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Witch Watch (Japanese: ウィッチウォッチ, Hepburn: Witchi Wotchi) is a Japanese fantasy and romantic comedy manga series written and illustrated by Kenta Shinohara. It has been serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump since February 2021, with its chapters collected into nineteen tankōbon volumes as of November 2024. By November 2022, the manga had over 1.1 million copies in circulation. An anime television series adaptation produced by Bibury Animation Studios is set to premiere in April 2025.
| Witch Watch | |
 First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Nico Wakatsuki | |
| ウィッチウォッチ (Witchi Wotchi) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Kenta Shinohara |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| English publisher | |
| Imprint | Jump Comics |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Jump |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | February 8, 2021 – present |
| Volumes | 19 |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Hiroshi Ikehata |
| Written by | Deko Akao |
| Music by | Yukari Hashimoto |
| Studio | Bibury Animation Studios |
| Original network | JNN (MBS, TBS) |
| Original run | April 2025 – scheduled |
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The series focuses on Nico Wakatsuki, a teenage witch who, after completing her magical training, moves into a house with her childhood friend Morihito Otogi, a human-looking ogre. Due to their families' ancestral history, Morihito is to become Nico's familiar and protect her. Nico also hopes this will help them become a couple, as he is her longtime crush. As the story progresses, Nico and Morihito find themselves forced to deal with the various supernatural and legendary beings they encounter while also trying to solve all the unpredictable problems Nico's magic causes in their daily lives.[3]
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- Nico Wakatsuki (若月 ニコ, Wakatsuki Niko)
- Voiced by: Rina Kawaguchi[4]
- A teenage witch who is in love with her childhood friend Morihito. She is a very kind person who often tries to help people with magic, but usually does so without fully knowing the details or side effects of the spells.
- Morihito Otogi (乙木 守仁, Otogi Morihito)
- Voiced by: Ryōta Suzuki[4]
- An ogre with extreme physical strength due to practicing Ogre Qigong. He was childhood friends with Nico, who calls him "Moi" (モイ), and is the only one who does not know she is in love with him. In contrast to the other major characters, Morihito is a serious and responsible person.
- Kanshi Kazamatsuri (風祭 監志, Kazamatsuri Kanshi)
- Voiced by: Kōhei Amasaki[4]
- A tengu who can control wind and befriended Nico during her training. He is Nico's "crow familiar", and moves in with her and Morihito as he is also tasked with protecting her. Kanshi has good social skills and speaks in the Kansai dialect.
- Keigo Magami (真神 圭護, Magami Keigo)
- Voiced by: Kaito Ishikawa[4]
- A werewolf who transforms into another person, referred to as "Wolf" (ウルフ), when he sees a crescent shape. Keigo is usually a quiet person, but becomes arrogant when showing off his knowledge of obscure culture. Wolf, however, is always arrogant and rude. He is a classmate of Nico and Morihito, and eventually moves in with them.
- Miharu Kiryu (霧生 見晴, Kiryū Miharu)
- A young vampire, who feeds by absorbing people's life force, from a family of futsumashi or exorcists. He is a third-year middle school student and usually carries a parasol to shield him from the sun. Although appearing polite and graceful, he has no filter and will say whatever is on his mind. He moves in with Nico and the others.
- Nemu Miyao (宮尾 音夢, Miyao Nemu)
- Voiced by: Tomori Kusunoki[4]
- Yūri Makuwa (真桑 悠里, Makuwa Yūri)
- Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu[5]
- Kukumi Ureshino (嬉野 久々実, Ureshino Kukumi)
- Voiced by: Konomi Kohara[5]
- Kara Minami (南 伽羅, Minami Kara)
- Voiced by: Rie Takahashi[5]
- Tenryū Kiyomiya (清宮 天流, Kiyomiya Tenryū)
- Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka[5]
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Kenta Shinohara revealed that it takes five days to draw the characters in Witch Watch, while the storyboards take two and a half days.[6] In January 2023, Shinohara stated on Twitter that Witch Watch would probably be his last weekly serial. He explained that he is "physically unable" to do one, even if he wanted to.[7] The February 6, 2023, chapter of the manga began a crossover with Shinohara's previous Weekly Shōnen Jump series, Sket Dance.[8]
Manga
Witch Watch is written and illustrated by Kenta Shinohara.[9][10] The manga began its serialization in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump on February 8, 2021.[11][12][13] Shueisha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on June 4, 2021.[14][15] As of November 1, 2024, nineteen volumes have been released.[16]
