Hello everyone,
Let's go ahead for the ninth review in a row (probably I'll try to do something different as I get to watch more anime in these days), this time we'll talk about a series that is very similiar in many regards to the famous Strike Witches.
Yes we're talking about Sky Girls, an original anime series that aired in the 2007, but got somehow forgotten in the midst of many other famous series.
Let's start with a synopsis :
The Weapon Of Raid Machines (WORMs), which devastated the Earth have been sighted once again. Three young girls are gathered at the Oppama base, and trained to pilot Sonic Divers. They learn they have been chosen to save the Earth from destruction. Aboard the secret vessel number 113, the Koryu, Sonic Diver Unit team members Eika, Otoha, and Karen help protect Earth against the WORM threat with their flying exoskeletons
Yes, there is a rather solid link between this and strike witches. Epecially for the alien enemy too powerful to be defeated with normal weapon bits and for the fighting maidens concept.
The main difference between the two series is regarding the HOW these girls are going to fight. First of all in this world there is no magic, there is only science and the Sonic Divers are in the end just a machine! (even if there are some strange supernatural vibes during the end of the series with all the story around the brother of Otoha)
Also the girls are completely novice to the use of this device (instead of the massive army of trained witches) and most of the series is focused on the "learning how to use" and all the relations and problems that the girls found themselves in.
There is however a thing you should note before watching this series. This is a SLOW series, just to see the first enemy it will take 9 episodes and all the development thereafter is at the same speed!
This while it can be stressing if you're looking for a raw battle anime, it gives a lot of time for fleshing out the personality of our characters and the interaction between them. (Loved the onsen episode where they discover the truth behind the Sonic Diver program)
The characters are pretty and you'll find yourself loving them after a while even if maybe you'll also get a little angry at the Otoha loss of will to fight in the end of the series.
My favourite character is by far Eika Ichijou with her serious personality, and great knowledge and physical abilities. She's also criminally cute when she end up in an embarassing situation!
The visual quality of the series is quite high in terms of both characters and backgrounds even thought the girls design isn't the best you can find out there (at least imho) and the animation is consistent enough (there are problems, but nothing exceptionally bad)
The opening animation is quite good to watch and featured some scenes that were not in the actual series, but nothing exceptional.
The sound quality is also top notch, we have many famous seiyuu like Shizuka Itou in Eika Ichijo's role and Ayako Kawasumi in Otoha Sakurano's role and the quality of the whole work from the audio standpoint is quite evident.
I also loved the opening "Virgin's high" by MELL (even thought hearing this from a MELL fan isn't the most objective opinion isn't it? 
)
Concluding, this is a rather normal series, there is nothing exceptional in this series (not in a good or bad sense), if you want to watch some cute girl relating to a new military environment and fighting aliens this is your best pick.
The fanservice isn't excessive so it should be a rather relaxed run!
See you soon,
feal87