Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo

Ever imagined being someone else? That idea may have come across your mind sometime in your life. No really, I’m sure almost everyone at least had that thought once in their lifetime. So what happens when there’s a case of body swapping and you become a person of the opposite gender? I think that would be very peculiar experience. Yamada-kun to 7-in no Majo (Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches) operates under circumstances where two main characters changes their bodies and well, you can guess from here that all sort of drama comes rolling.

The series is adapted from the manga of the same name that runs ... for over 160+ chapters and is still ongoing. Directed by Takuno Seiki, the show is a hit or miss. The hit part could be the comedy as the show really likes to play around a lot with itself. That’s because the body switching gimmick isn’t the only concept explored in this series. If you read the title, you’ll notice the word, “witches”. In a nutshell, there should be expectations that other sorts of magical or supernatural phenomenon will propel itself into the story. And that’s not an understatement. The miss part would be the storytelling. Before the series debuted, it was announced that the series would only be adapted into a 1 cour span of (12 episodes). It’s not a split cour, not a 2 cour, and definitely not a good piece of news to remember in mind.

Make no mistake. The series takes off pretty quick as the pilot episode establishes the body switching gimmick quickly without wasting time. No more than 10 minutes into the series and you’ll see a guy (Yamada) staring into the mirror and realizes that he no longer has “it”. On the other hand, there’s the smart and beautiful Uraha Shiraishi who is now in the body of a delinquent. This all happened by a coincidental event when they landed on each other off a flight of stairs. While this all seems troublesome, they do discover that reversing the effect involves a kiss. This also revives the Supernatural Studies Club, a group of students dedicated in studying supernatural phenomenon. By this point, I think you can get adjusted to the idea of the show. It’s one of those series that really likes to play around with itself from the very beginning. In fact, almost every episode features some sort of unusual circumstance that ends up causing a lot of drama for the main characters.

As a club composed of several members, the series gives the audience some insight on them. The titular character Ryu Yamada is easily noticeable for his delinquent-like traits and personality. Throughout the series, we see him as guy that uses his fist to do the talking although he does care quite a lot about his friends. Uraha is more of a polar opposite. Smart, beautiful, and stoic in a way, she often keeps to herself and is often thinks before she acts. The way the show formulates their relationship at first almost feels like it’s on auto-pilot. Since neither character are similar, they have to learn more about each other. In the story, we see how that progresses with each episode. Unfortunately, I can’t say that their relationship is really believable. While some series can easily capture the audience’s attention with polar opposite characters, this one just ticks a bit way too much with the comedy. Not to mention, we have the kissing part that is used as a plot device. The romance aspect of it feels forced and quickly rushed without developing much for our characters. However, I do have to say that the chemistry between Yamada and Uraha can be surprisingly charming. There’s a genuine mutual respect and feeling the two share as we can easily see that later on in the show. As for the other characters, we have Toranosuke Miyamura who serves more as a middleman, Miyabi Ito with her fascination of supernatural phenomenon, and Kentaro Tsubaki who happens to have a crush on Uraha. While not as prominent as Yamada and Uraha, they do play some key roles in the series. Unfortunately, some of them can be easily forgettable after first impressions.

Then, there are the witches. There’s seven of them including Uraha. The series early on establishes the fact that all of them have a different power. We don’t know most of their powers or how they work until the witches reveal themselves. And as a 1 cour series, the show tries to seize every opportunity to capture that point. However, this is a really sour attempt to get screen time for them. The way the witches are introduced may leave some good first impressions but overall lacks development. Sure, some of them even get a decent characterization but by adaptation standards, too much is left out. The structure of the show suffers a lot from cramming and some episodes even takes a lot to get their own stories started. Also, relationship dynamics are played more for comedy so it’s hard to take it seriously. On the plus side, I have to give some credit to the clever powers that the series introduces. Each witch has a different power and all of them can create some rather entertaining storytelling. Additionally, each of the witches has different personalities so the story does feel a bit refreshing with such a direction.

Despite having a lot of character and story pacing issues, one major aspect of the show that can win its audience over may be the comedy. The series isn’t a parody of witches but it can be genuinely funny. Yamada is a character that acts often in brash manners so his actions will definitely provoke some laughter if you see the trouble he gets himself into. Then, there are the powers. The concept of body swapping itself can be amusing to think about especially if a guy becomes a hot girl. Some of the other powers are troublesome but the show itself plays each gimmick cleverly to adapt with the developing story. There are also tons of kissing and although most series today makes it a highlight point between character relationships, this series does it casually and seems to be even self-aware. In general, comedy portrayal is a highlight and can be appreciated.

Artwork in general is generic yet works well. The character designs is what is attractive for the overall adaptation. The guys hardly stand out; well perhaps except Yamada. However, the girls really are designed with attractiveness such as Uraha. In particular, the witches are all noticeable in some way or form with their hairstyles, figures, and even status symbol. Despite taking place in the school setting, there’s a load going on besides just in the classrooms. In essence, we see many places of the school explored with a fine degree of clever decorating. I also have to give some praise to the character expressions as it enhances the comedy aspect of the series overall.

