LogFAQs > #969403497

32. Witch Craft Works
https://myanimelist.net/anime/21085/Witch_Craft_Works
Winter 2014 (12 episodes)
My Score: 8/10, MAL Score: 7.01/10
Best Character: Kagari Ayaka

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMHFUvMMXzg

Premise: One day, Takamiya Honoka is attacked by a witch. Hes rescued by Kagari Ayaka, the most popular girl in school who turns out to be a witch herself, and the two are drawn into a conflict between competing factions.

The Good: Witch Craft Works is a modern day fantasy anime with equal parts action and comedy. Takamiya starts out as just a regular dude. His only connection to the beautiful and popular Kagari is that they sit near each other in class, and her fan club beats him up if he ever accidentally dares to talk to her. However, it turns out that Takamiya does have something special about him, because a witch attacks him one day to steal his powers. Kagari, who is also a witch, comes to his aid. From that day forward, she dedicates herself to protecting him.

The premise might not sound like much, but this wound up being one of the most purely enjoyable anime Ive ever seen. Takamiya and Kagari are great as individual characters. Hes mostly just a regular dude, but only in the sense that hes the straight man reacting to all the witch nonsense happening around him. He still has plenty of character traits to keep him from being boring or a mere audience self-insert. Kagari is still easily my favorite character. Shes a serious girl who doesnt show emotion much, but she has a deadpan style of comedy I found endlessly hilarious. Shes also a total badass. Her and Takamiya have a great dynamic, and not just in how they interact with each other. The way their powers work together is cool too. Kagari is effectively immortal, but any damage to Takamiya transfers instantly to her. That means she needs to protect her, and they grow closer as a result. Theres also a neat overarching plot with two competing witch factions, and each one is filled with fun and interesting characters.

The Bad: Theres only one season of this, and it doesnt go as far as I would like. Ive been thinking about getting into manga lately, and Witch Craft Works is one of the first Id like to read if I can track it down. Its high praise that the worst thing I can say about this is that I wanted more. Still, it really left me wanting more, and that feeling that it was incomplete dragged it down a bit in the ranking.

Overall: Witch Craft Works is amazing on pretty much every level. I liked the two main characters, I liked side characters like the fun group of five Tower witches or Takamiyas crazy mom, and I loved both the setting and the overarching plot. There were some neat witch battles where they used their crazy powers or controlled hordes of minions. Takamiya and Kagari also had a unique dynamic. The first season doesnt tell as much of the story as I would like, but it still reaches a decent stopping point. Overall, this was a very entertaining anime.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/5/2/AABz_zAAD4Lo.jpg

CHARACTER: Kagari Ayaka (Witch Craft Works)
https://myanimelist.net/character/35504/Ayaka_Kagari
Voiced by: Seto Asami
TOP 100 RANK: 87th

SPOILERS FOR Witch Craft Works

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kx3dj6zCKw
(The subtitles arent in English but its short and you dont really need them)

I already talked about a lot of the things I like about Kagari in the anime write-up. She has a great dynamic with Takamiya. Shes beautiful and popular, but its obvious that she cares about him way more than anyone else. Once shes allowed to openly start protecting him, Kagari keeps him by her side and refuses to let anyone get between them. I love the way their powers interact. Shes super strong and cant be damaged by anything, but any damage to Takamiya transfers instantly to her. That means she needs to defend him, and that added a neat strategic element to any battle they participated in. I also love her deadpan sense of humor. Kagari never showed much emotion about anything, but her offhand comments could be surprisingly funny.

Shes also a badass, and the video I linked is good proof of that. Her and Takamiya are out shopping when they run across a trio of Tower witches. Kagari effortlessly knocks two of them out. Then she guards Takamiya while the third witch shoots at them with dual pistols. Kagari seems to absorb the bullets, and then she dramatically drops the bullets and uses a finger pistol to explode the floor at the enemy witchs feet. That scene was so awesome that I sometimes randomly think about it in my daily life.

The first season only hinted at the overall story between her and Takamiya. He has some sort of massive power sealed inside himself, and Kagari made a pact to tap into that power in exchange for keeping him safe. Getting at Takamiyas power is the motivation for a lot of enemy witches, but its clear they only want it because it would make them stronger. Kagari, by comparison, has genuine devotion for Takamiya. She doesnt show much emotion so its hard to tell at times, but its clear she cares deeply about him. When Takamiya is in danger near the end of the season, Kagari is even willing to sacrifice her life to keep him safe. Thankfully, hes able to bring her back, but it was still a powerful scene and proof of how far she was willing to go. I plan to read the manga for Witch Craft Works someday, despite not being a manga reader at all, mostly because I want to see more adventures between them and where they eventually end up.