What took me so long to recommend the Witch Watch manga on my blog?
It didn’t take long for me to recommend The Elusive Samurai and Akane Banashi manga.
But it feels like an eternity when it comes to Witch Watch.
Well, it’s not hard to know why it took me a long time to talk about this manga on my blog.
With so many manga that I enjoy reading ending prematurely, it makes me lose hope for almost everything I read.
What if the manga I recommend ended up getting axed the next week?
It’s a downward spiral experience for sure when the manga you love gets wrapped up in haste only because the majority of readers loathe it.
Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case with Witch Watch considering that the manga already has more than 100 chapters as I write this.
And let’s not forget about the upcoming anime too.
Like anything good in life, the manga will eventually end someday, of course.
But at least we can all rest assured that it doesn’t end prematurely like most manga that come before and after it.
What Witch Watch manga is all about
Here’s the book description that I got from MANGA Plus.
Morihito, a boy with the strength of an ogre, is about to start living together with his childhood friend Niko, who is training to be a witch. Niko’s magic leads to all sorts of unpredictable trouble, and with two teens under one roof… Let the fantastical antics begin! Magical comedy series by Kenta Shinohara creator of SKET DANCE and Astra Lost in Space.
What got me to read the manga
My reason for reading the manga is the same as every other manga I read on MANGA Plus – it just happens to be there.
Does it mean I read every single manga that MANGA Plus throws at me?
Sadly, I did.
But most of them aren’t interesting enough for me to read beyond the first chapter, though.
And I’m so glad this manga isn’t one of them.
Another reason that got me to read the manga?
Well, it’s none other than it’s by the same mangaka for Astra Lost in Space, of course.
So, it makes sense why I’m willing to give this manga a try considering how much I love the manga.
What makes the Witch Watch manga worth reading
If you’ve been reading my blog long enough, then you already know that I’m not into anything fantasy.
And it’s even more so when it revolves around witches and magic.
So, what makes this manga the exception to the rule then?
Well, I will say it has a lot to do with the manga’s unpredictability nature, story-wise.
Take Nico for example.
Since Nico is a witch, you would expect someone like her to hide her identity as a witch if she wants to have a normal life.
But nope, she lets everyone in her class know that she’s a witch instead.
And to my surprise, everyone seems chill about it too.
It somehow reminds me of Ruri Dragon where everyone seems fine with Ruri being a half-dragon and having dragon horns growing out of her head.
She even almost burns the person sitting in front of her too.
While the story is mainly about Nico living a normal life as a witch, the story can take a sharp turn sometimes, from experiencing a peaceful life to experiencing a life-and-death situation in a jiffy.
Of course, you don’t see the 180-degree change in the story arc that often.
So, the rest of the time will be about Nico and everyone else enjoying their lives.
If anything, it’s the comedic aspect that gets the manga to score tons of brownie points.
Yes, the manga has the over-the-top comedy that can turn many of us off.
That seems expected from a comedy manga of this nature.
But to my amazement, the jokes in the manga don’t seem to turn me off as much.
Heck, I even find them funny too.
Of course, some jokes fail to tickle my funny bone. But the rest of them are actually pretty funny, if not acceptable to my liking.
What I didn’t expect when I read the manga
While I do read comedy manga once in a while, not every one of them managed to make me laugh so hard.
Even if they do, they’re not the kind of manga you would classify as comedy manga.
For one, manga like Slam Dunk and Nodame Cantabile.
Yes, those manga do have tons of notable comedic moments.
But you don’t associate them with comedy manga even if you laugh real hard on every chapter.
So, what do Slam Dunk and Nodame Cantabile have anything to do with Witch Watch, you ask?
Well, it’s the fact that it’s another manga that makes me laugh so hard.
I bet that the same scenes will become twice as funnier in anime.
If there’s one good thing about the manga getting an anime adaptation, it will be this.
Who should read the manga?
There’s no doubt this manga is a must-read if you’re looking for a comedy manga.
But be warned that the story can have a 180-degree shift in a jiffy even when the situation doesn’t seem to call for it.
For one, the part where the day Nico wants to confess her feelings to Morihito becomes the day they have to fight the warlock and his henchmen.
That’s the kind of shift I’m talking about here.
The good news is you don’t see them getting involved in such a dire situation that often.
So, you can still get your comedy fix on most of them.
Another thing to note is the jokes in the manga.
While many of them are rather straightforward for the most part, some of them can feel a little hard to grasp if they’re jokes that tie back to Japanese pop culture.
Yes, any comedy manga will always have jokes laced with pop culture references.
And this manga is no exception here.
But they’re not like the ones in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei manga, though.
This is the one thing you can rest assured about this manga.
Where to buy the Witch Watch manga
As always, you can read the manga online on MANGA Plus.
While the first and recent three chapters are free to read, you will need to upgrade to their paid plan to read the chapters in between, though.
Interested in giving the manga a try? You can read the manga here on MANGA Plus:
Read the Witch Watch manga on MANGA Plus
Not a fan of subscriptions and prefer to get your own copy of the manga instead?
It’s too bad that you can’t get the manga in print. But you can get the manga in digital format on Amazon.
You can get the manga right here:
Buy the Witch Watch Manga Vol. 1 on Amazon
Prefer to read the manga in Japanese instead?
Good news for you since you can get the physical copy of the manga in Japanese at CDJapan.
You can get the manga right here:
Buy Witch Watch manga on CDJapan
Over to you
What do you think about the Witch Watch manga? Are you interested in giving the manga a try after reading about it on my blog?
Let me know in the comments.
P.S. Yes, I admit the kind of books I write are not even in the comedy category. But if you’re in the mood to read something dark, consider giving my thriller light novel series, Trigger Locked a try.
Wondering what kind of story the Trigger Locked series is?
You can have a look at the first book of the series right here on my Payhip store. Use the coupon code SEKINAMAYUBLOG to get 25% off on your purchase: