Impression – Witch Craft Works, Episode 05

Episode 05 – “Takamiya-kun and the Gorgon Witch”

Hmm…I guess the fact that these are all coming out so late is kind of good because it gives everyone time to catch with the series…right? Not everyone’s like me, who viciously pounces upon this series the second it’s subbed. It’s definitely my anime of the year thus far, and it has very little to do with technical quality. I’m sure most people can find numerous faults with Witch Craft Works, but for me everything just clicks in a way that’s incredibly enjoyable to watch. The only real objective flaw with the series that I can admit to is the use of CG, and even that can be negligible.

Yes, I think the series would have benefited from having a higher budge, allowing the action scenes and flying scenes to be more fluid but I’m glad that the animators got it right elsewhere. We’re practically halfway through the series, and I have yet to really see any quality drop with the characters’ faces. I guess there’s the fact that they go chibi half the time, which the animators make good use of. While things like the evil bunnies and Medusa in this episode have been delegated to CG status, we still have Ayaka fighting in glorious normal animation. That’s all that matters, right?

From the get-go, this episode begins hilariously with Honoka’s mom giving him away to Ayaka like a father giving away his only daughter. We also learn that the two were arranged to be married from the start! Well, kind of. According to his mom, she was in love with Ayaka’s mother Kazane and they were supposed to get married. However, thanks to the Japanese government that was kind of impossible, so they decided their children should get married instead! How much do you want to bet that even his mom is a witch? I should hope so, otherwise she’s too oblivious to things like moving teddy bears.

Waiting in Ayaka’s skyscraper of a house is Medusa, who manages to turn Ayaka to stone. Naturally, Honoka wants to do everything in his power to help her out, which means falling for Chronoire’s trap. The amazing part, to me, is that he doesn’t care about playing into her hands at all (or giving up his eyes). He just cares about Ayaka. What I like is how he doesn’t suddenly get ridiculous powers, as one might in some other typical shounen series. Here, he just unleashes the white stuff from his body, which turns out to be the White Princess Evermillion. She’s a lot nicer than I thought an evil trap would be, as she helps fight Medusa and tells Honoka the secret to unstoning Ayaka.

While I’m not one for shipping, I can’t deny how cute the kiss between Honoka and Ayaka was. This is romance done right, or at least done in a way that aligns with my liking. There are few female characters in anime that are more awesome to me than Ayaka (I can’t think of any right now) and the great, selfless relationship between her and Honoka just makes everything great. Anime of the year? Probably not, but I love it nonetheless. I feel like the first picture sums up the series pretty well.