Come to think of it, everyone is living life in the loneliest way possible. You may be in a place filled with people, yet somehow feel more alone there than when you’re by yourself in your room. In that sense, we begin to crave solitude—a space where no one reminds us of that quiet loneliness.

But even then, human cognition isn’t built for isolation. We are meant to connect, to give love in its rawest form. Sure, we can sublimate our emotions—write them down in journals, pour them into art, or sit with them in silence—but somehow, it never feels like enough.

Life tends to take its own course. And no matter how much we try to deny it, we eventually find ourselves longing for genuine human connection.

This is the idea explored in Anime Journal with Witch—a raw, meditative, and at times humorous reflection on life. It presents how life can offer something unexpected—something you never anticipated, yet somehow becomes something you come to deeply cherish. ***

At its core, the anime explores “love”—or more specifically, how people experience it in their own ways, and how they cope when that love is challenged or betrayed.

We follow our main character, Makio Koudai, who prefers to live as a recluse. Her life changes drastically when she takes in her deceased sister’s daughter, Asa Takumi, who is still grappling with the loss of her parents. Makio keeps love at a distance, while Asa is in desperate need of it. Together, they share a small apartment, navigating life and their own ways of coping.

Adulthood, as the story shows, has no blueprint—and both Makio and Asa are going through this. Despite their age difference, they walk along the same uncertain path, often getting hurt as they move forward. Yet they also realize that standing still hurts even more.

Both characters are haunted in different ways. Makio struggles with a past she has tried to repress, while Asa finds herself in a phase of life Makio once went through at her age. The anime doesn’t hold back in portraying gut-punching, deeply human experiences in their rawest form. But it does not dwell in pessimism or devalue life—instead, it shows how people can overcome that feeling of stagnation while everything else continues to move around them.

Two people, living under the same roof, both longing to be loved—yet both instinctively pulling away out of fear of being hurt. They are burdened by lingering words and memories from the past, unable to fully let go. It’s undeniably human. And when these two share the same space, their struggles intertwine into something raw, messy, and deeply authentic—a shared attempt at coping through life simply by caring for one another.

As the story unfolds, we witness their rise and fall as they process the grief of life in their own ways. Though they often face their struggles alone, they find resolution together—through presence. Sometimes, that’s all it takes: someone staying with you through your journey.

Love, the anime suggests, doesn’t always arrive in grand gestures or profound declarations. It can be quiet, inconsistent, even confusing—enough to make us question and doubt. But sometimes, just knowing that someone cares, that someone took the time to understand—even when you don’t fully understand yourself—is more than enough.

Journal with Witch reminds us that love, in all its forms, is what keeps people moving forward. It can be painful to feel and difficult to express, especially in moments of frustration. But despite differences in personality, circumstance, and ways of coping, people stay.

Because they care.

And in the end, isn’t that what love is about? ***

Journal with Witch is one of the most underrated anime to come out this year. While there are other series that explore similar themes on a more grandiose scale, its unfiltered portrayal of people safeguarding themselves with love amid the challenges of life stands out.

It’s a story that is deeply thought-provoking, poignant, and profoundly human—one that lingers not because it tries to be larger than life, but because it understands life as it is. ***