Burn The Witch began as a one-shot back in 2018, before it received a single-volume manga run through 2020, containing all four chapters and the original one-shot. In March 2020, before the manga’s release, an animated film produced by Studio Colorido was released in Japan and on Crunchyroll in the west, serving as an introduction to the story. At the end of the four-chapter run on Shonen Jump in 2020, there was an announcement of a “season 2” in the works, but besides the release of the full volume, there’s been no follow-up on the sequel. It’s possible that with the forthcoming animated adaptation of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc of Bleach, Burn The Witch is taking a backseat.
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What is Burn The Witch?
Burn The Witch tells the story of the western branch of the Soul Society, the secret world that exists on the flip side of our reality. The spinoff follows Ninny Spangcole and Noel Niihashi, two witches working for Wing Bind, who operate out of “Reverse London” and deal with the dangerous dragons that roam.
The world is mechanically similar to Bleach, but carries an expectedly western aesthetic in contrast, a touch that fills the established world with even more character. Over the course of the first volume, Ninny and Noel contend with dragons, near-catastrophic events, and Wing Bind’s inner politics, all while sorting out their priorities, with Ninny being in it for glory and Noel being in it for money.
How Was The Series Received?
The anime and the manga have been received fairly well, the former holding a 7.12 on MyAnimeList, but the manga faring less well at a 6.89. While the story has cool ideas and no shortage of great imagery to sell it, there is clearly a lot to tell and Kubo’s storytelling isn’t always adept at fleshing out these concepts.
With a reputation like Bleach’s, there’s a temptation to try and create a new story that matches the coolness of that established story. But like with many shonen, there needs to be time to build up to those larger and cooler moments that cement these stories as the heavy-hitters that they are. Black Clover, for as well-received as it is now, was highly criticized at the beginning.
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Burn The Witch looks as good as anything else Tite Kubo has drawn and animates even better thanks to director Tatsurou Kawano and the team at Colorido, but perhaps for some, it leaves a bit to be desired. Then again, to the series credit, not much of the story has been told at all. Hence, the question: where is Burn The Witch?
When/How Will It Continue?
There were reports of a recent email to a fan club from Kubo regarding updates to come in 2022, but such claims couldn’t be corroborated at this time. If there was to be news, however, it’s likely that announcements could be made at Anime Expo or other conventions Viz Media will be attending. As it is right now, a lot of hype in the fandom is reserved for the final arc of the Bleach anime slated for the Fall.
When Burn The Witch does return, it remains to be seen how it will be released. Since the first volume debuted first as a film, one might speculate another film followed by another volume, a unique way of releasing the story from a mangaka. Alternatively, the manga could simply begin serialization with a longer run with a TV anime to follow later.
It isn’t unheard of for certain anime to serve as hype machines for further expansion in another medium, be it manga, a novel, or even a mobile game. If the movie was the treat to get fans interested, a full manga series would surely be the main course. Should the anime continue, it’s uncertain whether Colorido would return to animate it.
Burn The Witch, Volume 1, is available through Viz Media. The anime is available through Crunchyroll in North America.
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