Set in an alternative world, Izetta pits magic against World War II technology. The story follows Izetta and the Archduchess of a small country Eylstadt as they struggle against the empire of Germania. The anime focuses on Izetta and her relationship with the Archduchess, Finé. It’s basically a light yuri with action and political intrigue. They have a close relationship with mutual dedication, which causes them pain as the conflict wears on.
Izetta the Last Witch focuses on the problem of escalating violence. Finé uses Izetta to defend the small duchy, and her power as a witch overmatches most technology Germania has. Izetta can throw tanks and use medieval weapons to stop bullets and shells. But she is limited to areas with ley lines, veins of magic that she taps to power her spells. Finé’s decision to use Izetta as the ultimate shield starts an arms development race which ends with Germania building a nuclear bomb that uses crystallized magic as its fuel. The nations resisting Germania have their own concerns about Izetta’s powers, driving them to research their own counters to her magic and escalating the bloodiness of the war.
The story captures the way technology snowballs during the course of World War I and World War II. Even after war finishes, the level of escalation remains. Just look at our world. At the end of World War II, nuclear weapons were the apex of escalation. During the Cold War, this continued with hydrogen bombs of ever increasing destructive abilities. In the past, defensive measures developed to combat better weapons. Leather armor became chain mail which became plate armor up until guns rendered plate armor obsolete. After a certain point, offense became the only defense. The only deterrent to nuclear weapons was more nuclear weapons.
Izetta the Last Witch captures this trend. Finé’s duchy had fortresses and defensive lines throughout its lands, but Germania’s superior weapons overwhelmed those defenses. The duchy was unable to build any defense that could counter the weapons. Izetta entered the fray as an offensive-defense strategy. Fortresses and old methods of defense became worthless much as bomb shelters were rendered useless with nuclear weapons. Izetta becomes a symbol of modern war and its almost magical ability to destroy. However, Izetta has a conscience.
The story also features the idea of loyalty to one’s country. Finé is surrounded by people who are willing to give their lives to defend her and the country. Their loyalty even appears blind at times. Even Izetta is willing to die to protect Finé, which cuts Finé to the core. She feels as if she is using Izetta, despite the fact Izetta is serving Finé by choice. Arnold Berkmann, a Germanian officer, provides a counter view to this loyalty. He seeks merely to live and has no true loyalty to his country. The story paints him as despicable for his selfishness, but I found him an interesting and even sympathetic character. He simply doesn’t want to die and doesn’t value his country more than his life. His is a viewpoint that criticizes the virtue of dying for one’s country.
However, Berkmann’s self preservation hints at an interesting fact about war: if no one was willing to die for the idea of country, war wouldn’t happen. War only happens because people are willing to fight and die on behest of a ruling body or person (such as Finé’s countrymen) or an idea of country (such as Germania’s idea of empire). However, if people would value their individual lives more than these two aspects, war would be harder to pursue. Berkmann doesn’t begin with this idea, but events in his part of the story breaks his dedication to Germania’s empire and king. He realizes his country wasn’t worth his life and decides to do whatever is necessary to survive, fortunately for Izetta and Finé.
The anime touches on the idea that self-sacrifice becomes fruitless if the country loses the war. Many characters give their lives in the battles and espionage, but their deaths do little to change the ultimate course of the conflict. Only those in power, such as Finé and Izetta, have the power to shift the conflict. The soldier that dies defending his home, only to have his home obliterated anyway, died fruitlessly. Of course, all of these themes, questions, and commentary are held in the subtext of the story. Characters don’t fall into philosophical musings. Instead, the anime ponders these ideas through its visuals–dead defenders failing to defend their homes–and indirect commentary by characters like Berkmann.
Izetta and Finé’s relationship brings sweet moments to a rather serious story, and the relationship keeps the social commentary from being too overbearing. The commentary happens around the pair, often without their knowledge. As for the anime itself, the animation is solid and the armaments are mostly accurate. It’s an interesting alternative story about World War II. Unfortunately, the anime falls into the usual, tired fanservice comedy. Normally, I just overlook it. After all, nearly all anime anymore has these tired scenes (can’t writers think of anything different then accidental nudity as “humor”?), but these scenes felt out of place and jarring with the greater events. They only serve to sexualize Izetta and downplay her strength as a witch-warrior. This happens often in anime whenever you have a female character. These women are sexualized to make them more palatable for segments of the male audience. It is tired and has no place at all in a story like this. Anime has a problem with rampant fanservice and camera pans over a female’s chest or bottom. It undermines the storytelling and the characters. But that’s an issue for the medium in general and less with Izetta: The Last Witch. The story does what anime does–it doesn’t break new ground–but it has enough interesting subtext and observations about war that it is worth a watch.
