Flying Witch
Ja kanjiふらいんぐうぃっち
Ja romajiFuraingu Witchi
Genre
Flying Witch
manga
AuthorChihiro Ishizuka
PublisherKodansha
MagazineBessatsu Shōnen Magazine
FirstAugust 9, 2012
Volumes14
Flying Witch
TV series
DirectorKatsushi Sakurabi
Producer
  • Atsushi Kirimoto
  • Hiroyuki Inage
  • Kazunari Sengoku
  • Shunsuke Nara
  • Yohei Ito
WriterDeko Akao
MusicYoshiaki Dewa
StudioJ.C.Staff
NetworkNippon TV, Sun TV, RAB, BS NTV, MMT
FirstApril 10, 2016
LastJune 26, 2016
Episodes12

Flying Witch (ふらいんぐうぃっち, Furaingu Witchi) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Chihiro Ishizuka. It has been serialized in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine since August 2012, with its chapters collected in 14 tankōbon volumes as of June 2025. An anime television series adaptation produced by J.C.Staff aired between April and June 2016.

Plot

The story is about Makoto, a young witch from Yokohama, who moves to Hirosaki, Aomori to live with relatives as part of her training. What follows is Makoto's daily life as she gets used to her new environment. Her relatives and the new friends she makes there are introduced to the customs and peculiarities of witchcraft.

Characters

Makoto Kowata (木幡 真琴, Kowata Makoto)
A witch in training who moves to live with her relatives in Aomori. She is a polite and kind girl who gets lost easily, and is more focused on preparing potions than casting spells. She has a black cat familiar named Chito.
Chito (チト)
A 17-year-old black cat who is Makoto's familiar.
Chinatsu Kuramoto (倉本 千夏, Kuramoto Chinatsu)
Kei's little sister and Makoto's cousin. Initially wary of Makoto, whom she found strange when they first met, she quickly comes to like her after Makoto takes her flying on a broom. She is fascinated with magic and eagerly watches Makoto when she does something that involves witchcraft or something supernatural. She also enjoys sweets. She becomes Akane's apprentice to learn more about magic and to later become a witch herself. After wishing to be able to use magic, Makoto and Inukai manage to inadvertently create a ring filled with mana from a tooth from Hamabe (a sea spirit who befriended Chinatsu). The ring then bonded with Chinatsu and enabled her to use water magic.
Kei Kuramoto (倉本 圭, Kuramoto Kei)
Chinatsu's older brother and Makoto's cousin.
Keiji Kuramoto (倉本啓二, Kuramoto Keiji)
Kei and Chinatsu's father and Nana's husband. He speaks in a Tsugaru dialect. In the English dub, Keiji speaks with a country accent.
Nana Kuramoto (倉本 奈々, Kuramoto Nana)
Kei and Chinatsu's mother. She is familiar with the world of witchcraft and does not find some of the odd things that happen because of Makoto strange at all. She illustrates and writes children books professionally as her job.
Akane Kowata (木幡茜, Kowata Akane)
Makoto's older sister and a full-fledged witch. She contrasts with Makoto in both personality and appearance. While Makoto is polite and softly spoken, Akane is more brash and loud-mouthed, though still just as kind. She also has brown skin and white hair, which contrasts with Makoto's pale skin and black hair. Makoto mentions that many people say that they do not have much in common. Akane cares deeply for Makoto and takes time off from her travels all around the world to visit and check on her sister regularly. She also has a Siamese cat familiar named Kenny.
Kenny (ケニー, Kenī)
A Siamese cat who is Akane's familiar.
Nao Ishiwatari (石渡なお, Ishiwatari Nao)
Kei's friend, whose family runs a liquor store.
Inukai (犬養)
A witch from Akita who specializes in fortune-telling, and is also Akane's friend. After a night of heavy drinking, she ate some chocolates which turn people into animals, made by Akane, and became an anthropomorphic dog. As the chocolates did not work correctly she simply has the face, ears, and tail of a dog, as well as furry skin, and returns to her human form at night. She has been looking for a way to contact Akane for a year to find a cure which will return her to human form permanently. Due to her half-animal appearance, she wears a cloak that covers her face and body so that she does not draw attention. Kei admits that she is his type of girl after seeing her as a human. She has a hamster familiar named Al.
Al (アル, Aru)
A white hamster who is Inukai's familiar. It wears a small bow tie.
Anzu Shiina (椎名あんず, Shiina Anzu)
A witch who lives nearby Kei and Chinatsu's house. While soft-spoken and somewhat reserved, she's an amateur archaeologist and has a love for history. She has a brown owl familiar named Aurore.
Aurore (オロル, Ororu)
A brown owl who is Anzu Shiina's familiar.
Anzu's Mother (杏子の母)
Anzu's mother and the owner of Café Concrucio, She is also a witch.
Hina (ひな)
A female ghost who was born in 1906 Japan (Meiji Era) and now works at the Café run by Anzu's mother. She is very shy towards others as shown when Makoto, Kei and Chinatsu visit the café.
Harbinger of Spring (春の運び屋, Haru no hakobi-ya)
Veil of Darkness (夜の帳, Yoru no tobari)
Harbinger of Fall

