Common Name: Shuumatsu no Izetta
Alternative Names: Izetta: The Last Witch, Izetta: Die Letzte Hexe
Score: 6/10, 1/5
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre: Magic, Military, Action
Summary: The country of Elystadt has long stood as a country of peace with a kind people and a magic-filled history. Long ago, the White Witch swore loyalty to a prince and protected his small country from invasion. But now witches and magic are nothing more than myth to an age of technology and turmoil. Like the countries of old, the militant country of Germania has set it's sights on Elystadt. When little hope remains for the tiny nation, the world's last witch makes herself known and is determined to prove that her homeland is still protected.
Review: I've noticed lately that media has a certain kind of morbid fascination with the second World War, and it's really not hard to see why. For starters, it can still be considered a relatively recent event in terms of global history. Heck there are people still alive today who actually lived through that conflict. More than that though, World War 2 featured some of the best publicized tragedies in history. Put simply, it's just the perfect setting where you can divide the world into good and evil or right and wrong just by looking at a map and then you just build the story up from there. So, I can't help but wonder why Shuumatsu no Izetta decided not to use the theater of WWII as the setting for it's story. Aaaaaaand scene.
In case you can't read dripping sarcasm, let me make this clear: Shuumatsu no Izetta is ABSOLUTELY a WWII story. No matter how you look at it, the Germanian Empire is Nazi Germany and the peaceful nation of Elystast is meant to be function as a more vulnerable version of Switzerland. Here's the thing though, it's not just a WWII story. It's a WWII story that's pits industrial age weaponry against a single war mage--our titular protagonist, Izetta. How is that not the perfect formula for a grand slam in the anime industry? What could possibly ruin such an easily made and catharsis-inducing story? Where do I even begin?
Though Shuumatsu no Izetta is a show with many, many faults that poisons the overall experience, I should probably start with the show's most glaring flaw and then build up from there. Put simply, the show just isn't convincing, or, to put it in terms typically used for gaming, it wasn't an immersive experience. Outside of the show's first, and probably best, episode, I was never engaged by even interested in what the show was dishing out. The first thing any work of fiction needs to do is grab it's audience's interest and then hold that interest until the story is complete. Now, I'm not saying that the work needs to make sense or be believable. If that was a requirement things like Strike Witches, Hellsing, or Jojo's Bizzare Adventure wouldn't exist. What I'm talking about is the ability to convince the audience that your story is one worth telling, and that sales pitch, for lack of better word, is something that can be ruined by even the smallest of details. In the case of Izetta, the experience was ruined for me by it's heavy-handed and frankly predictable storytelling and the show's bizzare argument with reality.
To explain that latter criticism let me make something clear once more: Shuumatsu no Izetta is a WWII story. This truth was made blatantly clear from the word go. In a lot of the show's promotional material, as well as during its first episode, we got a map that highlighted the aggression of the Germanian Empire.
Doesn't that symbol and those arrows just scream evil.
As you can see, this empire is, for starters, located in Europe. It even takes up the same space that Germany did during WWII. It's soldiers go around posturing and shouting "Sieg Riech!" at every opportunity. If that wasn't enough for you, the first promotional material for the show featured the tagline "If I am promised to the princess, then I will fight for her sake," but more on that later. Following that tagline were these words: "In 1939 C.E., the imperialist nation of Germania invaded a neighboring country. All at once, that war spread throughout Europe, and the era was dragged into a spiral of a great war." Huh, why does that sound so familiar? So, if it looks like a Nazi Germany, display's nationalist propaganda like a Nazi Germany, and invades other nations like a Nazi Germany, it's clearly an allegory for Nazi Germany, right? Apparently not.
