I absolutely loved this book. It had me rolling with laughter. I couldn't put it down until I finished it. Then, I just wanted more. I can't wait for the next volume!

Great for teens and adults alike, this YA manga was both cute and entertaining.

Meet Morihito, a boy whose family line is descended from ogres, and Nico his childhood friend who is also a witch. The two were close friends growing up but were separated when Nico and her mother moved to a town specifically for witches. Now the two are grown up and find themselves together again, but this time their relationship is a little more complicated.

Nico's mom has seen the future, and it doesn't look all that great for Nico. It turns out she is in great danger, but from what they just don't know yet. She is growing in power as a witch and it is time for her to take a familiar. Most witches choose animals to be their familiars, but Nico and her mom have other ideas. Ogres can also be a witch's familiar and what better ogre than Morihito himself.

The two get up to shenanigans together as they mix magic with the rest of their lives (particularly where school is concerned). But danger still lurks in the shadows. What will happen next?

I really enjoyed this manga a great deal. The art was cute and really well done and the story mixed just the right amount of real world and fantasy (I am a sucker for those: Yu Yu Hakusho, Inu Yasha, Kamisama Kiss, Fruits Basket, etc. are some of my favorite manga/anime). Even though this one seems to be more on the shojo side, I think if you like some of the other titles I mentioned then you will like this one as well.

Witch Watch is a shonen series written and illustrated by mangaka Kenta Shinohara. The series is published and localized in English by VIZ Media through their imprint Shonen Jump — yes, this means you can dive into more chapters immediately after Volume 1 in the Shonen Jump app. Witch Watch Volume 1 is translated by Adrienne Beck, features lettering by Annaliese “Ace” Christman, and a design by Yukiko Whitley.

Morihito Otogi’s family is descended from a long line of ogre familiars, and he has the inhuman strength to prove it. One day, his father comes to him with the life-changing news that he is to become the familiar of his childhood friend, the teenage witch Nico. With bad omens and a prophecy of doom in the cards for Nico, Morihito —or as Nico calls him, Moi– has to protect the young witch from the world and herself. The kicker? They have to live together alone, under the same roof.

For the most part, Moi is calm and cool. He’s Nico’s polar opposite in nearly every way. Nico is erratic and spacey and just sees the kindness in the world around her. Moi, on the other hand, remembers being bullied in his past, protecting Nico, and is aware of the darkness looming in the world. But while Moi tries his hardest to keep Nico safe, the young with has romance on her mind… When Nico first shows up to Moi’s house, she can’t help but admire how much he’s changed since they were kids. She thinks he’s hot, thinks about holding his hand, and can’t hide her excitement at being under the same roof as her one-sided crush. In this way, it’s clear that Witch Watch is a shonen romance instead of a shoujo one, and it works. Nico is helplessly in love with Moi, and even if he can’t act on anything because of the prophecy, it’s clear he sees her as someone more special than just someone to guard.

There is a sweet awkwardness between Moi and Nico that feels entirely focused on showing just how intense and panicky teens can be. The two have clearly been special to each other since childhood, but Moi’s ability to put safety first gets the two into the perfect rom-com cadence. There is lightness and humor throughout every part of Witch Watch. There are visual gags and adorable dialogue that make the volume just the right amount of funny to go with the whimsy. Throughout the series, there is a wonderful portrayal of magical realism. Nico’s particular view on magic is on the small things to make life easier, not large sweeping spells which make the series a wonderful fantasy story.

Overall, Witch Watch Volume 1 is a fun ride. It captures the awkwardness of being a teenager from crushes to the first days of school. The volume is also doing a lot of work to build a fantasy world that exists in our reality. This foundation sets up the next volume well, and with a cliffhanger ending, this is definitely a series to keep an eye on.

This was a cute start to a fun little rom-com! I like that our main characters were a witch and an ogre. The setup may seem familiar if you've read similar titles about witches and their contracted partners, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I liked the more folkloric spin on the world and the main relationship is a cute one that I want to see grow.

