Issue 1: All that glitters is not gold.
* This is an odd issue I had with Witch Watch, because it was supposed to be a comedy anime first and foremost. However, the anime seemed to stagnate after a couple of moments of development. This became more apparent when the second cour came along, with more episodes being more focused on comedic gags rather than trying to build its story while simultaneously creating humor along the way. Because the anime took its genre too seriously, it started to feel like they wanted to ensure you laughed first, rather than moving the story along to reveal more intriguing details. As a result, it becomes a formulaic and stale sequence of watching each segment for the punchline to barely get a giggle out of me.
Issue 2: Trying too hard to be funny.
* As a continuation from my previous sentence, the anime seems to be too headstrong in delivering jokes, which are more obvious to see when the anime starts to use pop references or makes Kanshi act more as the straight man in almost every scenario they create. The comedy segments feel more like a gauntlet rather than pure moments of funny people, because the anime goes out of its way to make certain characters go off-character for certain jokes it wants to deliver. And anime, for its comedy, isn't generally known for being funny. Witch Watch technically recycles these tropes for jokes that barely landed and often fall flat, and you're left with your time being wasted because the show wants to take a shot at talking about YouTube or cancel culture like that.
Issue 3: Lack of polish
* This is what happens when an anime forgets to do character development or give more exposition to the story. As implied, the anime wants to take it slow and introduce characters through chaotic shenanigans. However, I would prefer if the anime had more lore and exposition than being shoved more dozens of jokes made by the author. There is a lack of focus centered around its magical story, and it feels more like a sideline they eventually have to do before chaos ensues. The thing is, I want to learn more about its magic sequences, and I want to learn more about the world. Plus, whenever there is magic involved, it only goes as far as "Yeah, I have cool magic, but they have really big drawbacks." and is usually used for laughter rather than in more serious situations. Whenever it gets serious, the magic for some reason doesn't have any flaws, which is a contradiction to what the anime formally wants to do.
Despite what I'm saying about Witch Watch. I do not think that Witch Watch is bad. It's more of a fun show that sticks to its formula and tries to do it very often without reinventing it. In short, it can get stale after a few episodes of just comedy, since the author struggles to create new development arcs after being satisfied with a couple of new character introductions and becoming complacent shortly after.
Thank you for reading.