While I’m not a big fan of the soundtrack, the series does know how to utilize them. As the series portrays a lot of comedy, it’s important to capitalize on the atmosphere so the series makes use of more colorful OST. In most respects, it works well to get the viewers laughing. However, it’s nothing outstanding in terms of quality as it’s very standard. The OP and ED theme songs has a warm feeling to it though that is sung with a soft melancholic tone. But when it comes down to it, the characters’ voice mannerism will probably win you over. Yamada is a key figure to notice with his commanding voice as he gets into a lot of troublesome circumstances. Indeed, the series has this ability to communicate its gimmicks with the voices of the characters. Whether it’s the diverse voice mannerism of the witches, the Supernatural Club, or even the Student Council, it always seems to be noticeable.

Gender bender isn’t a new concept used by the anime industry. Neither are witch powers, kissing, or a club that investigates unusual cases. Rather, I take this show as more of a comedy story with a bit of clever gimmicks thrown in at you on a weekly basis. The episodes themselves each tell a story with something that sticks with the overall theme of the series. Just note that by adaptation and storytelling standards, it doesn’t shine well especially with the structure, rushing, and is easily predictable. On the plus side, the comedy really can bring some laughs. Ever had a bad day and you wanted something to laugh about? Perhaps this series can be what you’re looking for. The series itself is like a personality.

All my reviews are spoiler free aimed towards people who haven't seen the show.

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches.

The best recipe for the most delicious cake, all you gotta do is give the time it needs to bake, but noooo, gotta have it now, turning up the heat doesn't make it bake faster, IT JUST BURNS!!!....

Story: Ryuu Yamada is known as a delinquent in his high school. One day, he accidentally falls from a flight of stairs onto Urara Shiraishi, the ace student of the school. Yamada wakes up to find that he has swapped bodies with her! The two try to reverse the ... change and discover that kissing triggers the body swap. Yamada takes advantage of this asking Shiraishi to take tests for him and discovers while in her body that she gets picked on for being such a model student. Yamada and his delinquent ways put a stop to the girls picking on her. Student council vice-president Toranosuke Miyamura, discovers this little event and recruits the two to revive the Super Natural Studies Club. Yamada and Shiraishi continue to use this exchange until an unexpected encounter with a certain girl reveals a another usual power activated by a kiss, in fact there may even be a few more....... thus the Super Natural Studies Club declare to discover the secrets of the Suzaku High School "witches". Although this task doesn't come with easy, nor does the situation turn out to be as simplistic as they thought.

Characters: The characters all fall under hard personality tropes. No surprise there really, they are well written though. The cast is considerably large, all have some interesting backstory as well. Unfortunately because of time restraint, you only get a glimpse of these characters potential depth and with a flip of the dime, that's their character development. The best part of the show is the quality voice acting. The cast is great and their performances, especially Saori Hayami as Shiraishi and Ryota Osaka as Yamada are absolutely brilliant! Yamada is always late for school, naps in class and gets abysmal grades. His life is a dead bore. Even though he's a delinquent, he's kinda a nice guy... for the most part. Urara Shiraishi is an exceptionally brilliant student known to be cold and asocial, due to her being ostracized by the students of Suzaku High. Miaymura is charismatic, be able to easily charm most people around him thanks to his look and being friendly in general. Despite this, he doesn't really have any friends. Miyabi is a considerably attractive and cheerful girl, due to her strange interest in the super natural, she is considered among her peers to be a fraud and a liar.

Animation: It's pretty solid. The colors are nice and they move quite well. All the witches have a very distinct and interesting design. Some of their glamor drawings are absolutely beautiful. The OP was amazingly done. As was some of the faded frames during flashbacks and things of that nature.

Sound: The music was pretty decent. Love "Kuchizuke Diamond" by WEAVER. Actually started listen to more of their songs. Choice of BGM was fun when it needed to be and dramatic when it should. It did it's job.

Enjoyment: This is where I'm torn. I thought is was really funny, I also thought it was very clever concept. I love the chemistry shown between our MC and lead witch. I also like all the characters and the story behind their personality and actions. But it wasn't nearly fleshed out enough to make the connection between Yamada and the witches, it was all really forced. And then the story was also incredibly rushed. The scenes were good but lacked any impact when they were so abruptly introduced and resolved. Near the end it almost became confusing, and not in a in-depth convoluted sense, but more like, "well we're running out of time, so we'll skip the why and just go with the how".

So much was cut out, not just comedy but little bits of development that would make character relationships feel like they had a connection. And the quick pace eliminated any type of suspense or mystery to the development of the story. All of this could have been avoided with another 12 episodes and following the source material. This could have been an incredible show. As it is, it's merely fun. Definitely worth watching. 7/10.

