Witch Watch (ウィッチウォッチ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kenta Shinohara.It has been serialized in Shueisha's magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump since February 2021, with its chapters collected in 25 volumes as of March 2026.An anime television series adaptation produced by Bibury Animation Studios aired from April to October 2025. A second season has been announced.
By October 2025, the manga had over 4 million copies in circulation.
Synopsis
The series focuses on Nico Wakatsuki, a teenage witch who, after completing her magical training, moves into a house with her childhood friend Morihito Otogi, a human-looking ogre.Due to their families' ancestral history, Morihito is to become Nico's familiar and protect her. Nico also hopes this will help them become a couple, as he is her longtime crush, though he does not reciprocate in the slightest. As the story progresses, Nico and Morihito find themselves forced to deal with the various supernatural and legendary beings they encounter while also trying to solve all the unpredictable problems Nico's magic causes in their daily lives.[4]
Characters
Otogi Household
Nico Wakatsuki (若月 ニコ)
A first year high school student who is the "Witch of Thousand" (千の魔女), a witch who appears once every thousand years and possesses great magical powers, which lets her spells various magic. She often tries to help people with her magic, but usually does so without fully knowing the details or side effect of the spells. She is in love with her childhood friend Morihito Otogi, whom she affectionately calls "Moi" since as a child she was unable to correctly pronounce his name. She also struggles to reveal her feelings for him, despite it being obvious to pretty much every other character besides Morihito himself. Her mother Ibuki is the "Witch of Premonition" (予言の魔女) and has foreseen that a disaster will befall upon Nico. To prevent this from happening, Ibuki lets Nico live with Morihito in the Otogi household and gathers other familiars to protect her.
Morihito Otogi (乙木 守仁)
An ogre with extreme physical strength due to practicing Ogre Qigong. His family is a familiar to Nico's family, who is also his childhood friend. He is very overprotective towards Nico but at the same seems to not reciprocate her feelings. While Morihito is a serious and responsible person, he can be eccentric in his interests and hobbies, such as being very fond of denims and other heavily detailed trivia items. He often acts like the mother in the household, doing the most chores as well as nagging and scolding the residents for the sake of their own. It is later revealed in a note that Nico gave him in the past that she "will always be Morihito's friend", which works as an unintentional curse that makes Morihito only see Nico as a friend, thus making him unable to realize that he is also in love with her.
Kanshi Kazamatsuri (風祭 監志)
A tengu who can control wind, he befriended Nico during her training. He is Nico's "crow familiar", and moves in with her and Morihito as he is also tasked with protecting her. Kanshi speaks in Kansai dialect and often acts as the straight man in the household. He is very socially active, but also is bad with money management and incredibly impulsive, which causes him to end up in humiliating situations when he tries to use magic to make easy money. Due to tengu and ogre's clashing nature, he was hostile towards Morihiro when they first met, even tried to fight the latter for Nico's attention. Kanshi eventually came to fully accept him and even tries to help them to become a couple from time to time.
Keigo Magami (真神 圭護)
A werewolf who transforms into another person, referred to as "Wolf" (ウルフ), when he sees anything that he recognizes as a crescent. Keigo is usually a quiet person, but becomes arrogant when showing off his knowledge of obscure culture. He is also a minor YouTuber whose video sometimes turned out viral. Wolf, however, is always arrogant and rude. Nevertheless, both are loyal to their friends. Keigo is a classmate of Nico and Morihito; he schemed on getting closer to them as part of his contract with a warlock. As a child, he was trained as a professional figure skater, but quit after his mother suffered an injury that left her bound to a wheelchair. After Nico cured his mom, Keigo decides to move in to protect Nico. Nico later gave him a ring infused with floating magic, which he ultimately mastered thanks to his skating ability. Eventually, he starts to develop feelings for Nemu, although he himself does not realize this.
Miharu Kiryu (霧生 見晴)
A cute young man who comes from family of exorcists. He is also a vampire; instead of human blood he feeds by absorbing people's life force or witch's magic power. Miharu is a third-year middle school student who is skilled with sword, which he hides in the parasol he always wears around. Although appearing polite and graceful, he has no filter and will say whatever is on his mind. Miharu moves in to the Otogi household to protect Nico and started to feeds himself with Morihito's energy since ogres have more energy than normal human.
Ban (番)
A dragon familiar Nico summoned after she was turned into a child. She is a avid drinker with a gambling problem, and a lazy slacker, but a protective and caring familiar. She has the power to change into a human form, and can change the temperature of her breath in order to produce flames or freezing vapor.
