Witchcraft Works

Plot

Honoka Takamiya is a seemingly, ordinary high school student whose primary problem in life is him sitting in the same bus as Ayaka Kagari, the beautiful idol and 'princess' of the school. Not only that, he even sits next to her in class and resumes the same class cleaning duties as she does. Even the tiniest interaction between them leads to Honoka getting beaten up black and blue by her fanclub.

But one day, however, while returning from school, he gets attacked by a mysterious enemy. Luckily, a Fire Witch swings to his rescue and wards off the attack. This Fire Witch is revealed to be none other than Ayaka herself, who has been observing and protecting him ever since. Deciding to no longer keep her mission a secret, she eventually becomes friends with him. From that moment on, Honoka gets dragged into an escalating conflict between two groups of witches - the Tower Witches and the Workshop Witches, whom Ayaka is a part of. Both these groups have their own plans to use the mysterious power that lies deep within him.

Main characters

Honoka Takamiya (多華宮 仄, Takamiya Honoka)

Voiced by: Yūsuke KobayashiThe main character, Honoka is a second year student in high school. At first he often wonders about the frequent coincidences he always takes the same bus with him to school alongside Ayaka Kagari, the school idol. He even finds himself seated next to her and having the same schedules in classroom cleaning duty. One day he is attacked by a group called the Tower Witches who had been covertly making attempts on him. However, the attack is thwarted by Ayaka who turns out to be a Workshop Witch and has been protecting Honoka for quite some time. No longer having to hide her mission, Ayaka decides to become friendlier with him, though their relationship earns Honoka the ire of a lot of his class mates. He has a high regard for her and a feeling that there is some special connection between them as well as history, but can't remember anything past vague feelings.Shortly after Ayaka reveals her secrets, Honoka asks to be taken as her apprentice so he can help support her. It is revealed that one of the reasons Honoka has been targeted is due to a mysterious, eldritch entity inside him called Evermillion (エヴァーミリオン, voiced by Mamiko Noto), also known as the White Princess (白姫, Shirohime). On occasion this being can manifest into a physical form and can also give Honoka enormous amounts of magical power, though Ayaka says to do so is very dangerous (as Evermillion will demand some form of 'payment' from him.) Through some kind of spell, Ayaka is able to draw upon that power making her practically invincible and extremely powerful, but any damage that Honoka takes gets transferred directly to her instead.According to the author's notes at the end of the first volume, Honoka was originally written as a girl. He was changed to a boy in the final version, but the feminine name was kept.

Ayaka Kagari (火々里 綾火, Kagari Ayaka)

Voiced by: Asami SetoThe school idol and the chairwoman's daughter, Ayaka is a beautiful, intelligent, and statuesque girl, standing over a head taller than Honoka. However she is extremely stoic and has a low social IQ, rarely changing her facial expression. She is Honoka's classmate, and the official "Princess" of the entire school, with authority over everybody in the school except for the chairwoman. Unknown to many she is a "Fire Witch" (炎の魔女) who is capable of manipulating and controlling fire. Through unrevealed circumstances there is a powerful spell between herself and Honoka, where she can't be killed, can literally ignore wounds such as being impaled by multiple blades, and receives an inexhaustible, enormous power as long as Honoka is nearby. However, powerful attacks like Medusa's petrification can still affect her if Honoka's belief in her falters, and any direct damage that Honoka receives is instantly transferred to her. Even without magic she is a formidable fighter physically, due to her mother's harsh training.Her mission is to protect Honoka from the tower witches, but she extends this mission to anyone she perceives as harassing or bullying him. According to Ayaka, she is certain she and Honoka knew each other as children though her memories from that time are missing, most likely erased by someone.

Workshop Witches

Kasumi Takamiya (多華宮 霞, Takamiya Kasumi)

Voiced by: Ai KayanoHonoka's little sister, who also happens to be a Workshop Witch, has a teddy bear familiar that can transform into a gigantic combat mech she named "Maka-ron" (摩訶ロン) or Macaroon (depending on the translator). She also has an extreme brother complex with Honoka, their mother recounting how she jumps into his bed or tries to take baths with him every two days despite them both being teenagers. As such, she's extremely jealous of Ayaka and often gets into fights with her, especially when she finds her and Honoka in very suggestive situations. At some point she became a Workshop Witch with the task of protecting her brother when Ayaka wasn't around. Since her master is Rinon she is a strong hand to hand fighter as well. For some reason she can only bring out her full magic by using bears given to her by Honoka as mediums, which is why Macaroon is occasionally seen running errands in the background.

