Majo to Yajuu

🔵2024---Based on the trailers, this anime promised to be one of the best in the winter 2024 season, but unfortunately for me it turned out to be a disappointment.

The plot is that the main couple is hunting for a specific witch, of course they can't find her very quickly, so every episode (or every two episodes) we will get a new witch that we will have to defeat and discover that she is not the one they were looking for, ok, but it's an anime he can't do it in an interesting way, everything is so boring and bland.
The anime cannot properly ... engage the viewer in the plot, nothing is properly substantiated, you watch it and at the end you say "ok", and then you forget about it because it did not evoke any emotions in you.

The author forgot to make it clear that although we care about the main goal of this anime, the MC that this thread mainly concerns is unbearable, Guideau is a one-dimensional, constantly pissed off girl and it's hard to root for her.

The animation is at best correct, sometimes tragic, and certainly does not meet my expectations.

This is one of the best animes of the season, as there are thought-provoking mysteries, explosive action and characters with organic motivations. It is also possible to notice that there is a complexity in the motivations. This complexity is not only in the motivations of the protagonists, but also in the motivations of the villains and secondary characters. Furthermore, the plots are also well elaborated, with unexpected, controversial and reflective outcomes.

However, it is a Seinen anime, which should be more mature and well-paced. The fast pace, in which an arc is resolved in one or two episodes, forces the dialogues to be direct, less natural ... and with less maturity. Furthermore, this pace forces the completion of good characters and good plots very early. It should also be noted that, at times, it is excessively heavy, later leading to softening that is too excessive, such as those that occurred at the end of the first episode.

Interesting... The first episode really showcases the anime's concept and where it's heading: a "girl" cursed by a witch who works for an organization aiming to locate and retrieve these witches for an "Order." What caught my attention the most was the fact that the two protagonists have completely opposite personalities. Guideau is a "girl" with a totally explosive temperament who wants to do everything her way and jumps into action right away, while Ashaf is a completely rational and intelligent man who only acts after being certain of what is right. However, together they form a very intriguing duo.

The production is very well done, ... with a good storyline, cool visuals, an adult tone, and enjoyable magic and action. I think it's worth giving this anime a chance.

There's a good deal I like about this series. It presents an intriguing set of characters that get more interesting as the series progresses. It's got a visual style that really pops with a great deal of magical flair, and you can feel the weight of its fights. I also like the world-building and place-setting this series has done for its next season.

And that's the biggest knock I have against it: it does just seem like place-setting for the next season. It's not so much that this is a slow start - we start and finish several short arcs back-to-back over the course of this ... season, all of which have their own little intrigues as various mysteries are solved - but rather that the series seems just fine getting side-tracked as often as possible.

The first two episodes set up a central plotline for the series for us to follow: Guideau travels with Ashaf under the auspices of a larger magical organization to hunt down witches with the aim of finding a specific one that cursed her and ending her. She doesn't really know what the witch looks like (I initially thought this was a Dorohedoro situation where the lead just didn't know who his target was, but it's a little more complicated in this case), but she should be able to narrow the field, get the curse removed, and return to a powerful body that Ashaf carries around with him in a coffin similar to Wolfwood from Trigun. So, what I expected was to see them run into a series of witches, gathering clues and getting closer to their goal before having some big finale engagement. And... well, we kind of get that... if you ignore a couple of other short arcs in the middle.

To be fair, all the side-tracks the series takes are interesting in their own rights and do establish more of the rules and basic concepts of this world, particularly in who can use magic and how. In one particularly interesting aside, we follow a necromancer and get to see what a completely distinct type of magic can do. It's honestly some of my favorite stuff in the series.

But that's the problem: I don't think the central plot has gotten interesting. They've run into a few witches, dealt with a variety of magic, and bent the rules a bit with the curse so that we can see what Guideu's original form looks like. And yeah, it leads to some cool stuff. The problem is that I don't have much reason to get behind Guideau. I know next to nothing about her motivations beyond wanting her body back. Ashaf remains a bit of an enigma. Honestly, we get to know more of the side characters better than we do these two. And that's not necessarily a big deal, but there's also very little in the way of character growth for either of them, and even when we arrive at key climactic moments, they just don't have the emotional heft to make them feel terribly meaningful.

Finally, while I wanted to give this a higher score, it ended up being brought down a little by its final couple of episodes. The backstory helped establish a bit about their background together, which is nice, but it felt like an odd arc to leave us on. Combine that with an exposition dump from Ashaf that sets up some very interesting bits of worldbuilding that I'm legitimately excited to see in S2 and, honestly, it made the ending feel like more of a tease for S2 than anything meaningful to this season.