Witch Watch has been licensed for simultaneous publication in North America as it is released in Japan, with its chapters being digitally launched by Viz Media on its Shonen Jump website. Shueisha also simulpublishes the series in English for free on the Manga Plus app and website.[17] Viz Media also publishes its volumes in digital format.[18]
Volumes
| No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | June 4, 2021[19] | 978-4-08-882696-7 | February 22, 2022 (digital)[20] | 978-1-9747-3261-6 | ||
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| 2 | September 3, 2021[21] | 978-4-08-882764-3 | May 24, 2022 (digital)[22] | 978-1-9747-3354-5 | ||
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| 3 | November 4, 2021[23] | 978-4-08-882842-8 | August 23, 2022 (digital)[24] | 978-1-9747-3572-3 | ||
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| 4 | February 4, 2022[25] | 978-4-08-883011-7 | November 22, 2022 (digital)[26] | 978-1-9747-3686-7 | ||
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| 5 | April 4, 2022[27] | 978-4-08-883067-4 | February 28, 2023 (digital)[28] | 978-1-9747-3788-8 | ||
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| 6 | June 3, 2022[29] | 978-4-08-883154-1 | May 23, 2023 (digital)[30] | 978-1-9747-3940-0 | ||
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| 7 | August 4, 2022[31] | 978-4-08-883221-0 | August 22, 2023 (digital)[32] | 978-1-9747-4033-8 | ||
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| 8 | November 4, 2022[33] | 978-4-08-883388-0 | November 28, 2023 (digital)[34] | 978-1-9747-4239-4 | ||
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| 9 | January 4, 2023[35] | 978-4-08-883422-1 | February 27, 2024 (digital)[36] | 978-1-9747-4478-7 | ||
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| 10 | April 4, 2023[37] | 978-4-08-883454-2 | May 28, 2024 (digital)[38] | 978-1-9747-4769-6 | ||
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| 11 | June 2, 2023[39] | 978-4-08-883559-4 | August 27, 2024 (digital)[40] | 978-1-9747-4867-9 | ||
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| 12 | August 4, 2023[41] | 978-4-08-883593-8 | November 26, 2024 (digital)[42] | 978-1-9747-5106-8 | ||
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| 13 | October 4, 2023[43] | 978-4-08-883666-9 | — | — | ||
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| 14 | December 4, 2023[44] | 978-4-08-883787-1 | — | — | ||
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| 15 | March 4, 2024[45] | 978-4-08-883818-2 | — | — | ||
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| 16 | April 4, 2024[46] | 978-4-08-883877-9 | — | — | ||
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| 17 | July 4, 2024[47] | 978-4-08-884112-0 | — | — | ||
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| 18 | September 4, 2024[48] | 978-4-08-884170-0 | — | — | ||
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| 19 | November 1, 2024[16] | 978-4-08-884251-6 | — | — | ||
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| 20 | January 4, 2025[49] | 978-4-08-884286-8 | — | — | ||
Chapters not yet in tankōbon format
These chapters have yet to be published in a tankōbon volume.
- "Morihito's Vintage Devotion" (モイちゃんのヴィンテージ道, Moi-chan no Vintēji Dō)
- "Dark Dank & Delicious Devilishly Good Cooking" (ヤムヤムヤミーの小悪魔クッキング, Yamuyamu Yamī no ko Akuma Kukkingu)
- "Kurowa, Moving On" (進めクロワッサン, Susume Kurowassan)
- "Sneeze Explosion"
- "High-class Haiku Class"
- "A Cat and Wolf's Waltz" (猫と狼の円舞曲, Neko to Ōkami no Enbukyoku)
- "Get Rich Quick! An Easy Primer on X-Ray Vision" (稼ぐ! かんたん透視入門, Kasegu! Kantan Tōshi Nyūmon)
- "The Troubles Kuon Shiranui Only Knows" (不知火久遠しか知らない苦悩, Shiranui Kuon Shika Shiranai Kunō)
- "Phantom Blaze, Part 1" (PHANTOM BLAZE ①)
- "Phantom Blaze, Part 2" (PHANTOM BLAZE ②)
- "Phantom Blaze, Part 3" (PHANTOM BLAZE ③)
- "Phantom Blaze, Part 4" (PHANTOM BLAZE ④)
- "Phantom Blaze, Part 5" (PHANTOM BLAZE ⑤)
- "Phantom Blaze, Part 6" (PHANTOM BLAZE ⑥)
Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced on August 19, 2024. It will be produced by Bibury Animation Studios and directed by Hiroshi Ikehata, with assistant direction by Masao Kawase, scripts written by Deko Akao, characters designed by Haruko Iizuka, and music composed by Yukari Hashimoto.[50][4] The series is set to premiere in April 2025, on the Nichi-5 programming block on all JNN affiliates, including MBS and TBS, and will run for two consecutive cours.[5]
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Popularity and sales
In June 2021, Witch Watch was nominated for the seventh Next Manga Award in the Best Printed Manga category and placed tenth out of 50 nominees.[51][52][53] It was also nominated for the same award and placed second out of 50 nominees in 2022.[54][55] By November 2022, the first eight volumes of the manga had over 1.1 million copies in circulation.[33]
Critical response
Timothy Donohoo of Comic Book Resources compared Witch Watch to Kouji Miura's Blue Box and Shigure Tokita's Don't Blush, Sekime-san! due to both series having concepts and romantic aspects similar to Witch Watch's.[56]
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