Witch Watch is a cute manga about a teenage witch Nico who is a bit ditzy. Her mother, who can see visions of the future, is trying to keep Nico safe from an impending disaster that will strike her. She send Nico to her childhood friend, Morihito (Moi).

Morihito is an ogre even though he looks human and goes to high school. Moi is to become Nico's protector. Nico has lived in an isolated witch village for six years and hasn't been to the city or school The two enroll in a local high school and the hijinks begin. Nico reveals her powers to the whole class on day 1 of school.

Moi is going to be kept very busy trying to keep her safe. An enjoyable, and fun read. If you are looking for lighthearted manga this is a great choice.

The art for this is so cute, even the cover is eye catching and colourful and a pretty good indicator of the art style within.

This was a fun, easy read about a witch and her ogre familiar. I loved the twist on witch’s familiars and ogres etc I thought it was a wonderful unique point to bring to this series and it certainly intrigued me. It’s an episodic slice of life, though there’s a thread running through it about a prophecy of looming disaster that carries through each “episode” as it were. Each of the chapters serves as an episode and each one features Nico getting carried away and having some sort of magical calamity happen.

It was amusing to read, and heart warming at some points, however I did find Nico irritating me a time or two. While I enjoyed reading this, I could see it getting quite repetitive however the mystery disaster that’s approaching could keep things intriguing!

If Gintama and a slice of life magical romance had a baby, you get Witch Watch. This isn't the type of thing that I usually read, but I enjoyed the first volume and they definitely had enough foreshadowing to make you wonder what will happen in the future volumes. Hats off to the translation/localization team who tried their best but had to just put their foot down and say "OK, we will explain some of these cultural bits like the momotaro puns, but we are not translating the puns in the named classmates" which would have required a glossary. The author is definitely setting the translation/localization team up for a lot of work. (I received a digital ARC of this book from this publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.)

Cute, simple, and fun! I do hope a real romance develops because they're so sweet and I adore that trope. But generally, it's a really fun manga. Definitely would recommend to high schoolers at the library. Or anyone that likes silly romance mangas.

Witch Watch Volume One is currently only being released digitally by VIZ Media.

Witch Watch Volume One
Written by: Kenta Shinohara
Publisher: Shueisha Inc.
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: February 22, 2022

The story opens with a young man named Morihito Otogi learning that his childhood friend, Nico, a witch who moved away when they were younger, is coming back from her training. Morihito, an ogre who is in a human form, learns that Nico insists on making him her familiar. Even though times have changed, the old contracts between the witches and the ogres are still valid. If Morihito refuses this request, he could be cursed to revert to his ancestors’ forms. As part of his duties, Nico will be living in the same house as Morihito while Morihito’s father is away on business. Morihito grudgingly agrees to the arrangement.

While he’s learning about this, Morihito is also having to deal with a group of boys whose leader has a grudge against him. When they were younger, Morihito and Momota (the leader) had a fight and Morihito hurt Momota badly because he couldn’t control his ogre strength. Since then, Morihito has refused to fight with others. It was also this fight that has caused Morihito to hide the truth about being an ogre.

Morihito remembers Nico being a klutz when they were kids, and it turns out she’s still rather clumsy when she rides her broom right through one of the windows of the house. This just starts things out on the wrong foot, and as we see throughout the volume, Nico keeps getting into trouble with her magic. It doesn’t help that Nico seems to be interested in Morihito and believes that he will fall for her because they live under the same roof. However, it’s clear to the reader that, at the start, Morihito only sees living together as being part of a job that he has to do.

Morihito and Nico start high school, and they end up in the same class. Fortunately for them, they end up in a class that has an otaku for a teacher, and the students that are introduced in this volume all have strange quirks. Because of this, when it comes out that Nico is a witch and Morihito is an ogre, the students don’t bat an eye and think that this is cool. They got very lucky to end up in a class with these particular classmates.

But with all this comedy, there’s still drama lurking underneath it all. The reason Nico is with Morihito is that Nico’s mother has had a vision about Nico being in danger, and she entrusts Morihito with protecting her daughter. There’s not much known about who or what is after Nico, but there are two small clues provided near the end of the volume.