While it isn't uncommon for a show to change the names of place, peoples, or even particular battles, Izetta somehow does it in a way that's just off-putting. Throughout the show, there are little tiny details that get dropped here and there that are meant to flesh out the world space. The most common of these details are the names of other countries, but here's the thing. Even though the details themselves are tiny, they become easily distracting because the goes a bit overboard. While we see fairly standard names like Germania and Britania there are lots of other names that just detract from the show's legitimacy. Among the worst of these are The United States of Atlanta which is pretty obvious; Livonia which I believe is supposed to be Poland; and the Republic of Thermidor, which I can only assume is supposed to be France since that name is a reference to the 11th month of the French Republican calendar (which runs from Mid-July to Mid-August). Now, I realize nit-picking about the show's strange naming conventions could simply be my purist nature eking into my critical opinion, but there are dozens of little details and differences like this that litter the show. It's like this show is trying to say it isn't an allegory for Nazi Germany and the second World War in spite of the fact that the show draws so heavily from history that no other conclusion can be drawn.
Exhibit A: Allegorical Adolf Hitler next to his gay lover, Allegorical Eva Braun.
So, instead of ignoring these tiny details for the sake of being succinct and letting the story do it's own thing, the show practically flaunts these little details. It's like a child who's just been caught stealing another kid's toy and is trying to get away with it by saying things like "I don't know what you're talking about" or "It's name isn't USA. It's Atlanta and it's mine." If there is anything good to be gleaned from this childish nonsense, it's that the show is at least consistent in this childishness mentality. Pretty much anything and everything about this show that could be seen as a reference or something "morally questionable" or is just flat out predicable get's a response to the effect of "I don't know what you're talking about" as it either glosses over it or is generally vague to begin with. For example, I've already made my joke about Allegory Adolf having a gay lover, but that little relationship is never officially stated outside of an off-handed comment toward the end of the show. I'll give you three guesses as to why it does that, and does it all the time.
What absolutely kills me most about these bizzare attempts at deniability though is the fact that it does this with the show's plot and main cast as well. To elaborate, I'm confidant in claiming that WWII was a large scale tragedy. I can't think of a single good thing that happened during that conflict. It would be an understatement to say that the situation was hopeless for people the majority of those affected by the war. "I don't know what you're talking about," the show replies.
For the most part, the show does a great job inflicting that general sense of helpless and hopelessness on the characters. More frequently than not though, the show breaks up the serious nature of the war with with long stints of gag comedy and an overabundance of fan service that only objectifies the cast. Yet the cast still acts surprised when they learn that these moments of peace are pretty easily shattered when you're on the losing end of a war. Not once during these moments do they pause to consider tempering their expectations or even, oh I don't know, finding ways to better defend themselves and avoid unnecessary tragedy. So, instead of getting some kind of compelling and believable narrative, we get boobs and heavy-handed tragedy that can be seen from miles away.
Oh, right, since I'm on the topic of breasts, I should also mention the show's main romance. That's right, ROMANCE, and a forbidden one at that.
You know what, nevermind. Clearly, these two are just really good friends.
From the very beginning, the relationship that Princess Ortfiné and Izetta share is pretty obvious. For example, one of Ortfiné's defining characteristics is that she is a renowned tomboy. The show, in fact, brings this up quite frequently and cites it as one of the main reasons her country loves her so much. "I don't know what you're talking about," the show replies. On top of that, Izetta's main, if not only, characteristic is that she is shy and passive by nature, but is willing to move mountains for her princess. To be clear though, she's not that strong....at least not at first. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT," the show replies. I'd also be remiss not to mention the abundance of phallic imagery that surrounds Izetta every time she goes to battle.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT," the show screams to the heavens.
Yet, in spite of all the touching, blushing, and secret broom rides in the middle of the night, the show never goes so far as to legitimize their relationship. "If I am promised to the princess, then I will fight for her sake" was the tagline that this show announced itself to the world with. At some point though, they clearly backed down and decided to gloss over that "promise" in favor of an approach that would make Freud salivate like Pavlov's dog. I'll give you three more guesses why the show took that approach.
Unfortunately, the only answer I can come to is one that's really disappointing. Keep in mind, this show aired at the same time as Yuri!! on Ice and Flipflappers, two shows that are more than happy to embrace what they are because someone might feel better about who they are after watching a show that speaks to them on a personal level. Maybe I'm holding Izetta to an unreasonable standard, but good music, art, and animation, which this show has in spades by the way, doesn't mean a thing to me if it's not willing to own up to what it really is.