>>Can't help but notice Shirley spending some time with Lucchini, there,
>>in the infirmary. I have no idea whether they're anything but
>>roommates at this point
>
>Nah, no need to play this one coyly: despite there being only about
>three years' difference in their ages, Shirley's more like a surrogate
>mother figure (or at least a very mom-like big sister) to Lucchini.
>She's there because she's worried as hell, they're very close; but not
>in that way.

Gotcha. I -did- wonder, but...well, everyone else in the original 501 is hooked up at that point and I was thinking it'd be a bit of a forced issue for every single original member to pair off with each other. =)

>
>>--Lucchini, after all, has made it a point to
>>not grow up, and I'm not sure Shirley has expressed an interest in
>>either gender on camera yet
>
>Canonically, I can't recall any particular evidence of bias in either
>direction on Shirley's part. She seems to be Too Busy For That
>generally, albeit not in a driven-self-denial sort of way; she's just
>doin' other stuff. Lacking official direction (or even much in the
>way of insinuation) on this point, I'm proceeding under the assumption
>that she's a 1 or 2 on the Kinsey scale and just happens to be on a
>show where men are mostly invisible. :)

I think that's a fair assumption. If she had had a hankering for beautiful women, she certainly had plenty of opportunity to show it already.

>
>>--but her monumental fuckup in the last
>>installment might get her to grow up a little if anything can...
>>
>>I'd say it's about time.
>
>That was, in fact, one of the notions behind the development of that
>segment, although, obviously, it's nowhere near played out yet. The
>trick is to let her grow without losing what makes her who she is in
>the process. Stay tuned.

Absolutely. I thought it was pretty obvious everyone else was changing and growing and this was the kick in the ass Lucchini needed to join that crowd. Complacency and laziness are her whole schtick, and when she's not front and center she's comic relief. The front and center had to happen sometime.

>
>>Also, Neuroi-chan. I have no notion what the manga says about the
>>Neuroi, but I doubt they'll come up with an explanation half as good
>>as what we'll eventually see in this story. But the parallels with the
>>Fleet of Fog are...undeniable, aren't they?
>
>In fairness, there are only so many ways to play the
>inscrutable-semi-polymorphous-alien-blowin'-stuff-up-machine card. :)
>
I have a feeling that entirely true fact is more of a commentary on cliche anime plotlines than a critique on Strike Witches in particular.

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Fearless creatures, we all learn to fight the Reaper
Can't defeat Her, so instead I'll have to be Her