The TV anime "Witch Watch" is based on the popular manga by Kenta Shinohara, which is currently being serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha). The anime has gained popularity with its well-paced comedy scenes, including parodies, and its unique structure that has captured the hearts of fans. Episode 14, "Uron Mirage, Episode 119: Defeating Fuzzy -4," which aired on July 6th, also attracted attention for the animated adaptation of the manga "Uron Mirage" that appears in the show. The series' series composition and scriptwriting is handled by Deko Akao, who has worked on many popular works such as "Noragami" and "Arakawa Under the Bridge." Akao says, "Witch Watch is a work that is okay to destroy the emotions of," so we spoke to her about the behind-the-scenes production and the appeal of the dialogue.
◇Popular author Akao Deko: The "rules" of manga-based anime
The series is a comedy manga by Shinohara, known for "SKET DANCE" and "Astra Lost in Space." It began serialization in February 2021 in "Weekly Shonen Jump." It depicts the life of Wakatsuki Nico, a girl training to become a witch, and her childhood friend Morihito, a high school student with the powers of a demon, living together. Morihito is given the mission of protecting Nico from a prophesied disaster as his familiar, and so begins a mysterious and difficult journey.
In addition to "Witch Watch," Akao has also worked on the series composition of various anime series based on manga. He says that he has set several "rules" for himself when working on manga-based works.
"Basically, I don't want to change the lines from the original work. I think it's okay to condense a line by removing a little bit, but if you make changes like using different words, it will no longer be that character, so I try to be very careful when writing the script when it comes to lines. Also, if the work is based on an original work, I always make sure to check with the director and producers, 'What is the tempo of the anime?' I think that when you read the manga, you make each character speak in your own head. When it's time to animate, if I ask the director and staff how fast a character speaks, I sometimes find out that 'that character speaks very fast.' For example, even if I think a line is 10 minutes long, when I put it into the script it may feel too long or not enough, so I make sure everyone on the staff is on the same page when they start working, and then I incorporate the original work into the script."
The facial expressions of the characters in the original work are also important.
"I think the scenario should be a map for producing anime, so we have to express in words the expressions of the characters drawn in the frames of the original work. We have to write knowing whether this face in this frame is sad or in pain. If there is no one to draw storyboards at the scenario meeting, it would be a disaster if the part that says 'Sad Nico' actually turns out to be a face of regret. The direction would be completely different, so if the character has a complicated expression, I make sure to check with the original author. We have to put the original work into words, so I think we have to be careful about that."
Regarding "Witch Watch," Akao says that he himself has been an avid reader of the work since before the planning for its animation began, and talks about its appeal, saying, "I thought the tempo of the dialogue and the use of words, which the author had really thought about the page-turning action that is unique to paper media, were wonderful and interesting."
In particular, he feels that Morihito's tsukkomi has the power of lines from "Witch Watch."
"The lines, 'How dare you make such a joke?' and 'How dare you point that out?' are really charming, and Moi-chan (Morihito)'s tsukkomi is fantastic. It's exquisite, and you think, 'He calmly points that out.' Other characters would ignore it, but Moi-chan is the only one who will stop them and say, 'No, that's not right,' or point it out, which I think is really charming. Just when you think he's a cool character, he makes passionate tsukkomi. I think he's a type of boy protagonist that you don't see very often elsewhere."
◇A structure that keeps you on your toes: to express the tempo of the original work
Because the original work is so fascinating, he also faced the difficulties of adapting it into an anime, saying, "I thought I had to think about a lot of things and be creative in order to make it interesting when it was animated." In order to make the most of the good tempo of the original work, he said he put a lot of effort into the composition, rearranging the order of the original episodes and adding original elements for the anime.
"First of all, we structured the series so that it would build up to a climax at the end of the first season. We also struggled a lot about what to do at the beginning of the second season. All the staff shared the same desire to animate as many episodes from the original work as possible, so the question was how to condense it all and include it without losing the good tempo of the original work. We also wanted to include some emotional episodes that weren't comedy episodes, as well as the story of Moi-chan and Nico's date, so we thought about the balance in various ways. Within that, we discussed with the director whether we should try making a triple feature story, and we came up with the series structure."
