Mayoiga. A bunch of young people travel to a fabled village where it is said that anyone can start a new life.
Things get pretty weird when they arrive and discover the village is deserted. Further weirdness ensues as monsters appear and start attacking everyone for no apparent reason. It's around this time that the first dead person is spotted.
Did I mention the song about the unlucky hippopotamus? Because there's a song about an unlucky hippopotamus.
With just 13 episodes,
Mayoiga does a pretty good job of tying up all the loose ends, but still finishes a little too abruptly for my liking.
Witch Craft Works. Honoka Takamiya is an average student who shares a class with Ayaka Kagari, the beautiful and quite astonishingly buxom school idol. As luck would have it, she becomes infatuated with him, which is awkward because his character is based on the excruciatingly painful 'shy Japanese boy' stereotype (I guess Japan was running out of other races to be racist about).
Anyway, Takamiya manages to make the relationship work somehow, even though he never seems to find his second testicle and avoids numerous opportunities to snog his girlfriend.
Turns out that Kagari is a witch, and there's a whole big witch war thing going on in town, so naturally Takamiya is dragged into it solely for reasons that are convenient to the plot.
It's actually quite well done, and I enjoyed the spectacle even though the storyline wasn't much to write home about.
On a side note: this is the first anime I've seen in which the closing credits portray a bunch of witch girls experiencing a wide range of medieval tortures while cheerfully singing a theme tune.
Pippiko pippiko narase Witchi☆Akutibiti
Sono ke sono toki ikioi notteke! Notteke!
Which? Which? "Tou" to "Koubou"
Majo to majo de kongara gacchau kamo ne
Tattaka tattaka okose Fanshi♡Kuraishisu!
Ni-ju-yon-jikan dotchi mo kotchi mo Witch! Witch!
Neko mo shakushi mo mimi wo pikupiku kokoro ukiuki sasechatte
Hijoushiki to ka atarimae da zo mahou tsukau nara suki katte
To ni mo kaku ni mo hitomi kirakira mune ga kyunkyun shichatte
Sore ga "koi" nara atatteku dakero
Jumon no superu ha "suki nan desu♡"
"Kono omoi kanaeta mae" inoru yori kanaechae
Kemono-teki honnou de kusou・mousou nante teritori!
Pippikopippiko ugoke Witchi☆Akutibiti
Moe mo firingu mo omimi de hyougen! Hyougen!
Chikku takku hodokenai yo?
Hari yo maware kongara gacchau kurai
Chitchiki chitchiki 3,2,1 Fanshi♡Kuraishisu!
Kimi no sekai ha dotchi mo kotchi mo Witch! Witch!
Inu mo arukeba shippo furifuri kokoro dokidoki takabutte
Kachikan nante shinkirou da yo ne houki ni noru nara tobitatte
Hone orizon no romansu pikapika itsumo runrun utatte♪
Dakara "koi" toka shinji you da ne
Jibun ni kakatta mahou desho
Ura wakaki otome nara negau yori hashicchaou
Esora-teki kanjou ga bousou・enjou shichau fantaji!
Pippiko pippiko susume Witchi☆Akutibiti
"Toki yo tomare"
Anata ha honto ni Charming! Charming!
Which? Which? Tomaranai
Me ga mawatte kongara gacchau mirai
Chitchiki chitchiki koko de totsuzen kuizu
Kimi no seikai ha kekkyoku kyukyoku Witch! Witch!
Sou, kotae ha itsudatte tsukuru mono dazo!
Kimi ga kimi ga kimi ga kimi ga kimi ga kimi dake no mahou de!
Pippiko pippiko narase Witchi☆Akutibiti
Sono ke sono toki ikioi notteke! Notteke!
Which? Which? Kyou mo koubou!
Koi to koi de kongara gacchau rabirinsu
Tattaka tattaka icchau yo Fanshi♡Kuraishisu!
Every Day & Night atchi mo sotchi mo Witch! Witch!
Oh, Japan...