Brave Witches

In September 1944, in the city of Sasebo in Fuso, a young witch-in-training named Hikari Karibuchi reunites with her sister Takami, who is part of the Third Aerial Squadron. Discovering that Takami is to be dispatched to Petersburg, Orussia, to join the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing, also known as the Brave Witches, Hikari decides to participate in a selection exam to be dispatched to Petersburg as well to join her sister, competing against fellow classmate Mia Misumi in a mock battle race. However, when Mia crashes and falls into the ocean, Hikari uses her magic to pull her out of the waters and rescue her. Having passed her exam despite technically not finishing it, Hikari is dispatched to Europe, where a new Neuroi Nest is forming. (Source: Wikipedia)

On their journey to Europe, Takami tells Hikari about how she can hear the voice of her prototype Striker Unit, nicknamed Chidori. The next day, Takami is dispatched to fight a fleet of Neuroi craft appearing near the ship. Struggling with the large numbers, Takami is forced to use her Absolute Eye ability to destroy the fleet, but her excessive use of the ability quickly incapacitates her. Regretting how she was unable to protect her sister, Hikari borrows her Striker Unit and attempts to hold off the incoming Neuroi until the Brave Witches arrive to destroy them. With Takami rendered unconscious, Hikari asks to join the Brave Witches in her place, much to the dismay of Takami's close friend, Naoe Kanno. (Source: Wikipedia)

At Petersburg, Hikari meets the other members of the Brave Witches, including Nikka "Nipa" Edvardine Katajainen. As Hikari begins her training, squadron leader Gundula Rall and trainer Edytha Rossmann discover that her magic is insufficient to properly use Chidori. When Hikari mentions that she can use a special ability to see a Neuroi's core called Contact Eye, she is dispatched to fight a Neuroi ship with the other Witches. During the assault, Hikari is unable to replicate her Contact Eye, causing Gundula and Edytha to consider deporting her to Sasebo. Later, as Hikari and Naoe go to recover Nipa, who had crashed during the earlier battle, they end up encountering another Neuroi. With Naoe struggling to fight the Neuroi at a high altitude, Hikari and Nipa distract the Neuroi and buy Naoe enough time to destroy it. After reading Naoe's report, Gundula and Edytha decide to give Hikari one more week to prove herself. (Source: Wikipedia)

After discovering Hikari's weak magic during training, Edytha tasks her with climbing a tall pillar using only her magic and retrieve a hat from its top within one week. While Hikari remains persistent despite the test's high difficulty, she discovers that Edytha's strictness with her relates to how one of her previous students, who was also magically weak, got seriously injured in battle. On the seventh day, Edytha tells Hikari to redirect her magic into her hands, which allows her to climb the pillar more efficiently. Deliberately provoked by Naoe, Hikari successfully retrieves the hat and, having completed her training, joins the others on their mission to fight another Neuroi ship. After colliding with the Neuroi, Hikari uses her Contact Eye to see its core, which allows the Witches to destroy it. Later, Hikari is advised not to use her Contact Eye again because Takami's excessive use of her Absolute Eye has already rendered her unconscious. (Source: Wikipedia)

Hikari befriends fellow Witch Georgette Lemare, who cleans the Witches's rooms and can use magic to heal injuries. Later, Hikari is dispatched on a recon mission to Petrozavodsk with both Georgette and the team's chef, Sadako Shimohara. Upon arriving in Petrozavodsk, the girls discover the town has been frozen by a blizzard caused by a Neuroi. Desiring to prove herself as a Witch, Sadako leads an assault against the Neuroi, but it freezes their Striker Units with its cold breath and causes the Witches to crash-land on the snow below. With Hikari suffering from frostbite, Sadako and Georgette are forced to take shelter in the snow and keep Hikari warm with their body heat. After Hikari regains consciousness, Georgette laments how she could not fully heal Takami, but Hikari thanks her for rescuing Takami in the first place. Unable to contact the Petersburg base about the oncoming Neuroi headed their way, Sadako devises a plan using materials from a nearby tank. Using flaming arrows to break through the Neuroi's frozen exterior, the Witches destroy it and return to Petersburg. (Source: Wikipedia)

The Witches learn that a marker-type Neuroi is hiding somewhere in a nearby town, sending signals to launch pinpoint attacks from outside. While pursuing the shape-shifting marker Neuroi alongside Hikari and Nipa, combat leader Alexsandra "Sasha" Ivanovna Pokryshkin experiences a flashback of the town, despite saying that she was never there before. While pondering why she has this memory, Sasha becomes annoyed with Nipa for drawing a doodle of a ladybug in her Striker Unit. The following day, after encountering the marker Neuroi again, Sasha remembers that she once came to this town to visit her grandmother and had sealed her memories out of fear of being marginalized as a Witch after using her magic in public. Using her recovered memories, Sasha discovers the marker Neuroi and destroys it, but not before it signals for one final attack on the town. Despite orders to evacuate, Nipa intercepts the shell and saves the town, later explaining that the doodle she drew in Sasha's Striker Unit was in gratitude for the "Good luck" message she wrote in hers. (Source: Wikipedia)

In December, a fever attacks Hikari after Nipa takes her out sledding. To cheer up Hikari, who feels bad that her low magic ability led to her catching the fever, Nipa has the other Witches organize the Saturnus Festival, which was scheduled to be canceled due to food shortages. As the Witches work on preparing the festivities, Nipa tells Hikari about how the previous year's festival helped her fit in with the Brave Witches. The plans deteriorate rapidly as everyone ends up in laughing fits after eating some strange mushrooms, leaving Nipa as the sole Witch who can fight off an attacking Neuroi. With Nipa struggling against the Neuroi's camouflage ability, the 501st Joint Fighter Wing's Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen and Sanya Litvyak arrive to help her destroy it. Later, Eila and Sanya deliver some supplies for the festival, helping to make it a heart-warming experience for Hikari. (Source: Wikipedia)

Among the gifts delivered by Eila, including a FP-45 Liberator charm, the Witches discover some microfilms containing secret information about the Warlock, which was destroyed by the Strike Witches in Brittania after it went berserk. Thinking that a secret weapon is being sent to them among a cargo shipment, Waltrud Krupinski, along with Hikari, Naoe and Nipa, are dispatched to assist a Brittanian Witch in escorting the delivery fleet to Murmansk. While Naoe and Nipa test new Striker Units at the Murmansk base ahead of the fleet's arrival, Waltrud drinks liberal amounts of "grape juice" and develops a hangover. When a group of Neuroi suddenly appear before the Witches, Waltrud sobers up and assumes command of the mission. After Waltrud destroys the Neuroi, she is struck by some flying debris but is protected by the charm that Hikari had given her earlier. As Waltrud is hospitalized, the Neuroi regenerates itself, dragging Waltrud's Striker Unit with it. (Source: Wikipedia)

Concerned about not getting updates on Takami's condition, Hikari hears from Naoe about why she is determined to fight the Neuroi. When a Neuroi threatens to cut off supplies from Petrozavodsk once again, Naoe recklessly rushes into the oncoming fire and causes Sasha to get injured when she steps in to protect her. The next day, the Witches launch a counterattack against the Neuroi, which splits into multiple parts to keep its core hidden. Unwilling to let the Neuroi cut off the supply lines, Hikari gets permission to use her Contact Eye, but Naoe is hesitant to assist her out of fear of having someone injured again. After being convinced to regain her determination by Hikari, Naoe helps her find the core and destroy it, eventually accepting her as her partner. Meanwhile, Takami finally regains consciousness after being healed by the 501st Joint Fighter Wing's Yoshika Miyafuji. (Source: Wikipedia)