Kazane Kagari (火々里 かざね, Kagari Kazane)

Voiced by: Sayaka OharaAyaka's mother, head of the Workshop Witches in the city, and the chairwoman of Tōgetsu High School who has been alive as far back as the Crusades. Kazane has earned multiple nicknames over her lifetime, including "Dragon Tooth," "Torturer," and most infamously, "Bad End."In sharp contrast to her daughter, Kazane is a short-tempered, violent, chain-smoking woman with little tolerance for issues. While somewhat intelligent, she tends to handle things with raw power rather than thinking them through resulting in wild misunderstandings and missing important details. As head of the local Workshop, Kazane possesses magic so powerful that ensures when anything gets destroyed by magic, any people nearby will survive un-harmed, though large enough magic damage to a large part of the city can drain her reserves.Kazane has been acquainted with Honoka's family for years, having attended high school with Komachi Takamiya, Honoka and Kasumi's mother. During her high school years she was a violent delinquent, frequently being suspended. The first time she and Komachi met was after Kazane beat up her entire class for bullying Komachi. They became close friends afterwards, even getting into a romantic relationship. However, since they couldn't get married they decided to marry Honoka and Ayaka off to each other. While it is revealed that she not only knew, but had taken Honoka places while he was in elementary school, its still unclear on what happened or why his and Ayaka's memories were removed.

Kyōichirō Mikage (Mikage Kyōichirō)

Voiced by: Kazuyuki OkitsuA chemistry teacher at Honoka's high school who helps manage the memories of the non-witch population whenever parts of the city get destroyed by magic. He also recruits witches throughout the city for the Workshop. Mikage has his own plans for Honoka and his "white stuff," but his true motives are unknown.

Touko Hio (氷尾 凍子, Hio Tōko)

Voiced by: Kana AsumiA Workshop Witch who specializes in ice-based magic that can increase in proportion to a perceived threat, even bringing a sweeping cold front over the entire city if she finds herself in mortal danger. Touko was a childhood friend of Ayaka, being asked by Kazane herself (along with Houzuki, Ayaka's fanclub leader) to watch over her as Ayaka had almost no social intelligence to speak of, and continues watching her into the present. Touko works part-time at several different jobs around the city to help support her family of 12 siblings, including maid cafe waitress to bartender, which conveniently allows her to provide important information to Ayaka when necessary. Until Ayaka took over the position she was the Student Council's Vice President, and is now the "Vice-Vice President."

Rinon Otometachibana (乙女橘 りのん, Otometachibana Rinon)

Voiced by: Noriko ShitayaA Workshop Witch and Kasumi's teacher in the Workshop hierarchy, who also runs a gang of delinquents that dress up in hamster-themed costumes. Nicknamed "Bear Killer" after allegedly choking a tiger (named "Bear-eye") to death with her bare hands. Publicly challenged Honoka for control of the school's Student Council until she was defeated. Honoka almost beat her himself, but refused to land the final blow when he had a chance so Ayaka and the Ivory Quintet finished her off. Unlike other witches, Rinon doesn't use visible magic at all, preferring to instead use it to enhance her immense physical strength. In the anime, it is implied that she underwent Kazane's harsh training alongside Ayaka.

Atori Kuramine (昏峰 あとり, Kuramine Atori)

Voiced by: Ikumi HayamaA soft-spoken witch with cat-like ears who wields a large sword. Atori prefers to talk through a small, magical ventriloquist doll she keeps nearby at almost all times. Has a questionable understanding of first-aid.

Ivory Quintet

Tanpopo Kuraishi (倉石 たんぽぽ, Kuraishi Tanpopo)

Voiced by: Shiori IzawaOne of the Tower Witches who transferred to the same school where Honoka and Ayaka are studying. She is a "Shikigami User" (式神使い, Shikigami Tsukai) and her familiars are an army of paper rabbits which she can magically turn into mechanized soldier bunnies. She is the unofficial head of the "Ivory Quintet" (a.k.a. "Furry-eared Gang", or KMM-dan in Japanese), a group of witches who were given the task to transfer to Tōgetsu High-school and capture Honoka Takamiya.According to the author, Tanpopo's last name was originally written to be "Crisis," but felt that would be too foreign in context, so instead she localized the name as Kuraishi. This became a running joke in the story, where Honoka constantly forgets how to pronounce her last name.