Witch Watch Volume One spends a lot of its time establishing the main characters and the world that they’re inhabiting. Although, I have to admit that it feels as if Shinohara is trying to incorporate several elements into this story, and by the end of this volume, I felt as if the story was trying to go in several different directions. Although, the reader is given a fair warning by Shinohara himself in the author’s note at the beginning of the volume with the phrase, “I’m not paying much attention to the genre or anything.” This certainly shows itself by the end of the first volume, because I found myself asking, “Is this supposed to be a fantasy story? Is this suppose to be a romantic comedy? Is this supposed to be a slice-of-life story with fantastic elements added in?” I hope that with future volumes of the series that Shinohara will find a way to bring these ideas together into something that feels a little more cohesive.

When it comes to the art, I have to be honest and say there’s really nothing in the design of either Morihito or Nico to truly make them stand out from protagonists that have appeared in other manga series. Actually, there is one thing that does make Morihito stand out from time to time: screen tone appearing on his face in some of the panels. When it appears on his face, I find it to be rather jarring, since most of the time it’s not there. In my opinion, those particular panels stand out to me, and not necessarily in a good way.

Also, I found myself thinking that the designs for secondary characters like Momota and his gang, as well as the students in Morihito and Nico’s class, stand out a lot more. It’s also interesting to note that with Momota and his gang, their names are references to the Momotaro folktale, and that the names of the classmates happen to match the personalities that they have.

While this first volume of Witch Watch feels like it’s trying to go in several different directions, I do think there could be potential for this series if Shinohara can find a way to reign things in a little and help the story find its footing. I think there’s potential here, but Shinohara is going to have to start figuring out what exactly he intends to do with this series in order to make it work. It’s not a bad series at this point, but it kind of feels like that it’s just “there.”

I may be feeling a little lukewarm to Witch Watch right now, but I would be willing to give future volumes of the manga a shot in order to give the series a chance to try to grab me.

Morihito is an ogre - descendent of two family lines that used to act as familiars for witches. When his childhood friend Nico returns, Morihito (or Moi as Nico calls him) becomes Nico's roommate, familiar and protector. Meanwhile Nico continues her training as a witch and not-so-secretly imagines a romantic relationship developing between them. Neither of them fit well in the human world, but maybe together they can carve their own path.

I really like the art style of Witch Watch - the plot line and characters are also quite comedic. The outside world's reaction to Nico and Moi is also refreshing - nothing beats the scene at school when Nico creates a flying zone for her classmates to try - as well as the reaction of another class that is blasé to the whole thing.

A very silly manga about a clumsy, ditsy witch and her childhood friend, ogre protector. The art is lovely and the story is enjoyable, but a little too lighthearted for my personal tastes.

4.5/5

Witch Watch by Kenta Shinohara is a fun, magical romp showing us the lives of a training witch and her familiar… who also happens to be her childhood friend and an ogre!
Nico has just returned after years of witch training in a secret village with her mother. Now she has to live with her childhood friend and begin high school all while continue her training. Morihito (her childhood friend) has spent his life training to control his ogre strength. The problem? Nico is carefree and wants to share her powers to help others, while Morihito is more wary of the world and wants to protect Nico from dangers.

As usual, the art is cute and the character designs are great. I really like the beginning of this series and I’m excited to read more. The dialogue could sometimes be ridiculous, but that’s what makes it so charming. Also the situations can be hilariously dumb too, but again: charming.

I also love the little asides wand author’s notes. You can tell that Shinohara had a lot of fun making this manga and adding all the extra bits of wardrobe and using names of old folktales.

I’d be very interested if this seemingly “light-hearted” manga becomes dark or if the tone will stay light but with added hijinx.

A story surrounds a witch and her childhood friend who becomes her familiar and must protect her from a looming danger as she returns to the human world to finish her magic training.

While I enjoyed the idea of this book, I do not want the fillers/ way the story is written in this manga book. It felt like it was jammed with filler stories with sprinkles of actual plot notes.
I won't be continuing with this.