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Chihiro Ishizuka, Flying Witch began in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine on August 9, 2012.[4] Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on December 9, 2013.[5] In 2019, Partial sales from the eighth volume were donated to Kyoto Animation after the Kyoto Animation arson attack.[6] As of June 9, 2025, fourteen volumes have been released.[7]

North American publisher Vertical announced their license to the series during their panel at Anime Central on May 22, 2016. The first volume was released in March 2017.[8][9][10]

Anime

An anime television series adaptation aired from April 10 to June 26, 2016.[11][a] The opening theme of the anime is Shanranran (シャンランラン) by miwa featuring 96 Neko (96猫),[12] while the ending theme is Everyday Magic (日常の魔法, Nichijō no mahō) by Minami Shinoda and Eri Suzuki.[13] Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series in North America and produced an English dub.[14][15] Animatsu Entertainment initially licensed the series in the United Kingdom.[16] However, the release was cancelled after the company was dissolved at the end of 2019.[17] Eventually, MVM Films acquired the series in the United Kingdom and Ireland and released it with a collector's edition on October 9, 2023.[18]

Notes

  1. ^ NTV listed the air dates for the series on Saturday at 26:25, which is effectively Sunday at 2:25 a.m. JST.[19]

References

  1. ^ "Flying Witch". Sentai Filmworks. Archived June 10, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  2. ^ Rathkolb, Gerald (October 15, 2017). "[Review] The Flying Witch—Complete Collection". Otaku USA. Archived November 10, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  3. ^ Crusch, Marley (August 17, 2021). "Anime girls can finally chill". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived August 17, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  4. ^ "ja:ゆるふわ非日常劇「ふらいんぐうぃっち」が別マガで開幕" (in Japanese). Comic Natalie. Natasha, Inc. August 9, 2012. Archived June 17, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  5. ^ "ja: ふらいんぐうぃっち（１）" [Flying Witch Volume 1] (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived June 18, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  6. ^ "Flying Witch Creator Chihiro Ishizuka Will Donate Partial Manga Sales to KyoAni". Anime News Network. July 23, 2019. Archived July 23, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  7. ^ "ja: ふらいんぐうぃっち（14）" [Flying Witch Volume 14] (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived April 19, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 24, 2025.
  8. ^ "Vertical Licenses Chihiro Ishizuka's Flying Witch Manga". Anime News Network. May 22, 2016. Archived June 27, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  9. ^ Green, Scott (May 22, 2016). "Vertical Licenses "Flying Witch" Manga". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on October 16, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  10. ^ "Flying Witch Volume 1". Vertical Comics. Archived June 23, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  11. ^ "ja:ふらいんぐうぃっち" (in Japanese). Media Arts Database. Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived September 22, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  12. ^ "Miwa Performs Flying Witch Anime's Opening Song With 96 Neko Singer". Anime News Network. February 16, 2016. Archived October 4, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  13. ^ "Flying Witch Anime's Visual, Ending Theme Song Unveiled". Anime News Network. March 7, 2016. Archived August 5, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  14. ^ "Sentai Filmworks Licenses "Flying Witch"". April 14, 2016. Archived April 15, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  15. ^ "Sentai Filmworks to Produce English Dub for Flying Witch Anime". Anime News Network. June 12, 2017. Archived June 12, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  16. ^ "Manga Entertainment/Animatsu Acquisitions". Anime News Network. October 29, 2016. Archived November 1, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  17. ^ "Animatsu Entertainment Limited". Companies House. Archived March 17, 2026 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  18. ^ Osmond, Andrew (October 8, 2023). "Flying Witch U.K. Blu-ray Released Monday". Anime News Network. Archived October 31, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
  19. ^ "ja:miwa、書き下ろし「ふらいんぐうぃっち」主題歌に96猫も" (in Japanese). Ongaku Natalie. Natasha, Inc. March 21, 2016. Archived September 23, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 22, 2021.