Journal with Witch Episode 12-13 Reaction! | 違国日記

Absolute cinema

Just glad that the reaction is here!

I don't think the material they cut would have made much of an impact on the anime.

18:32 I love this montage into the metaphorical desert, especially since it incorporates many lines from earlier in the show. It really ties everything together.

16:00 no one gonna address the fact makio is eating a cabbage sandwich with mustard and ketchup? at first i thought she put the sausages on there but then we see her eating them by them selves

The synopsis of the show states that Makio is a Josei Light Novel writer. So it may seem funny, but that cover of the books she were signing is exactly the type of genre she rights 😂. But note that sometimes light novels with covers like that can be deceiving, and some of them get borderline Berserk level dark. Especially if they deal with real issues. The author of the manga this show is based on has another manga with a cover image like that, but the girl in the cover is segsually molested by her own father and treated like a sl*t by her own classmates. Jousei is not to be trifled with, it's the female equivalent of Seinen after all.

22:06 There have been quite a few dog analogies in the series, with Asa being described as a puppy/Shiba Inu, Makio as a (lone) wolf, and Kasamachi as a Bernese Mountain dog.

I think it is beautifully poetic that Asa handled her grief by cherishing her late parents’ memories, especially since she made this choice herself and got to sing while celebrating the lives they lived, which really brought her arc to a perfect close.

MANGA SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO DON'T HAVE TIME TO OR DON'T WANT TO READ THE REST OF THE STORY

Event's that happen in chapter 36-54 after the concert:

Emiri arc:
-Asa finds out Emiri and Makio regularly exchange messages and Emiri panics, because she told Makio a bunch of sensitive and private information that she's afraid to tell Asa
-Makio said Emiri has the right to keep secrets from whomever she chooses, even if it's Asa
-Emiri finally decides to tell Asa she likes girls and has a gf
-Asa accepts it in her usualy goofy way, but learned she was hurting Emiri's feelings by always asking about her dating life and asking boys around if they liked Emiri and joking about liking girls.
-Asa and Emiri grow closer again
-Later on Asa even meets and studies together with Emiri's gf and they become buddies
-One time while Emiri left Asa and her GF (Shouko) alone at the table, Shouko seems worried and asked how Asa was doing, because she heard from Emiri how Asa is always saying she feels alone. She and Shouko have a conversation about how loneliness looks like to them and grow slightly closer.
-From this talk we see the usual metaphor of Asa lost in the desert, but this time the desert leads to a beach, and Asa sees Emiri standing there waiting for her. (This scene is included in the ED)
-Asa realizes Emiri was always there waiting for her from the start
-Asa regularly hangs out and sleeps over at Emiri's house
-As you see, they remain friends for over a decade into their adulthood.
-A seperate short panel also shows that Emiri and Shouko remain lovers way into adulthood
-Emiri never tells her parents that she likes girls during their teenage years out of fear that they won't accept her, and we never learn if she ever does.

Asa's dad arc:
-A while after the concert, Asa starts feeling imposter syndrome and depression creeps in
-Starts wondering what type of person her dad was and if he even loved her at all.
-She remembers how her dad didn't even hold her hand.
-Goes around goofily asking classmates and Makios friends what type of person their dads were
-Aspects of this arc were moved forward into the anime
-It never gets resolved because there's no one right answer to what a dad is, and Asa's dad is not around anymore to answer her
-Asa accepts that she will never have her answer and that she has to live with that.
In the final chapter when Asa meers the lawyer while walking home, the lawyer asks how she's doing and offers to walk her home.
-She sees a fatherly figure in him and is reminded of her dad, but ultimately refuses, saying if she needs to talk with him she'll find him, but that she's fine for now.

Kanna (red haired girl arc):
-Intertwined with the imposter syndrome aspect of Asa's feelings
-Third year of highschool
-Everyone is talking about what they wanna do after school, and "blooming" into their ideal self
-Asa feels self concious, she liked music as a club thing but doesn't feel like doing it for a career
-Talks with a bunch of friends and has various insights
-Her friends start think she's meek and reserved
-Accidentally lets slip while talking to Kanna that she thinks of herself as worth nothing because she has nothing going on for herself (aspects of this arc were also moved forward in the anime)
-Kanna is shocked at this and tells Asa she is not worthless and not mundane.
-Asa wonders if it's because she has no parents.
-Kanna then gives one of the best pep talks in manga history to Asa saying that she's not worth nothing, and it has nothing to do with her personality or look, or what her talents are or if she has dead parents, and tells her to not think of herself like that. Asa teared up a little at that.
-A teacher overhears this and thinks someone is fighting, he then chimes in and talks about the universal declaration of human rights (this was moved forward into episode 13 with the teacher talking about Emmanuel Kant)
-The teacher says that everybody is born having worth

