LogFAQs > #968492454

Luminous Witches rose from it's placeholder rank of 168 to 167. Shine Post is coming up next and also rose one spot to 166. They both beat Phantom of the Idol, which fell to 168, but not Music Girls at 165.

167. Luminous Witches
https://myanimelist.net/anime/38006/Renmei_Kuugun_Koukuu_Mahou_Ongakutai_Luminous_Witches
Summer 2022 (12 episodes)
My Score: 4/10, MAL Score: 6.67/10
Best Character: Virginia Robertson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K65NaMehqMg

Premise: Another spinoff from the Strike Witches franchise. The war against the alien Neuroi continues, largely fought by witches, young girls with magical powers. Not all witches are adept at fighting, however, so nine of them form a music group to put on shows and raise morale.

The Good: Luminous Witches is an idol anime, which thankfully sets it apart from the bad Brave Witches and disappointing Strike Witches. I complained plenty about the Neuroi and the ripoff WW2 setting in those write-ups, so it's good both are only background elements in LW. This is little more than a standard idol anime, but thats okay because I like idol anime. Various girls come together, get to know each other, practice, create dance routines and costumes, write songs, and it all culminates in a nice show. I liked all of the girls, though none of them were complex characters. I also liked the slight twists in the typical idol formula that this had, such as incorporating flying into their shows or going on a world tour.

The Bad: Unlike Strike or Brave, Luminous Witches didn't do anything especially bad. Its ranking is mostly held back because the few new things it brings to the idol genre don't outweigh the many ways in which it's a typical idol anime. There's also an overarching plot with Ginny trying to bring her owl familiar back to its family, and I got nothing out of that at all. It was never clear to me how her familiar was different from everyone else's or why it needed to go home when theirs didn't, so that whole quest fell flat for me.

Overall: Luminous Witches was a nice idol anime with decent characters, good songs, and a few new ideas. I was glad it avoided falling into the pitfalls of the rest of the franchise. Ultimately, however, there wasn't enough to set this apart from a typical idol anime. It wasnt bad, it just also wasn't special.