Witches
In the series, "witch" refers to people who have magical power. Witches generally believe in making good deeds for people, whereas those who misuse magic for their selfish gain are referred to as warlocks; they act as the main antagonists in the story. The warlocks are after Nico's ability in order to resurrect the previous "Witch of Thousand" Jura; their main purpose is to create paradise for the witches. Modern day witches are capable of detecting a presence of warlocks from certain distance. While most witches are women, there are some male witches.
Nemu Miyao (宮尾 音夢)
The "Shape-Shifting Witch" (変身の魔女), whose family specializes in the magic form. Nemu lives in the town over from Nico's. She is capable of transforming into a black cat, but automatically reverts back when she sleeps. As she dreams of having a strong humanoid familiar, mainly for the servitude benefits it could provide, Nemu frequently comes to the Otogi household to recruit Morihito to be her familiar, but always fails because she always timidly turns into her cat form, leading Morihito and the others to dote on her. This in turn makes her fall asleep, but she is always able to flee while the rest get distracted, leaving humiliated but otherwise intact. She ultimately approaches the group as a human to assist them against the warlock contracted with Keigo, leading her to become friendly with the household and frequently visit as a human as well. Despite this, only Wolf knows of her secret, having learned it during the fight with the warlock. Wolf agrees to keep her secret, on the condition that Nemu visit the house and enable his transformation once a month. Nemu later gives up on recruiting Morihito out of respect for Nico's feelings for him, and in turn starts developing feelings for both Keigo and Wolf.
Momo Kuramochi (倉持 桃)
A 19-year-old "Witch of Teleportation" (移動の魔女) who is capable to teleport anyone but at the cost of her body weight. As a teenager, she was struggling with how her body easily gets fat. After learning that she's always been a witch, Momo started to embraces her body and keeps her body weight so that she could help people in need. She moves to Morihito's neighborhood to support Nico. She has a motherly personality and tends to spoil the residents in Otogi household.
Asunaro Private High School
Nico and Morihito's class
Yuri Makuwa (真桑 悠里)
The homeroom teacher in Nico's class who is popular in the school for her "cool-beauty" personality. In reality, she is a closet who is desperate to hide this side of her from her students. She and Kukumi become friends through their shared favorite manga, Uron Mirage, where two of them later form a circle called "Fave Artist File" (オシエシニッシ).
Kara Minami (南 伽羅)
One of Nico's best friends in high school. She is incredibly friendly and always willing to make friends with people that are struggling socially, though she is often embarrassed about it afterwards. Thus, Kara is very welcoming about Nico's real identity. She is a priestess in training at her family's shrine. When playing around with one of Nico's spells, she accidentally creates a Shikigami familiar she nicknames "Shiki".
Kukumi Ureshino (嬉野 久々実)
Nico's other best friend in high school, nicknamed "Kuku". She used to be a shy in middle school until Kara befriended her, breaking her out of her shell while still retaining her hobby. She is also a fan artist with more than 10,000 followers on Chitter, one of whom is Yuri. Upon discovering this, they quickly become friends, much to Yuri's dismay.
Suzuka Kiyomiya (清宮 涼華)
Nico and Morihito's class
Yuri Makuwa (真桑 悠里)
The homeroom teacher in Nico's class who is popular in the school for her "cool-beauty" personality. In reality, she is a closet who is desperate to hide this side of her from her students. She and Kukumi become friends through their shared favorite manga, Uron Mirage, where two of them later form a circle called "Fave Artist File" (オシエシニッシ).
Kara Minami (南 伽羅)
One of Nico's best friends in high school. She is incredibly friendly and always willing to make friends with people that are struggling socially, though she is often embarrassed about it afterwards. Thus, Kara is very welcoming about Nico's real identity. She is a priestess in training at her family's shrine. When playing around with one of Nico's spells, she accidentally creates a Shikigami familiar she nicknames "Shiki".
Kukumi Ureshino (嬉野 久々実)
Nico's other best friend in high school, nicknamed "Kuku". She used to be a shy in middle school until Kara befriended her, breaking her out of her shell while still retaining her hobby. She is also a fan artist with more than 10,000 followers on Chitter, one of whom is Yuri. Upon discovering this, they quickly become friends, much to Yuri's dismay.
Suzuka Kiyomiya (清宮 涼華)
A girl who comes from a traditional family. She excels in anything, but is clumsy when it comes to applying it into practice. Her older brother is the student council president, Tenryu Kiyomiya.
Kowashi Hara (原 毅)
Student Council
Tenryu Kiyomiya (清宮 天流)
The student council president. He comes from a very traditional family, and hires students who act like stereotypical anime tropes, even though they are not qualified, forcing him to do all of the work. He has been trying to make Morihito joins the student council, as he thinks Morihito is the "cool, obedient fighting guy" trope. He also always has his hand on the lid of his hat and is actually able to take his hat off, but refuses to let it go.