Still, I enjoyed the ride. I want to see more of these characters and learn more about them. I just wish they'd focused their efforts better in this season.

Majo to Yajuu is a dark and eerie watch full of mystery, intrigue and an awesome character dynamic between the two leads. Fans of the recent Undead Girl Murder Farce will see many similarities and come out of this one feeling satisfied.

After hearing hype from manga readers, I went into this one with high expectations. As a fan of dark fantasy/metal style stories I think this one really succeeds in creating an atmospheric setting with a nice adventure plot line. The journey of Ashaf and Guideau to find the original witch who cursed her, leaving her trapped in another body is so fun to ... see unfold. It plays out similar to Tsugaru, Aya and Shizuku’s journey from undead girl murder farce with them helping to solve cases involving witches and other magical beings along the way. All the cases were entertaining and had some genuine twists.

The world feels very dark souls esque which I love. There’s a lot of worldbuilding and hints to a much wider lore that we sadly didn’t get to see a lot of in these 12 episodes, but there’s a lot of cool directions the story could go in in the future. The magic system is pretty standard, but the abilities were executed well. It’s not a ton of action, but the few fights there are are okayish, the animation and storyboarding outside of the first episode aren’t the best, but they’re passable. For me, that doesn’t matter as the biggest draw for this one is the journey aspect to find the original witch, the atmosphere and character interactions.

Speaking of those character interactions, that’s one of the show’s biggest draws. Ashaf and Guideau are so fun to watch on screen. You’ve got the cool, calm and collected Ashaf who won’t let anything phase him, and the shrewd and loud Guideau who due to her body swap situation, basically acts like a guy in a hot girl’s body. Aschaf often acts as the voice of reason, calming Guideau down when she’s about to go wild and keeping her focused on the task at hand. Essentially a brain and brawn type dynamic. Think of something like Inuyasha and Kagome or Tsugaru and Aya from Undead Girl. They share a lot of banter and the seiyuu do such a great job of making them feel alive. Even when there’s no action, the episodes go by in the blink of an eye thanks to them.

It’s a bit cliche, but this show really is just a “vibe”. It’s hard to put into words the feeling this show gives me. It’s gloomy, ominous, poignant and just hits me deep in the soul. Production issues aside, the story is gripping, characters are compelling and the world has a lot to offer. Sadly, like most one cour seasonals it does feel like we only just scratched the surface of this world. Onto the manga we go.

Majo to Yajuu gets 9 out of 10.

P.S Guideau is mommy.

The pacing of this anime is killing me completely. I love the idea of Majo to Yajuu. Cool witches, solid world building, character designs are somewhat tolerable, but everything else is simply too weird. I understand that the biggest problem here is the budget. Or lack of it, to be more precise. But the pacing is absolutely atrocious. We're not given enough time to meet these characters. It's almost as if we're supposed to know them beforehand.
One time there's a cooler longer sequence happening, some lore drops here and there, actions bits and then boom - totally new characters enter the scene, have their ... own purpose and talk, act like we know who they are. It's up to watcher to connect the dots and make sense of it, which is awful.
What's even worse is that the manga isn't that much better neither, but that's fine. Sometimes, it's totally ok to enjoy bad media so you can know what to not watch in the future.
I will continue to watch Majo to Yajuu cause I'm a sucker for witches and magic gimmicks. Do I enjoy this? Oddly, yes? Can this be much better or actually good? YES, 100% YES! But the creators didn't bother, so should you? I say see for yourself. If you like hot guys and cool witches then this may be for you.

So far I've caught up to the most recent episode and I absolutely do not understand the low rating on MAL, I think crunchyroll's in this case is much more accurate (4.7 out of 5). Obviously we need to see how it all unfolds + concludes, but the six episodes I've watched definitely deserve a 8. I will update my rating once the first season is finished.

It's a dark, gory tale of witches with across the board very likeable and interesting characters and a beautiful art style. The episodes are much like "Supernatural", chasing particular cases with the overall arch of finding a particular ... one to lift a curse. Can't wait to see where this goes, and I'd definitely give it a chance if you are into this sort of genre!

Good visuals and Audio hampered by terrible writing.

The first episode seemed good, every arc after that has extremely obvious or out of left field twist, the limited cast of characters are interesting at first, but shallow (this is a plot driven show so this is okay), despite this, concept is unique. It's annoying that the story doesn't seem to be able to deliver satisfying developments based on the premise, I assume this is not the fault of the studio, as this was based off a manga.

This is a product that could cater to the Agame Ga Kill/ High School of the Dead audience ... (that age bracket), despite not being as entertaining or over-the-top, it's a slower feel but there's some comedy/ character moments and it's not something as monotonous as Mars Red.