Kanna Utsugi (宇津木 環那, Utsugi Kanna)

Voiced by: Shiina NatsukawaShe is a member of Ivory Quintet, despite of her natural mad-looking face, she is actually has normal emotions. Her power is to summon and use demons by the book called "Black Vice" (ブラックヴァイス, Burakku Vaisu) that she carries on her back, though this power is rarely shown.

Rin Kazari (飾 鈴, Kazari Rin)

Voiced by: Momo AsakuraA soft-voiced member of Ivory Quintet, who wields a scythe. She has a power called "Bone Animator" (骨使い（ボーンアニメーター）, Hone Tsukai (Bon Animeta), lit. Bone User), which can only be used to revive dead skeletons of any size.

Kotetsu Katsura (桂 虎鉄, Katsura Kotetsu)

Voiced by: Natsumi HiokaA member of the Ivory Quintet and Tōgetsu High School's Kendo club. Her given name is based on a same-named Japanese sword that she wields.

Mei Menowa (目野輪 冥, Menowa Mei)

Voiced by: Yuko IidaOne of the Tower Witches that form the Ivory Quintet. She has the ability to pass through walls and create a defensive barrier. She wears a complete wolf pelt called "Coast Fenrir," a sort of baby wolf formed from the feather of a fallen angel that functions as both extra appendage and semi-sentient weapon.

Others

Chronoire Schwarz VI (クロノワールシュヴァルツ・シックス, Kuronowārushuvarutsu Shikkusu)

Voiced by: Rie KugimiyaA powerful Tower Witch who specializes in crafting potions and often walks around with a well-dressed crocodile familiar named Sebastian. Has her own plans for Honoka's "white stuff." Chronoire is on relatively neutral terms with Kazane despite officially being her enemy; sometimes Kazane physically beats and tortures her for information, other times Kazane entrusts her as temporary chairman of the school while she's on other business. Chronoire also has earned the nickname "Dead End" for her ability to turn into a part-crocodile monster and literally eat other witches if she wants.

Medusa (メデューサ, Medyūsa)

Voiced by: Miyuki SawashiroA high-ranking Tower Witch who controls the KMM Gang and their associates in order to steal Honoka's "white stuff" for herself. Has the power to petrify her enemies into stone statues, but has been weakened after being trapped in a magic prison.

Weekend (ウィークエンド, Wīkuendo)

Voiced by: Aya HiranoA Tower Witch whose main strength is meticulous planning and preparation as opposed to any overtly magic power. Though Weekend is not her real name, she uses it anyways for the notoriety it brings her. Weekend's specialty involves setting up explosives of both magic and non-magic varieties. Runs her own small faction to kidnap Honoka for his "white stuff" as well.

Manga

The manga was written and illustrated by Ryū Mizunagi and published by Kodansha. The manga has been serialized in Good! Afternoon bimonthly magazine since January 7, 2011 and has been compiled into 6 tankōbon volumes as of November 7, 2013. Vertical Comics published officially-translated English volumes of the manga in North America, with its first volume released on October 21, 2014.

Anime

A 12 episode anime television series adaptation, directed by Tsutomu Mizushima at studio J.C.Staff, is currently airing in Japan. The series' first episode was screened at Tokyo's Cinemart Shinjuku theater on December 29, 2013, streamed to 2000 people on December 30, 2013, by Bandai Channel and premiered on Tokyo MX on January 5, 2014. Additionally the anime is airing on TVA, AT-X, BS11 and ABC and is streamed with English subtitles by Crunchyroll. The series' writer is Michiko Yokote and its music is composed by Technoboys Pulcraft Green-Fund. The opening theme song is "divine intervention" by Fhána and the ending is "Witch☆Activity" (ウィッチ☆アクティビティ) by KMM Gang consisting Izawa, Natsukawa, Asakura, Hioka, and Iida.

Reception

The fourth volume of the manga series ranked #25 in the Oricon charts on November 2012 with a total of 27,389 copies sold in under a week. The fifth volume ranked #28 in the Oricon charts on May 2013 with a total of 31,678 copies sold in under a week. The sixth volume ranked #29 in the Oricon charts on November 2013 with a total of 27,573 copies sold in under a week.