Forum - View topicREVIEW: Maebashi Witches Anime Series Review
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champeagle3
Posts: 67 |
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Maebashi Witches was such an absolute treat.
You will find me at the front of the line the for scriptwriter/series composition Erika Yoshida's next original series. It’s arguably one of the best written shows of the year with Yoshida's award-winning live action drama skillset on full display, and one that’s largely flown under radar for most. The characters and their respective arcs are very well written, and the cliffhangers totally punch you in the gut. While most of the insert songs from Maebashi Witches were your mostly traditional idol fare, there were some standouts that were a bit more unique. “You Are My World” was my favorite performance by the group. Very catchy song with cool video game visuals/lyrics and a few twists. (If I had a nickel for every unrequited love song this year sung by a girl crushing on wanting to stay by the side of her childhood friend that makes said friend uncomfortable, I’d have two nickels which seems like a lot. See: Ave Mujica) I haven’t had a song hit me like "Mejirushi" since MyGO!!!!!’s “Utakotoba” almost two years ago. Lyrics were written by Yūho Iwasato, who’s credited with writing the lyrics to “Real Folk Blues” from Cowboy Bebop. It was a big part of what made the episode it was used in one of my favorite episodes of the year so far, especially that ending... ooof. (Smart move by the marketing for removing the girls from the website and all social channels. That was a hell of a week.) The only song not sung by the main group, "Wither," was written by TRUE, who did the OPs for Hibike! and Violet Evergarden. Really interesting seeing her go from uplifting songs about chasing your dreams and love to one about self-pity, suppressing your emotions and giving up that’s no less evocative. Visuals for the performance were also probably the best of the series. So happy to see more discussion around the series. One of my favorite recommendations right now. It's most certainly an experience and something that's hard to describe without giving away everything. Hopefully this encourages more people to check it out and helps with us getting a second season! Maebashi Witches truly are far evermore! |
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whiskeyii
 Posts: 2467 |
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One of us, one of us! Jokes aside, I hope this anime goes on to become something of a cult classic/sleeper hit; I feel like it has a lot more staying power compared to the dearth of its peers; not that they’re bad, just that this one feels like it’ll stand the test of time a little better.
Definitely a show I’d be more than happy to buy a physical copy of and merch for! |
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YukinaDelta
Posts: 8 |
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Then I definitely recommend the official fan book!  It's entirely in Japanese, but the art is great (and oddly very good cosplay reference material since the VAs wear the shop outfits in it). The figures in general though are pretty good quality.
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The_Daytona_500
 Posts: 181 |
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You say that like TRUE doesn't have over 30 songs in anime and over 100 as a lyricist. I highly doubt this one was any less dark than her OP for AICO. |
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whiskeyii
Posts: 2467 |
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:O Thanks for the rec! I’ll definitely check both out! |
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CamiChan19
 Posts: 75 |
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Thank you for continuing to spread the gospel of Maebashi Witches!
I really only went into MBW based off of the PV (gorgeous animation), and the fact that it seemed to vaguely be a magical girl story. The show really hit the ground running once it got to Azu's arc and we could understand the pattern being set up. I was continually impressed for many of the reasons brought up in the review. It is absolutely an underrated gem with a sense of genuine quirkiness that on retrospect, I really love. Also, this show definitely has good rewatch value. I'm working on an AMV and noticed some early-placed easter-egg details while skimming the footage~ I really hope we get a physical release in the future! Last edited by CamiChan19 on Fri Aug 01, 2025 4:16 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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TandooriJones
 Posts: 53 |
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It is somewhat a shame Rebecca didn't end up reviewing this, no shade to you, Steve Jones, it's just Rebecca is my favorite magical girl show reviewer here at ANN, and this felt more like a throwback to Ojamajo Doremi in terms of writing, along with aspects clearly inspired by Yes 5, so it's a shame it seems she dropped out at episode one.
I do however very much appreciate you taking up the duty of writing about it. It really is a show gaining popularity by word of mouth, so articles like this really help to get us that second season it honestly deserves. It's very rare to have a show with writing this good, where when characters are preaching, it doesn't feel preachy it feels genuine. It is highly competent and sincere. The only thing negative of note I noticed in the review, as it's otherwise one I almost entirely agree with, is you said you don't find out about Azu being overweight until the next episode. You find that out at the end of episode two, you just have to wait until after the ED. It's only notable because many people actually did skip it because they didn't pay attention to the time code, and ended up missing it, so there was an avoidable week of discussion of people saying Azu was a despicable character. |
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harminia
 Posts: 2221 Location: australia |
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Finally! Been waiting for a review of this series haha
A really good review too, sums up a lot of my feelings. I really love the series (and the songs too, I've been listening to them almost every day since about ep 2 of the series and SugoSugi is probably my #1 OP of the last few years. I'm listening to the songs at the moment, actually) but there are some things I wish they'd expanded on (Kyoka's story for example).
I feel sorry for people who came after the show has finished because that week was WILD. Maebashi nandatte... God, the staff of this series really know how to inflict pain. The way they used the ED song in that ep was insane. spoiler[I loved that on the characters page they only had EIko and Keroppe. No one else.]
