First Impressions / Flying Witch / Series Introduction

OP Sequence

OP: 「シャンランラン feat.96猫」 (Shanranran feat.96 Neko) by miwa

「6年振りの不思議」 (Rokunenfuri no Fushigi)
“Mystery After Six Years”

Even with a lot of hype riding behind it, I can whole heartily say that Flying Witch managed to meet my expectations.

Kowata Makoto and Company

As the titular character that’s been plastered on all the promotional artwork, Makoto managed to live up to everything I’d hope she’d be. Mind you, I came in with some prior knowledge since I took care of previewing this show for the Spring Preview and even with that in my mind, everything about her (and the rest of the characters) translated perfectly from manga to anime.

Her carefree attitude, her non-existent sense of direction, and even that bubbly attitude of hers that I could have only seen and heard in my head was brought perfectly into reality. But it didn’t stop there – everyone else managed to seamlessly make the transition as well! From Kei and his newbie voice actor putting just the perfect (ie: none) amount of enthusiasm into things to Chinatsu being just as adorable as I remembered her from the manga, it literally felt like I won the anime lottery. Something that just doesn’t seem to happen all that often for me and I can really appreciate it when it does.

The Humor

While I didn’t dive too deep into the source material since I didn’t want to spoil myself, I loved that the biggest jokes from the first few chapters made it in safe and sound. Starting with the revelation that Makoto is a witch, the faces that Chinatsu and Nao made were just spot on at conveying the same reaction I had when I realized what was going on. I mean, how often do you see someone just start levitating after they pick up a broom?

The second and less impressive joke was the screaming mandrake. And even though I say less impressive, it was nonetheless pretty funny overall. That ugly thing with its horrible scream and creepy face created the best kind of awkward between Makoto and Nao. It’s like, how do you deal with someone whose mind if so far gone in one direction that you feel like there’s nothing you can do? And if we’re all behind honest, I doubt any of us would have had a better answer than Nao in that situation.

General Impressions

Overall, I think Flying Witch did a fantastic job with its first episode. Through a combination of laughs and surprises, there was never a dull moment to be found. Something that only works in this genre when you have a great cast of characters that manage to seamlessly bounce off of each other (that or they make just the right kind of awkward). With that said, it’s important to remember that this is a slice-of-life and that you should keep your expectations within reason.

TL;DR If you’re looking for a fun and funny slice-of-life that feels a little like Kiki’s Delivery Service mashed together with a little bit of Nichijou, there’s no going wrong with Flying Witch!

35 Comments

  1. I’ve been waiting for another J.C Staff slice of life anime because they’re really good at it, and to my joy they did well with this. I hope they’ll keep the quality throughout until the end

    danes256
    Reply

  2. This is a fantasy show where no one fights no one, no one goes against no one.
    People say the manga is similar to Yotsubato! because of its warm and fuzzy SOL feel.
    I don’t even know if there will ever be any kind of romance aspect. Likely never.

    So apparently some people would like this show, and some others would never like it.
    But if you like to be in warm and fuzzy feeling once in a while, probably this is your kind of show.

    Saburau
    Reply

  5. I think the mandrake was damn hilarious XD More so that it featured again and again, both on the ep1 and the ending, even the episode end screen XD It intentionally made to create WTF situation-ish, which it executed splendidly.

    But more than that, what I celebrate is that finally, at long last, another quality slice of life animation… its slice of life, right? :v

    Adam
    Reply

  6. What a charming, clever show!
    I love the perspective that she has to fit in to the non-witch world and
    her trials and tribulations in doing so     the characters around her have
    to accept her for the witch that she is! She’s innocently unapologetic
    about her circumstance – it’s so heart-warming!

    And silly things happen – but not for the sake of silliness. Of course a
    witch is going to test drive a broom before purchase; are you surprised
    that she did?

    I loved how she assumed that it was common knowledge that the Tohoku
    region is home to many witches – oh you didn’t know – don’t worry you
    wont be burned a the stake for knowing that secret!

    Great show – I’m definitely looking to see where this goes…

    mac65
    Reply

      1. Oh right, because it should have been a view from the front, according to the manga, showing off loli thighs instead of loli rear. :p

        Honestly, was that supposed to be fanservice? I didn’t even notice until you brought it up.

        Wanderer
        Reply

    4. For what it’s worth – that position is sheer agony, if you don’t stretch often. Of course I know this – I saw that horrifying sitting position and promptly went to try it myself.

      sivilyslare
      Reply

  13. in a nutshell? a bit of the base from Kiki’s delivering service meets today world. So they took the base idea of studio ghibli and made their own anime from it. i think they would love it too

    well, this is a very wide direction from me

    Worldwidedepp
    Reply

  16. Short version is I liked this. There’s not a ton going on/very SOL and I wouldn’t call it particularity funny, but there is some underlying charm here. A nice relaxing watch with a very cute Chinatsu kind of stealing the show in Ep. 01 IMO. I did a test run of the manga as well before watching, and I agree with Takaii that they did a good job of “bringing the story to life” so to speak. Felt very much like the manga with the anime adding the benefits the different medium brings. Characters felt spot-on – no unnecessary tweaks/changes. A good start if one likes this type of show.

    daikama
    Reply

  18. You may have not found it as funny, but the mandrake part killed me. The awkwardness if that elongated silence along with the creepiness of the mandrake drove me to tears.

    Ragefat
    Reply

  20. In Facebook, There’s “Flying Witch Petit” clip, short anime for promoting main series. So I watched. I watched this 2 minutes anime and maximum kawaii 3D punches sent me flying & knockout like that from this overwhelming power, their cuteness are too much for me.

    That’s why, after I recovered (from injury), I did anime review for respecting their level SS cuteness.

    warning: please prepare your body & soul before proceed it.

    YahariBento
    Reply

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