He also said that he felt that "it's a work that can tolerate a lot of changes in tempo," and added, "I felt that it would be okay to destroy the emotions by making a really funny episode the week after a more gentle episode, so I tried to make the structure as varied as possible."
In terms of emotional impact, Episode 9, "To Gara/New Friends/Date with the Night," is a truly diverse triple feature. "To Gara" depicts the bond between parent and child, "New Friends" features characters reminiscent of English textbooks with a different "artistic" style, and "Date with the Night" depicts a heart-fluttering date between Nico and Morihito, all packed into one episode.
"Episode 9 was the one that made me think, 'This is interesting!' when I saw it air. When I was developing the script, I wondered, 'Is it really okay to cram so many different stories into one episode?' But it was great, with a sense of emotional destruction. Just when you think you've been moved, a conversation in English that you don't really understand begins, and at the end, Nico and Morihito somehow seem nice. I really like episode 9. I think it's the kind of episode that makes you think, 'You can't let your guard down.'"
◇A battle that fits into a time limit: The secret story behind the creation of original anime scenes
The well-paced dialogue between the charming characters is also enjoyable. When incorporating a work with a lot of information, including dialogue, into a scenario, the creators have been experimenting with how much they can cut out.
"To fit the anime into the 20-minute anime length, not only myself but also the writers who are working with me are working hard together, trying to come up with ideas like, 'How much can we cut out?' or 'Let's make this line a little shorter.' We try to make it fit into the length even at the script stage, but Director Ikehata has reassuringly said, 'Leave the rest to me,' so there have been times when we've left it up to him. Even if we manage to fit it into the length on paper, the length may increase or decrease when the storyboards are cut or the actors perform, so the writers try to balance it as much as possible in writing, and then leave it up to the professionals in their respective fields."
While the anime carefully selects and discards information from the original work, it also sometimes adds original elements, such as the scene in episode 6 where Morihito and Keigo talk.
"Keigo is one of the main characters, so we decided to introduce him earlier than in the original work and give him lines. We discussed what kind of lines would sound like Keigo's, and of course had the teacher check them as we created them. I would write original lines based on my own image of Keigo and my own image of Nico, but when the teacher checked them, he would sometimes make small adjustments, like, 'Nico in this situation shouldn't end her sentences with 'of'.'"
◇ Serious "Uromira" challenge
Another appealing feature of the series is the entertaining gimmicks scattered throughout, such as comedy scenes including parodies and surprising compositions. In episode 14, it was revealed that the manga "Uron Mirage," which appears in the story, was produced with a lot of effort rather than just a rough one. In addition to key visuals, theme songs were also created for "Uron Mirage," with the music unit "Who-ya extended" providing the opening theme "Bitter end" and singer-songwriter LEO's solo project "ALI" providing the ending theme "FLASHBACK SYNDROME." Geso Ikuo was in charge of the storyboards, making this a special episode.
"The 'Uro Mira' episode was about 'getting serious', so I thought it was great. After considering various patterns for when to include the 'Uro Mira' episode, we decided on a structure where, once the second season begins, viewers watch episode 13 (the first episode of the second season) as normal, and then 'Uro Mira' pops in when they're not paying attention."
Among the many bold attempts, Akao says that the episode in which Kanshi performs a manzai comedy act was the most challenging for him.
"Up until now, when characters would do manzai acts with each other, I would often write the scenario so that the tempo would pick up and then quickly move on to the next development, but this time the teacher requested that I do the entire manzai act. It can be quite intimidating to do manzai properly in an anime, and I wondered if it would work. Of course, I wrote the scenario thinking it would be interesting, but I think it was thanks to the acting of all the actors that that episode turned out so funny. The level of fun changes depending on how you act, such as the tone of the tsukkomi and the volume of your voice, so I think it was a challenging episode."
The anime "Witch Watch" expresses the charm of the original work, "You never know what's going to come out." When asked about what to look forward to in the future, Akao said, "I hope that fans will wait for the broadcast with an open mind, ready to accept everything without being too tense." It looks like he will continue to surprise fans.
