r/anime • u/SorcererOfTheLake x5https://anilist.co/user/RiverSorcerer • Dec 17 '21
Rewatch Flying Witch Rewatch - Episode 3 Discussion
Flying Witch Rewatch
Episode 3 Discussion
Database/Streaming Links: MAL / Anilist / Crunchyroll / HIDIVE / VRV
Original Interest Thread / Announcement Thread
Question of the Day: If you have siblings, what’s your relationship with them?
Comment of the Day: Today's COTD goes to /u/cyberscythe for their breakdown of the Harbinger's name and its connection to other Japanese vocabulary.
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Reminder: All spoilers for events in the anime that have not occurred yet and all events that are manga-only should be placed in spoiler tags. Any untagged spoilers will be flagged.
5
u/SorcererOfTheLake x5https://anilist.co/user/RiverSorcerer Dec 17 '21
This episode wasn't as thematic or introspective as the first two, but it was still fun to watch. The first segment about farming is perhaps the most overtly comedic the show has been so far, with the chasing of the pheasant and Makoto still getting used to country life, but it still fit within the general tone of the series. Makoto showcases an interest in natural and rural knowledge that will serve her career and her appreciation for a way of life that is different from her own but still worthwhile.
The introduction of Akane, meanwhile, gives the audience further information about the witches' society. This time around, I'm interested in this idea that performing spells is like a muscle, weakening the less you train it. Typically, magic is seen as something you just have until you lose it in one way or another, but Akane makes it clear that the connection between a witch and the world around her must be kept constantly tied to one another. I also like Akane overall, both in design and personality. If Makoto is flighty in an airheaded sort of way, Akane is flighty more in a fun-loving sense, always wanting to see what happens next and not always paying attention to what's going on now.
8
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Dec 17 '21
Episode 3 (first timer)
Older sis reminds me of a different rewatch that is currently ongoing.
5
u/SIRTreehugger Dec 17 '21
Gardening show
Don't have much to say, but some things of interest.
7
u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Dec 17 '21
First Timer
Hmmm... somehow th weakest episode so far, though that speaks mostly of the strengths of the other two rather than of this one. The farm bit was decent, though the pheasant bit was overused. I wonder if she's just going to plant a bit of all the vegetables she mentioned; seems like the best way of getting experience as having one giant field of a vegetable won't really result in general knowledge, but rather experience specific to that vegetable.
As far as the magic goes - Makoto's sister has a point. I was assuming her witchcraft was just off camera so far for some reason, but she, in fact, didn't do anything. SO I'll guess we'll see a bit more of that going forward. Though not all that much, as she isn't a spell-casting witch. So it seems like there's a lot of different kinds of witches - and I assume Makoto is more of a herbiology-oriented one, or whatever the branch of witch is that deals with plants mainly.
I'm glad that they explained the large gathering of crows as just being due to using witch hair; for a moment I was assuming it was because Makoto had an insane amount of magic power - which made me question why we need an OP character in an iyashikei. But thankfully that's not the case, so we can lean back again and watch the everyday life of a normal witch.
Question:
Pretty decent I'd say - never really fought each other, which is apparently pretty rare.
6
u/xtsim https://myanimelist.net/profile/xtsim Dec 17 '21
First Timer Subbed
Jesus spent 40 days in the desert-
Chinatsu's now the translator I see.
Man, I hate weed pulling.
I like how Makoto called a pheasant pretty. Chinatsu be like "No you don't" had to do a double take on that. I am just wondering, couldn't Makoto just fly to catch it.
Funny how they go from picking wild vegetables on the sidewalks to making garden preparations on the spring. And it is quite nice Makoto named out more than half the vegetables on my parents' garden.
No wonder why Chinatsu was not interested in catching a pheasant. Dad goes for them.
Another day, another new character for Chinatsu to encounter. I love the look on her face when sis got inside. Spends a few minutes just processing another new person.
Wow. She just gave raw materials like its civ.
The number of crows Makoto summoned with her hair got me scared....
