Welcome to the wonderful and luminous world!!!

Hello! How are you? I have been struggling to get enough time to write up a new blog post while balancing work, family, and other responsibilities. Blogging has been a way for me to express myself and share my passion for anime with the world for a long time. I will continue to maintain this blog for my love of anime. Remember the recent blog post on the OP for Strike Witches season 1? Another way I express my love for anime. YEAH!

Time for Luminous Witches to come on the stage!!!

Anyway, time to get into what I'm about to write in this blog post. Despite my busy life, I decided to write about Luminous Witches right after I talked about Bocchi the Rock and its opening theme song.  So, let's not waste any more time and dive into it!

WARNING:-

SPOILER ALERT! This post is very likely to contain spoilers for this anime. So, if you are planning to watch the anime without any spoilers, you can either continue to read this post or move on and watch the anime.

P.S. If you want to be spoiled, well, go ahead and read it. You HAD been warned. Don't blame me for being spoiled if you INSIST on continuing to read this post.

Introduction

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Anime!

Luminous Witches (in Japanese, 連盟空軍航空魔法音楽隊 ルミナスウィッチーズ; lit. "League of Nations Air Forces (LNAF) Aviation Magic Band Luminous Witches") is a spin-off anime of the main Strike Witches anime series, featuring a namesake group of witches. It is also known as Idol Witches (in Japanese, 音楽隊ウィッチーズ; lit. "Music Squadron Witches"). The anime was set to be released in 2021, but it was postponed to 2022 due to several voice actors retiring because of health issues. This one is the World Witches series without the fighting and much lesser fanservice. Anyway, let's get to the next section.

Cute girls!!!

Plot

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More fighting...

The story starts with the usual Strike Witches narrative, which is the girls with flying gadgets fighting the invaders, the Neuroi but with a catch. In the midst of all of these, there are a bunch of girls who can use magic and fly but are not suited for battle joined a group that serves no purpose in fighting. Yes, this is where the story goes.

Finding something interesting...

Finding something interesting...

Back to the story. Three years after the evacuation of Dunkirk, while humanity's war against the Neuroi continues, on that night, a certain loli girl named Virginia Robertson meets with a magical creature that grants her magical powers. This magical creature looks like a round bird when there is no magical light around it. Anyway, little did she know, this creature will be the one that grants magical powers and thus becoming a witch.

Grace had a hard time...

The girls' first meeting with each other

Three years after, the retired Witch Grace Maitland Steward unsuccessfully tries to petition the military to support the creation of a musical unit to improve morale on the homefront, as she believes music has the power to save people. Meanwhile, young witches Virginia Robertson, Shibuya Inori, and Lyudmila Andreyevna Ruslanova end up encountering each other in London.

Aira as a singer

Virginia's singing

Lyudmila tells them about her admiration of the former Witch ace Aira Paivikki Linnamaa, who has now become a singer together with Eleonore Giovanna Gassion. Excited, Virginia begins singing as well, revealing her Night Witch powers that enhance her voice. Grace happens to hear Virginia's singing and is inspired with a newfound resolve.

The poster that changes everything...

That night that got Virginia joining the squad

The next day, various witches who are struggling in military training, including Lyudmila, see a flier advertising for Witches to join the "League of Nations Air Forces Band". Oh, by the way, Virginia did not join that band together with the girls and only joins Lyudmila decided to find her. Why she didn't join? Well, she went to London for a different reason, which is to find the origin and homeland of her magical creature, Moffy.

Their first performance

Their performance in Liberion

Anyway, the team is being assembled and the tour begins. It begins in a local village near London. It was a success in spite of some struggles. From this place, it is where they get the name "Luminous Witches". It slowly grew and even perform in New York City, The USA Liberion.

That moment...another turning point

After their tour and returning to the UK Britannia, things changed. Virginia once again mentions that she wants to find the homeland of Moffy. Through the search for Grace's former pet cat being a success, they also found Moffy's family via Eleonore. She shows Moffy a black swan feather and leads them to a nearby pond where an entire flock of black swans are waiting. Virginia says her goodbyes to Moffy and returns her to the flock. As they fly away, Virginia loses her ability to see them, meaning she has also lost her Witch powers. With that, Virginia decided to leave the team and return to her hometown.

Ginny left...

Virginia is back!!!

The pain of Virginia's departure leaves the team in agony, including Virginia herself. The team is still preparing for the big performance in Gallia in spite of that. Meanwhile, Virginia returns to her family but finds it difficult to adjust to her old life. After she hears a crowd singing one of the Luminous Witches' songs, Virginia realizes her place is with the band and rejoins them right before they are due to depart for Gallia. With that, Virginia rejoins the Luminous Witches.

Moffy is back!!!

With Virginia back, they adjust their performance accordingly because of Virginia's inability to use magic due to Moffy's departure. On the night of the liberation ceremony, the Luminous Witches begin their performance. However, in the middle of the concert, Moffy returns and becomes Virginia's familiar again, restoring her Witch powers and empowering her into her true form. Wow!!! Anyway, the performance was a great success and these girls continue their journey as a flying...I mean, as the band Luminous Witches. Happily ever after. The end. OK, moving on.

Happy ever after! YEAH!!!!

Anime Rating

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Story (Rating: 10/10)

The story is cute, funny and sometimes a bit sad and touching. The ups and downs of the anime bring us into the world where these girls grow as a person and as a team. Cute and wholesome, isn't it? Anyway, the pacing and flow of the story are well done.

That agonising moment...

Art and Animation (Rating: 8/10)

The mix of 3D and 2D during the performance sequence can sometimes make the animation look a little weird but overall, there is no huge issue with it. The girls are cute by the way. xD

Their first performance...it's starting!!!

Sound and Music (Rating: 10/10)

The song and music...they are all very good. That's all I can say.

The opening sequence

Characters (Rating: 8/10)

Each character in the team has their moment have their growth. All of them have agonising and happy moments, especially with Virginia. That moment to me is definitely the most defining moment. They are quite likeable but they are characters in other anime that I like more.

The moment when Ginny wants to return

Enjoyment (Rating: 10/10)

Great show. Great anime. The story is pretty simple and fantastic. I like it. Nothing more that I could add.

LOL!

Overall Rating: 9.2 (9)/10

Screenshots

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That moment with Aira

Aira and Eleonore's performance

Luminous Witches' performance in Romagna

Manaia and Maria's moment...

Time for sauna!!!

The Strike Witches are back!!!!!!

Luminous Witches' Fuso moment

PV/Trailer

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Conclusion

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Hi! Nice to see you here. Getting this blog post is still a challenge because I wanna do so many things but have too little time to do them all. I think I should put down some gaming time for the sake of some more productive activities. Anyway, this series is a side story of the World Witches series that happens during the events of the first season of Strike Witches. Well, that's the end of this blog post. I hope that you enjoy reading and browsing this blog. Goodbye, and God bless you!

A cute loli girl for you!