Controversy drew me into this show. 

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When an anime divides the community I begin to get more curious. Reading extreme opinions one way or the other intrigues me. It comes from my belief that the average anime viewer can’t tell the difference between what is good or bad at times. The ability to recognize good elements in story writing versus personal preferences is a problem with the community at large. The WordPress community has been a breath of fresh air with intelligent and thought out pieces (even if there are times I may disagree) when compared to the random twitter hottakes about an anime. 

I skim the internet to get a good idea of what is relevant to this season of anime. I tend to research anime that I want to watch because my time is limited. I cut things off quickly that I have no interest in. This season has been somewhat disappointing in terms of story writing and my engagement with stories has been pretty low. The Wandering Witch kept popping up in my feed and I thought it was high time to address it, at the very least maybe I could get a better idea of the controversy. 

How does Wandering Witch measure? 

Well I can already see how this anime could divide viewership in anime, even after the first episode. I can see that there might be some narrative struggles later on. And while I like to preach about my own personal viewing engagement with a series there was some turn off initially. What I disliked about the turnoff actually got addressed within the episode itself. I don’t mind a show that deliberately deceives a protagonist, if that deception is revealed and explained later on. 

What I liked about the first episode is that a character flaw gets addressed early on. It’s really rare to begin a show on the tone of addressing character flaw. As this is usually a few episodes in character development. That unusual writing choice did payoff within the first episode itself. And the character flaw isn’t obvious on the surface, but the flaw felt very human and realistic. Elaina is a prodigy, and the youngest witch’s apprentice ever. 

In parenting it’s dangerous to praise a child for what they are already good at, and instead it’s more important to praise when they work hard to overcome a difficult challenge. Having natural talent at something is not as important as working hard to develop and overcome challenges. Having the mindset to overcome challenges is more difficult to cultivate. As the saying goes if it were easy everyone would do it. Elaina learns to cultivate a mindset that works to overcome challenges, something that I am sure will serve her later on as the series grows. In essence, Elaina grows up.  

There is certainly a lot packed into the first episode, I could probably write pages on the mini story within the story. 

So far I am intrigued by Wandering Witch, and I am cautiously optimistic that this might become my favorite anime this season (it has nothing to do with being disappointed at other anime this season BAKA). It has elements of story telling that I like and addresses the human experience. 

So far, I am giving this my nod of approval. 

Do you agree? What are your thoughts? I want to know!

Is there anything you would like me to cover? Do you want to know my thoughts on anything? Have something I should know? If you answered yes to any of the previous questions, comment below!