Witchcraft Works (Japanese: ウィッチクラフトワークス, Hepburn: Witchikurafuto Wākusu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ryū Mizunagi. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Good! Afternoon from March 2010 to February 2022, with its chapters collected into seventeen tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation by J.C.Staff aired from January to March 2014.
Contents
Plot
Honoka Takamiya is a high school student living a normal life, which is frequently disrupted by his unavoidable association with Ayaka Kagari, the school's renowned idol. Their shared classroom seating and cleaning responsibilities often lead to minor interactions, for which Honoka faces retribution from her dedicated fan club. This pattern is broken when a supernatural event occurs: a school building is launched through the air toward Honoka. His rescue is effected by a Witch, a magical figure who repels the attack. This Witch subsequently identifies herself as Ayaka, explaining that her prior distant demeanor was a deliberate disguise for her true role as his perpetual guardian against hidden threats.
Characters
Main characters
Honoka Takamiya (多華宮 仄, Takamiya Honoka)
Voiced by: Yūsuke Kobayashi
Honoka is a high school student who initially questions the frequent coincidences in his life. He is targeted by a group known as the Tower Witches until his classmate, Ayaka, reveals herself as a Workshop Witch tasked with his protection. A mysterious, powerful entity called Evermillion, or the White Princess, resides within Honoka, making him a target. He becomes Ayaka's apprentice to aid her, though she forbids him from using the entity's power directly due to a dangerous "payment" it demands. Their fates are intrinsically linked; Ayaka can channel this power, but any physical injury Honoka sustains is transferred to her. This bond stems from a past incident where Honoka saved Ayaka's life by making a deal with the White Princess, an act that connected their lives and resulted in their memories being erased for protection.
Ayaka Kagari (火々里 綾火, Kagari Ayaka)
Voiced by: Asami Seto
Ayaka is a statuesque and intellectually gifted student, recognized as the official "Princess" of the school. Publicly stoic and socially detached, she is secretly a "Fire Witch" (炎の魔女) capable of manipulating flames. A powerful spell connects her to her classmate, Honoka; this bond grants her near-invulnerability and immense power so long as he is near, though any physical damage he sustains is instantly transferred to her. Her mission is to protect Honoka from hostile forces, a duty she extends to shielding him from any form of harassment. She was originally the host for the entity Evermillion until Honoka intervened, transferring the being into himself to save her life, an act that forged their profound connection and erased their memories of the event.
Workshop Witches
Kasumi Takamiya (多華宮 霞, Takamiya Kasumi)
Voiced by: Ai Kayano
Kasumi is Honoka's younger sister and a Workshop Witch with a profound brother complex, frequently seeking his physical affection despite their ages. She possesses a teddy bear familiar that transforms into a powerful combat mech named "Maka-ron" (摩訶ロン). Tasked with protecting Honoka, she is a capable hand-to-hand fighter but requires a bear-shaped medium gifted by her brother to access her full magical potential. She is intensely jealous of Ayaka's relationship with Honoka and often clashes with her, particularly upon finding them in compromising situations.
Kazane Kagari (火々里 かざね, Kagari Kazane)
Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara
Kazane is the long-lived chairwoman of Tōgetsu High School and head of the city's Workshop Witches, a powerful figure known by fearsome monikers such as "Bad End". She is temperamental and prefers resolving conflicts through overwhelming force. Her magic passively safeguards civilians from collateral damage during supernatural conflicts. A longtime associate of Honoka's family, she saved his mother's life years ago, resulting in Honoka inheriting her magical bloodline and becoming her student. To protect Honoka and her adopted daughter, Ayaka, she later captured the witch Kayou Kagari and took control of the Kagari family.
Kyōichirō Mikage (深影 恭一郎, Mikage Kyōichirō)
Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu
A chemistry teacher at Honoka's high school who helps manage the memories of the non-witch population whenever parts of the city get destroyed by magic. He also recruits witches throughout the city for the Workshop. Mikage has his own plans for Honoka and his "white stuff", but his true motives are unknown.
Touko Hio (氷尾 凍子, Hio Tōko)
Voiced by: Kana Asumi
Tower Witches
Tanpopo Kuraishi (倉石 たんぽぽ, Kuraishi Tanpopo)
Voiced by: Shiori Izawa
Sakuya is a Tower Witch and a "Shikigami User" (式神使い, Shikigami Tsukai) who commands an army of paper rabbits that can be transformed into mechanized soldiers. She acts as the unofficial leader of the "Ivory Quintet", a group of witches who transfer to Tōgetsu High School with the mission to capture Honoka.
Kanna Utsugi (宇津木 環那, Utsugi Kanna)
Voiced by: Shiina Natsukawa
She is a member of Ivory Quintet; in spite of her natural mad-looking face, she actually has normal emotions. Her power is to summon and use demons by the book called "Black Vice" (ブラックヴァイス, Burakku Vaisu) that she carries on her back, though this power is rarely shown.
Rin Kazari (飾 鈴, Kazari Rin)
Voiced by: Momo Asakura
A soft-voiced member of Ivory Quintet, who wields a scythe. She has a power called "Bone Animator" (骨使い（ボーンアニメーター）, Bon Animeta; lit. 'Bone User'), which can only be used to revive dead skeletons of any size and use them as her weapons.
Kotetsu Katsura (桂 虎鉄, Katsura Kotetsu)
Voiced by: Natsumi Hioka
A member of the Ivory Quintet and Tōgetsu High School's Kendo club. Her given name is based on a same-named Japanese sword that she wields.
Mei Menowa (目野輪 冥, Menowa Mei)
Voiced by: Yuko Iida
One of the Tower Witches that form the Ivory Quintet. She has the ability to pass through walls and create a defensive barrier. She wears a complete wolf pelt called "Coast Fenrir", a sort of baby wolf formed from the feather of a fallen angel that functions as both extra appendage and semi-sentient weapon.
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Ryū Mizunagi, Witchcraft Works was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Good! Afternoon from March 5, 2010, to February 7, 2022. Kodansha collected its chapters in seventeen tankōbon volumes, released from November 5, 2010, to March 7, 2022.
The manga is licensed in North America for English language publication by Vertical. The first volume was released on October 21, 2014.
Following the series' conclusion, an "extra" serialization spin-off started on Good! Afternoon on March 7, 2022. Five volumes have been released as of August 6, 2026.
Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced in November 2012. It was animated by J.C.Staff and written and directed by Tsutomu Mizushima. The series' first episode was screened at Tokyo's Cinemart Shinjuku theater on December 29, 2013, streamed to 2000 people on December 30, 2013, by Bandai Channel and aired for twelve episodes between January 5 and March 23, 2014, on Tokyo MX. Additionally the anime was aired on TVA, AT-X, BS11, and ABC and was streamed with English subtitles by Crunchyroll. The series' music is composed by Technoboys Pulcraft Green-Fund. The opening theme song is "divine intervention" by Fhána and the ending is "Witch☆Activity" (ウィッチ☆アクティビティ) by KMM Gang consisting Izawa, Natsukawa, Asakura, Hioka, and Iida.
Reception
The fourth volume of the manga series ranked #25 in the Oricon charts in November 2012 with a total of 27,389 copies sold in under a week. The fifth volume ranked #28 in the Oricon charts in May 2013 with a total of 31,678 copies sold in under a week. The sixth volume ranked #29 in the Oricon charts in November 2013 with a total of 27,573 copies sold in under a week.