Witch Craft Works

Even though they shared the same bus every morning and sat next to each other in class, Ayaka Kagari, the "Princess" of Tougetsu High School, was nothing more than an unreachable idol for Honoka Takamiya. The horde of students who worshipped the "Princess" was merely a nuisance to Honoka, living his lazy, regular high school life.

Everything seemed perfectly normal until, one day, Honoka is attacked out of the blue by a mysterious witch. To his surprise, Ayaka saves his life, revealing herself to be a fire witch on a covert mission to protect Honoka.

From that fateful day, the ordinary life of Honoka is turned upside down as he is thrown into the war between the Workshop Witches, who strive to protect the citizens, and the Tower Witches, who desire to steal a power hidden within him.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kagari, Ayaka Main

Seto, Asami Japanese

Takamiya, Honoka Main

Kobayashi, Yuusuke Japanese

Kuraishi, Tanpopo Supporting

Izawa, Shiori Japanese

Schwarz VI, Chronoire Supporting

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Obama Supporting

Shirai, Yuusuke Japanese

Kagari, Kazane Supporting

Ohara, Sayaka Japanese

Evermillion Supporting

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Kazari, Rin Supporting

Asakura, Momo Japanese

Takamiya, Kasumi Supporting

Kayano, Ai Japanese

Menowa, Mei Supporting

Iida, Yuuko Japanese

Matsukura, Yuuji Producer

Hayashi, Youhei Producer

Kisara, Youhei Producer

Matsushita, Takuya Producer

Reviews

Nov 10, 2024

AnimeExplorer21

Recommended

Man, where do I even start? I just finished Witch Craft Works and I'm still reeling from that adorable finale. I know, I know, it's a 2014 anime, but I'm fashionably late to the party.

I'll admit, the premise had me sold - good witches vs. bad witches, magical action, and a dash of romance. The story follows Takamiya, your average high school guy, and Kagari, the school's resident ice queen (literally). What I loved was how the show made both Takamiya and Kagari the main protagonists. It's not just Takamiya's story; Kagari's mysterious past and growth are just as important.

Now, about Kagari's facial expressions - ... or lack thereof. At first, I thought she was just a beautiful cardboard cutout, but as the series progressed, I started noticing subtle changes. Her stoic demeanor began to crack, revealing a softer side, especially around Takamiya. Their chemistry is undeniable, and I shipped them hard.

The storyline's engaging, but it's not without its flaws. Pacing can be slow, and some episodes feel like filler. However, the world-building and magical system are well-developed. The supporting cast is likable, particularly the Workshop Witches.

Music-wise, it's not memorable, but it gets the job done. Animation's nice, especially during action scenes. The 2014 visuals hold up surprisingly well.

What struck me was how Witch Craft Works balances action, comedy, and romance. It's not overly complex, but it's an enjoyable ride. The movie, which I watched after finishing the series, tied up loose ends nicely.

Overall, Witch Craft Works is a solid 7/10. It won't blow your mind, but it's a cozy watch. If you're in the mood for something light-hearted with a touch of magic, give it a shot.

Random thought: Watching this in 2024, exactly 10 years after its release, made me realize how far anime has come. Yet, Witch Craft Works charm remains.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Feb 29, 2024

Drakestalker

Mixed Feelings

A poor man's Toradora with reversed gender roles meets a poor man's Harry Potter. The result? This thing. Is it good? No. It is enjoyable nonetheless? Sure. It's a pretty shallow rom-com.

For what it's worth, the artwork is very polished. I can tell that a lot of work has been put into making the characters look attractive. Having said that, the actual designs are pretty generic and unimaginative. Furthermore, the series often makes some bizarre choices in terms of color hue. The color palette just looks weird at times.

Regardless, all in all, it's a good looking show, but I would argue it's below J.C.Staff's average. ... The animation is really stiff and it relies heavily on CG. That being said, it was fairly good CG. It did not bother me as much as I would've expected. Still, I would have expected better from the studio that brought us Bakuman, Toradora, Sakurasou, Toaru, and many more.

Anyway, if this sounds like something you'd like, then go ahead and kill some time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Mar 3, 2023

yoakefuyu

Not Recommended

It’s amazing how a show with such an interesting premise could turn out to be so boring. I watched this show because I remember reading the manga and liking it, but now that I think about it, I can’t recall what happened in that manga at all.

Pros:
- The art and animation. There’s a lot of beautiful scenery and background, especially in the latter half of the show, and there is good animation as well, the magic, certain battles, as well as many flying scenes. There is some CGI but I don’t think it detracts from the show at all and is fairly well done.

Mixed:
- Our ... main duo. Takamiya and Kagari do make for a pretty cute pair, the damsel in distress and his knight respectively if you were to simplify it. Plot spoilers aside, you’re set up well to be invested in them, both their relationship as well as who they are individually. I do think the pacing knocks them down a peg unfortunately, as there are a lot of hints to things that go nowhere. Both of their characters suffer too as a result, they honestly just take turns being damsels, but at least Kagari responds with actually doing something about it, while Takamiya just panics and waits for someone else to tell him what to do.

Cons:
- The characters. Theres an awful lot of people to get to know in the span of 12 episodes, so unfortunately basically everyone outside of our main duo is severely underdeveloped. There’s a Team Rocket esque group that the duo deals with through the entire show and only 1 of them is memorable, and I’d argue it’s only because she had a special individual fight scene before the rest show up, there’s nothing I could tell you about the other 4 members of the group that you couldn’t glean from character design, I’m pretty sure only 2 of them show off their magic too. Multiple characters will show up, stick around and act like they’re well established, and then vanish after like, 2 episodes. The school as an entirety sucks too, they’re there to be assholes and that’s about it, there’s few to no consequences for them, nor do they change either.
- Kasumi. Unfortunately they decided to add the trope of incestuous little sister and clueless big brother to this show, as Takamiya’s little sister Kasumi is deeply obsessed with him and wants to get married, but also she doesn’t realize she’s being incestuous, it’s just normal sisterly feelings! Ugh. It’s a shame because she’s got an interesting setup, but they kinda toss it out halfway through and turn her into either a background character or a creep.
- The pacing. The show whiplashes between school shenanigans and witch related conflicts, handwaves plot holes, and doesn’t give enough time for anything to be set up or sink in. Fights are either short or aren’t shown, either Kagari immediately kicks ass or gets her ass kicked, sometimes even offscreen. I ended the season not really having a grasp on anything, and a lot of stuff is left unresolved. It feels like they either knew they weren’t getting another season or they were hoping they would, and you can’t tell which one it was.
- The worldbuilding. You enter the show curious to learn more about the conflict between the Workshop Witches and the Tower Witches, why Takamiya is stuck in the middle of the two, and how the magic system works. The anime doesn’t go past surface level regarding any of those topics, or plops things in with no explanation, resulting in a frustratingly underdeveloped world.

Ultimately I’m not sure how to feel about this show, part of me wants to like it considering that it’s a point of nostalgia, but it’s hard to argue why this show is worth watching. Might be better to check out the manga instead.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Witch Craft Works Episode 6 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Feb 9, 2014	91 replies	by mineandcraft »» May 25, 12:09 AM
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