Artiswitch

There is a rumor doing the rounds in Harajuku: somewhere in the back streets of Ura-Harajuku, a witch and her mysterious shop serve those whose wishes have gone unheard, giving them an opportunity to unlock their hearts' greatest desires.

Believing this to be an ideal arrangement, the proud apprentice witch Nina strives to fulfill her customers' wishes while her power and influence grow accordingly. However, not all wishes are meant to come true—and not all of them lead to a happy ending. As Nina is compelled to peer deeper into the human psyche, she soon discovers the dark side of a witch's obligations, and her ambitions begin to clash with her wish to comfort the entire world.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Nina Main

Aoi, Utano Japanese

Ruru Supporting

Yoshida, Rinne Japanese

Akihiro Supporting

Mana Supporting

Haruka Supporting

Kuroki, Honoka Japanese

Tiara Supporting

Miyamoto, Yume Japanese

Saki Supporting

Ishida, Haruka Japanese

Ikeda, Kazuma Director

Fujita, Akiko Sound Director

Deai, Kotomi Episode Director, Storyboard

Yamamoto, Junichi Storyboard

Reviews

Nov 23, 2022

g1l

Recommended

If you want a short, experimental anime that you can watch in one sitting then this is it. It’s stylish with unique visuals and songs, and isn’t afraid to use these to its advantage when tackling its themes. It only gets better and better as it goes with a gradual transition into a darker tone.

Artiswitch is ultimately about wishes and their consequences, both good and bad. It’s not the typical “be careful what you wish for,” type moral either. It boils down to what the character themselves wished for in order to be happy, and this is shown through both simple and extreme wishes. It ... leaves a lot up to the viewer to decide on, never outright stating the outcome of a wish as being right or wrong. It never comes across as pretentious either, with many of the issues raised being able to be tied back to real-life situations.

The CGI might not be for everyone, but it allowed for flexible animation and a number of visually impressive scenes when mixed with varying imagery and backgrounds. You can see the animators really using the CGI to their advantage and it pays off. Each episode brings something new to the visuals, and each one is great in its own way. It isn’t afraid to get experimental, and it pays off brilliantly. There is a decent amount of symbolism, and the visuals aren’t all for show. You can look into any episode and find a number of clever visual tricks that match the thoughts and feelings of each character. The music in each episode is just as great. You should’ve seen my surprise when they had a damn Moe Shop song start playing in episode 4.

Overall, Artiswitch far exceeded my expectations. I went in completely blind and by the end of the second episode I was really impressed by everything it offered. Anyone stumbling across this like I did should check it out, at least until the fourth episode. The 8-minute episodes make it easy to consume and it is always straight to the point without ever feeling rushed.

8/10 – I would highly recommend watching it at least for the unique experience it offers.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 24, 2021

Fairtale

Recommended

It is artsy and over the top, but in a good way.

The episodes are short, but the director manages to make us fall in love with the characters instantly. Everything is well thought the characters act in refreshingly real ways, never acting forced or over the top. It all feels close to heart, intimate and bittersweet.

Without spoilers, I'll just say that the anime's theme is people's inner wishes or inner true self, and about how hard it is to be true to our nature in a world where everything is judged, everything is online and we put such high expectations on ourselves.

This message reaches ... not only the viewer, but also seems to defend the anime itself, which is so different from anything I have ever seen before. It screams "This is me, deal with it" and ask us, the viewers, to also step out of our comfort zone and give the anime's different art-style a chance. The result is a perfect harmony between the story, the characters, the anime, the style and even the viewer, urging us to break-out and long for a version of ourselves that is free and, ultimately, happy.

The art is GORGEOUS, making up for the 3d-animation by presenting us with a beautiful journey full of spectacle and colors at every frame. And the soundtrack manages to match not only the anime as a whole, but also the feelings of its characters as they change through the story. Oh, and the costumes are amazing! I love the clothes, the colors, the way characters adapt their looks to each story. It is worth watching for that alone, and so much more.

If you like colors, music, art & feelings, then this is for you! It is a true masterpiece that ends upmaking us feel nostalgic, not only for more episodes, but for a long-lost version of ourselves.

I LOVE IT!

Ikeda-San, you've got a new fan!

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Sep 12, 2021

Sloppiest_Slop

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (5/6 eps)

Though it was clear by the end of the second episode that the following episodes' themes were going to get progressively darker and more complex, I didn't think it would take as dark of a turn as it eventually did. The esoteric and artsy nature of the show's artistic direction is sure to not sit well with many viewers, so while I wouldn't recommend this to everybody, I'd ask anyone who isn't turned off completely by the first episode to give the whole 6 episodes a go as shit escalates more quickly than you'd expect.

The 3D animation is neither offensive nor remarkable. I think it's ... alright and I got used to it pretty quickly. The soundtrack is very fitting and pretty unique, though I wouldn't call any of them bangers. A nice change of pace.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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ElliotInfinity’s Recommendations

by ElliotInfinity

12 Entries · 3 Restacks

10 minutes or less per ep

by Eyoki

34 Entries · 30 Restacks

Shows/movies/ONAs/shorts that have an interesting and/or unique art styles.

by Nyaaruhodo

50 Entries · 8 Restacks

	Poll: Artiswitch Episode 4 Discussion iskarzzzy - Jul 31, 2021	14 replies	by Adnash »» Oct 23, 12:49 AM
	Poll: Artiswitch Episode 2 Discussion KeepWeebingGuys - Jun 18, 2021	15 replies	by scorpioniclibra »» Oct 12, 5:32 PM
	Poll: Artiswitch Episode 1 Discussion DSM_05 - Jun 6, 2021	12 replies	by Karva1 »» Jun 23, 2:11 PM
	Poll: Artiswitch Episode 6 Discussion orangeskull - Sep 10, 2021	12 replies	by Destroyer31 »» May 22, 2023 8:11 AM
	Poll: Artiswitch Episode 3 Discussion DSM_05 - Jul 9, 2021	12 replies	by grazioso »» Oct 5, 2022 7:21 AM