Ibara Ibu (伊武 荊)
The vice president alongside Yuzuru. Ibara leads the council in Tenryu's absence. Due to her appearance, Morihito initially thought that she was a promiscuous adult who illegally entered the school grounds. Her behavior resembles a mix between Takarazuka's otokoyaku and a mature older sister.
Yuzuru Kenmochi (剣持 弓弦)
The other vice president who is always seen with eyes closed, looks suspicious, talks in a Kansai dialect, and only opens his eyes when he says "important stuff". He fits the anime and manga archetype of mysterious and devious characters, the over-obviousness of which constantly shocks Morihito and the others.
Syrup Amai (甘井 シロップ)
Student council's secretary. She dresses in Western-style lolita fashion and acts like a tsundere. She is Kuromitsu's older twin sister, who is also her translator. Despite their petit figure, both Syrup and Kuromitsu are high schoolers.
Kuromitsu Amai (甘井 黒蜜)
Other students
Jun Horai (蓬莱 純)
Kanshi's classmate who speaks like the Japanese translated version of English textbooks. This is apparently because both of his parents work as English teachers and he grew up by reading their teaching materials. He is struggling with confessing his love towards a girl from other school because of his speech pattern, only to find out the girl also speaks like him.
Rui Fujiki (藤木 累)
The student council president of the middle school Miharu transferred to, before the two enrolled to Asunaro. A descendant to Dr. Jekyll, his body tends to gradually build up violent urges before it gets released on its own. After he saves Miharu from the thugs, Fujiki learns about the latter's vampire identity and the two start sharing a mutual symbiotic relationship: Miharu feeds from Fujiki's energy, while Fujiki is relieved of his violent urges. He has strong interest in non-human creatures.
Warlocks
Ayako Makinose (牧之瀬 文子)
An elderly woman known as the Enchanter (付与の魔女). Growing up in a strict household, she ran away from home after graduating in order to avoid an arranged marriage. At some point, she discovered that she had levitation magic and she used it for shoplifting. Later on, she was approached by a mysterious warlock who offered her great power in exchange of making her diminutive.
Ryohei Fuchi (淵亮平)
Known as the Water Warlock (水の), Ryohei can use magic to manipulate large bodies of water. After being swindled by a loan shark, he fell off a bridge and nearly drowned before awakening his power. His magic is removed using Nico and Miharu's abilities, and Miharu's father takes him in to help him repent for his actions. He stutters when he speaks.
Shikimi (樒)
Known as the Forest Witch (森の魔女), he can use magic to manipulate plant life. He desires to revive Jura, a powerful warlock from the past, and he requires Nico to do so. Although he is rarely seen, he is responsible for many of the Otogi household's many battles by manipulating others.
Characters appearing in Uron Mirage
Uron Mirage (うろんミラージュ) is an in-universe fantasy battle manga series by "Moko Utakata" and published in Weekly Shōnen Jump.The manga and its anime adaptation tell the story of a group of young swordsmen who hunt monsters.[11] The series is notably of rather poor quality, but it attracts fans who acknowledge this yet are nonetheless invested, in large part due to its fan fiction.[12] It is the favorite manga of Yuri and Kukumi, the latter of whom is also one of its most popular fan artists.
Utsuro Akizuki (秋月 空)
Utsuro is the rookie of Feint, a swordsmen group, whose catchphrase is "go in one go".
Oboro Namisaki (浪崎 朧)
Oboro is the lone wolf of Feint. He is conscious of ranking and considers Utsuro to be his rival.
