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EP. REVIEW: Izetta: The Last Witch

^Well I think the USA comes of better in Izetta than the real one at least in terms of nukes. They get to be the ones to decry the strategic foolishness of nuclear weapons (though not the ones that decry the horror of its use) before they even develop it, possibly leading to them not developing it at all, barring opportunistic hypocrisy, though considering they defeat Germany early and (possibly) don't fight Japan at all, it may not even need to be developed in the US military opinion. And the ones that do complete it are not-Nazi Germany, so all in all the US gets to be the good guy on the issue of nukes at least and the evil of those weapons gets pinned on the group most people consider the worst most evil regime ever (though there are other candidates).

Desa wrote:

Goddammit that ending was bull$h|t! The Germanians shouldn't have lost. Before Izetta entered the picture the Germanians were about to wipe Elystadt off the map with technological and numerical superiority. Izetta only served as a pause button for the inevitable. As soon as she was out of the picture it should've been "resume ownage; New World Order incoming".

Why? That's nonsense. "Wiping Elystadt off the map" does not equal winning WWII; consider that the anime had already established that they had conquered the alt-France and Benelux countries, as well as alt-Austria. Elystadt was a tiny country in the Alps and much less important; that they had a heroic defense comparable to that of Finland in the Winter War before losing was not going to change the overall contours of the war other than a pause. However, the "pause button" meant that they failed to invade the alt-Britain (a failure as big as what the Dunkirk movie will explore.) The entry of the alt-US Atlanta into the war, combined with the foolish breaking of the alliance with the alt-Soviet Union, and the loss of the Germanian Witches of Mass Destruction program spelled certain doom for the Germanians. Remember that the existence of Izetta was repeatedly stated to be the one thing keeping the US out of the war (in this alternate world where Japan wasn't involved and didn't attack Pearl Harbor.)

Certainly in the short run Elystadt would be overrun, but Fine was certainly already positioned for a government-in-exile by being at that meeting. It would have been utterly inconsistent with everything stated in the show for the Germanians to win in the long run.

If you want to complain about that ending, you should have been complaining throughout most of the previous episodes, since it was the only natural conclusion from all the foreshadowing and plot commentary. It doesn't seem like you were, though.

I did like the Berkman as Wernher von Braun scene, very nice. (A little different than how von Braun was treated, of course, but still meant to note the US relying on former Nazi rocket scientists.)

With its final episode, Izetta: The Last Witch delivers on its initial promise and stays true to its nature from back in episode one.

Those who didn't give up on the series due to some of the problems it's had along the way will be rewarded for their patience.

I didn't feel that it cheapened Finé's emotional reactions to Izetta's sacrifice enough to be a problem

This was my major issue with the episode. Izetta's loyalty towards Finé is contrasted against Sophie throughout their battle, but then she... doesn't die, gets a maid, and Finé visiting her all the time. Regardless of how much you have to suspend your disbelief in order for Izetta to even survive that explosion (that also apparently didn't affect anything in its surroundings, because somehow Izetta managed to aim the explosion upwards), it cheapens both Finé's and Izetta's decision so much, to me.

killjoy_the wrote:

This was my major issue with the episode. Izetta's loyalty towards Finé is contrasted against Sophie throughout their battle, but then she... doesn't die, gets a maid, and Finé visiting her all the time. Regardless of how much you have to suspend your disbelief in order for Izetta to even survive that explosion (that also apparently didn't affect anything in its surroundings, because somehow Izetta managed to aim the explosion upwards), it cheapens both Finé's and Izetta's decision so much, to me.

The explosion being channeled upward could have been a deliberate action by Izetta, but more likely it was intended to be symbolic of magic leaving the world. (How many other anime and non-anime series/movies have we seen where a beam of light to the heavens indicates departure from a world?) And I don't find it at all a stretch that Izetta retained just enough magic to keep herself alive and get her back to the ground. Sophie couldn't do that since she was the one being overpowered.

It's pointless to argue about what magic 'splosions can and can't do, it's just pretty ridiculous to specifically hinge your dramatic climax on the heroic sacrifice of a main character and then invalidate that because anything else "would be too sad". You can't have it both ways.