I was in Japan recently and was considering buying the book but I couldn't actually open it to see what was in it, and wasn't sure if it was more just about Maebashi as a town or if it had art from the series as well. Sounds like I may need to buy it after all. As an aside, I visited Maebashi because of this show. It was raining and the train trip was tedious and required changing multiple times but it was worth it, especially to see the place where Mejirushi ended.
I can't imagine not watching the after credits scenes. That's where the meat is. The amount of times a cliffhanger in the after credits had me desperate for next week to come... Maebashi was a show where I was counting down the days before the next ep lol. Also agreed that, while I'm really glad Steve watched it and loved it and will now help us spread the Maebashi gospel, it's a shame Rebecca didn't review it. I hope she's watched it though or will watch it. Anyway. I love Maebashi Witches. It's a show where I never knew what was going to happen next. Every week I'd be shocked at how well they handled issues. They'd hint at an issue in after credits and I'd be like well I have 99% trust in them but I just can't be 100% sure they'll treat it right... and every time, they did it right. I loved that they presented characters that seem generic, but expanded on them so well you end up loving them. All the little signs for Yuina's story, for example. You could already tell from ep 1 something was a bit off with her when she admitted everyone says she's annoying. I need to rewatch the show because I bet there are so many hints early on that I wouldn't have picked up on. I skimmed some earlier episodes towards the end of the series to look up stuff and kept finding clues like Choco being sleepy etc. It's hard to talk about the series without spoiling stuff... I really hope more people watch it. It's such a good show... Maebashi Witches Are Far Evermore..... If CR releases this I'll definitely be picking it up. The complete OST (with the Choco-chan happy birthday song by Yuina) and the first album collating songs released a couple of days ago and the wait for it was awful. I'm in very deep for this franchise, and I never would've expected it. I watched it because the PVs looked like fun and SugoSugi won me over with its random DJ noises. Did not expect the series to be hard hitting and amazingly written. I gotta stop rambling now. I'm just so happy to see people loving Maebashi because it went so under the radar and the first ep turned off a lot of people (understandable but a shame). Luckily this is one where you can say "just watch the first two episodes (to the very end) to see if you're interested", instead of "watch 100 episodes to see what you think". I hope it gets a second season or a movie or something. I need more... (I'm sorry for this very long post) |
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egozi14
Posts: 150 |
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I do agree it's an hidden gem which I've liked a lot and also liked the songs it had,
But I don't recall form it anything about gender nonconformity or about Kyoka hints that she doesn't like being pressured by her family to act more like a girl, Nor recall that Rinko had a wife, I recall she talked to a friend on the phone however |
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EmeraldSaucer
 Posts: 944 |
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Rinko explicitly refers to her partner, it's pretty easy to connect the dots that the person she's talking to is her |
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harminia
Posts: 2221 Location: australia |
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Re Kyoko: When Mogutan talks about not identifying as any gender, Kyoka is shown to be moved and it's heavily implied part of why she likes Mogutan so much is because she identifies with them. There was a scene where her mother is talking about how she wishes Kyoka would wear dresses and Kyoka is shown looking upset about it. Re Rinko: The person on the phone says "Come home soon and I'll give you some lovin'" which I think goes beyond just Being Good Friends. It's not stated she has a wife, just that she lives with a female partner. I'd have to skim through to find specific examples for Kyoka but Rinko's is after she goes to the graduation, and the Mogutan scene was *I think* in episode 6. (Either 6 or 7, both episodes deal with Kyoka and Mogutan alongside the Choco plot). |
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Princess_Irene
ANN Associate Editor
 Posts: 2808 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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It was less an intentional drop and more of life getting in the way - I'm a caregiver for my parents and things were rough while it was airing. But Steve did an excellent job, and I can't claim all the magical girl shows for myself! |
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chrisb
 Subscriber Posts: 766 Location: USA |
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I called this Empathy the anime while it was airing. The kind of show that’s important for young viewers to have available in this current culture of selfishness.
I love Rebecca’s reviews but she is the magical girl expert. I think Steve’s review may bring more attention from the “normies” who would not have bothered with the show. |
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Saeryen
 Posts: 1167 |
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This show was a surprising treat. I thought I’d like it anyway because I love magical girl and idol stuff, but I was expecting simple fluff and got something much deeper and very feminist to boot! This show deserves more press than it got.
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CamiChan19
Posts: 75 |
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Azu admiring herself/taking a selfie, Mai gaming, Choco sleeping, and Kyouka gazing happily at her phone with the Mogutan case. Not to mention, I didn't think much on first-viewing about the fact that Kyoka spoiler[ is always the first one to step in during a conflict and provides a diplomatic viewpoint. ] Or in the episode where we find out that, spoiler[ Mai is Coordinator Kumai-Chan, Yuina and Choco seem starstruck, and Choco makes several comments about how it must be a lucrative opportunity to earn lots of money. ] The show is a LOT more well written than people may give it credit for on a first glance. |
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