Izetta: The Last Witch (Blu-Ray Set Review)

By: MithrandielAs a history nut, World War II was already interesting enough to learn about. Now toss in magic users and a thrilling underdog story - you're on your way to conceptualizing Izetta: The Last Witch. Originally aired during the Fall 2016 season, Izetta follows the story of Ortfiné Fredericka von Eylstadt (known commonly as Finé), the recently crowned sovereign of Eylstadt as she struggles against the might of the Germanian empire. During a daring kidnapping, she uncovers the body of childhood friend and the last Witch of Eylstadt - Izetta. Awakened from her slumber and spurred to protect her childhood friend, Izetta is employed as Eylstadt's secret weapon in their uphill battle against Germania.Now, I shared my thoughts on the series as a whole back in late 2016, but it has since been lost to an unfortunate data-corruption incident. Regardless, I'll share my thoughts briefly before moving on to the blu-ray set review.Izetta starts off splendidly well. In fact, it's among one of my favorite opening episodes in recent memory. The animation is superb, the action is consistent, the world-building is unique and interesting. It maintains this quality for a few more episodes before the narrative begins to get muddled. There are some compelling character arcs, particularly around the young soldier Jonas, but ultimately Izetta can't help but fall into a number of predictable and occasionally perplexing narrative choices. The ending feels extremely rushed and haphazard, and the final villain is painfully predictable.That being said - damn it's pretty to look at.The blu-ray set is similar to many of Funimation's standard releases, though the minor change in having the cardboard sleeve and the cover art on the set itself be different was cool to see.Of course, inside there's an alternate cover you can use if you wish:Also in line with their standard releases, Izetta: The Last Witch features no real extras. Promo videos...that's pretty much it.In the same shipment that I got this set in, I also got Keijo! and Attack on Titan Season 2, which both offer much more in terms of bonuses and extras. I suppose if the series had a bigger following or made more of a...ahem...splash, then perhaps we'd see more investment in producing some extra trinkets, director/VA commentary or other extras of note. However, my guess is that since Izetta ultimately didn't live up to the hype, Funimation opted for a standard release.If you were a fan of the show, no doubt you'll make your way over to Funimation's website to pick this up. If you're a big fan of World War II environments and narratives, this might also pique your interest. For me, however, it's unfortunate that a show with so much potential ultimately ended up being a flop.