Flying Witch

In the witches' tradition, when a practitioner turns 15, they must become independent and leave their home to study witchcraft. Makoto Kowata is one such apprentice witch who leaves her parents' home in Yokohama in pursuit of knowledge and training. Along with her companion Chito, a black cat familiar, they embark on a journey to Aomori, a region favored by witches due to its abundance of nature and affinity with magic. They begin their new life by living with Makoto's second cousins, Kei Kuramoto and his little sister Chinatsu.

While Makoto may seem to be attending high school like any other teenager, her whimsical and eccentric involvement with witchcraft sets her apart from others her age. From her encounter with an anthropomorphic dog fortune teller to the peculiar magic training she receives from her older sister Akane, Makoto's peaceful everyday life is filled with the idiosyncrasies of witchcraft that she shares with her friends and family.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kowata, Makoto Main

Shinoda, Minami Japanese

Kuramoto, Chinatsu Main

Suzuki, Eri Japanese

Kuramoto, Kei Main

Sugawara, Shinsuke Japanese

Kowata, Akane ing

Aoi, Kana Japanese

Chito ing

Kayano, Ai Japanese

Ishiwatari, Nao ing

Mikami, Shiori Japanese

Inukai ing

Hino, Mari Japanese

Kenny ing

Sakura, Ayane Japanese

Shiina, Anzu ing

Iguchi, Yuka Japanese

Haru no Hakobiya ing

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Itou, Youhei Producer

Inage, Hiroyuki Producer

Nara, Shunsuke Producer

Suzuki, Kaoru Producer

Reviews

Jun 30, 2016

delta5

Recommended

Flying Witch is possibly the best iyashikei (healing) anime ever made. If you love Aria, Non Non Biyori, and the Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou OVAs, then this is a must-see series. Flying Witch stands out because it makes even Aria look action-packed. Every moment of every episode unfolds naturally and organically; there's a very subtle but unmistakable message that humans (witch or otherwise) are truly inseparable from the earth, plants, wind, and sky. There's no overt conflict, no overly energetic comedy bits, and really no plot. I have no idea how an entire episode dedicated to the coming of spring, taking a few walks, and picking ... fresh wildflower buds for tempura can be utterly captivating, but that's why Flying Witch is so magical.

One thing that's particularly refreshing is that all the characters, even ones from the magical world, are portrayed in a very realistic manner. Instead of relying on eccentric behavior to drive the story, the show just lets people be themselves. This is particularly important for the character of Chinatsu, a grade-school girl who's the younger cousin of Makoto (the titular witch of the series). It's great to see her reactions because she doesn't act like any of the anime tropes you might expect to encounter, nor is she given any odd quirks to make her more of a stand-out (e.g. Renge from Non Non Biyori). Chinatsu's just a normal kid, and that alone makes her a rare and wonderful creation.

Similarly, Chito, Makoto’s cat and familiar, actually acts and is animated like a real cat. Chito can be lazy, likes taunting the neighborhood dog, and goes on inscrutable adventures that only another cat could truly understand. I’ve followed a few cats on their adventures in my time and Chito is exactly like those real world felines. There’s a wonderful moment in Episode 5 when Chito decides to take a nap with Chinatsu, and the animators take the time to depict Chito circling around a few times before finally settling down. This is exactly what every cat ever actually does, and this show has the generosity to let Chito be true to Chito. All anime cats should be so lucky.

Generosity is perhaps the best word to describe Flying Witch. One can’t help but notice the small kindnesses that every episode contains. Whether it’s helping out with simple household chores, ensuring that a caterpillar finds a safe spot to feed on fresh leaves, or keeping a new friend company while she runs errands, one is constantly reminded of how these tiny actions are often so much more meaningful than the occasional grand gesture.

