Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo – 09

The Witch Killers:

We’re finally heading into this end stretch of the first major arc. We should have taken our time getting here, but at least we’ll get a resolved story by the end of the twelve episodes – many manga fans will even argue that the series should have ended at the point where the anime is likely to end, so we should get a serviceable conclusion. Now that we’re reaching that finish line, we get another layer to the witch lore of this mysterious school: Witch Killers. Unlike the female witches, Witch Killers either have the ability to copy another witch’s power (Yamada) or steal them (Tamaki).

Our new introduction, Tamaki Shinichi (Tachibana Shinnosuke), sheds more light on this, even if he doesn’t make much of a strong first impression. Honestly, I imagined him to be much more cocky, along with his initial lazy attitude, as apposed to someone who seemingly doesn’t care at all. I think part of that comes down to me not being sold the voice not fitting him, which is the first time it’s happened in this anime. His character certainly changes as the series goes on, but I can still remember how much of a big deal his introduction was in the manga, yet here it fell a little flat. Also, his hair is the most obnoxious lime green (aka my least favourite colour).

The Invisible Sixth Witch:

With the introduction of Tamaki comes the identity of the sixth witch, whose power he has already stolen. Funnily enough, it’s a character that we’ve seen in the background from the very beginning: Asuka Mikoto (Hanazawa Kana), the Vice-President and Secretary of the Student Council. Her witch power allowed her to turn invisible in the eyes of whoever she kissed, but she no longer possesses that ability. I liked the detail of power succession that was touched upon as well – if Tamaki ‘steals’ another power then the Invisible Kiss power will be transferred to another student in the school, and the cycle will seemingly forever continue. It does seem like this witch lore is integral to Suzaku High School, and there must always be seven witches, no matter who they are. I now wonder who made up those rules…

A Confession of Love:

With all the exposition we got, I was surprised that we’d already reached the point of Yamada’s confession. There we have it folks, he loves her! He said it himself, realising it after seeing Shiraishi seemingly leaving him for the future President of the Student Council. Obviously, that’s a low blow, and he’s come to realise that he can’t be apart from her. Who’d have thought this delinquent and the ace student of the school would have feelings for one another? Well, it was pretty obvious, actually – destiny, and all. Shiraishi hasn’t vocally confirmed whether or not she likes Yamada, but I think it’s clear that she developed feelings for him long before he did for her. The cherry on top was their final moments of the episode where Shiraishi was the one to kiss Yamada, before Yamada promises to change the future for her, so that she never has to make that sad face again.

Overview – What’s Next?:

Lots of explanations and revelations this episode, which was much needed before we head for the final act. The sixth witch was a bit of non-story, since she’s already given her power away. All that remains is finding the identity of the seventh witch, before we get into the meaty, emotional stuff that’s bound to follow. And next week’s preview certainly doesn’t look like the usual happy, goofy Yamada-kun that we’re used to.

Full-length images: 01, 28.

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