As a (semi) professional weeb and anime enthusiast, I tend to notice that whenever I go see an anime film I’m excited for or purchase a box set or Blu-ray for a critically acclaimed anime series, almost always GKIDS seems to have had a hand in distributing and releasing those pieces of art I enjoy.
Recently, GKIDS has dabbled in the seasonal anime game as they’ve released theatrical compilation films that consist of the first three episodes of various highly anticipated titles like Dandadan: First Encounter and Mobile Suit Gundam GquuuuuuX – Beginning. Both of these were anime I had planned on watching anyway, regardless of who was distributing them, so what makes Witch Watch: Watch Party an interesting scenario for me was that this was something I watched purely because GKIDS offered me a screener of the film.
I was unfamiliar with the Witch Watch manga, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I figured that since GKIDS stamped their logo onto the movie, this would be worth watching. Therefore, after watching Witch Watch: Watch Party, I can safely conclude that my hypothesis was correct.
Witch Watch follows a teenage witch named Nico (Rina Kawaguchi) who moves in with her childhood friend and crush, Morihito (Ryōta Suzuki), an ogre who looks like a human and is affectionately called “Moi” by Nico. While Morihito is tasked with protecting Nico from various threats that may want to harm the witch, as he was chosen to be her familiar, Nico hopes to use this time to get close to her crush, hoping to make him her boyfriend. This is pretty much all one needs to know about the plot synopsis because, frankly speaking, Witch Watch is an uncomplicated, straightforward anime in which what you see is what you get. There is no deeper subtext or depth hiding underneath, nor does this series pull a Madoka Magica in which the show appears to be a sweet, cute, wholesome series, but then unveils itself to be much more graphic, violent, and sinister. Witch Watch is exactly what it sets out to be: a cute fantasy romantic comedy in which Nico and Morihito get into wacky situations while also slowly developing a wholesome relationship.
Witch Watch, being simple and uncomplicated, is not at all a negative; if anything, its simplicity makes it charming, especially since it nails its comedic, light-hearted tone and does a great job making the characters likable. Just from watching the first 3 episodes that make up this compilation film, I could see a lot of parallels between Witch Watch and the anime adaptations of Rumiko Takahashi’s shonen rom-com manga like Urusei Yatsura or Ranma ½. Similar to those titles, while an overarching plot revolves around the central romance between Nico and Morihito, Witch Watch takes a more episodic form of storytelling. Each episode is divided into segments that revolve around a different “gag of the week.” In this episode, Nico uses her magic to allow her classmates to fly; in this episode, Nico and Morihito save a woman from a burning building. Not every gag lands, and specific segments are certainly better than others, but overall, the anime succeeds at mildly amusing me at worst and entertaining me at best.
There’s not much I can really say about the characters. On top of this compilation film being barely over an hour long, the first three episodes don’t really give Nico or Morihito any in-depth character arcs or conflicts outside of their primary goals; Morihito wants to protect Nico, and Nico wants to be a great witch and to be Morihito’s girlfriend. Witch Watch follows the Urusei Yatsura model in which their shtick or dominant personality trait primarily defines the protagonists. While there are occasional points in the story where they grow and have real character development moments, these are usually the exception instead of the norm. This is, first and foremost, a romantic comedy where the cute anime characters do cute things. Morihito uses his superhuman strength to do something heroic, Nico uses her magic to get into absurd situations, and Nico fantasizes about various romantic escapades with her beloved “Moi.”
Whether or not this is something an audience member would find entertaining, sweet, or hilarious entirely depends on the person; their mileage may vary. As for me, I have a soft spot for this sort of anime. While I do not actively seek out this type of anime, I can still be thoroughly entertained and recognize when a story like this achieves what it sets out to accomplish. For the most part, based on what I’ve seen in these first three episodes, Witch Watch does exactly that; no more, no less. Witch Watch is the exact type of anime you’d expect it to be, and while I did enjoy it overall, it won’t necessarily leave the same impact on me that a lot of Rumiko Takahashi’s rom-com mangas did, like Urusei Yatsura, Ranma ½, or even Maison Ikkoku.
When I watch anime like this, I would prefer it to either lean harder into comedic absurdity like Kaguya-sama: Love is War or take the time to flesh out these goofy characters like Golden Time. Witch Watch doesn’t do either; instead, it takes this jack-of-all-trades middle path. While I did like this enough to continue watching, hopefully things start picking up and tread into more interesting territory.
Rating: 6/10