(This has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!)

I think it is safe to say that everyone has a wish they want fulfilled. Money, power, and fame are the common ones, as they seem to be the most wanted. But money, power, and fame are not everything. More often than not, what we need most is not a shiny new car or rabid fans but instead something a bit more universal. A shoulder to lean on, a friend to hang out with, or a partner to hug; one of the greatest aspects in life are the relationships we share with the people around us. ... For it is these very relationships that do what those previous three wishes cannot: make us happy for a lifetime. Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches is all about relationships, wishes, and of course witches, that provides an average outing overall.

STORY

The Seven Witches (as it will be named from here on out) stars Yamada-kun, a delinquent whose behavior makes him very difficult to associate with. One day, when walking up some steps, he falls, crashing into the top student of the school, Urara Shiraishi, which magically causes their bodies to switch. From there, the quest to find the other six witches begins.

Perhaps the anime’s greatest strength comes in the form of the theme it tackles: the importance of relationships. Whether it is with friends, family, or anyone in-between, people are always looking to form a connection with those around them. This is the main point of the show, with the witch powers revolving around such a concept. For instance, Shiraishi is able to switch bodies because she always wanted to experience a different lifestyle, Nene is able to coerce others because she was looking to gain increased support, Maria can see the future in order to have others avoid terrible fates, etc. As the anime depicts, the girls have these abilities and use them on their fellow classmates not because they can but because they wanted to have everlasting relationships that they could not obtain otherwise. Scenarios like Noa dealing with some teenagers’ hardships and Meiko working with students to perform better on their tests showcase the differing ways in which relationships are formed and comfort is found in others.

One of the best and simplest examples of the show’s emphasis on relationships that the anime employs is the kissing that is needed to use these witch powers. Kissing, be it on the hand, the cheek, or the lips, is a sign of affection towards another, and a known symbol of love between two people. Throughout the entirety of the anime, kissing is shared mostly between Yamada-kun and Shiraishi, but also between many more with gender being a second thought. Nobody thinks of it as anything more than a necessity until the end where Shiraishi clumsily goes through the act. She understands that now, after losing her power, the kiss’s true meaning is all that is left.

But it took a lot to get to that moment; the girls, despite being granted amazing gifts, do not find immediate solace. In fact, while their status gave them interesting abilities, at the same time their powers actually prevented them from maintaining the relationships they so desperately wanted. Certain situations, such as Saionji’s ability causing everyone to forget about her and Maria being unable to have a boyfriend, made it impossible to create such relationships. Worst still, those around them were affected, too; Yamada and Leona experience this firsthand through the loss they undergo. In this way, the conclusion of the anime – where the characters discover that it was not their powers that allowed them to all become such good friends but the experiences themselves – is a simple message that finishes the narrative nicely.

However, there is one glaring issue that The Seven Witches has, known as “firing and forgetting.” The anime follows usually the same sequence of events: learn of new witch, help this witch, and move on from said witch. There are minor discrepancies to this formula in the beginning (where the main group is being put together) and during one event in the middle (still dealing with forming the main group) but the show generally has the tendency to forego its most important aspect, namely the witches. Despite them all having interesting abilities, the anime refuses to use the girls in conjunction with one another or even after they have been discovered. This is strange because of the theme on relationships; one would think that, given the focus on it, such newfound relationships would play a more pivotal role in the scenarios encountered. Again, the non-witches are affected by this tactic as well because, after a certain point, cast members such as Miyamura and Miyabi are pushed to the side to make way for the anime’s next set of occurrences.

ANIMATION

One of The Seven Witches weakest areas is the art it utilizes. In short, it is boring; besides the characters themselves not visiting too many locations outside of their clubroom or other parts of the school, there is little in the way of detail. At the minimum, the show does use some pretty hysterical reaction faces – usually performed by Yamada-kun – that have the eyes bug out as giant, white spheres that have lost their pupils. It sounds scary but it works to make Yamada-kun seem even more incredulous.

The character designs are very nice, especially for the female characters. While they tend to follow typical tropes for the medium – an uncommon hair and color combination – it fits with the uniqueness the girls have due to them being witches. Shiraishi’s long blonde hair and jewel-like eyes, Nene’s short purple hair, and Maria’s earrings with pink hair and ponytail, with each wearing their school’s uniform, is quite attractive. Yamada-kun’s spiky blue hair and unkempt attire also coincides with his overall demeanor.

Actual animation is somewhere around average. There isn’t a whole lot of action within the anime itself and therefore little movement. Lots of dialogue and sitting around is had instead, with the characters really only being animated when going through those all-important kisses.

CHARACTERS

Due to the “firing and forgetting” method used on the characters, many of the witches only have minor background details given about them. There is very little in the way of development because the show just does not give them any time whatsoever. This is evident in characters like Meiko and Noa who, after their specific episode, have nothing else about them provided. Other characters, like Miyabi and Ushio, undergo the same treatment of initial divulgence on their persons followed by a stagnation of their character. Nene at least garners a bit more attention in the form of (ironic) unrequited love, but it is nothing worthwhile.

