The premise is ridiculous on its face, so the show commits completely and never winks at the camera. The aerial combat is genuinely sharp, fast, three-dimensional, easy to follow, and it earns the character work by making you care about these girls before the camera ever lingers on their legs. It knows exactly what it is: a show about competence under impossible odds, dressed in fanservice that never apologizes for existing. You're watching girls who are tired, scared, and fighting anyway. The ecchi isn't distraction from the story. It's part of how the show treats them as real people doing an impossible job, not symbols.

The Neuroi, alien invaders of unknown origin, began attacking Earth in 1939, destroying cities and overwhelming conventional armies. To fight back, humanity builds the Striker Unit, a device that amplifies the magic of girls able to wield it so they can battle the Neuroi in the air. By 1944, young witches from around the world serve together in the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, known as the Strike Witches. Yoshika Miyafuji, a teenager with no formal training, decides to join them and must learn to cooperate with her new comrades. The show mixes aerial action and science fiction with plenty of ecchi content.