Izetta: The Last Witch 03
Shumatsu no Izetta episode 03
Izetta, Die Letzte Hexe 03

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

The Eylstadt obsolete tank force is obliterated by the Germanian tanks. With the Germanian tanks and troops moving forward on an Eylstadt entrenchment, the Germanian Air Force bombs their lines, causing massive damage. The rest of the Germanian forces move forward, but an intense artillery barrage from Eylstadt slows their advance. Princess Finé is briefed on the situation and is horrified that the best her troops can do is lay down their lives in order to buy time for the other Eylstadt people and troops to flee. She and Major Obermeyer along with other troops are able to observe some of the situation from their location.

Finé stops her troops from going to help their fellow soldiers, reminding them that they will be needed to lay down their lives at a later time. Meanwhile, the Germanian Army general asks for additional help from the Air Force general. Germanian dive bombers begin target bombing Eylstadt possessions. However, they are met by Izetta and a host of lances from the old, medieval castle. She single-handedly destroys the flight of fighter planes, then single-handedly topples every tank. This is observed by Princess Finé and her troops. When Izetta returns, she’s scolded by Finé, who’s happy to have her friend back. Her troops rally because of this victory. Meanwhile, the Germanian generals are stunned by their impossible loss.

Thoughts and Review

Well, without it being too horribly graphic, I have to say that this episode felt a great deal like World War II. Having done a lot of research on the subject in my life, I really appreciated that. Plus, Izetta goes nuts.

Eylstadt Similar to Poland

I haven’t talked about this to date, but the Eylstadt military units always seemed obsolete. Actually, the more I look into it, the more I realize that Aija-do is basing Eylstadt partially on Poland. The tanks of the Eylstadt military are similar to the light tanks used by Poland in World War II.

There are some other allusions to Poland and its fight against Germany. When Izetta is using lances and swords in her battle against the Germanian military, it alludes back to a widely held, but incorrect view of Polish troops using such weapons to try to battle German armored divisions.

One thing missing is the Eylstadt Air Force. I assume they’d have one, but thus far, I’ve seen no evidence of one. In our world, Poland had an Air Force, though many of the planes were hidden away and the pilots went to England for the Battle of Britain.

Either way, I thought these nods to real life World War II elements were a nice thing.

German Blitzkrieg

This episode definitely depicted the German blitzkrieg from World War II pretty well.The Germanian Air Force softens the target with medium bombers (though the more they can eliminate, the better). The Germanian armored divisions come in with infantry and they try to wipe out what’s left. If there’s still resistance, you bring in the dive bombers for more precision bombing and then your armored and infantry forces mop up what’s left and secure the region.

It was amazing that Eylstadt troops were in trenches and had established such throughout as a defense. The World War I trench warfare was made obsolete by the introduction of tanks and even planes to a lesser degree. Assuming this Earth’s history is the same, it is shocking that Eylstadt would still attempt to employ such tactics. Granted, there was some trench warfare in World War II, especially on the Soviet front, but this wasn’t quite the same.

The only thing the Eylstadt forces had were there anti-armor artillery pieces in the high ground. I’m actually surprised that the initial bombing run didn’t try to take out targets in the high ground. Had Izetta not interfered, no doubt the dive bombers would have done their thing.

The White Witch, Izetta

It was fun watching Izetta go nuts on the Germanian forces. It would have been too cliched for Ride of the Valkyries to have soared as Izetta flew, but I don’t care. That would have been AWESOME! Not that the musical selection used was bad, but Izetta and her flight of lances going nuts to that classical tune would have rocked my world.

They didn’t show Izetta slaughtering soldiers, but in my mind, I like to think that if this weren’t an anime, Izetta and her flight of dancing swords would have been taking out enemy soldiers left and right. The episode did show some people dying, but I imaging a bunch of soldiers getting beheaded would be a bridge too far.

Either way, Izetta has now set herself up as the Weisse Hexe, which further sets the table for Major Belkman to be incentivized to capture her.

Princess Finé, the Leader

Princess Finé continues to show why the people love her and why she will make a good queen. Despite her own emotions, she was able to hold them in check, knowing her soldiers on the other ridge were fighting and dying just to buy time. She kept the troops with her from letting their emotions take control of them. And she told them the truth — she would have them lay down their lives, but not at this moment.

Princess Finé chastised herself for being weak, but because of what I’ve just lain out, I think she’s quite strong. However, it was her lament that prompted Izetta to go into action. So if Princess Finé gets a ding, it is there.

If Princess Finé has a weakness, it is Izetta. With Izetta being the last of her kind, combined with being Princess Finé’s friend, I can understand why Finé was upset with Izetta. However, she knows that Izetta did what she could not do.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

I liked that the troops sang what I presume is their national anthem. I liked that they see Izetta as a hero and not a witch to be burned at the stake.

Also, I liked that much of this episode focused on a new character, the young soldier Jonas. Actually, seeing the war through his eyes. He’s clearly an inexperienced soldier. I hope we see more of him. Also, I hope that he can be part of the inner circle. I wouldn’t mind seeing him and Izetta become close.

In the end, Izetta: The Last Witch 03 is a very good episode. We get a good look at the horrors of war as well as what Izetta can do.