Two arguments arise as to why nearly the whole cast is little more than their personality traits: the comedic nature of the anime and the size of the cast. Since the show is more about inducing laughter than enacting drama, it becomes understandable that the characters are not entirely complex. Instead, by being only known for their individual shticks, the comedy is easier to handle and therefore present. As for the large cast size, the bigger it is, the more resources have to be spread evenly between everyone, devaluing each of the characters to a certain extent. That is, it becomes unrealistic to expect every cast member to be entirely fleshed out. This type of logic can be seen in most comedies involving a sizeable amount of characters, meaning them not being the most compelling of people is not too much of a negative.

The Seven Witches does put higher emphasis on two characters: Shiraishi and Yamada-kun. Shiraishi, as has been briefly described earlier, is the model student of the school. She is beautiful, gets great grades, and is respectful to those around her. Yet she has extreme difficulty connecting with others because many people are jealous of what she has, and for those that are not they cannot seem to understand the girl who hides behind her books. It is not until Yamada-kun shows up that she begins to open up. What is interesting is how the phrase “opposites attract” both does and does not apply. She is like Yamada-kun because they both find themselves unable to connect with people and she is unlike Yamada-kun because of her passiveness compared to his active behavior. That last fact is a constant factor, with her mostly tagging along for the whole season. To that end, at times she feels nonexistent which in turn stagnates her character, but at the minimum she opens up more so than she ever did before.

As for Yamada-kun, he is arguably the strongest character the anime has to offer. Upon entering high school, he wanted to leave behind his old self in favor of a new one, but found that he once more could not find a place to call his own. It is at this point that Yamada-kun stumbles upon and on Shiraishi, with the rest of the season following. The further along it goes, the more situations he finds himself in and subsequently the more relationships he establishes with the people around him. He almost loses them forever, but his newfound determination fostered throughout the series pulls through, with him saving Shiraishi and the other witches with a wish that makes perfect sense; Yamada-kun already has everything he could ever wish for, so him unburdening the girls now and in the future to form their own relationships brings everyone the greatest amount of happiness. At this point, the reason for him having such a power to start with becomes clear: not only did he need friends and relationships the most out of anyone in the school but it was what he wanted more than anything all along. Meaning, he was granted all of the witch powers – which were designed to create these connections – to eventually achieve his wish, and achieve his true wish he did.

SOUND

The opening theme starts and ends nicely, but the middle is rather repetitive. Listening to the piece more closely, the vocalist does nearly all of the work, while the instruments are composed in such a way as to bring about a mysterious yet hopeful vibe befitting the anime well enough. The ending theme mirrors its opening counterpart in that the singer does the heavy lifting; she has wonderful range and really carries the piece despite the boring beat.

The remainder of the soundtrack is nothing too notable. There are tracks that follow the feeling of magic through their strange-sounding instruments, hard-guitar riffs for Yamada-kun’s more rough-and-tumble encounters, piano melodies for the happy and sad times, and other tunes that find their place among the mystery that permeates many of the events. It is an OST that is not worth listening to outside of the anime itself, being little more than background noise.

Voice acting for the anime is somewhere slightly above average. Special shout-outs are deserved for Ryota Osaka as Yamada-kun for his accent and reactionary way of speaking and Saori Hayami as Shiraishi for her “manlier” way of speaking when Yamada-kun took over her body.

ENJOYMENT

Looking back through the anime, I found the first half or so pretty funny. Shiraishi was very cute, her interactions with Yamada-kun were always adorable, Miyabi and Miyamura were fun with their teasing, the body-switching created hilarious scenarios, and Nene’s embarrassment despite her confidence made for quite the happy times.

But when the show moved away from its comedic roots and into the more dramatic elements later on, it started to fall apart. Due to the progression of the story, there were fewer cute moments between the main couple, the side characters were pushed to the sidelines, the powers were used less and less, and due to the shift in tone the anime was not looking to make Nene blush but instead have her cry. To put it differently, when the anime was trying to be funny, it was, and when it was not, it really should have been.

The point about not utilizing the witch powers to their full extent, talked about here and in other areas, was also sad to see. When the anime places so much importance on the witches that it includes them in the title itself, and then proceeds to not do anything with them, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It is even worse when the witches and their personalities added some spice to the mix. Noa’s clinginess, Maria’s assertiveness, and Meiko’s dual personality were all quirks that the anime could have leveraged but failed to do so.

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches has an interesting premise that ultimately does not go anywhere. Its themes are personable and some of its characters are interesting, but the misuse of its cast, the lackluster art, and the lame soundtrack bring the whole package down. While Yamada-kun and Shiraishi live happily ever after, this one still needs a wish of its own.