Pretty much everything (character design, animation, audio, no jarring inconsistencies etc) is good except the style of writing, but this really kills it for me.

The Witch and the Beast.

Ashaf and Guideau hunt the supernatural. Guideau is in it to hunt witches. Specifically a witch that put a curse on her.

Ashaf is a cool headed spellcaster. He's the brains who also knows how to talk his way out of sticky situations.
While Guideau is the muscles, and a hot head. Who punches her way out of sticky situations.
The way the 2 main characters are total opposites create a great dynamic between the two.

I find the way Guideau's fights are choreographed can be lacking. They are not fun to watch and are anticlimactic. Bad choreographed fights is unfortunately ... a common problem with action anime.

I wont get into too much specifics but for example at one point this very super powerful enemy is unleashed...and the entire fight is just dull.

The way Ashaf "fights" tend to be more interesting. Since he's not over powered. He's just clever.

Its a very nicely written anime. Cool characters. Interesting powers. The art style is nice to look at.
Maybe the flow of the story needs improving.

Please note that the manga is on hiatus due to health reasons and that might've affected the production of this anime.

The series features a character duo that's hard to find - it subverts the "strong man, dainty women" trope and frames them as more "handler, agent" ("my dog doesn't bite even though they're looking at you with murder eyes") where Guideau is more than capable of breaking Ashaf into a million pieces :) A lot of the female characters can hold their own and there is little to no fanservice unless you count how pretty the leads are. I'd say this series is a ... refreshing break for viewers who aren't interested in the male gaze and like a more "dark fairytale" geared story.

aka, this series is heavily geared towards female audience based on how the author handles the lead characters.

Ashaf doesn't belittle Guideau, he embodies the tall, well-dressed charismatic (but suspicious/good-looking) gentleman trope. Guideau is his foil and the pair have actual, legit friendship that's apparent if you just read between the lines. There is no romance! If you come in expecting typical waifu behavior and harem tropes, this series isn't it, and that's possibly why the series have been going under people's radar.

You have to take your time with this series! The story will unfold, it's just not super abrupt about it.

Episode 1 may be paced weirdly - but it sorts itself out from ep 2 onwards.
Good worldbuilding - interesting setting :)
The lead duo is well written and bounce off one another in entertaining ways
Honestly Ashaf is just really pretty and he doesn't look like a cookie cutter protagonist A+ design

Read the manga as well. The artwork is just really, really good there.

This story follows two characters, Guideau and Ashaf, on a literal witch-hunt by taking on commissions related to magical incidents, in hopes of eventually finding the witch responsible for Guideau's curse.

This show jumps into action and spends little time explaining the story’s exposition. You kind of just see what’s going on- the characters, their missions, as it goes.

Setting resembles England (or the US, honestly I don’t know) in the 1800’s so f you’re a fan of supernatural entities and European folktale mythology, this is it. The show has an atmosphere close to the settings of Yuukoku Moriarty, Case Vanitas, Fate/Apocrypha, Shiki, Wednesday, and Harry ... Potter.

Meet the main charaxters,
We got female Bakugo-Mordred who’s powered by 3 brain cells, and her more diplomatic lax attendee, dapper Sherlock holmes.
Though this show does not have deeply complex characters or dilemmas, mostly bloodlustly beasts on the loose, it's still somewhat interesting.

Each episode showcases their time at work where we see magical opponents and horror thriller

If there was only one word to describe this anime...it'd be 'disturbing'.

Not based off of it's story alone (though it did handle rather gruesome plot-lines, even for anime standards), but combined with it's menacing score, vivid art style and the relentless misery that each and every character underwent, the overall feeling viewers received was simply unsettling. However, there were random insertions of beauty and sentiment to mask character depth.

In terms of the overall plot, it was rather fast-passed, a lot of time was dedicated to world-building and how the Witches and the Order blended together in everyday life. The two main characters Guideau ... and Ashaf, were shrouded in mystery and their baseline motives were left unclear. As a result, audiences empathize more with the supporting characters then either of them. Their efforts in finding one particular Witch seemed wasted, throughout the whole season, there were no answers to several important questions. All and all, it was a large build up with relatively no pay off. Considering that this was the initial release, the plot may continue further if they are granted a follow up season (but that feels unlikely).

On a more positive note, the animation was decent (though certain action scenes felt under budget), and the english dubbed voice acting was also well-done, each voice fitting their given character. It held true to the action and supernatural genres, but the story itself was not well written (Simply didn't hit the mark).

Wouldn't be considered a waste of time, but not a top tear anime.

