Hey Ghibli fans out there. Have you ever asked yourself: What would Kikis Delivery Service be like if it were a TV show instead of a movie? I think I found the answer to that question. Take Kikis Delivery Service remove all of the more overt fantasy elements change the setting to modern Japan make Kiki into a teenager and have the whole thing still be sweet wholesome and plain nice. I present to you Flying Witch a short anime based on the manga by Chihiro Ishizuka the latter of which is still running to this day. I didnt watch this when it first came out as I was very deep into my anime burnout phase and I couldnt muster up any motivation to watch anything. But seeing as Ive finally clawed myself out of it I decided to give it a try as some bloggers I follow said it was a great show. I finished it and I can wholeheartedly agree that it really is a sweet treat to watch. The story centers on a young woman Makoto Kowata a witch in training who alongside her cat familiar Chito is sent to live with her relatives in the countryside town of Aomori. She just turned 15 and in her world when a witch turns 15 she is made to leave home to become more independent and spend her time studying witchcraft. She is taken in by her cousins the Kuramoto family namely her cousin Kei and his younger sister Chinatsu. Every day is full of fun surprises from her encounters with an anthropomorphic dog fortune teller desperate to become human again to all the peculiar magic training she gets from her older sister Akane. For those of you wondering Flying Witch doesnt have much of a plot as the show is very firmly rooted in the sliceoflife genre so you wont find any overt action drama complexity nor conflict here. Every episode focuses on much more mundane things such as the characters going herb picking in the forest finding fabric to make witch robes with or riding on top of a floating whale. So if youre the type of person who prefers blood pumping action this isnt the show for you. But what the show lacks in conflict it makes up for in a lot of ways. For one the whole tone of the show is very laidback and downtoearth with very little in the way of exaggerated expressions or movements or zany comedy. Events and character interactions play out slowly and organically like how real people would interact in real life. The pacing is deliberately slow making you really feel like youre in a quiet countryside town where time seems to move at a more languid pace and considering the tone the show is going for it suits the feel of the show perfectly. Nothing is ever rushed or resolved too quickly and while this may be a point of contention for those who prefer anime that have a faster pace Flying Witch knows its sole focus is showing the characters in their daily lives and enjoying the things they do and the environment around them. The animation is fairly good with the characters having realistic character designs With some exceptions but even those are relatively muted compared to other anime detailed backgrounds and any exaggerated expressions being much more subdued than in most anime. But it also has a lot of understated details that really sell the shows setting like how Makoto puts her broom in a parking space for bikes or how Inukais hamster familiar shivers whenever Chito is nearby. The music is fairly nice as well with a variety of instruments that fit the feel of a scene when needed. But I didnt like how everyone was highlighted green in the opening theme and I thought the opening song was kind of obnoxious. You cant have a good story or setting if you dont have equally good characters to back it up and for a show like this the characters can either make it or break it depending on the execution. Thankfully Flying Witchs characters avoid a lot of the common pitfalls that give the sliceoflife genre a bad name. All of the characters personalities and quirks are realistic down to earth and they behave like real people would with no exaggerated or forced personality traits or archetypes oh so common in most anime and the chemistry between all of them is also very well done. The show is filled with sweet moments between various characters that just make you smile like how Kei and Chinatsu interact seeing how different Makoto and Akane are as siblings Yes the silver haired tan skinned woman is related to a pale skinned black haired high school student. Dont ask because I dont know either Naos interactions with Chito and Anzu My favorite character gushing about anthropology with Kenny a Siameseish magic cat whos said to be an anthropology scholar in his world. All throughout the series we constantly learn new things about them and the things we do learn about them never feel like the creators pulled them out of their butts nor do these new traits contradict anything we learned about them before Looking at you Ni no Kuni movie. Having good characters and equally good chemistry between them makes the show very rewarding to watch even if theyre not the most complex. Really most sliceoflife shows could really benefit from learning a thing or two from Flying Witch when it comes to characterization and character writing. Even the voice acting feels genuine though I wont lie Chinatsus Japanese voice can get really grating and shrill at times to the point of sounding a bit forced. So if you want to kick back relax and watch a sliceoflife anime thats full of heart but not forced or obnoxious as most other sliceoflife anime then let Flying Witch take you for a low key ride. Its a great remedy for when youre having a bad day.