SUMMARY

Story: Fine, theme on relationships is executed nicely but “firing and forgetting” is rampant

Animation: Fine, boring art style, fitting reaction faces, nice character designs, about average actual animation

Characters: Good, Nene and the side characters are passable, Shiraishi is okay, with Yamada-kun undoubtedly being a strong character

Sound: Fine, okay OP, okay ED, boring soundtrack, slightly above average VA work

Enjoyment: Fine, Shiraishi is adorable, with the show being hilarious earlier rather than later

Final Score: 5/10

TL;DR: Rushed as f*ck.

No spoilers here.

Yamada-kun and the 7 Witches was one of the anime that I was dreading this season. Why? Because it was one-cour. The story arc that could be concluded with the manga as it is now is either over 80 chapters in or an original ending, and with the sweet spot of manga to anime adaptation being 2-3 chapters an episode, 80 could be a little too much in 24 episodes, even if filler is cut. Well, for better and for worse, Yamada-kun met and exceeded my expectations.

But let’s talk about the good stuff first.

Yamada-kun and the 7 Witches (which I ... will abbreviate as 7 Witches) follows the titular Ryu Yamada, a second year delinquent who is all alone in a rather prestigious school. When walking up the stairs threateningly near the class genius and beauty, the diminutive Urara Shiraishi, he accidentally falls down the stairs on top of her. To their extreme surprise, they switched bodies. After walking in each other shoes, Yamada realizes Shiraishi is being bullied and, against her will, helps put an end to it. They then discover they can switch back by kissing. Subsequently, Yamada and Shiraishi get embroiled within the contest for Student Council President, create the Supernatural Studies Club, and search for the 7 Witches, who have powers similar to body-swapping.

Premise aside, 7 Witches’ key strengths are its art and extremely ball-busting humor, drawing from ecchi, physical, character-driven, and wordplay based humor. The anime always succeeds here. Linden does a tremendous job in animating here, making the environments of Suzaku High School seem especially grand and high-class. Many girls have extremely strange hair colors (green, blue, pink, whatever), and while they appear strange in the manga, Linden does a pretty good job at making them seem less jarring in the anime. Facial expressions are rendered extremely carefully, elevating the humor, which is usually done right. Aside from kissing, there is some playful fanservice here, and while it does get grating, the anime, in adapting, skips out on some of the fanservice as well, which is actually a plus, especially for those who are averse to such elements.

The true star of this entire anime is by far the voice work. I have to give amazing credit to the characters who generally swap bodies: Ryota Ohsaka (Yamada), Saori Hayami (Shiraishi), Toshiki Masuda (Toranosuke Miyamura) and Maaya Uchida (Miyabi Ito). When the characters swap bodies, each voice actor immediately switches their delivery to match the personality currently inhabiting their character. Hayami, who typically does quitter or gentler female roles, becomes bombastic and crude when Yamada is in Shiraishi’s body. Similarly, whenever Shiraishi inhabits Yamada, Ohsaka delivers in a very terse and gentle tone. Masuda and Uchida also do a splendid job when body swapping is going on, but Ohsaka and Hayami are, without question, amazing.

The rest of the voice cast does an amazing job, because 7 Witches’ voice cast is stacked. To single out some of the biggest names here, Eri Kitamura voices Nene Odagiri, Aoi Yuki voices Noa Takigawa, Kana Hanazawa voices Mikoto Asuka, Daisuke Ono voices Ushio Igarashi, Miyuki Sawashiro voices Leona Miyamura, and Jun Fukuyama voices Student Council President Haruma Yamazaki.

This is where the praise stops, because Linden decided to make this one-cour instead of two.

The original 7 Witches manga had some filler that could have been taken out without too much trouble. A subplot with the girls’ archery club president, Karen Kimishima, was cut out, and ultimately, that does not matter. Some arcs could be cut a little shorter without too much trouble, such as the arc focusing around Maria Sarushima or the arc surrounding Noa. But 7 Witches wasn’t filled with so much fluff to be able to cut much more than this, so the amount of corner-cutting when it comes to plot make certain developments jarring and eliminates the impact of some of the arcs.
(Some subtle foreshadowing sprinkled within the early chapters that reference the ongoing arc in the manga are cut entirely, so if that’s ever adapted, it will seem less clever and more out of left field.)

The final arc of the anime was a rushed and hollow shadow of what was in the manga, which is a severe disappointment. Due to this corner cutting, all characters other than Yamada (and to a much lesser extent, Shiraishi) that had character development don’t have any. Admittedly, some characters don’t have much character development still don’t, like Ito, Kentaro Tsubaki, and a couple of the witches. However, other characters lose both their motivations and screentime, making them hollow shells of people and not actual characters. The best way to describe this is in quick list form.

-Shiraishi loses her dry, cutting humor, making her more generic.
-Toranosuke Miyamura’s motivation in the manga doesn’t exist in the anime.
-Leona Miyamura’s motivation is heavily watered down.
-Odagiri’s, Ushio’s, Noa’s, and Yamazaki’s cut scenes make them more one-dimensional in the anime.