Sagiri Kusama (草間 狭霧)
Production
Kenta Shinohara revealed that it takes five days to draw the characters in Witch Watch, while the storyboards take two and a half days.[14] In January 2023, Shinohara stated on Twitter that Witch Watch would probably be his last weekly serial.He explained that he is "physically unable" to do one, even if he wanted to.[15] The February 6, 2023 chapter of the manga began a crossover with Shinohara's previous Weekly Shōnen Jump series, Sket Dance.[16]
Media
Manga
Witch Watch is written and illustrated by Kenta Shinohara.[17][18] The manga began its serialization in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump on February 8, 2021.[19] Shueisha has collected its chapters into individual volumes.The first volume was released on June 4, 2021.[20][21] As of March 4, 2026, 25 volumes have been released.[22]
Witch Watch has been licensed for simultaneous publication in North America as it is released in Japan, with its chapters being digitally launched by Viz Media on its Shonen Jump website.Shueisha also simulpublishes the series in English for free on the Manga Plus app and website.[23] Viz Media also publishes its volumes in digital format.[24]
Voice comic
In February 2022, a three-part video of "dubbed manga" were posted online.[25] In May 2022, another series of voice comic adaptations that highlights the comedic parts were posted.The characters are voiced by three voice actors: Mikako Komatsu, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, and Jun Fukushima.[26]Yumiri Hanamori joined the cast in August 2022.[27]
Another voice comic featuring the franchise's in-universe manga series, Uron Mirage, was also posted online in June 2022 as part of the celebration for the manga's volume 6 release.The voice comic features voice acting by Shōya Chiba, Ryōta Suzuki, Yūichirō Umehara, and Tomokazu Sugita.[28]
Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced in August 2024.It was produced by Bibury Animation Studios and directed by Hiroshi Ikehata (director), with assistant direction by Masao Kawase, series composition by Deko Akao, characters designed by Haruko Iizuka, and music composed by Yukari Hashimoto.[29][30] The series aired from April 6 to October 5, 2025, on the Nichi-5 programming block on all JNN affiliates, including MBS and TBS.It ran for two consecutive cours.[31] The first opening theme song is "Watch Me!", performed by Yoasobi,[32] while the first ending theme song is "Mahō wa Spice" (魔法はスパイス), performed by Aooo.[33]
Episodes
Cultural impact and reception
Popularity and sales
In June 2021, Witch Watch was nominated for the seventh Next Manga Award in the Best Printed Manga category and placed tenth out of 50 nominees.[45] It was also nominated for the same award and placed second out of 50 nominees in 2022.[46][47] By October 2025, the manga had over 4 million copies in circulation.[48]
Critical response
Timothy Donohoo of Comic Book Resources compared Witch Watch to Kouji Miura's Blue Box and Shigure Tokita's Don't Blush, Sekime-san! due to both series having concepts and romantic aspects similar to Witch Watch's.[49]
3.Animax Asia TV. Make everyday anime day all-October long with the biggest highlights right here on Animax! ✨ #AnimaxAsia #AnimaxEA October 2, 2025, retrieved October 5, 2025^
A fifth year elementary student who is the "Witch of Summon" (召喚の魔女). She is also a child actress. She has a genie familiar called Slump that follows her and acts as her servant. She is a well-meaning but spoiled girl. She respects Nico's mother after she helped her when her magic powers first awakened.
A girl who comes from a traditional family. She excels in anything, but is clumsy when it comes to applying it into practice. Her older brother is the student council president, Tenryu Kiyomiya.
Kowashi Hara (原 毅)
A male student with weak stomach but is too afraid of asking for toilet permission because he was teased in the past. He asked Nico for a spell that allows him goes unnoticed during those times. His name is a homophone of Japanese word for diarrhea (腹壊し).
Komugi Kurowa (黒和 小麦)
A twin-braided girl whose family owns a bakery and somehow can understand bread puns. It is later revealed that Komugi is a warlock who is able to control the ground and is after Nico's ability as well.
Student Council
Tenryu Kiyomiya (清宮 天流)
The student council president. He comes from a very traditional family, and hires students who act like stereotypical anime tropes, even though they are not qualified, forcing him to do all of the work. He has been trying to make Morihito joins the student council, as he thinks Morihito is the "cool, obedient fighting guy" trope. He also always has his hand on the lid of his hat and is actually able to take his hat off, but refuses to let it go.
Ibara Ibu (伊武 荊)
The vice president alongside Yuzuru. Ibara leads the council in Tenryu's absence. Due to her appearance, Morihito initially thought that she was a promiscuous adult who illegally entered the school grounds. Her behavior resembles a mix between Takarazuka's otokoyaku and a mature older sister.
Yuzuru Kenmochi (剣持 弓弦)
The other vice president who is always seen with eyes closed, looks suspicious, talks in a Kansai dialect, and only opens his eyes when he says "important stuff". He fits the anime and manga archetype of mysterious and devious characters, the over-obviousness of which constantly shocks Morihito and the others.
Syrup Amai (甘井 シロップ)
Student council's secretary. She dresses in Western-style lolita fashion and acts like a tsundere. She is Kuromitsu's older twin sister, who is also her translator. Despite their petit figure, both Syrup and Kuromitsu are high schoolers.
Kuromitsu Amai (甘井 黒蜜)
The other student council's secretary. She dresses in Japanese-style horror fashion and acts like a kuudere. Kuromitsu always speaks in misleading evil poetry and has her older sister Syrup to translates for her. Her speech pattern leads Morihito into thinking she might be a witch disguised as a normal human, but in reality she really is just an ordinary girl.
