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I have not read SKET Dance, but after picking this manga up I definitely will read SKET Dance. I believe in the Shinohara magic.

This manga handles both wholesome comedy and action scenes in such a tasteful way I have not seen in any other manga. Usually the typical shounen got their comical characters that are funny and others react to them, then we move on into the "serious stuff" such as a tournament power ranking, yada yada. Shinohara does not subscribe to this format, because most of Witch Watch is rather slice-of-life and a comedy for stretches of dozens of chapters. But don't be caught ... off guard, because literally the next chapter might be a war brewing. You might think this sounds like an abrupt turn in mood which usually is a bad sign in other manga, but no, Shinohara is not just any other mangaka. He already left crumbs behind, setting up and hinting at the battle. During these more serious arcs, you will witness those crumbs and details woven into the scene - that one random spell shown in 20 chapters earlier as the butt of a joke now comes in clutch to save the day in the most awesome fashion, not shoehorned into the flow. This tells me Shinohara does plan everything deliberately, even as he writes his (amazing) comedy chapters. Nothing here is filler.

Witch Watch is both an amazing slice-of-life comedy manga AND one of the best shounen on JUMP's catalogue. Shinohara's art reflects that as well; very cute during fluffy scenes, and tune up 100 notches when the action hits. I read this manga first every Sunday, which has the likes of Sakamoto Days, Jujutsu Kaisen, etc.

To keep things simple, imagine if someone made a boring detective anime with a mediocre budget. But catch this: They isekai'd in Special Vehicle Unit 2 from Patlabor!

That's how out of touch this movie felt to me. Me and my friend who had been binging the Patlabor series/movies just this week and we both agreed this movie is like the unnecessary "reboot". It was only a decade after movie 2, but Oshii (the original creator) has made it clear through movie 2 that it was the final movie in the Patlabor franchise. This one felt like a forced attempt to revive the series (since Oshii ... isn't even directing this one).

The scene where SVU 2 actually came in to action in this movie was so alienated; I keep feeling like they're hollow husks of their once bright personalities, called upon to act out roles they no longer have. Still, it gets a 6 for me since I still like serious detective/crime series and compared to modern standard it is still somewhat okay.

Fun fact: Took 1 hour 16 minute into the movie to see an actual robot.