Witch Comparisons

  1. The second half of Strike Witches 2's 5th episode is a reasonably close recreation of the 1953 Audrey Hepburn film "Roman Holiday", starring Gregory Peck as Ensign Francesca Lucchini and Audrey Hepburn as the Duchess of Romagna.
    While the details differ, the basic plot is the same in both instances. A member of royalty escapes, ends up meeting the POV character, and having a fun day relaxing in Rome, before returning to their position. It's a really comfy movie, if you're into that sort of thing. The film seems to be a bit of cult classic in Japan for whatever reason.
    Beyond the plot, Strike Witches drops a number of visual references to the film, which I'm documenting here for the sake of having more pages on this site..

  2. After the characters meet, they end up at the Spanish Steps. The establishing shots use the exact same tilt. A neat detail is in the flowers on display in the Strike Witches version. The real steps are covered in Azaleas between April 21st and early May, which matches up nicely with the timeframe of the episode.
  3. At the base of the steps, Lucchini and Maria both stop for Gelato in the same place that Ann does in the film.
  4. Not exactly the same scene, but neither character has any idea about how money works. Lucchini fares better, thanks to her massive bag of money. Poor Ann only has pocket change, which the vendor doesn't bother accepting. He does give her a nice flower, though.
  5. The old "the Mouth of truth ate my hand" gag is recreated faithfully. Maria finds it amusing after a moment, while Ann does that particular shriek that only women in black and white movies can do.
  6. While sightseeing, they both stop at Trevi fountain.
  7. And the Colosseum.
  8. The groups are sitting outside restaurants near the Pantheon. It appears that Miyafuji and Shirley are sitting at the site of Napoletano's Pantheon, while Ann and Joe are sitting on the corner now occupied by a clothes store named Replay. Spot the fountain in the background.

  10. The dress worn by Ann is almost the same as that worn by Duchess Maria at the end of the Strike Witches episode.
  12. Both stories end with a press conference held in a large hall.
  13. Not strictly canon, as it doesn't appear in the episode, but it seems both iterations of the Princess/Duchess character have the exact same frilly handkerchief.
  14. Weird bonus, the girl on the right here is named Francesca.