Yamada is pretty much the only major character to come through the adaptation unscathed, but with the other characters being rather weak, it prevents the anime from being a good adaptation.

Many adaptations come in too soon and have to rush or make an original ending. This was not that. Linden’s rushed 12 episode adaptation of Yamada made it lose most of its plot and character based strengths. More than a faithful retelling, it often feels like a highlights reel of the plot. The presentation is beyond stellar, but when the plot and characters are diluted to such an extent, it’s hard to be happy with this anime.

Story - 5 (premise is OK to begin with, anime cuts down on many strengths)
Art - 8 (beautiful animation)
Sound - 9 (music is forgettable but the voice acting is amazing)
Character - 5 (all characters except Yamada are hollow)
Enjoyment - 4 (as a manga lover, this rushed adaptation hurts)

Overall - 6.2 (rounded to 6)

Edit 7/6/15: Decided my score was a tad reactionary.

STORY: Ryu Yamada is your average student. A rough and intimidating delinquent on the outside, but on the inside, he’s a huge softy. Bored with school, and his life, from what the anime makes out, he has a sudden turn of events when he crashes into, Urara Shiraishi, the top student of the entire school. Falling unconscious during their crash incident, Yamada wakes up in the nurse’s office, later realizing he has switched bodies with Shiraishi. After countless tries to return to each other’s original bodies, other classmates, Miyabi Ito and Toranouske Miyamura, catch on to what has happened between Shiraishi and Yamada. Which later ... they involve Yamada and Shiraishi in the rebirth of the Supernatural club at their school. Yamada and company realize that he has powers transferable through a kiss.

Cliché? Or, a new type of romatic-school-comedy? You be the judge on that.

The club encounters other students with powers similar to Yamada and Shiraishi and then the Supernatural club takes a turn and becomes a club to hunt down the other students with supernatural powers, formally known as, witches. As the school year and their hunt continues, new students and witches make brief appearances to join them in their quest.

ART & ANIMATION: The animation was brilliant. So far 2015 for anime’s animation and sounds have been up to their best potential. I truly enjoyed watching it. Everything was well drawn, the scenery was tasteful and the music brought ease and rage into my mood when watching this. All in all, this was good for sore eyes and deaf ears. The ending song leaves you stuck with a catchy tune, that you’ll even find yourself humming in the shower. Something you’ll grow to love and wish there were more anime with a high caliber as this. In terms of animation and sound, of course

Catchy music and sounds, with a nice crisp pen to paper to bring finesse and fluidity to an anime, what more can you ask for? Seriously?

CHARACTERS: This is where this anime starts taking its toll on me, while the cast extends much more than your average anime, 7+ main and supporting characters. Their roles were butchered and taken out of the oven way TOO fast. The witches’ spotlight and backstories were bland and tasteless. Their character development lacked detail and consistency. Even Yamada’s development through the story got generic to the point where you’re asking yourself, “why am I still watching this”? I appreciate one thing, and that’s, his lack of being shy and an oblivious mess. But, confidence and assertiveness only takes you so far. While the chemistry between Yamada and Shiraishi was more thank believably natural, I still can’t get myself to enjoy their subliminal love for each other.

CONS: There had to be more. Maybe it’s the time restraint this anime had. 12 episodes, they’re starting to become less efficient, either that or these publishers and authors are really looking forward to making a quick buck, so they forcefed this to us thinking we would indulge in such nonsense and laziness. So, yes, if you haven’t caught on, the rushed events between Yamada and each witch was poor and discouraging, the rushed and forced relationship between yamada and the witches seemed like a last minute add on. Their backstories had no consistency. I know a lot of people that read the manga, I am not included in this statistic, but I have been told that the manga is one million times better. So much was cut out, not just comedy but little bits of development that would make character relationships feel like they had a connection.

OVERALL/ENJOYMENT: With everything stated, it seems more of a rant than an actual review, but that’s usually what happens in anime adaptions. Unfortunately, not all 12 episode anime will get the justice they deserve. I enjoyed this to a certain extent. Up to episode 5, until each new witch had their backstories ruined and the character developments and connections shot. I would recommend this anime to those that have nothing else to watch, more for casual days. I would also recommend reading the manga over this, which I will later begin myself. So much potential ruined by unorganized and rushed plans.

VERDICT: 6/10

CHECK OUT THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL FOR THE SAME REVIEW, BUT IN VIDEO FORM.

youtube.com/projektbaka

[Adapted From Original Blog Post]
[Mini Review]

Yamada is yet another school life comedy that tries to differentiate itself through a certain gimmick, in this case one of the supernatural kind that seeks to initiate amusing character interactions and forward the story, the plot only moving forward as more ideas keep churning in and shaking up the formula. Readers of the manga will tell you the narrative is extremely rushed, and I agree, characters often drop in and out of importance unritualistically, and there's not enough time to possibly develop them all as the show makes a point of introducing new characters and supernatural every episode to ... keep the fun moving. But that's the nice thing about Yamada, it's 12 episodes of charming and entertaining randomness spliced with romance and hints of ecchi that is easy to digest and is gone before you know it, and that's all it needs to do, as you never need to think about it again.