Flying Witch is a moment of utter serenity in the frenetic world of anime, and its real magic is in giving its viewers the chance to reflect on the smallest moments in daily life and realize that those can be the most enchanting of all. Flying Witch shows that a butterfly…or a caterpillar…is as beautiful and moving as a cathedral.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Aug 18, 2016

MidniteAndBeyond

Mixed Feelings

Flying Witch Review (NO SPOILERS)



Heh. No spoilers. As if this show actually has anything to spoil, in the first place. Ok, then. Flying Witch is one of those shows that I see a screenshot or a short clip of and I think the artwork looks so stinkin good, that I just gotta go see the entire show. And unfortunately... that doesn't always lead me to the best of shows... If I were to describe Flying Witch in one word, it would be "nothing". That's the gist of it. NOTHING happens in this show. So you're thinking "Oh, then it's a slice of life show?" I ... guess??? But it's the most eventless and dull lifestyle that you'll ever witness. Now, I said that there isn't anything to spoil in this show, and there really isn't. But I will be going over some events in the show, as well as the overall beginning set up, just so I can better describe things. Don't worry, though. I swear that you won't be getting spoiled on anything groundbreaking, no matter how much detail I give you.

So as the name of the show implies, this show stars a witch, named Makoto. Now you may be thinking "Ok, a witch. So there's probably some cool magic and otherworldly events in this show, right?" Nope... Well... there is, but it's almost entirely non existent. What I mean is that a lot of the magic in Flying witch is either done through reciting words, writing a spell or drawing a symbol, or through jump cuts that have NO flashy transition that even acknowledges that something magic even happened. For example, there's this cafe in the show, run by a witch. But the cafe looks like an abandoned, destroyed building. What they gotta do is a series of gestures, to make the cafe's true appearance show itself. You see them looking at the destroyed building, cut to their faces and bodies, doing the gestures, and then cut to the building being completely different. No transition. No sound effects. Nothing. Another thing is the flying. Makoto doesn't entirely know how to fly, at the beginning of the show. That gets mentioned around episode 4 or 5, or something like that. So you'd think we'd watch her trying to learn how to fly. But no. On the second to last episode or so, there's a scene that has Makoto flying on her broom. One of the characters mentions how well she's flying. And she just says "Oh, ya. I finally mastered it." And that's it. It's never brought up, again. There's even a part where a non witch character starts training to become a witch. She asks for her parent's permission and they just say yes, with no hesitation. And then that's it. She never gets any magic powers throughout the show, but she's apparently now in training to become a witch. And that's the end of that.

So if you're watching this show for its magic elements, don't. They're the most nonexistent non extravagant magic elements you ever see, or rather not see, in any anime ever. So how about the slice of life aspect of the show? Is that any good? Well... not really. It doesn't have any sort of plot, in any of the episodes. Not even any episodic ones, like Ouran Host Club or Fruits Basket. And it isn't funny in the slightest, like Azumanga Daioh. This show is all about existence. Just straight up existence, in the blandest way possible. There's about .0001% of magic, thrown into the mix of it, but that's all. Now a show about simple existence isn't always a bad thing, when the characters are at least interesting to watch. So... are these characters interesting to watch? Take a guess... Just like how the show can be described as "nothing", all of the characters can be described as "nobody". Not a single one of them has a personality. At all. I could not describe these characters, if my life depended on it. I even went and looked up the character descriptions for everyone on MyAnimeList, and even THEY can't describe these characters in more than 1 or 2 sentences. Probably my favorite description was for one of the main characters, Chinatsu. Her description is "Younger sister of Kei. She dislikes bake because she thinks it's for adults." That about sums it all up, right there.

The characters are all nice people. That's about as much as I can say to describe them. Nice. They're always nice to each other. There isn't a single bit of conflict in the entire show. I could probably count on one hand, all of the sentences in all of the dialogue of the entire show that had even the slightest bit of conflict in them. There's literally nothing else to say about it. There's no conflict. No problem solving. No plot twists. No nothing. This is a show about nothing, starring a bunch of nobodies. As for the music, it's just as bland and nonexistent as the show, so at least it flows well with the show it's attached to. Still, you won't any of the songs in this show. Not even the opening or ending. The opening and ending are generic in both sound and visuals. Completely skippable. There's no english dub as of right now, so you're only option is sub. The voice acting is fine. No problems with it, at least. Though, if there ever is a dub, you may think this is a good show to have play in the background, while you do something else. Though, personally, I think it'd be better to leave the visuals in the background, and don't even worry about listening to what's going on.

