This was a very fun anime all around, and I warmed to it pretty quickly. It has a very unique pacing and cadence to it, and the animation takes some getting used to, but once you're locked in it makes entire sense. The entire main cast is pretty stunning. Each of the KOTOBUKI members are very distinct and, while sometimes displaying common behavior tropes, always seem to own those tropes in ways unique to their rendition. For instance Kate is a traditional quiet and smart type, but it just feels very genuine with her, and her interpersonal relationships seem to flesh out whyshe's like that without being made plainly obvious. Some of the minor characters are less fleshed and could probably have used less screen time, but the main cast was superb.

The biggest strength of this anime is the dogfighting scenes. The effort that went into beautifully choreographing these scenes is astounding. This is one of the only anime whose sound I've rated a 10, because the effects during these scenes are phenomenal. I found myself unable to so much as look down at snacks for fear I'd miss an awesome maneuver. Especially if you're like me and are somewhat of a military aviation fan, you're really given treats in the reverence the writers show the planes and their abilities. It's this reason that led me to nickname the anime "Girls und Planezer".

The dialogue cadence is really, really tough to get used to. The pacing is just much faster than most anime, which has a lot of established rhythm to it. You really have to pay attention to catch everything being said, and sometimes it can get a bit confusing. I think this was both a strength and a weakness of the show, because it was hard to deal with and I'm sure put some people off, but it allowed them to cram so much information about their deeply-built world into their 12 episodes. It's something I'd like to see tried more often.

If I had to point out weak parts, I'd say that the secondary characters are often annoying and too present in the plot, and that there were too many fanservice characters. While I like the idea of having one or maybe two characters who choose to dress provocatively or who have a sexualized aesthetic, the cast was pretty well-populated with fanservice-heavy side characters. The stick-angle shots weren't really my cup of tea. But all in all, I really liked the cast.

I'd recommend this anime for anyone who likes dogfights, who likes cute girls doing military things, and is cool with the military-without-fatalities style of plot which was previously characterized in Girls und Panzer.