What I learned from watching Tite Kubo’s anime series Burn the Witch
Burn the Witch is an anime series adapted from the Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo.
The series follows female protagonists Noel and Ninny, a pair of witches who work for an agency called Wing Bind. Their core mission is to protect Londoners from dragons, which as the narrator explains are “neither mythical, nor creatures”. The action all takes place in Reverse London, which is an alternative side to the city of Front London, and the only place where inhabitants are capable of actually seeing dragons and the dangers they pose.
The 3-part series is filled with magic, action, folklore and surprisingly good humor. The characters are relatable, the universe is believable and the plot is simple enough to follow but well thought out with history and small details. In short, I loved it.
Here are 3 things I learned about witchcraft in Reverse London that will hopefully encourage you to go check it out:
#1 Dragon hunting is more than just an art, it’s a job
In Episode 1 the first thing that we learn about Noel and Ninny, is that they carry “witch kits” and call on their magic using pipes and numbers. For example, “Magic Number 4!, Magic Number 68!”. The second is that they aren’t in this out of the goodness of their hearts or to save humanity as one might expect. As Ninny so boldy states to Noel, “You’re doing this for the money, I’m doing it for the prestige … But so we don’t sound awful, we’re doing it for society.” After all, they are Wind Bind employees first and foremost. And Ninny’s blunt honesty only makes her all the more relatable to us as the audience.
#2 Like any good fantasy author, Tite Kubo has constructed a universe within Reverse London with hierarchy, rules and an order that just make plain sense
In Episode 1, as Noel and Ninny battle a headless dark dragon, they make light of the destruction it has caused, because after all there is “dragon insurance for that”. They also mention the Dragon Contact Prohibition Law, passed in 1609, that prohibits civilians from coming in contact with dragons. Punishment for violating said law is 100 years or execution. In the same episode we also meet the Crown Council, which can only be accurately described as a council of shady and scheming characters who seek to control the narrative and outcome of the events playing out in the streets. Their latest task is to eliminate (yes, murder) a Dragon Clad named Balgo Parks, who although immature and dim-witted, seemingly has powers to awaken powerful dragons. Finally, in a nod to pop culture, in Episode 2 there is a tabloid called The Realist which prints false and malicious articles to “twist things out of context.”
#3 There are different classifications of dragons and they have history
In Episode 2 and 3 we meet a new character, Macy who is in possession of a dragon named Ellie. She explains that she found and secretly raised her after bumping into Balgo randomly on the streets. When she, Ninny, Noel and Balgo are confronted by Bruno, a member of the Crown Council, Ellie the dragon makes a seemingly impossible transformation: molting in the moonlight, growing six talons and using Stealth Scale. Bruno states in fear that this is no “run of the mill dragon.” Noel agrees, calmly explaining that she is a “Märchen”, pronounced meruhyen, one of the oldest species of dragons. They are extremely rare, only having 7 known in existence, which are each named after fairytales. The characters all quickly come to realize that Ellie is actually Cinderella, a dragon of legend.