The animation is probably the best thing in the entire show. That's the whole reason I decided to watch this show, in the first place. The animation was done by J.C. Staff, a company that has worked on MANY other shows, and many that are far better than this one. Such as the previously mentioned Azumanga Daioh, Toradora, and one of my favorite shows, Little Busters. The animation in Flying Witch is really stinkin good. Scenery is beautiful and the characters are nicely detailed, despite their boring designs. HOWEVER. There is ONE thing in the animation that REALLY bugs me. And that is the character's noses. I know that that's a weird thing to complain about, but the character's noses all have this little light ring bubble on them, and it's VERRRRRRRY annoying to look at. Right from episode 1, that stupid light ring thingy bugged me, to no end. And it stays there, throughout the entire show. But other than that, the animation is near perfect.

The only thing left to talk about is that there are some OVA episodes, for Flying Witch. There are 9 episodes, each being no more than 2 minutes long, and being animated in a chibi CG art style. As for the plot of these OVA's... they have just as much of a plot as the regular show. In other words... nothing at all. So in conclusion, Flying Witch is nothing special in the absolute slightest. I don't think I'll ever be watching it, again. Though, I can't really say I HATED it, as weird as that sounds. It wasn't a bother to watch, being only 12 episodes. It was easy to follow, since there's literally nothing to follow, in the first place. It's nice to look at, and it may be fun to watch with your kids or younger siblings, since this is one of the few anime series that is actually appropriate for a very young audience. If you wanna watch this show to relax, I GUESS I can recommend it for that. Though, to save you some time, I would only recommend watching episodes 7, 8, 11, and 12. Those were my favorites out of the bunch, and you can honestly see what the entirety of the show is about, just by watching one of them. So ya. That's about it. If you're looking for a good slice of life show, with subtle magic that actually adds to the story, watch one of the Key anime. If you're looking for a slice of life with a plot, watch Ouran. If you're looking for a slice of life with actual comedy and actual characters, watch Azumanga. And if you want a show about literally nothing... watch Flying Witch...

I'm honestly not sure where to leave off this review. On one hand, I was ok with watching this and it certainly wasn't a bother to do so, but on the other hand, I got absolutely NOTHING from watching this. So I'm gonna give this show a bit of a weird final score. If you're willing to watch this type of show and accept that you'll get absolutely nothing from watching it, I can give this show a 5. But if you don't want to watch this type of show, then I'd give it a 0. I know that isn't really a fair rating, since the fact that a show was even able to be created deserves at least SOME respect. In that case, I'll give it a 1. But please know that my rating of 5 doesn't mean the show is decent, and my rating of 1 doesn't mean the show is terrible. I'm giving it a 5, simply because it's the the most indifferent rating I can give. And with this show, I am 100% indifferent to its existence and to my experience watching it.

Flying Witch gets either a 1/10 or a 5/10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jun 25, 2016

Whoahoho

Not Recommended

Sha, la,la,laaa, dakedo, exactly what directions does this anime going for????????That's the question which only writer Chihiro Ishizuka and anime director Katsushi Sakurabi can answer, as I watch the last episode of this anime, and all I can say is that it was pretty fucking boring to say the least:

Storywise, it has a setting and a genre, but it's plot about a witch in training was pretty much an complicated form of Parachronism, where one wouldn't understand as to why would a witch in training even live with a family who doesn't even practice witchcraft, let alone that such entity is an abomination to ever ... religious faith be it Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, would be in a community who somehow doesn't mind that there is one in their neighborhood. Also the plot is all over the place for an anime with a slice of life genre, it may have a comedy genre, but it wasn't even funny, so poor Flying witch has landed a 3 over 10 on my score card.

Artwise, it was a plain as any anime without an ecchi genre, so it's a 5 over 10, don't expect any panchira, onsen fanservice nor a swimsuit fanservice.

Sound, a 7 over 10 since the only consolation here was the opening theme, Sha, la,la, laaa.........it has that sweet feeling to it and it fits that main character as well.

Character, it's a 5 over 10 for this category, since the character themselves were plain and boring as they can be.

Enjoyment, since there isn't any scantly in this anime, it as decent as it can be, so 4 over 10..........

But overall , I'm giving it a 3 since you're more likely to wonder as to why would they even make an anime this boring, than enjoy the show. OUT

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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