Forum - View topic
Once Upon a Witch's Death (TV).


Goto page 1, 2  Next

Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Series Discussion
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
Posts: 3507
PostPosted: Sat Mar 22, 2025 1:19 pm Reply with quote


Once Upon a Witch's Death (TV)

Source: Light Novel (completed @ 4 volumes, written by Saka, illustrated by Chorefuji)

Animation Studio: EMT Squared

Genres: adventure, comedy, drama, fantasy, slice of life

Themes: contemplation, iyashikei, mortality, sorcery, tragedy, witches

Plot Summary: On Meg's seventeenth birthday, she learns she only has one year left to live. Her mentor—the Eternal Witch, Faust—explains that she is cursed and the only way to save herself is to grow a seed of life using one thousand tears of joy. Of course, such tears aren't easy to come by. As Meg begins her quest, she finds herself drawn into the lives of her friends and neighbors in ways she never imagined. By sharing their burdens and using her magic to comfort them, she learns how precious those moments of connection can be, even in the face of death.

Air Date & Platform:
April 01, 2025 (Tuesday)
Available on: Crunchyroll

Episode Count / Runtime: 12 episodes

[EDIT: Fancy opener stuff edited. -TK]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 25599
PostPosted: Tue Apr 01, 2025 6:57 pm Reply with quote
Episode 1

So I guess I should have several boxes of tissues handy while watching this show... you know, just on the off chance that a stray dust mote gets in my eye and I involuntarily and in a very manly way start to tear up. Actually, as morose as the show's premise is, the tone is not morose at all. Based on that tone, I suspect very strongly that Meg Raspberry is going to escape the curse she is under. And if she doesn't, I fully plan to kick somebody... probably Edjwald. Yeah, this is gonna be a five hanky show for me, but a little ocular moisture never killed anybody.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
Posts: 3507
PostPosted: Tue Apr 01, 2025 8:14 pm Reply with quote
As with the Weakest Tamer a year or so ago, I went into this anime more out of a sense of obligation than expectation, just to make sure I wasn't missing something. And as with the Weakest Tamer, I was surprised by how much I liked it.

The music is lively, a weird fusion between rock and classical. The animation is very good, which I knew as soon as that plethora of pets came jumping from the rafters. There are lots of nice, distinct little touches - the weird Victorian magic world, spellcraft that seems to have a system, and an MC who's erratic, but in a fun way.

Good stuff..
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Beltane70



Joined: 07 May 2007
Posts: 4182
PostPosted: Tue Apr 01, 2025 9:21 pm Reply with quote
I enjoyed the first episode of this show as well and was quite surprised that, despite its appearance, the series takes place in somewhat modern times.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
zfunk



Joined: 05 Nov 2016
Posts: 546
PostPosted: Tue Apr 01, 2025 9:43 pm Reply with quote
This reminds me of a show on Nickelodeon from the 90's or 2000's don't exactly remember when called the 100 Deeds of Eddie McDoyle, about a kid reincarnated as a dog that has to do 100 good deeds to come back as human. Anyway this series the protagonist has to do 1000 good deeds? It seems that way.

Well interesting to see these cast of characters that we saw in the ending, she has a female crush, that is something. We will see where this goes.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Tony K.
Subscriber
Moderator


Joined: 18 Nov 2003
Posts: 12058
Location: Frisco, TX
PostPosted: Wed Apr 02, 2025 12:57 pm Reply with quote
I like the approach of Meg doing good with her magic, even if it's just to save herself. I feel her curse helps put life into perspective, sort of like Frieren, but more in-your-face, since she only has a year left to live versus a thousand. I do wonder how far the show will get and what kind of stopping point we'll see, considering there are only two volumes of light novel out, right now. At any rate, Episode 01 was quite the hook. I'm looking forward to more iyashikei moments.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
smurky turkey