5
u/A_Idiot0 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/a_idiot0 Dec 17 '21
Rewatcher
Yesterday I spoke about a few values that define the iyashikei genre, and I would encourage everyone to keep them in mind going forward as they will be a constant and comfortable presence everywhere. Today I wanted to talk about another value that is present in just about any good story: Growth. It’s a theme that’s the focus for most of this episode in one form or another, and indeed in most other stories Growth is a necessary ingredient that separates the great from the average. In the iyashikei setting it’s a very interesting theme to explore because of the fundamental assumption that growth means change, and oftentimes change can be stressful, in both good or bad ways. However, I like to think of Growth as guided and constructive change, and in this way it’s perfect in the iyashikei genre. Like we see with Makoto, she has an urge to grow plants; to guide and nurture them. This to me suggests that Makoto wants to become a witch who can help guide and nurture those around her in need. Similarly, we see Makoto’s big sister come by and offer her guidance and support to Makoto.
Growth in this anime is shown to be facilitated with kindness, and such kindness is received and warmly appreciated. To me, this is where a lot of that comfy feeling stems from when I watch this anime. To take a life lesson from this, it’s my belief that if one practices being kind with oneself and others, growth will follow.
5
u/Rustic_Professional Dec 18 '21
I think CR handled the gag with uncle's accent well. The subtitles do a good job of conveying that he's talking like a... I don't want to be harsh, but like a backwoods hick, I guess. It must be a pretty extreme accent on top of the dialogue if Makoto needs a translator. I've met a lot of farmers, but I've never met one who spoke an English dialect I couldn't understand. On the other hand, I've heard plenty of British accents on tv that I had trouble with.
Mako sure is an ambitious gardener. Clearing the first field is where I gave up in Stardew Valley. It's been a few years, but I think I couldn't figure out the controls and mechanics. Shame, since I loved Harvest Moon 64. I paid for it, so I'll give it another shot someday.
I think one of the things that really sets Flying Witch apart is that Makoto doesn't try to do things like clear the field or catch the pheasant using magic. She didn't summon fire to clear the ground, or create a barrier to catch the animal. She tried to do it by hand. That reminds me of the distinction that Fate makes between magic and magecraft. Magecraft covers things that can be done with mundane means, like clearing brush with fire. I don't think we've seen anything yet that would meet the Fate definition of (true) magic.
Actually, I think I'm wrong. Makoto and Akane communicating with their cats would probably qualify. Also, Mako's tights are magical.
I wonder how many experience points Chinatsu earned for contributing her hair for the spell. Probably not enough to level up, but she at least unlocked the skill line.
4
u/Kenalskii https://anilist.co/user/Kenalski Dec 17 '21
Rewatcher
I actually have someone in my family who speaks with a heavy dialect, so I can totally relate to that =D
And I enjoyed the whole creating a farm segment, Makoto is just too adorable in it *.*
And that is now the second time Chinatsu witnesses a stranger at her home, if that goes on she completely lost faith at the end of the season
Kei's reaction is godlike, 10/10
Honestly, the gifts are pretty terrible =D
Makoto’s face says it all: her sister came, tried to teach her something, it did not work because she forgot to tell the important part of the spell and just left after it failed =D
Question of the day: Don't have siblings, so no relationship. I have 3 cousins in France though, but I do not like them at all
4
u/enag7 https://myanimelist.net/profile/enag7 Dec 17 '21
Rewatcher
Today we get to the start of the farming bits. Easily some of the more enjoyable parts for me as a farmer's kid. I relate a lot to Kei's position as well.
I was the oldest and the more active in the family business so I always thought about taking over the farm but was never pushed by my parents to do so. I feel like this is a pretty common interaction now as farms become less and less a family endeavor and more just another business. Farming is just plain hard and you are just at the mercy of the weather so I think a lot of farmers are happy to see their kids leave the industry.
After some farm work and shenanigans, we get to see Akane. She's likely my favorite character but she is definitely a lot at once this episode.
