Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo
Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches

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"Yamada-kun and the seven witches" was one of the first mangas I ever read back in the day, and because of it, I was mostly up to date and waiting for chapters weekly just became a chore along the way. Three to four years have passed since then and I recently found out that it was finished. Out of a recommendation from a friend I decided to pick it up again from the start and finish it until the end.

All I can say about this manga is that it really understands how high school stories should be done. When I was first reading it, ... my main problems of the series is that it felt like it was going to fall into the endless trap of being a generic slice of life gag story that relied on the gimmick of the "Witches".

Instead, this "gimmick" was used to bring out some of the aspects I yearn for in manga such as, immense character development, and bringing out a story of a life I can look back to with bittersweet memories. In other mangas, high school life seems more of just a convenient setting for easy situations. However, in this manga, high school felt like it was a story of change, and making relationships with people you will still remember 11 years into the future. To conclude, Yamada-kun and the seven witches is about a delinquent who enrolls into a high school that will change his life. But after reading this manga, I feel like this synopsis doesn't do the manga any justice:

Yamada-kun and the seven witches is about a delinquent who changed the lives of others. The story brings upon the casual comedy, intricate romantic and bromantic relationships to create a dramatic yet fulfilling ride through an extraordinary take on a coming of age story set in high school. After a satisfying conclusion to a series that has been nurtured for five years, I almost teared up a bit after realizing that there would be no more. Thank you Yamada, it was fun to be with you along your stupid antics along the years you spent in this manga.

I look forward to the day I take the time to reread this series again!

P.S. I wrote all of this right after finishing the manga. Most of the things I said may be glorified and I can't say for sure if you should trust me or not. Looking back at the manga, I do not regret any second of reading it because of the enjoyment it brings and I think this is enough of a motive to make this manga recommendation.

I'm not overly fond of shonen harem series, but they can be tolerable, and shonen stuff is typically better when helmed by a female author. "Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo" is a fairly enjoyable shonen series, although it's by no means perfect. There are a few big plot holes that get waved over in the final rush to clear up all the mysteries, and the series loses focus past the first arc(s) by creating unnecessarily convoluted melodrama while retaining predictable outcomes.

That said, I did enjoy the series. The art was reasonably well done, and the characters were lots of fun (particularly Urara and Miyamura), although ... plenty of them are either totally dropped from the plot or are reduced to one-dimensionality. Although readers who stretch this manga out over a very extended period of time are less likely to notice this, anyone who reads it quickly will be sure to see these flaws.

I wasn't particularly interested in solving the "mystery" of the supernatural elements of the series. They're fun without question, but were better served as an excuse for character interactions, especially early on. The development between total opposites Urara and Yamada was especially good because of this, but once things settle into full-on Harem mode after the initial arc it kind of gets dull.

One thing that I considered a bit weak was the ecchi. I'm never much of an ecchi fan (preferring actual erotic, sexual, and romantic content as opposed to fan service), but I was hopeful that the series would strike a better balance than it ended up doing. In the initial arc there are moments of great chemistry between Yamada and Urara, and lots of genuinely erotic moments that come up naturally over the course of their relationship. Unlike many shonen female leads, Urara is 100% in control of her sexuality and when this is displayed fully the series strikes gold. Considering there are both shonen and shojo series that handle sexual relationships in a much more natural and realistic way I don't think that my criticisms are asking too much. Sacrificing romance and healthy sexuality in favour of fan service is always disastrous to the narrative, and "Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo" definitely lacks both romantic and sexual payoff despite all the erotic buildup (largely in the first arc, and occasionally past that).

My final complaint has to do with the ending. I absolutely hate the style of ending used in "Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo." Not because it failed to give me what I wanted (aside from some nitpicks surrounding secondary characters and certain details it was satisfactory plot-wise), but because there's a time skip, and structurally it took me out of the moment. The ending is pretty common to shonen mangas however, so if you aren't the type that minds these things then be at ease. Overall the manga is quite strong, and I recommend it to people who are into shonen manga and like romance, but don't want it to be the most dominant or sole element of the storytelling. If, however, you're coming in looking for a romance with other concerns and narrative diversions then "Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo" might be of slightly less appeal.

Other than the art style being iffy at best and quite off-putting often (don't look at their eyes when their head's are tilted), the first large arc of 65ish chapters is okay.
However, after that, where it absolutely should've ended, it continues for another 180 chapters, with 20-30 added characters, and 10-30 added plot lines that NEVER get resolved or touched upon. So many characters just evaporate when they're very important, only to be brought up 30 chapters later to say hi and do nothing. So many relationships are shredded and the characters involved just move on ... with their (INCREDIBLY RUINED) lives instead of giving a single care?
Also, while this is certainly a common plot driver, EVERY drama in this series is caused by the characters having unbelievably bad commination, which is infuriating.
And hoo boy it just gets worse and worse over the last couple volumes, the last one is completely flabbergasting.