Secrets of the Silent Witch
Short Synopsis: A shy witch is assigned to go to school to protect the Second Prince from assassination.
Mario: Now, I don’t mind another witch anime, and the premise isn’t half-bad, but there are two main issues I have with Silent Witch’s premiere. Firstly (and perhaps most importantly), I find the titular girl utterly boring. Not that I have any particular issues against shyness, but she acts exactly the way you’d expect her to act, from her nervous reactions down to everything she’s about to say. At this rate I’m not sure if I have the patience to watch her for an entire season. Secondly, this episode is chock full of obvious exposition to the point you feel like the show wants to hammer all the information into your head. For a show about a girl who can do magic without chanting, maybe the best approach would be to say less and instead let us grab what’s going on with the visuals alone?
Potential: 10%
Amun: Light hearted witch anime is a subgenre that I find myself quite fond of. From way back when with Kiki’s Delivery Service to Flying Witch to even the more recent Witch Watch (which wasn’t as great but was okay), I like the magic shows that don’t take themselves too seriously. Silent Witch does a great job balancing that in the first episode. I was really reminded of Wistoria as far as overall vibe and characters – the comparison is high praise. The world is fun, the lead has a clearly defined (albeit annoying) gimmick, the supporting cast is great – this is a recipe for success. Silent Witch was barely on my radar with all the other heavy hitters this season, but I think I’ll be enjoying it all the way through.
Potential: 75%
Busamen Gachi Fighter
Short Synopsis: An ugly man isekais into another world as an even uglier man, but also as a literal God.
Lenlo: I didn’t hate Busamen, and it’s for the same reasons I loved shows like I Parry Everything. And while it doesn’t seem near as good as Parry, the lead isn’t nearly as likeable, it isn’t as well animated, and the premise is a bit to trite for my tastes, it does still have that same feeling that it knows exactly what it is, and is actively taking the piss out of itself. None of the leads are, so far at least, genuinely shitty people. Even our main MC isn’t the usual “I’m a nice guy, why do girls always go for the assholes” sort of incel. Instead they are all some manner of maladjusted shut-in trying their hand at a second life in an Isekai world, making for some fun light hearted interactions. That said, it’s still very much a weeb power fantasy, making the MC the ugliest, fattest character they could, while making him a literal God and surrounding him with at least two conventionally attractive girls, more expected to follow. To me, it feels like Busamen wants to riff on Isekai tropes, but it isn’t willing to go so far as to actually criticize the people who watch it, making it feel half-baked and shallow. Still, it was fun enough for one episode, so I won’t say it was terrible. Just… Not worth keeping up with.
Potential: 20%
Call of the Night S2
Short Synopsis: Herbivore boy must fall in love with scantily clad vampire…which is turning out to be harder than he expected.
Amun: You know, I was kind of weaning off anime a bit last season, only watching a few shows. Felt like my interest was going to gradually taper off and I’d move on to “normal adult” interests like golf or stocks. Haha, yeah right! This season brings back some of my most anticipated sequels – I’m not escaping the clutches of anime that easily! Starting off is one of my favorite shows from…a few seasons ago? (I need to look that up). Call of the Night just had the perfect vibe for me – I absolutely loved season 1 colors, music…really just the feeling it gave me. Does the first episode of season 2 continue? Yes, with some caveats. While the episode itself seemed pretty on brand, we definitely have the looming year deadline as well as the vampire hunter. Us anime onlys don’t know all the mechanics of vampires (or the secret behind the scary final form), so I get the feeling that’ll be the main plot line this season. No matter what, I’m pretty invested in the characters and world at this point, so barring any major disaster of production or plot – I’m here till the end!
Potential: 99%
The post Summer 2025 Impressions: Secrets of the Silent Witch, Busamen Gachi Fighter, Call of the Night S2 appeared first on Star Crossed Anime.