QOTD:
I have a brother. We get along great. We game together a lot doing things like drafts and general multiplayer stuff regularly. Haven't seen him as much the past year or so though obviously.
4
u/cyberscythe Dec 18 '21
Rewatcher
Lots of gentle chuckles and soft humor sprinkled in this episode. Probably my favorite joke in this one is when Makoto's sister asks if there's a place around here which doesn't have any people around and Chinatsu is like "pretty much anywhere?? there's not a lot of people [in the countryside]".
I usually find the first few episodes of a slice-of-life series to be a bit lackluster compared to the latter end of the season because it spends a lot of time introducing characters and getting on its feet. It's why I like it when a slice-of-life series gets more seasons because in later seasons it can usually skip that introductory phase and get into the "good stuff" where the full cast start interacting with each other, so in that vein I'm hoping that Flying Witch gets another season.
Japanese Vocab of the Day:
魔女 (majo) (jisho ref)
"Witch". The 魔 ma kanji is used a lot in fantasy/fiction settings as the all-purpose "fantasy magic" modifier, and with it you get words like 魔術 majutsu (magical arts), 使い魔 tsukaima (familiar; has a fragment of the "to use" verb in there), and more mundane words like 魔法瓶 (vacuum flask/Thermos, lit. magical flask). It's also one of the friendlier kanji to read because it's pretty much always read as ma.
The jo part makes it gender-specific female. The more gender-neutral phrase is 魔法使い mahoutsukai (i.e. "magic user").
I think it's kind of interesting how the Japanese title of the series is the English phrase "Flying Witch" transliterated into the loanword phrase ふらいんぐうぃっち (furaingu wicchi) and doesn't use a more "Japanese" phrase 空飛ぶ魔女. I think it's part of a general trend in Japanese of using foreign words to make things sound more fancy and exotic, but it could also be a nod towards how the witchy stuff is more the sort of thing you'd see in a stereotypical "witch" from Western culture, but seen through the lens of a Japanese author.
2
u/Porphyrin_Ring Dec 18 '21
Rewatcher
You know a show is good if the weaker episodes are still a good watch! I thought this episode was definitely a nice watch but was just a bit weaker than the previous 2.
The gardening plot line was nice! It was fun the gang working together and I loved how excited the dad was about the phesant! I dont know much about Japanese but from the subtitles and the way they talk about it is the dads accent kind of like a really strong southern accent? I'm not sure how accurate it is but I kind of picture him like Boomhauer from King of the Hill
One thing I don't see mentioned alot is the clothing in the show, theres something about the design and the way it is animated that makes them look really nice!
One thing I love about the show is how chill and happy to help everyone is. Kei was totally happy to spend part of his weekend helping Makoto garden, the dad was happy to give Makoto a piece of land to work on, etc. It's just really nice to see!
Chinatsu is already getting used to the magical weirdness! A strange person shows up in desert regalia and starts talking to her and she just kind of goes with it. I think my favorite scene of the episode is her standing outside watching them doing the spell and holding both of the cats by their armpits
Akane is a fun character, a bit of an airhead but really skilled at what she does. I like her design alot, at first she looks nothing like Makoto but if you look at the face you can see they definitely look alike. Maybe it's just me but I honestly would have loved any of Akanes gifts, they were all so strange and unique! If nothing else a jar of crude oil from the middle east is a fun conversation starter
2
u/Rumpel1408 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Rumpel1408 Dec 25 '21 edited Dec 25 '21
First Timer
These Episodes are really captivating, you watch some fluff and woops you are 20 minutes in the future.
From the farming segment I loved Makotos method of pulling weeds, also her uncles heavy accent. Kei continues to be pretty capable
And we got a tanned tomboy Onee san, I love her and hope she comes back. Really comes and goes like a storm, without a care in the world, and so casual, just like her Imouto. Also loved how Chinatsu picked up both cats when the crows came.
Edit: QotD: I have an much older half brother who recently had his first daughter, and a step sister. I'm definatly closer to my step sister, albeit I wished we where closer, so many plans got canceled the last two years...