Flying Witch
A gentle tale of a witch's everyday life in Aomori.
Flying Witch is a Japanese manga by Chihiro Ishizuka, who both writes and illustrates it. Serialization in Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine began in August 2012, and as of June 2026, the series has been compiled into 15 tankōbon volumes. A 12-episode anime adaptation, produced by J.C.Staff, ran from April to June 2016. The story centers on Makoto, a young witch from Yokohama who moves to Hirosaki, Aomori to live with relatives as part of her training. The narrative follows her everyday life as she adapts to her new surroundings, with her family and the friends she makes learning about the quirks and traditions of witchcraft along the way.
- field
- Manga and anime
- nationality
- Japanese
- known_for
- Slice-of-life fantasy about a witch's daily life
- serialization_start
- August 2012
- volumes
- 15 (as of June 2026)
- anime_air_dates
- April–June 2016
Lore & Background
The story centers on Makoto Kowata, a young witch from Yokohama who moves to Hirosaki, Aomori to live with relatives as part of her training. Her daily life introduces her relatives and new friends to the customs and peculiarities of witchcraft. Makoto is polite and kind, gets lost easily, and focuses more on preparing potions than casting spells. She has a black cat familiar named Chito.
Key characters include Makoto's cousin Chinatsu Kuramoto, who becomes fascinated with magic and later becomes an apprentice to Makoto's sister Akane. Akane is a full-fledged witch with a contrasting brash personality. Other witches include Inukai, a fortune-teller from Akita who was transformed into an anthropomorphic dog by Akane's chocolates, and Anzu Shiina, a soft-spoken witch and amateur archaeologist. The series also features a ghost named Hina who works at a café run by Anzu's mother.
Reader's Guide
Flying Witch is significant for its gentle, slice-of-life approach to the fantasy genre, emphasizing mundane daily activities over dramatic magical conflicts. The manga began in 2012 and has maintained a steady release schedule, with 15 volumes published by June 2026. The 2016 anime adaptation by J.C.Staff brought the series to a wider audience, with Sentai Filmworks licensing it in North America and producing an English dub. The series' legacy lies in its calm, atmospheric storytelling and its focus on the integration of magic into everyday rural life, appealing to fans of iyashikei (healing) narratives. Partial sales from the eighth manga volume were donated to Kyoto Animation after the 2019 arson attack, reflecting the series' community ties.
Did You Know?
- The anime's opening theme is 'Shanranran' by miwa featuring 96 Neko, and the ending theme is 'Everyday Magic' by Minami Shinoda and Eri Suzuki.
- Inukai, a witch from Akita, was transformed into an anthropomorphic dog after eating chocolates made by Akane and has been seeking a cure for a year.
- Chinatsu Kuramoto gains the ability to use water magic after a ring made from a tooth of a sea spirit bonds with her.
- The English dub of Keiji Kuramoto features a country accent to match his Tsugaru dialect in the original Japanese.
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