It knows how to do its job and well, and though the job of a slice-of-life supernatural harem isn't one with many rewards in terms of deep characters or a plot that doesn't nearly completely rely on coincidences and contrivances, it still executes with contagious energy and a sense of self awareness. If you go into Yamada with the right expectations, you'll get exactly what you came for, and that's great; the show serving well as a breather in between more heavy and complex anime. It's not likely you won't find something to like: the characters have great chemistry even with the ever-growing roster, the animation is pretty and cute, and the opening song is actually quite amazing all things considered, at the very least, it's not something you'll want to skip often, even serving as a tool for emotional attachment in some cases.

What's surprising is that the show actually finds its strength in the more dramatic moments as opposed to the zaniness of the everyday-life comedy. Character backstories are thought-out and effective, even if said characters usually drop out of the narrative picture once their one episode of focus is over, which nearly counter-balances what the show does well with the cast. Our two leads however: Yamada and Shiraishi, are surprisingly well developed and enduring, and if you're willing to give just a little emotional investment towards these two and the rest of the cast, the anime will pay you back in an emotionally charged finale that still remembers elation and hijinks are the real cores of this show, and never tries to stray too far from those roots and asks for the viewer to give unrealistic amounts of craps about what is happening. And don't too many craps either, because even if you're invested, don't ever forget what this show really is, because if you lose sight of that amidst the occasional drama, you're going to end up expecting what the anime can't give you: true depth and truly good writing. But despite that, Yamada is still one hell of a good time.

Final Verdict: 5.5/10

P.S: Yeah, she just wanted to kiss.


For this review and others, feel free to check out my blog! (Link on profile)

I actually watched this show on a whim. And at first glance the premise of the show seems like it could have been really interesting. That premise was that Yamada switched bodies with a girl Urara Shiraishi. This, in itself, could have been a very interesting and comedic narrative. Actually, scratch that, it would have been the best romantic comedy ever.

Unfortunately the narrative gets bogged down by introducing 6 other "witches" and an almighty student council. So it just becomes a paranormal investigation to hunt down and find the other witches.

I feel like there was a missed opportunity here. Cramming all of this into 12 ... episodes was also a hatchet job. There were way too many characters for this to even work. At least for the first couple episodes it works.

If I could summarize my viewing experience under one phrase, it would be this: what a pleasant surprise.

Most wouldn't expect much -besides an abundance of eye rolling- from a gimcrack story about 7 witches and kissing galore, and I was no different to this opinion. But in a way, my cautiously low expectations gave way to an unexpected delight.

Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo is not a romance, it's a comedy. Well I mean, sure, there's romance involved but if that's what you're looking for, then the one you find here is sorely lacking in terms of depth and chemistry. I'd blame that more so on ... the fact that our female MC, Shiraishi, is the definition of no personality. Unless you count her incessant obsession with academics and that one episode that addressed her social issues, she's got "the emotional range of a teaspoon" in Hermione Granger's words (yet another academically inclined character, but one with an actual personality). I don't know about you, but her rigid, expressionless exterior had nothing going for me.

Now let's take a look at our other protagonist: Ryuu Yamada. While there isn't anything in particular to set him apart from other similar anime (no, not even his blazingly blue hair), he does a decent job of playing the likable MC. But the bigger reason why I enjoyed this one so much isn't our main leads, oh no; it's our side characters. People like Miyamura and Odagiri that dominated any scene they were in are what made this such a fun ride for me. Though I can't say the same for the entirety of the cast because a few of the witches were definitely more on the previously mentioned eye-roll inducing side— the playful humor, joyful atmosphere and light hearted comedy more than made up for it!

And speaking of comedy, that element is precisely why this earned a solid 6.5 from me. When a show THIS predictable and THIS cheesy still manages to make me cackle at my screen, it's doing something right in my book.

And if that isn't enough for you, then the attractive characters, the appealing art, and the unusually addictive opening should be reasons to give this one a shot in your free time.

One of the things that has kind of left a bad taste in my mouth is the relationship between Yamada and Ushio. It's been about a year since I dropped the show and I can't just go back to it. Seeing how easy it was for him to treat his friend basically like trash and as if he never existed. Even bringing into account Nene, it still doesn't change it. I might pick up the manga later down the road, but until then I can't. Other than that the story seemed alright and the character development was decent, but I feel like the story could've ... been told better than how it was at the point I dropped the show. I could be wrong and the story could've gotten better, but from what I've seen it's stayed between decent and semi-decent.

