Anime/Witch Craft Works

Yeah, it was cute.

The final episode was good and happened mostly how it happened in the manga although the three Tower witches and the llama weren't captured by Chronoire in the manga. Also in the manga Ayaka was in a coma in hospital for a week following her 'death'.

Overall this was easily one of my top five series of the season.

It started a bit slow. (back when nobody had any personality and the skikigami's seemed to clash), but turned into a pretty entertaining series.

I think it was sort of generic but still good, overall.

Episode 12:

• Such a wonderful friendship between bunny and bear. Then it ended.
• Hey, Evermillion. You're charming as usual.
• Penguin World!
• Liked how Atori sneaked around.
• Yes, Weekend, your plan was flawless. But, you know, spanners everywhere.
• Chronoire's more crafty than Weekend thought. And Medusa's another story, it looks like.
• Honoka showed the depths of his resolve.
• Chronoire's dream battle with Weekend. Wasn't all that satisfying.
• Instead, have a nice, epic battle against Kazane. It even came with a tumblepenguin!
• The carnage! The mayhem! The destruction! The victor! And that's how you do epic battles in five seconds.
• And thus, normal life returns. Including your daily dosage of Team Tanpopo beatdowns.
• ...Llama.

This was a fun anime.

edited 25th Mar '14 1:38:23 AM by Diamite

Chronoire's little spot of ocean was classy. The art is really something.

I'm slightly disappointed that KMM didn't leave Tanpopo behind to go train with Medusa. By changing such a key point from the manga, they've made continuation difficult.

Really? They can't just throw in a line in the (hypothetical) first episode of the second season saying something like "damn, I got left behind because I stalled in our training!"?

I remember her getting a letter from them about two chapters after it's shown that she's still living at the Takamiya household. What that amounts to hasn't been shown yet.

The anime would show the events of chapter 28 (where she's eating off the floor/why did I get left behind?) meaning she would have been dismissed between season 1 and 2. They could just say that Tanpopo wasn't making any more progress and was thrown away to fend for herself. I don't see that as much of a problem unless it causes season 2 to diverge greatly from the anime. Hopefully not, since this was a pretty faithful adaptation.

I understand why they altered the scene though, since they weren't so sure that this would even sell and wanted closure. They just saw it as another anime to fill a time slot and serve as an advertisement for the manga. Surprise! It's actually selling pretty well.

Also we have to OVA, which might (might) adapt a few more chapters and actually show the events above. Or it might just be some extra fanservice, who knows.

edited 25th Mar '14 12:24:42 PM by ZodiacBeast

Well, KMM minus Tanpopo were taken away, and they left a letter explaining the situation. I don't think the issue is the situation, but the character development that it makes Tanpopo undergo. She basically graduates to supporting protagonist in the same vein as Kasumi.

That said, I haven't seen the last episode yet, so I'm not sure for sure how it goes. I've just seen screenshots and the like.

To tell you the truth I haven't either but I checked out the last few minutes to see how it went. I'm going to check the chapters afterwards and see just how Tanpopo changes since I didn't really notice it before, but then again I don't have the greatest memory.

EDIT: OK, so Tanpopo is living at the Takamiya's as shown in chapter 28, then gets squashed by Ayaka without magic and teams up with Natsumi and those two witches with the llama (and are just as quickly squashed by Ayaka) in chapter 29. She gets the letter in chapter 30. That's her last appearance so far.

My guess is that the OVA (or s2 episode 1, if you prefer) would cover chapters 28, 29 and MAYBE 30. Chapter 28 with back to school and Touko's awesomeness, chapter 29 with the failure of the Tanpopo/Natsumi/other two alliance, and 30 with Loli!Ayaka. After that is what seems like the start of the next major arc so I doubt they'd go further, especially when three chapters is pushing it for an OVA already.

edited 25th Mar '14 1:16:09 PM by ZodiacBeast

Yeah, the anime seeems to keep them as Team Rocket, making the status quo God. The manga makes it clear that nothing is the same anymore.

The logical next step for a continuation of the anime would be to show that everything's changed. Tanpopo, the ramifications of Honoka's actions, etc. Hopefully they don't screw it up.

I can see chapter 28 being used as half an episode (getting back to speed on just what has happened and the results, like Honoka's improved stats) along with with Tanpopo challenging Ayaka before the commercial break, and the remainder of 29 and 30 being squeezed into the second half. Whether that's the OVA or s2 remains to be seen, but I'm patient enough to wait.

Only about two more weeks until the next chapter! Argh, now I'm impatient again.

edited 25th Mar '14 1:24:27 PM by ZodiacBeast

How far in the manga did the anime cover anyway?

Up to chapter 28 or 29 I think.

edited 25th Mar '14 2:57:14 PM by Augustine

It covered chapters 1-27 with the encounter with the Tanpopo squad at the end being an alteration from the manga. Originally they just left Tanpopo to live at the Takamiya house so that they could go train with Medusa, with the results of that training being shown in chapter 30 (not that it helps much...). They also cut out the part from chapter 27 where Ayaka is recovering in the hospital, presumably for time constraints.

