Name: An unstoppably, dreadfully cheery witch and her insipid adventures that almost manage to avoid a plot altogether
Item: Flying Witch
Rating: 20
Author: Kalladry

Waifra

An unstoppably, dreadfully cheery witch and her insipid adventures that almost manage to avoid a plot altogether · Waifora

Makoto, a 15-year-old witch, moves in with some relatives in the Japanese countryside while she continues her magical training. What follows is Makoto’s daily life as she gets used to her new environment. Her relatives and the new friends she makes there are introduced to the customs and peculiarities of witchcraft.

True to its name, this 12-episode makes flying look really, really fun. Like Kiki’s Delivery Service, all I want to do while watching this is grab a broom and fly away.

How much I like this series depends on whether I’m watching it because I want to enjoy it itself, or whether I want something I only need to pay half attention to in the background while I’m working. (For the record: unenjoyable for the former, OK for the latter.)

Makoto is 15 and unstoppably, dreadfully cheery and polite. No matter what happens, she’ll face it with a smile. Cooking a meal in home ec. Helping prune apple trees. Digging up a mandrake that screams so loud the entire town can hear it.

The magic here is subtle for the most part: magical news paper delivery, finding a cafe enchanted to look like an abandoned house unless you know the charm, etc.

The side characters are all similarly one-note. Cousin Kei is nice, responsible and helpful. Young cousin Chinatsu is cute and curious. Older sister Akane is playful and a bit irresponsible.
That’s all. None are bad. There are no villains. Just…pretty boring characters.

I also kept getting hung up on the fact that…obviously most people, “normal people,” don’t know that witches and the magical world exist. Yet apparently there’s no problem with Makoto telling not just her aunt and cousins, but also their friend Nao. In fact, Makoto makes no attempts to keep her magic secret or hide when flying her broom, so it makes you wonder why the magical world isn’t more well-known.

Verdict

English dub? Yes, but it’s not great. Most characters have a slightly glassy, polished, upbeat performative voice, like I would use when reading a book to small children.

Visuals: Generic, not overly bright. Not quite pastel or muted. Generic character designs, but they are all distinct enough to make telling people apart easy.

Worth watching? Only if you really like slow slice-of-life shows in the “cute people doing cute things” vein. There’s no character development in the 12 episodes, no actual plot climax because there’s barely any plot. That said, it functions well as a “playing in the background while I work” type show because it’s not dramatic or particularly interesting.