When it comes to rom-coms, conventional stereotypes would suggest that the shonen genre would not be the place to look. Of course, this is hardly the case. Witch Watch, the latest Weekly Shonen Jump series making the leap to animation, continues a surprising long tradition of romance. The comedy aspects that result from that romance is easily the strongest part of the first three episodes released in theaters as “Watch Party” this past weekend. Based on these introductory episodes, belly laughs are going to be a weekly occurrence.
The joy of the punchline
Witch Watch’s setup is breezy and straightforward, and it’s better for it. The story from mangaka Kenta Shinohara (of the surprising Astra Lost in Space) pairs a lovesick witch with the stoic ogre she has a crush on, and her affections and magic lead to wacky situations. There’s more to this, especially the motivations behind Morihito (Ryota Suzuki/Stephen Fu) just going along with being a familiar. But the core of the introduction is the classic straight and funny man dynamic he has with Nico (Rina Kawaguchi/Lilypichu).
Right from the moment Nico crashes – literally, mind you – back into Morihtio’s life, I was deep-gut laughing. Witch Watch doesn’t pull its punches, instead choosing several jokes in a single scene that build incredibly well on each other. I wouldn’t say there’s much revolutionary as much as there’s a keen eye for comedic timing. However, I do think the choice to give both leads a supernatural background does add a little spice that helps sell the genuine moments they share in between the jokes.
The adaptation adds its own comedic charms and timing, including through ad-lib. Director Hiroshi Ikehata (Gurren Lagann, TONIKAWA, Magical Destroyers) trusts his actors to understand their characters’ situations and get creative. This choice pays off by letting these three introductory episodes have more wiggle room to introduce more details about who these characters are past the surface. The performances are actually doing a lot of the heavy lifting, much of Witch Watch’s punchlines stem from reactions to a magical mishap. That kind of joke needs great delivery.
Serviceable animation doesn’t get in the way of the jokes
Being so back and forth with the quips and jokes, Witch Watch isn’t going to win any animation awards. There’s nothing subpar in the first set of episodes, but outside of a couple of visual gags there’s nothing too extraordinary. A nice lighting effect is paired well enough with Nico’s powers but if anything it stands out compared to everything else. The work is perfectly fine, but not in a way to write home about. Even so, the character designs are nice in that the teenagers actually look like teenagers.
Frankly, the animation could look much worse and still pull off what matters most. Witch Watch gets the real belly laughs out of me. It’s the kind of sitcom shenanigans that are simple to get and enjoy, even the referential ones. Of course, this is a Japanese series, so there’s going to be stuff eventually that might not hit as well. There is no such case in the first batch of episodes, so long as you’re up to date on your Shonen Jump history. If you are, you’re in for one of the better committed bits I’ve seen in one of these shonen comedies.
The “Watch Party” has come and gone at this point, but make sure to have Witch Watch on your Spring season list. There’s a strong dynamic, an eye for comedic timing, and a strong cast. Episode 3 leaves off just enough to hint at more compilations – naturally, there’s a romantic rival or two. Shonen doesn’t have to be yelling and combat and blood, it can also be a little bit like Bewitched and not miss a beat.
Witch Watch begins April 6th on Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Hulu.
Featured images ©KentaShinohara/SHUEISHA, WITCHWATCH Production Committee, MBS
Travis Hymas is a freelance writer and self appointed Pokémon historian out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Known to be regularly obessive over pop culture topics, gaming discourse, and trading card games, he is a published critic featured on sites such as Uppercut and The Young Folks.
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