We didn’t even have to wait until Witch Watch Season One ended before getting official confirmation of a sequel. Of course that’s likely because it ended a week late – production delays or otherwise I don’t know, but a recap aired last weekend. There’s no word on an airing date yet but there’s plenty of material, so it just comes down to Bibury’s production schedule and the preferences of the production committee. I’d normally suspect sometime in 2026 but the lack of any mention in the announcement could mean 2027.
I’m not remotely surprised, and quite genuinely pleased. As much as I loved Kanata no Astra Witch Watch never really took for me in manga form (though having since gone back to it here and there, I do appreciate it more now). The anime has been a big winner for me, though. Not in the compelling story-driven sense like Astra, but just a relentlessly fun and silly comedy that makes you laugh with impressive regularity. I think this adaptation has gotten everything possible out of the manga – for me it’s the better experience, and while not unicorn rare that’s not what I would call extremely common.
Sequel or no this is still a finale, so you figured Witch Watch would go a little more substantial than usual here. Which it did, though it didn’t get bogged down in seriousness too much. This wasn’t a vintage WW tour de force because it’s just a show that does better with less plot, but it was a nice way to cap off the season. We got a bit of conflict, nothing major. There was a bit of a headfake with that – the loner kid who complained at the planning sessions wasn’t the one who planned to use the culture festival as a means of getting Nico in trouble – and eventually sent a threatening letter to the student council. Turned out that was Hajime, the guy from the planning committee, who was pissed at Nico for stealing his thunder.
That was fine – no big deal, if we’re honest. Most of the comedy this week comes from Kanshi signing on to do a manzai act for his class’ festival stage. He needs a partner for that of course, and Moi is the comedy otaku in the room. But he declines, leaving an opening for Keigo to offer himself. Naturally Moi signs on as the manager – he’s always the Brian Epstein figure in any of their kooky plans. As ever Moi leans into this way too hard, since he’s a guy who’s pretty much never not serious about something. His advice is generally working, but Keigo’s poser gene starts to assert itself, and when some girls praise the act he goes all Lenny Bruce and proceeds to tank the act with his beatnik ideals.
Needless to say “Black Darkness in the Abyss of the Universe” goes over like a freezer salesman in Antarctica. But soon enough attention turns to the letter, and Miharu asserts himself to make sure Moi relies on the three other dudes for backup in watching over Nico. In fact we get a title drop here, and it does make sense even if I never really thought about it much. And for once Nico’s spells don’t cause any major disasters. Or so I was going to say until Hajime almost drowned because of “Through-N-Through” (though the circumstances are such that – for once – she really can’t be blamed).
With that we wrap, and an altogether successful adaptation this turned out to be. Ranma makes a nice handoff here, as it airs on the same day and more or less fills the same role in my schedule, but I’ll certainly miss Witch Watch for however long it’s gone. Gag comedies can definitely be hit and miss as anime adaptations, and they require a deft touch to really work. Fortunately this series combines Shinohara Kenta’s signature lowbrow-highbrow humor with a stellar production that gets all the details right. When it comes to Weekly Jump it’s not always the biggest hits that get the best adaptations, and for my tastes I think that’s usually a good thing.