I want season 2 please por favor onegaishimasu.. also this should have been a 2 cour anime!! ok here is the overall ratings..

Concept: 9/10
Story: 8/10
Art/Animation: 9/10
Character designs: 7.5/10

The theme of this anime is dark fantasy, just witches, dark magic and goth, it's delicious, my kind of food (anime), I love it. This is one of those anime that I enjoy watching in one sitting without getting bored, one of those anime I would watch an episode after episode just keep going because it keeps me curious, too bad it's only 1 cour, though I know why, most people aren't into these type of anime. However ... I love it and will never be bored of it, especially with the ending like that, I really want to see season 2 happening.

I can't stress enough how much this anime should've been 2 cour, the pace isn't slow or fast, it's just right, it's enjoyable, it is good. This is a good anime. Simple as. I would go as far as saying this anime is the best new anime for winter 2024, and as I'm typing this of course this anime is so underrated at the moment.

This anime has similar vibe with Kuroshitsuji, but instead of demons, it's magicians, witches and monsters, the world setting is more interesting and variative, at least when comparing the anime. Basically if you love gothic, magic, witches (pretty girls) and action combined, this is for you.

This anime has a unique way of storytelling but couldn't keep it up, and the characters and the plot seemed overly related to it, and the storytelling needs to improve after that.
The animation quality of this anime is good, and the character design and the main protagonist don't seem to offer any specificity; they are just like a hunter whose duty it is to keep the witches in check. You will get hooked on this anime as they show you different kinds of missions as time passes. If you like this kind of anime, it's a great thing to watch. But if they put in ... some effort and try to improve, this will be a great anime.

It was literally boring, I was so patient until episode 5, but unfortunately, I lost it.

I was able to guess each & every scene, how it was going to take place, how it was going to end and some scenes had the worst graphics, for example, take the crow scene, it seems like it was made for free, not paid.

I hate this anime, story was blunt & not at all interesting, with a lot of unwanted characters & storylines.

I finished my review above, I'm going to add a few lines below to post it, as MAL" has an idiotic system of adding reviews, everyone needs ... to type paragraphs & paragraphs, what the hell are they thinking? who wants to read a story of a review of a boring anime?

Come one people of MAL, please think at least, you have a wonderful site with a stupid review option, which is mandatory.

This anime is truly amazing! The storyline is full of surprises and very interesting from start to finish. The main characters have depth and development that makes the audience connect emotionally. The visual design and animation are beautiful, with details that enrich the viewing experience. The music also enhances the atmosphere and emotions of each scene The battles and action in this anime are very exciting and full of strategy, making every moment tense. Apart from that, the values of friendship and cooperation are displayed very well Overall, this anime is one of the best I have ever watched in this genre. I'm really looking ... forward to season 2 and can't wait to see how this story will develop further! For anime fans, this is a must watch!"

The show revoles around Ashraf and Guideau (mostly) and this world of witches and magic. There is an absolute ton of worldbuilding here and I feel we haven't even seen the surface of what's going on. I honestly can't remember a series (perhaps other than Magus Bride) with more immediate depth. Weirdly even the D&D and RPG loving sides of my brian got a kick out of this.

Our protagonists are what drew me in though, they're stylish and cool with an element of mystery. There's both an odd couple and buddy cop thing going on, with an element of hostility. Probably worth noting this isn't ... normally my thing, but therse are complicated characters whose stories are unlocked slowly so that drew me in. Their complicated nature does mean they're not all good, which might be a turn off for some, but if you like Elias from Magus Bride you might really enjoy these two, as both of them have that same air of grey morality.

I loved the art style and felt it worked really well for both the quiet and action-filled moments. The world building is excellent and the action is really exciting. This isn't top tier but it's a highly enjoyable watch due to its cast and world. I really want to see more of this world, as I've said many times by now, and that can't be bad.

This is an anime that will feel right at home with the likes of Hellsing and Black Butler. There's a fairly conventional human society that exists alongside a little bit of magic and monsters and secret organizations of magic and monsters fight them to protect humanity. Unlike the other two shows, the magic is a little more central to the way the society operates and people are generally aware that such things exist.

The show itself is basically power fantasy with some tragic backgrounds and an occasional attempt at being vaguely poetic or philosophical (again, like Hellsing and Black Butler). There are a few story arcs ... lasting 1-3 episodes each, and in each case an overpowered protagonist ultimately resolves the arc after goofing off for the sake of "collecting information" (or, more realistically, dramatic tension).

The main character, Gideau, is a mostly one-dimensional thug with a dark past whose only interest seems to be punching things. She stands in stark contrast to the more eloquent and brooding Alucard and Sebastian. Perhaps this character will be developed to have a little more depth in future seasons, but it doesn't seem promising.

