Witch Watch Episode 15 Discussion

@holdingnothing Such illustrates how rich the Japanese culture and folklore are, which I admire very much.

@Lucifrost I know, he said himself that he’s still in ninth grade. What I meant was that I’d like him to not drop out of junior high, but to continue until he reaches high school, and then enroll at the same school as our main characters. Although he’d be a freshman, while they’d be sophomores.

@Skuvan He can already enroll, since technically 9th grade is right before high school depending on context and thus he'd be only a year or so younger than the main cast

@holdingnothing Well, the thing is, what you said doesn’t really apply most of the time in Japan. They usually have either middle schools or high schools, unlike many other countries. Regardless of whether he can enroll or not, I just hope he does, whether it’s now or a year later.

@Skuvan And high school isn't even required, which is why he spoke like that, since unlike in the states, you can shift to more job education and such from high school onwards. High school entrance exams are not just a cliche in anime and manga, it's likely built into society since probably even before WW2

@holdingnothing I’ve honestly never been to the states, so I have no idea. Nevertheless, whether high school is actually mandatory in Japan or not, this is anime. Therefore, Miharu enrolling with the rest of the cast would be a lot more fun than him not doing so.

@leonardobarba And the series will show it can pivot between the Japanese and other folkloress, sort of like Monster Musume in a way, though I'm way behind. They've supposedly introduced a djinn there.

A fan service episode.

By moving to the same house as Morihito, Kanshi, and Keigo, that vampire boy just live in an "all you can eat buffet" situation.

@holdingnothing The series does it from episode one:

• Ogre, witch, warlock and vampire: European folklore.
  
• Werewolf: Middle Eastern -- The Epic of Gilgamesh --/European folklore.
  
• Djinn: Arab folklore.
  

Fantastic, isn't it?

I know this a romcom, but I feel like the story doesn't really have any impact and is getting repetitive. The first few episodes of this anime were great, but now it feels like the story is in a loop and isn't really seeing any real progress other than Nico adding another guy to live with her.

@Skuvan The OP does tease another relevant character for Miharu, him draining Moi all the time wouldn't be realistic

@holdingnothing I mean, we only know how vampires work through fiction, so our understanding of them is pretty vague, you know? Most of the time, vampires are portrayed differently depending on the story. For example, like you just said, if Miharu kept draining Morihito all the time, it wouldn’t really make sense, and that’s totally understandable.

But take an anime like Call of the Night, for instance. The vampires there are so cute, and their blood-sucking is almost on a mosquito level. That’s why the heroine, Nazuna, is able to feed exclusively on the main character, Ko. In fact, if you watch the anime, you’ll see that he actually gets really mad whenever she sucks anyone else’s blood. He wants to be her only source of food. And keep in mind, he’s just a normal human, not an ogre like Morihito.

@Skuvan I'm reminded of South Park bringing up a distinction that's probably in the vampire community of psychic and sanguinarian, the former rarer in being associated to vampires than the latter. And vampires in Japanese pop culture feel rarer at times, not always trying to reinvent the wheel in lore, though I like how Witch Watch has the vampire familiar's father being a priest, so the whole religious angle that exists in some lore (Marvel's Dracula literally made a deal with Satan, iirc) is tossed out

@holdingnothing I mean, I’ve never really watched South Park or Marvel, but it’s exactly like you said, every work of fiction tends to portray myths in its own unique way, you know? And I totally agree with you. I don’t just love that Mahiru’s dad is a priest in this anime, but also how every familiar is unique.

Furthermore, by unique, i mean unique in their own way. Keigo literally dealing with dissociative identity disorder, Kanshi being super agile and flexible instead of flying with wings, and Morihito being a literal beast without even looking like one. You know? Every mythical being in Witch Watch is portrayed so uniquely. It’s such a creative and original take that it really makes you appreciate the effort put into it, which is genuinely so impressive.

@Skuvan The series leans strongly to slice of life and gags stuff, you'd practically forget it has moments where it feels like a totally different series. And this guy is probably more known in the whole of his career for another slice of life comedy style series, Sket Dance, but my first exposure was the anime Astra Lost In Space. Which is probably the most serious overall, with bits of comedy sprinkled.

I do like Kanshi's ability to communicate with birds...or was it specifically crows? There are lots of birds in my area, it'd be interesting to talk with them, but I'd prefer that for cats, strays or otherwise.

People are probably still speculating on potential stuff that might be added. Like what mythological creature hasn't been covered so far? What's their take on, say, a kitsune or a dragon/ryu (not the western doragon)?

@holdingnothing

I've never heard of that Astra one, but I have watched Sket Dance, which I actually really liked. What I love about this author's works is that they have a vibe that's very, very similar to Gintama, which is literally one of my favorite anime of all time.


Yo, that would be really cool! You just reminded me of Teen Wolf. I don't know if you've seen that show, but it explores those kinds of myths. The protagonist is a werewolf, and his friends are either psychics or descendants of fox spirits. I think Wednesday is pretty similar too, more comedic though.

@Skuvan I'm aware of it, similar to True Blood and others, mostly through people who've dedicated that time to watching them in detail, like Allison Pregler (though she's got more dedication to Charmed) and Maven of the Eventide (and she's semi retired, raising 2 kids, possibly writing books on the side).

I mostly remember that Tyler Hoechlin, the 2nd most recent Superman in live action now, plays a character there, Derek, who I think starts as a rival and then becomes an ally. He has range as an actor and is around my age too. True Blood has some of the most diversity as I hear it. Fae, skinwalkers, I want to say witches are in there somewhere.

Rosario + Vampire has some diversity itself, some tried and true archetypes like the yuki onna and even succubus, neither of which are in Witch Watch that I recall, surprisingly

@holdingnothing

Exactly! I'm surprised you know that much without even watching the show, but you're actually spot on. All of that happens in the first season, which is just a prologue to the main story. And yes, Derek, played by that actor, starts off as someone the protagonist misunderstands because of his intimidating expressions. But once all the confusion and misunderstandings are cleared up, he ends up joining the main group. It's a really good show.


Rosario Vampire was actually one of my first anime, haha. I watched it way earlier than I probably should have. I think it was back in 2011, so about 14 years ago, haha. It was a pretty hilarious anime. I was just a growing boy back then, so I loved all the ecchi scenes and bits of fanservice here and there.

A Catholic(?) priest vampire but with hot wife and femboy son is a great idea, perfect for Witch Watch.