I want to recommend some witch-themed anime. It being October (even this late in the game) is a fine excuse to watch them if you haven’t already. Using witches can mean running the gamut of your typical “magical girls” to full on dark and creepy.
Kiki’s Delivery Service
Kiki’s Delivery Service
I wanted to do a “review” of this closer to the announcement of Miyazaki’s retirement, but never got around to it. This movie is my personal favorite Miyazaki film. While the majority of his gorgeous films have such grand, sweeping adventures, I liked the more “humble” journey of Kiki.
Upon reaching her 13th birthday, Kiki embarks on the witch’s coming of age quest to live in a city for one year to offer her services. With the help of her talking black cat, Jiji, our young witch settles in a port town and does the the only thing she can (barely) do: deliveries by flying broom. Her time in and around the city introduces her to children her own age and friendly adults. However, poor Kiki hasn’t mastered all the skills of being a witch and when in doubt, loses her powers.
“Kiki’s Delivery Service” has the astounding art one would expect from a Miyazaki film, as well as a great English voice cast. This isn’t a “spooky” story, but even witches deserve coming of age stories too.
Sugar Sugar Rune
Another anime about teenage witches, but this one fits the “magical girl” trope perfectly. Main characters Chocolat and Vanilla are best friends and at the same time both vying to become the next queen of their world. The winner will be decided by the queen candidate who captures the most hearts/points from human boys.
It’s not as evil as it sounds (at first). Chocolat and Vanilla take the affections they create in boys rather than taking their physical hearts, thank goodness. It’s 100 percent cute, but as the series continues the fate of the magical world and Vanilla’s life become at stake. It’s up to our headstrong heroine, Chocolat, to save day, like her own mother did in the last queen contest.
Chocolat and Vanilla play up the trope of being almost complete opposites to each other. Vanilla is more girly and better at getting hearts, but Chocolat shows potential at being more powerful. She may also be the only one who can stop the dark “ice prince” character.”
Magical Girl Squad Arusu
Now for something darker. Arusu is a seemingly normal human girl who gets thrown into a magical world where magic and witches exist. She is somehow able to perform spells like this world’s witches, but uses a combination of random words.
Arusu teams up with Sheila and Eva and embark on a journey in a world where witches and wizards are enemies: both to each other and among themselves. Arusu learns the truth about her parents and ends up in the middle saving this world and its magic from destruction.
The show is also known as “Tweeny Witches,” but don’t let the title fool you. Arusu discovers a world rife with betrayal, secrets, and certain doom. She learns magic isn’t as wonderful as she thought.
Witch Hunter Robin
This is easily the most mature “witch” related anime I’d recommend. Except the witches in question are people, usually psychopaths, with extraordinary powers. A giant multi-country organization doesn’t like people using these abilities, let alone to kill people, so there’s a sanctioned witch kill squad.
Except our main character who just joined the team is in fact a witch herself. The agency knows this, meaning conflict will eventually rise between Robin and her employers over her own fire powers. The show is full of subterfuge, secrets, trust issues, and a generally likable group of characters who get caught up in a war on witches (and not just because its their job).
What are your favorite cute or scary witch related anime/manga?
Mad Fan Musings 