tries to be comical and force an ecchi scene even when the two protagonists are cute lolis. It does have breast-size comparison and some naked scenes, but fortunately it never keeps its focus there.
   
   The cast, however...
   Izetta and Fiine form a bond of love and friendship and this is fine. Yet, everything else feels lifeless, with shallow motivations to its darkest characters and many villains being so barely explored they lack any real impact. Dumb generals, cute maid, cute bodyguard, evil-looking four-eyes villain, and so on. No one seems to attempt to break their stereotypes, and it gets exhausting watching this same thing thousands of times in the industry. There is no theatrical play such as in Code Geass to turn the alternative world into something stylish, there are no indeepth analysis of anyone's mind, and there are rarely interactions between the cast beyond Fiine and her vassals. For an interesting setting, this is certainly a let down.
   
   A mediocre production too
   As mentioned above, Izetta: The Last Witch tries nothing to give itself some style. It feels and looks like the vast majority of shows released in the past years, which means we have the cute girls, big eyes, bright colors, and a light presentation overall. The animation does have its merit on some good combat coreography and packed action moments, but it seems a studio as old as Aji-dou is still struggling to find a place of its own and prefers to play it safe by releasing a show that will definetely not angry the conservative otaku fanbase. A pity, because some style, a darker atmosphere, or perhaps a more mystical take on the witch side would do good for this show.
   

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Comments
Izetta: The Last Witch is a safe shounen experience. It attempts to do nothing new, remaining strictly guided by the most common trends and events of modern japanese animation. It has a decent pace, a charming tale of friendship and ancient history when a small kingdom defends itself against a massive empire, and many others small positives that make it worthwhile despite its conservative approach.

Those who have long been in the industry and played games such as Final Fantasy XII, watched animations in the 90's, and have been exposed to medieval tales will find this formulae one of the most used and tired of all, one that can only succeed when it tries something out of the box, which Izetta: The Last Witch never does. Anyway, a decent experience for one of the poorest years of the industry in my recent memory.