Makio arc:
-As asa grows older and reaches nearer graduation, her self esteem gets worse
-She starts worrying she'll lose the "right" to stay at Makio's place once she's an adult
-Part of this is Makio's fault because she's always so standoffish and avoidant, because she's afraid she'll influence Asa negatively and also she doesn't want to get attached to Asa
-The first scene in the anime where Asa takes a picture of Makio and reminisces about the city lights coming from the window in a dark room with Makio typing are from this arc.
-Makio unconsciously feels conflicted about her relationship with Asa and how it'll go after she becomes an adult.
-One day Asa comes home to Makio talking with the lawyer on the phone, but finds a file on the table, Makio had filed life insurance on herself with Asa being the benificiary.
-Asa freaks out about this since the thought of Makio dying gave her PTSD about her parents death.
-Makio feels bad about this not realising how it would make Asa feel.
-Later on when Asa is in Emiris room, she asks if she overreacted and is too childish.
-Emiri said it's fine for Asa to be childish sometimes, Asa asked her if this was because her parents are gone.
-Emiri gently but confidently replies with yes. They then start goofing around like always.
-This arc also intertwined with Asa's self esteem issues, with her switching her internal metaphor to a "flimsy boat drifting aimlessly in the ocean"
-This conflicting awkwardness between them goes back forth for a while, Asa feels like she isn't loved. Makio doesn't know how to feel about Asa growing up.
-One day before graduation, Nabe visits Makio and they are drinking while Makio talks about all sorts of feelings shes having right now. How some words aren't enough to convey emotions.
-They get drunk and Makio talks to her about Asa, she feels worried and admits she wants Asa to stay or at least visit her even after she becomes an adult.
-Asa comes home and sees Makio crying.
-Makio tells Asa she can stay at her house however long she wants, or can come visit whenever she wants, but if she wants to leave and hate her and never see her again, that's fine too.
-Asa gets angry at Makio and says she's overcomplicating things again,and jumps into Makios lap angrily, saying she can't she just admit that she loves her.
-Makio says that those words aren't enough to describe the feelings she has for Asa
-On the day of Asa's graduation, she and Emiri are riding the train together with Emiri's mom and Makio
-They read Makios latest blog post and find she has written a poem titled 'To Daybreak' (To Asa)
-Makio wrote a long and beautiful poem describing how one day, "Daybreak" will build a sturdy boat stronger than hers, that departs from a port, and that the nails and croocked boards and frayed sails are a proof that it was built together. The she [Makio] will push this boat from the harbor and stay behind, that she'll become the anchor and the bow and doesn't mind if she's forgotten. But hopes that the boat will sometimes stop by the port, on ocassion. That the boat will see a new beautiful dawn.
-The boat symbolism is included in the OP and ED.
-The manga ends with Asa and Emiri in a cafe 10 years later, and Emiri brings up the time Asa sang at school, making Asa embarrased.
-Asa remembers the journal she wrote back then, then pulls a notepad and writes a new line
-"That day, with eyes like a wolf, she saved me from a life of loneliness".
-The manga ends here

(Some of these events happen at the same time or back to back, but I've separated them here for ease of reading. In the end Makio never does end up getting sad or learning what her sister thought about her from the Journal left to Asa (even when Asa offered to tell her what her mom wrote about Makio) or forgiving her sister, but like ep 13 she does respect her as a mother and how she raised Asa, and it leaves Makio's feelings for her sister open ended and complicated like real life.)

Ahh man, I’m like actually super upset about some of the stuff they cut out. Especially the last chapter because it really showed how badly Makio wanted to love Asa, and how much Asa wanted to be loved. It was also just super emotional and I was ready to cry lol.

Thought this was a beautiful and amazing series, with tremendous writing and character subtlety. Really moved me and got my tears going a lot too, sometimes at unexpected moments. Loved the real feeling of everyone and their relationships. Even the ones we don't get to follow up on and learn more about, everyone feels very real in their respective way. And that there's ones we only see glimpses of to me makes it feel even more real (since we don't know everyone else's stories).

that was something to watch this show, thx for covering it, it deserves all the attention it can gets, and yeah anime of the season

This anime places a strong emphasis on realism, which really makes the audience think deeply. So, I believe your reaction—not shedding tears at the end but having a lot to talk about—was exactly what the creators intended with their direction.
It was such a fantastic show!!
​From a Japanese viewer

​Here is a quote from an interview with the director that mentions the intention behind this direction.
​Source / 引用元:
「作画が悪目立ちすると物語から気が逸れてしまう」──アニメ『違国日記』監督・大城美幸さんインタビュー【連載第6回】
("If the animation stands out in a bad way, it distracts from the story" — Interview with Miyuki Oshiro, Director of the anime "Ikoku Nikki" [Serial Part 6])

​Q: シナリオ面で原作サイドの方々からはどんなリクエストがありましたか？
(What kind of requests did you receive from the original creator's side regarding the scenario?)
​大城：それこそ、あまり過剰に“泣かせる”みたいな演出はしないで欲しいというリクエストがありました。その点はシナリオや絵コンテの段階で気を付けていましたが、声や音楽がつくと、塩梅はだいぶ変わっちゃうんですよね……。もちろん、そんなに過剰にしたつもりはないのですが、第1話放送後に「泣いた」という感想もよく見かけたので、もしかしてやりすぎたか…？とちょっと気になっています。気がついたらじんわり涙が出ていた、ぐらいがベストなんですが（笑）
(Oshiro: Actually, we had a request not to use overly dramatic "tear-jerking" direction. I was careful about that during the scenario and storyboard stages, but once voice acting and music are added, the balance changes quite a bit… Of course, I didn't intend to overdo it, but I saw a lot of comments saying they "cried" after the first episode aired, so I'm a little worried if I went too far…? The best outcome would be if viewers just found themselves tearing up a little before they knew it laughs.)

I just got say that that this was the best of the season

Thank you sir

Best anime of the season definitely, perhaps best anime of the year as well, easily a 10/10 from me. The only other series I've given that rating to is Serial Experiments Lain. The visuals in this series was great, seeing her wandering the desert throughout the show and by the end how she's watering the desert and creating her oasis, inviting other people to it as well and backing that up with amazing music and vocals. It's just been a real treat to keep up with it over the weeks.

Really glad you reacted to all of this. I really wonder though why there's such a big drop betweeen ep 8 and 9? seems weird how it went from 5-7k to then 2 all of a sudden it seems?

Is the last 5-6 minutes of the vid getting cut? I saw in the preview it was a 30 minutes vid, but when I watch it, it is just about 25 mins

❤

Thanks for sticking with it