July 02, 2016
Flying Witch
I'm still working my way through Symphogear GX, but as a change of pace, I just pulled down something from last season that I didn't know about until I saw a mention of it in an article about the current, bleak season.
Flying Witch is very different, there are no world-ending plots, violent fights, or self-doubting to the point of self-sabotage heroines. It's one of those Slice of Life shows except it's about a witch.
I'm about 4 episodes in, and the comparison to Kiki's Delivery Service is inevitable. But aside from being very charming, there are a lot of differences. For one thing, the setting is Modern Japan. Her name is Kowata Makoto. She's from Yokohama, but after the required independence move-out at 15 (13 in Kiki...) she ended up staying with her second cousins in Tohoku region. Her parents wanted her to complete high school, so sent her to stay with family, which is a little bit of a break with tradition. She does have a black cat, whom she can understand, but he only makes cat-noises instead of speaking.
One of the running gags in the show is Makoto's terrible sense of direction. Another is that her Uncle, a farmer, has a near impenetrable accent. Asenshi did a pretty good job at making the subtitles equally understandable....
There is a parade of visitors to the house, like the Courier of Spring, or her older sister Akane, who is a very powerful and famous witch (Who chides her for not practicing enough magic). Or Inukai, a local witch who was accidentally cursed by Akane into being a half-animal person. Others are in the OP but I haven't gotten to their appearances yet.
It is a lovely, peaceful, and cheerful show. Beautifully animated. And perhaps the single thing that really makes it great is that it's not all about "Oh, We have to hide that you're a witch," like so many other comedies. It's more like the world has to deal with her being herself.
Flying Witch is very different, there are no world-ending plots, violent fights, or self-doubting to the point of self-sabotage heroines. It's one of those Slice of Life shows except it's about a witch.
I'm about 4 episodes in, and the comparison to Kiki's Delivery Service is inevitable. But aside from being very charming, there are a lot of differences. For one thing, the setting is Modern Japan. Her name is Kowata Makoto. She's from Yokohama, but after the required independence move-out at 15 (13 in Kiki...) she ended up staying with her second cousins in Tohoku region. Her parents wanted her to complete high school, so sent her to stay with family, which is a little bit of a break with tradition. She does have a black cat, whom she can understand, but he only makes cat-noises instead of speaking.
One of the running gags in the show is Makoto's terrible sense of direction. Another is that her Uncle, a farmer, has a near impenetrable accent. Asenshi did a pretty good job at making the subtitles equally understandable....
There is a parade of visitors to the house, like the Courier of Spring, or her older sister Akane, who is a very powerful and famous witch (Who chides her for not practicing enough magic). Or Inukai, a local witch who was accidentally cursed by Akane into being a half-animal person. Others are in the OP but I haven't gotten to their appearances yet.
It is a lovely, peaceful, and cheerful show. Beautifully animated. And perhaps the single thing that really makes it great is that it's not all about "Oh, We have to hide that you're a witch," like so many other comedies. It's more like the world has to deal with her being herself.
Posted by: Mauser at
09:03 PM
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I also learned a few things from this show, like the importance of reducing the number of apple blossoms on a tree to produce better apples (The family owns an orchard). And the cooking class showed me that "Hamburger Steak" is not just a burger patty served with gravy, but actually meatloaf fried like a burger. (The ingredients included chopped onion, an egg, and milk-sopped panko with the excess milk squeezed out.) But I guess with meat being so expensive in Japan, they need to stretch it.
Posted by: Mauser at July 25, 2016 06:45 PM (5Ktpu)
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I don't think it's just stretching. It tastes better, too, although I'm mostly familiar with the Russian variety. One unexpected innovation that Russians came up with is a "hedgehog", which replaces panko with ... rice, of all things. You'd think Japanese would know everything about rice, but nope. Note that hedgehog is typically round, not flat, so it's fried slowly for an even cook-through. You are never supposed to get the red meat with any of these.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at July 30, 2016 07:57 AM (XOPVE)
3
Maybe they don't stretch it with rice because it's a "western" dish?
I kinda miss my Mom's meatloaf. I should try to make some sometime. We'd make meatloaf sandwiches with a thick slice with ketchup on it from the leftovers.
I kinda miss my Mom's meatloaf. I should try to make some sometime. We'd make meatloaf sandwiches with a thick slice with ketchup on it from the leftovers.
Posted by: Mauser at July 31, 2016 02:46 PM (5Ktpu)
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