Riro Takumi (工 理路)
A short-figured first year high school boy who is the treasurer in the council. He is also a genius hacker who often hack into trivial things like Morihito's smartphone or the Shōnen Magazine editorial office.
Asuto Ishiba (石破 明日人)
The student council spokesman whose appearance is big and muscular. He is also hot-blooded. Ironically, he is the most enthusiastic when it comes to his work in the student council.
Kyoki Saiko (西古 凶奇)
A student council member who is in charge of general affairs. He tends to lick knives and pretending to be a psychotic, but usually ends up cutting his own tongue.
Daiki Sakai Mk. II (酒井 大樹マークII)
A boy who wears a cardboard mask and acts like a robot. He is also in charge of general affairs. Ironically, he is the only one who wears his school uniform properly in the student council.
Other students
Jun Horai (蓬莱 純)
Kanshi's classmate who speaks like the Japanese translated version of English textbooks. This is apparently because both of his parents work as English teachers and he grew up by reading their teaching materials. He is struggling with confessing his love towards a girl from other school because of his speech pattern, only to find out the girl also speaks like him.
Rui Fujiki (藤木 累)
The student council president of the middle school Miharu transferred to, before the two enrolled to Asunaro. A descendant to Dr. Jekyll, his body tends to gradually build up violent urges before it gets released on its own. After he saves Miharu from the thugs, Fujiki learns about the latter's vampire identity and the two start sharing a mutual symbiotic relationship: Miharu feeds from Fujiki's energy, while Fujiki is relieved of his violent urges. He has strong interest in non-human creatures.
A male student with weak stomach but is too afraid of asking for toilet permission because he was teased in the past. He asked Nico for a spell that allows him goes unnoticed during those times. His name is a homophone of Japanese word for diarrhea (腹壊し).
Komugi Kurowa (黒和 小麦)
A twin-braided girl whose family owns a bakery and somehow can understand bread puns. It is later revealed that Komugi is a warlock who is able to control the ground and is after Nico's ability as well.
The other student council's secretary. She dresses in Japanese-style horror fashion and acts like a kuudere. Kuromitsu always speaks in misleading evil poetry and has her older sister Syrup to translates for her. Her speech pattern leads Morihito into thinking she might be a witch disguised as a normal human, but in reality she really is just an ordinary girl.
Riro Takumi (工 理路)
A short-figured first year high school boy who is the treasurer in the council. He is also a genius hacker who often hack into trivial things like Morihito's smartphone or the Shōnen Magazine editorial office.
Asuto Ishiba (石破 明日人)
The student council spokesman whose appearance is big and muscular. He is also hot-blooded. Ironically, he is the most enthusiastic when it comes to his work in the student council.
Kyoki Saiko (西古 凶奇)
A student council member who is in charge of general affairs. He tends to lick knives and pretending to be a psychotic, but usually ends up cutting his own tongue.
Daiki Sakai Mk. II (酒井 大樹マークII)
A boy who wears a cardboard mask and acts like a robot. He is also in charge of general affairs. Ironically, he is the only one who wears his school uniform properly in the student council.
Sagiri is a senior of Utsuro and Oboro who deliberately say cynical remarks in order to train them.
Zack Balan (ザック・バラン)
Zack is a mysterious man who wears a lion mask. He is a powerful swordsman.
Fuwa (不破)
Fuwa is the commander of Feint who always answers questions vaguely, leading people to wonder if he is going to commit a coup d'état.
Honoka Shirabushi (白藤 仄)
Honoka is Fuwa's secretary who always receives Fuwa's rude remarks, but remains unfazed.
The second opening theme song is "Tokihanate!"
(ときはなて！) by Hashimero,[34] while the second ending theme song is "Tsuki to Watashi no Kakurenbo" (月と私のかくれんぼ) by Yutori.[35]
The in-universe anime series Uron Mirage is featured in episodes 14 and 23. Who-ya extended performed the opening theme "Bitter end", while ALI performed the ending theme "Flashback Syndrome".[36]
GKIDS acquired the license to the series in North America with Crunchyroll and Netflix streaming the series worldwide, alongside other platforms such as Hulu (United States), Animation Digital Network (several European territories) and Aniplus (South Korea).Tropics Entertainment licensed the series in Southeast Asia.[37][38] The anime's first three episodes were also screened in theaters outside of Japan under the title Witch Watch: Watch Party with screenings beginning March 13 in Asia and in North America on March 16 via GKIDS.[38]
Following the airing of the final episode, a second season was announced.[39][40]