There's nothing especially wrong with the anime. It knows what it's trying to be and it does a serviceable job of it. If you like Hellsing and Black Butler and are looking for more of the same, you'll probably like this. I'm not sure it has much to offer anyone else though.

Ok so this anime was an actual masterpiece to me, awesome animation, awesome story building, very interesting and unique characters. The main problem I see people having is completely because of their preferences.

The start of the show follows a "several short independent stories" approach which don't reslly have any story progression. It is though very clearly buildup to a beautiful story and world but most get bored by then and drop it, while I found those episodes very enjoyable nevertheless. It ends up to people heaving specific preferences that were not met and crying about it. Reminds me a lot of the Journey of Witch ... Elaina that had the same way of storytelling. If you want constant plot twist new major villains or whatever shounen brainrot you probably won't like it, if you can appreciate short stories and world building for what they are, you'll love it.

This show is absolutely trash and all about the one-dimensional plot, writing, and characters that this show deigns to give to the viewer.

I can break down a lot of trash points about this show in just the first 12 minutes of the first episode. The show's first scene of
Guideau, our MC, and her duo Ashaf is one where they are casually asking a baker in a subway station about the witch that resides in the city. Rather than some witty exposition, worldbuilding, character interaction, or research, our MC just happens to bump into one of the witch's apprentices who introduces the witch to her. ... See how terrible this plot is already? "Somehow, our MC got lucky and found a direct connection to the witch." And this is only the first scene of the first episode!

Then, instead of being shown anything about the witch, the apprentice just talks about how the witch is cool, nice, strong, and helps the weak: something extremely unusual since witches bring disaster. So then you're shown a scene where the witch saves the city by easily restraining a monster rampaging. Okay, but you're not attached to this story since...it's all so effortless. The witch just throws a spell and the monster gets captured. Then you're shown typical hive-mind crowds of police and civilians brainlessly praising the witch of how kind-hearted she is! Wowza. Finally, our main character Guideau rushes in and tries to kill the witch because she's extremely angry and holds grudges against witches. The problem is that she's weak and gets subdued easily so she gets bailed out by Ashof who saves her and they both leave the scene.

And this also brings us to the point of utter cringeness when talking about character personalities. Guideau has grudges against witches. She wants to take revenge. Yet, she's also quite weak. Ashof comments how "it always goes like this," meaning that Guideau always rashly rushes at witches and tries to kill or beat them despite being much weaker. I have to remind you that holding a huge grudge, being angry towards them, and wanting to kill them is different than the temper tantrum that Guideau is having. If the author wanted to write a realistic character with these same traits of Guideau, being that they want to kill witches no matter what, Guideau would instead mask her emotions and try getting close to witches if possible before striking when they least expect it. Being overly hostile towards witches doesn't mean acting stupid when the circumstances don't favor you. If Guideau hated witches, and based on past experiences, wouldn't she patiently bide her time until she sees an opportune moment rather than just impatiently striking at a witch with nearly zero chances of winning? Guideau is already a character who doesn't learn from past mistakes, can't mask her emotions for her long-term goals, and is the equivalent of a five-year-old child who's constantly having a temper tantrum. You can both be extremely angry at something and still have a scheming mind!

Just like how the story doesn't bother with exposition and directly introduces you to the witch's apprentice despite there being no reason, the show also introduces extremely shallow characters with seemingly only one or two traits assigned to them. This gets further accentuated when --oh wait-- the witch is evil! What a reveal!!! The problem with the course of events in this story is that you're merely told that the witch has a good reputation and because of the crowds, know that public sentiment is on her side. But you never actually experience this, so it's such a shallow point that it doesn't shock the viewer when the opposite is true. Witches had a very bad reputation in the city but this witch turned it around. Do you ever see this happening? No, not really. Do you ever see public sentiment turning from one way to another? Also no. Do you ever see the witch exerting effort trying to save the city from other people? No, she just easily deals with the problem for the police. Finally, do you care if the apprentice gets betrayed by her master when the apprentice was introduced just a few minutes ago? Also no. This also makes the witch's true intentions all less impressive. So who cares whether or not the witch held a grudge because her mother was persecuted? You, the viewer and reader never experienced it. You have zero stake plot point because you don't have much of an opinion on this witch at all since she was introduced a mere 5 minutes ago! This is all due to terrible pacing and story. Of course, everything is shallow when you just introduce and do nothing to make the viewer care about either the characters or the story.

Terrible, terrible, terrible writing. I won't even go into how below-average the art and animation is.