Let me start off by saying Harem style anime's aren't typically my favorite genre of anime, I have watched a few but it's very rare that I will willing pick up a Harem anime, I feel like if I wanted an anime simply for some fan service i'd much rather just watch a Yuri cause at least if the characters are dull and uninteresting I can still stand to "look at them"

But I feel like this anime was more of a "Romance" style anime than a Harem anime, in the end it had a huge aspect of Harem to it, a bunch of girls swooning ... over one main male but it really felt more like a love story between the 2 main characters Ryuu Yamada and Urara Shiraishi. Well the show tries to show the other witches as "Attractive and Lovable" in their own fashion i'd never say they tried to make it look like a relationship was forming between them and Ryuu Yamada (Besides a friendship) They definitely forced them into some humorous generic harem style situations but they kept the whole "A bond forming between characters" to Ryuu and Urara. This romance aspect was enough to keep me watching even with the dull story (more on that later.) Yes I know other characters do start to fall for Yamada after a while but it wasn't as nearly as bad as in a generic Harem anime, not every single character wanted to date him by the end and only wanted to be friends...

As for the story, while the story was different and more interesting than other animes, it still felt dull and like nothing much really happened until the last few episodes, maybe it was the focus on the Harem aspect that made the entire flow of the show seem drawed out but it just felt like nothing was really happening, nothing impacted the story at all until the last few episodes and honestly I don't know if the build-up was worth it. I don't think the plot was bad it was somewhat unique and pretty interesting but for the first 8-9 episodes or so I just felt like I was watching some mind-numbing filler.

The characters we're probably the weakest part of the anime in my opinion, and surprisingly it wasn't the generic main male for once. I actually felt like the main male was the most interesting of the bunch and well he was a complete jerk he wasn't oblivious to everything and everyone around him. He slowly became more and more likable as the story progressed and honestly was probably the strongest character in the show, surprisingly the characters that were the least likable were all of the girls, they all just felt generic like some carbon fiber harem characters we've seen over and over. You have your stupid, shy but incredibly nice girl, the rude but after getting to know her she starts to be nicer however she still continues to tease the protagonist despite obviously liking him, and the quite and "not interested in anything" girl that has a lovable personality despite not saying much or doing anything. They were all extremely cute so that alone might be enough to suffer through them despite being extremely generic.

In all honestly this anime wasn't too great, if it wasn't for the ending it would definitely be below a 5 Stars on MAL but due to the plot picking up and the romance really building up towards the end it ended up being a decent anime, if you're willing to suffer through the starting episodes of just straight "Borderline filler" than i'd say go ahead and watch it but the only way you are going to be able to do that is if you find the characters to be extremely cute and attractive and luckily they mostly all are.

There is no beating around the bush, it's a supernatural themed harem, it's kinda entertaining for some of the antics and some of the comedy is alright.

The romantic progression between the main couple was enjoyable as well and I did like the characters when I watched the show.

In retrospect the characters weren't done particularly well, they were barely characterized beyond the cliche of top of the class falls for deliquant and all the tropes and cliches surrounding that.

The opening is really really nice tho, doesn't factor in a bunch when it comes to this review, but hey I can recommend the OP for sure.

The story ... does one of my least favorite tropes as a fake off or "Mock" ending twist, but it isnt really believable that it'd really stay that way. The "twist" involves memory wipes and that just feels like a crux or poor writing to create a bit of articial tension or make you angry.


On the whole it's a harem, "romcom", with a supernatural quirk about it, it's for the majority of the runtime mindless fun, but nothing too special.
a 6/10 objectively, tho I kinda enjoy these kinda shows so it's more of a 7/10 personally

First things first. My "reviews" system is explained on a blog entry. Which can be found through my profile.
------

✦Story
Simply enough, it's unique, has its traits and for most part has fair enough development. But probably the aspect of casual kissing, even its purpose is power usage, it still annoyed me. Wasn't fond of it at all. This type of thing is fine in harem or ecchi shows because there usually all girls love 1 guy anyways and guy cares about them too. But this is more of a "serious" slice-of-life fantasy romance. Where only certain characters have romantic feelings for the main character. (or something ... along the line, not expert at self-expression) Anyhow.. story might be unique, but wasn't as enjoyable for me. Plus the aspect how casually after switching bodies were used/done/looked at or something along the line, wasn't fond as well.

✦Art & Sound

Did look great, subtle fanservice was also nice. Music was also quite enjoyable, soundtrack wasn't bad either.

✦Character
Bunch of odd people, different base stereotypes. Probably as mentioned in story, wasn't fond of their looseness or "casual" persona. But aside that I guess they were for the most part enjoyable. And Fukuyama, Jun is always nice to hear.

✦Enjoyment/overall

As for functional method, it's good anime. As for enjoyment for me, it's was quite mediocre. This is type of "somewhat unique Anime", didn't simply match to my likes. Had quite few annoying aspects that I disliked.