Since they changed that in the anime they would have to shoehorn in some line about Tanpopo having to return to the Takamiya house for some reason like failing to improve. It also seemed like they could have potentially shown the first few pages of chapter 28 (the conversation on the way to school) but opted for the Tanpopo encounter to bring some sort of closure to the season just in case it didn't sell well.

It's doing fairly well, which means it might get a second season in a few years. The manga's been monthly for a while now and things are picking up from chapter 31, so I'd say the odds are pretty good if they don't just forget about it.

edited 25th Mar '14 2:57:46 PM by ZodiacBeast

It sold exceptionally well for such a cheap show, and it was an almost perfect adaptation to boot. I'd certainly look forward to a second season once the material is all there.

If my theory (wish, really) about the OVA is true, then the second season would start with chapter 31. That means that the first episode will probably be -

Honoka's mother will tell him about how Kazane took him on "trips" in order to make him less of a wuss when he was younger and he came back with a head injury and partial amnesia. Ayaka will find a key and drag Honoka to her family home in an attempt to find the secrets from their childhood. They'll squeeze in Kasumi and Rinon fighting the giant Penguin in the first or second episode.

What we'll probably get in the next group of chapters (and their corresponding episodes - Some possible onsen fanservice plus childhood revelations. Weekend telling Kazanae about Honoka's messing with the city, leading to Kazane putting the dots together and setting off to stop Honoka and Ayaka. If she nabs them she'll throw them in jail...just were Weekend wants them, close to her. And...the taming of a giant penguin. Hey, it's indicated that's it's some sort of manifestation of Honoka's power so he'll likely have to control it in the future and make sure it doesn't just reappear.

Also, it appears that the Honoka that appears in Ayaka's dreams from childhood is the present Honoka, so it seems that either she's having prophetic visions or he'll have to go back in time to set up the future and ARRRRRGH. Whether that's explained this arc or another is anybody's guess.

Then of course we have stuff like "what if the seals are broken?" Will Honoka remain himself? Will he go out of control and have to be put down? (I doubt it). Will he transcend reality like certain witches, perhaps even both Honoka and Ayaka together at the end of the series? Will Medusa show her full power? Will any of the other witches do anything of use?

Tune in to the next chapter for the thrilling conclusion to - OK, enough of that. I just have a lot of time on my hands.

edited 25th Mar '14 3:26:28 PM by ZodiacBeast

The last episode was a bit anti-climactic to me. No well animated fight, and the resolution turned on dialogue indicating how it was already resolved before it happened. Weekend's arc as a whole was rather rushed. No big romantic moment either.

Still a fine show. The quirkiness of the art went very well with that of the story and cast. Beautiful backgrounds and costumes, and some actually well-done CG fights. Yet there was never any chemistry to the couple. And character art is one thing JC staff don't get. Most faces are stiff and too similar. Some of the Cheeky Mouth animations jarred against the rigid character models. The artists need to loosen up.

Also, ED of the season.

x4 Actually, the rest were dragged away by Medusa. Tanpopo was just...forgotten. She was elsewhere when Medusa showed up, plus she was actually doing something unlike the others, so maybe Medusa knew she was missing but let her off the hook because she wasn't just spectating.

Yep, that's the big change. In the manga Tanpopo gets left behind, and is eventually dragged kicking and screaming into the shenanigans Natsumi gets into afterward (aka the Giant Penguin fight).

FUCK YEAH, CHRONOIRE SCHWARZ SIX MOTHERFUCKERS. BEST VILLAIN WINS. WEEKEND A SHIT. WORST WITCH 0/10 WOULD NOT HIRE TO DESTROY THE WORLD.

Well this was... fun.

Characterization was not very impressive, but this is one of the few times it doesn't seem to matter. The journey made it worth it. The twists and turns. I can't call the setting revolutionary, but it twists the conventions enough so that this fantasy world feels new and enjoyable to watch. It's not deep and contemplative, but instead Witch Craft Work opts to simply embrace it's energy.

7/10. I loved that you can't tell where it's going but I also loved that the writing was solid enough that there were no plot holes. I wish more anime could pull that off.

so, if Kazane is hundreds of years old, why was she in high school with Honoka's mom?

I think it was mentioned later on (chapter 29, or 30 was it?) that this was something that powerful witches periodically had to do, especially if they were going to settle down and "contract" in a particular city, because one cannot really do so unless they've lived in the place, after all.

By the way, someone translated the long and rambling blog post the author had about the world of WCW — particularly the existence of the godlike End witches, and the witches like Kazane and Chronoir, who get the "End" appelation given to them because they're considered close to being considered End witches in the modern age.

edited 2nd Apr '14 9:21:51 PM by MyssaRei

Just catching up with the anime, ep 9 atm. lol