The Witch and the Beast

Episode 4

Guideau and Ashaf bow out of this week's case about three minutes into the episode. They're good at punching witches, but apparently, rogue necromancers are outside of their wheelhouse. From a storytelling perspective, this is a pretty wild swerve for the fourth episode. We barely know our protagonists, and now we're following two strange specialists from the Order of Magical Resonance? That caught me off guard. However, it's surprising how well the episode pulled off this switcheroo. By diverting us towards Phanora and Johan, The Witch and the Beast shows us a different side of magical crime and paints a fuller, more compelling portrait of how its society copes with sorcery gone wild.

The episodic format helps this series change tracks so early on. The sudden proliferation of unruly undead has nothing to do with the prior two cases, which had nothing to do with each other, so we're primed to meet a new cast of characters in this arc. It also helps that Phanora and Johan are likable and distinct from Ashaf and Guideau. Each pair has a different brand of playful chemistry, with Phanora and Johan's being more relaxed and comfortable. I love how much of an angry asshole Guideau is, of course, but it's not a bad idea to temper the narrative with mages who, while eccentric, have mutual professionalism and composure. Saori Hayami in particular does a wonderful job balancing Phanora's iciness with her innate weirdness as a more advanced mortician.

I love how The Witch and the Beast approaches necromancy as a primarily bureaucratic issue. The intro's narration and Phanora's explanations take great pains detailing the permissions, information, familial consent, and routine maintenance that are required for each act of resurrection. It's a smart way to look at how an advanced society would come to manage powerful magic that goes against God and nature, and it's fun to think about the past issues and abuses that would have led to all this regulation. Johan also informs us that necromancy is illegal in most other provinces, which is a short line of dialogue with a litany of interesting implications. It's irrelevant to the case at hand because they're dealing with an underground necromancer anyway, but it's the kind of detail that makes this world feel more tangible.

For instance, I'd love to know how (or if) the Order of Magical Resonance deals with different and potentially contradictory magic laws across its jurisdiction. Does it have a legal department that handles these issues? Does legal necromancy require input from necro-actuaries? Is resurrection covered by health insurance, or do you have to pay out-of-pocket? Is there undeath insurance? To be clear, I do not expect nor need The Witch and the Beast to answer these questions. The point is that it makes me think about necromancy in a new and orthogonal way, and I like a story that massages my imagination.

The storyboarding is also stronger this week. While it's nothing ostentatious, there are nice layouts, thoughtful arrangements of characters within the frame, and dynamic angles that exaggerate a scene's intensity where doing so makes sense. I've accepted that The Witch and the Beast is never going to live up to the creative paneling and baroque monochrome of the manga, so I'm going to appreciate the small fonts of added artistry that we do get. Shinji Itadaki does solid work here that, in the context of the adaptation so far, becomes exemplary work. The storyboard's strengths trickle down into the rest of the presentation, too. Better layouts breathe more life into the limited action, and they even create more opportunities for humor. I had a good laugh at Phanora and Jeff calmly breaking down the case while Johan fought for his life against a horde of zombies in the foreground and background.

At this point, the weakest part of this arc is its story. It's not bad; it's just unremarkable. Most prominently, the case is lacking the tastelessly edgy gore that enamored me to this series in the first place. Hopefully, it's conserving its blood and entrails for next week. Jeff is also a far more boring supporting cop than Kiera was, and the dead girlfriend in his backstory doesn't add much, despite the appearance of her reanimated corpse in the cliffhanger. It's difficult to feel too concerned about the well-being of any of these people because I can all but guarantee that Johan is already Phanora's undead familiar, which will play into how they outsmart the bad necromancer next week.

As I always say, though, the plot is the least important factor of any given anime, and The Witch and the Beast has other surprises and strengths working in its favor right now. I was ready to dismiss this whole affair due to the absence of Guideau, yet it fought against the tide and won me over. Bravo! I'll still be expecting extra Guideau scowls and snarls in the future to make up for their lost screen time.

Rating:

The Witch and the Beast is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is on Twitter while it lasts. He can be your witch or your beast. Or none of the above if that's cool. You can also catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.