Joined: 30 Jan 2022
Posts: 4990
PostPosted: Thu Apr 03, 2025 4:13 am Reply with quote
I wonder if said curse is even real. The whole situation surrounding it is so unclear that it would not surprise me if it was one big ruse as a final test of sorts. Or maybe rather than a test it is to make Meg realizes what her magic can do for the common person. I am sure that it will make for quite the emotional adventure though.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 25599
PostPosted: Tue Apr 08, 2025 7:09 pm Reply with quote
Episode 2

So I'm 2 for 2 in the waterworks department on this one. And yet, I find the show kind of uplifting instead of depressing. Bringing the woman's family to her for one last visit was absolutely beautiful. But yeah, if you are a person who likes mascara, I would not recommend watching this.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Tony K.
Subscriber
Moderator


Joined: 18 Nov 2003
Posts: 12058
Location: Frisco, TX
PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2025 9:57 am Reply with quote
Two tragic tales in a row flipped upside down to have happy endings. If Meg could get tears from the audience, I'm sure she'd fill the bottle in no time.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15852
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2025 10:45 pm Reply with quote
I was thinking last week, wouldn't the most reliable method be to go for a mass audience sort of thing? Like a really funny movie or comedian, where could get maybe a couple people crying from laughing.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
Posts: 3507
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2025 4:26 am Reply with quote
@Dusky - I thought about that too. Why not just hold a screening of Cinema Paradiso? Then I thought...would tears of relief work? Convince people that something really bad is going to happen and then...at which point I realized I was walking down the path of evil. Wink

It would all depend on whether this is some kind of magic, automated mechanism like the hellgate in Tasokare Hotel, or whether it is guided and judged by some kind of active intent.

Someone earlier - was it Smurky? - wondered if the curse was really a curse of some kind of test or ritual that Faust came up with to make sure that the MC was worthy of her power. If Faust knows when her own death is coming up, that would make sense. And it is kind of odd...I curse you to have to go out there and perform community service!

If it is some kind of test instead of a curse, trying to game or cheese the results would probably be a fail.

---

But I'd still go to a big city and hang around a maternity ward for a day with that bottle handy just in case.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
TJ_Kat



Joined: 11 Jan 2007
Posts: 870
Location: Saskatoon, Canada
PostPosted: Mon Apr 14, 2025 11:25 am Reply with quote
Edjwald wrote:
Someone earlier - was it Smurky? - wondered if the curse was really a curse of some kind of test or ritual that Faust came up with to make sure that the MC was worthy of her power. If Faust knows when her own death is coming up, that would make sense.

I'm kind of wondering about this too. Faust is referred to as immortal, or eternal (or something, I've forgotten the actual term used) so presumably she's already done this ritual? Maybe she's tired of living forever and is training a successor.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
Posts: 3507
PostPosted: Mon Apr 14, 2025 5:47 pm Reply with quote
I dunno. In a lot of stories Elves are immortal, but it doesn't mean they can't die. It just means they don't age, and Faust apparently achieved that state when she'd already been aging for awhile. We also have the precedent of that stopwatch, whose spirit had apparently had enough even though there wasn't any real mechanical failure.

But it could also be the whole curse thing is on the up and up.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Beltane70



Joined: 07 May 2007
Posts: 4182
PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2025 1:21 am Reply with quote
Edjwald wrote:
We also have the precedent of that stopwatch, whose spirit had apparently had enough even though there wasn't any real mechanical failure.

I was rewatching an episode of Hakumei & Mikochi the other day that had a version of this with an old coffee grinder that had stopped working. Hakumei disassembled and cleaned it before putting it back together. Like the watch, it too, wasn't working even though there was nothing wrong with it even after Hakumei finished fixing it. Later that night, Hakumei, Mikochi, and the owner of the cafe were able to witness the coffee grinder turn into a spirit.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 25599
PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2025 5:59 pm Reply with quote
Episode 3

Thankfully, I didn't have to spill any tears this episode, but I did get quite a few chuckles. Meg and Inori were kind of hilarious together. Also, apparently this show is an isekai. Well, I'm not totally sure about that, but there is an "other world" so...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Series Discussion All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group