It’s not news that I like Witch Watch way, way more than I expected to. But we’re at the point now where it’s getting harder to chalk any of that up to fluke. This show is just damn funny, week in and week out. There are the odd clunker chapters, as it always the case with sketch comedies. But on the whole the batting average is surprisingly high. It has a complete absence of self-seriousness that serves it extremely well, and it’s totally committed to the joke. Effectively it’s a gag manga, but follows the structure of a slice of life.
The bulk of this episode is driven by the “Trope-tacular Student Council”. And even in a series that’s been as consistently silly as this one, the group is very silly. And what a parade of seiyuu – both FukuJuns (Fukushima and Fukuyama), Midorikawa Hikaru, Miyake Kenta, Kuno Misaki and KugiRie, Sawashiro Miyuki, Matsuoka Yoshitsugu, and oh-by-the-way Hidaka Noriko as the shota hacker.The joke is what it sounds like – everyone on the council is a seitoukai trope. The Kansai serious guy with closed eyes, the queen of thorns, the hacker boi, the tsundere goth lolita and her zashiki warashi twin, a robot, the psycho (named “Saiko” ROFL), the gorilla.
And then we have the president of course, on his path of kings. Kiyomiya Tenryuu (yes, that was his sister with the tea ceremony fiasco) is a complete cliche but the funniest thing with him is his hand is stuck to his hat (which Daiki Sakai Mk II the robot tries unsuccessfully to explain). The thing with Witch Watch is it just doesn’t miss a chance to goof – even most of the names are puns (though I admit, I don’t get the “hashtag-noway100chapters” joke). The upshot of this is Prez is the only competent one on the council (which enters the story in the first place because they want to ban Nico’s use of magic at school), and is desperate to have Moi join the council, complete his “council of ten” and help his ass.
No, none of this is remotely to be taken seriously, and thank goodness for that. The spectacle of Tenryuu’s eternal quest to get Moi (I don’t blame Moi for wanting no part of that) looms over us. Also hilarious is when Keigo pulls up the “SEITO KAI” video (with the unreadable vertical scroll). Moi finds himself bonding with Prez against his better judgment (both are competent men surrounded by idiots). And Kanshi reminds me that although he’s not my favorite character, he has an extremely funny skill – off-camera reaction commentary.
Next up is a welcome if too-brief visit from a character I absolutely loved the first time around, Miyao Nemu. Nemu has returned trying to psych herself up to let Moi know how she feels, but when the opportunity presents itself she turns into a cat again (once more, the joke to me is that even as a human she’s basically a cat). Nico promptly spills her disgusting sticky sweet drink on her, and Moi promptly brings Nemu into the bath to clean her up. And Nemu, for all her internal protestations, is not saying no to another round of Moi petting.
This chapter also manages to work in some unsubtle Sket Dance plugs (in pun form, of course). And it’s Sket Dan who saves Nemu from humiliation when the combination of Moi’s tender brushing and the hair dryer inevitably causes her to fall asleep – he’s so absorbed in the comedy that he doesn’t even notice when she changes form. But in flight through the woods Nemu gets a bad vibe, sensing a warlock. And, stumbling upon a creepy cabin (talk about a trope), spies the warlock and their acolyte inside. She even overhears talk of a planned capture of Nico, which sends Nemu running back to warn her and seemingly portends a serious storyline coming next week. Let’s hope it’s not too serious, as that’s the last thing WW needs with the comic momentum it has driving it forward like a locomotive.
