Witches in this series appear to be generally evil. Blair, as she said herself, isn't really a witch but just a powerful cat. Angela gets a pass because she's so young. But we will meet other witches besides this one (Medusa) who are also evil. Or at least just generally wicked.

Is it considered spoiling if I say

I think the witches are more like the neutral type in general. They are like the ones who'd prefer dwelling with their own community and not bothered by others. But they are indeed dangerous to your average human citizens as the witches' ways are somewhat extreme.

From what I've seen so far, the witch faction had no intend to openly conflict with Shibusen. They do not wish to aid the Shibusen either. There were times the witches allied with Shibusen if neccessary/for common benefits.

But that's just witches in general. There are of course, some like Medusa, who act on their own accords.

On a side note, Chrona's gender has been officially unrevealed so far, but that's only a minor issue.

@L-chan

That's interesting to know. I guess Angela really was an exception. Wonder if she'll turn evil one day....

@shirokiryuu, GuilloTeen,

re: Chrona's gender, I think I give up trying to figure out the gender of today's anime characters. Some of them are so androgynous that I have no idea if they are a girl or a guy. Chrona did look a bit bashful when talking to Maka though....

At any rate, would it be safer if I just refer Chrona using his/her name? Or is it okay to address Chrona as a girl?

It's okay to call Chrona a girl, because she is.

I don't think it's unusual for shonen series to feature kids as main heroes. I think that's considered normal in Japan and even other countries. The difference is the amount of violence involved. I admit I cringe when I saw Stein hitting Chrona in the preview.

Really excited about this one mostly because Maka x Soul.

So Chrona is a girl? Why is she blushing when talking to Maka then? At least that's how it was in the manga. I haven't seen this episode so I don't know if the scene remains the same or not.

I am pretty sure the reason the characters are kids is so that the target audience can identify with them better. Schoolkids getting superpowers is kind of a wish-fulfilment fantasy for schoolkids.

Interesting that I never really considered the violence either, but I'm not sure that it's significantly more graphic than whatever else goes on in the stuff you see on Cartoon Network. It's MORE graphic but not enough so to matter.

Is it just me or the animation looks a bit shoddy this week? It doesn't look as good as the previous weeks and they're really recycling those chop montage to no end.

I prefer a cast ages 20-30 because that is my current age. I think when I was in high school I was interested in high schoolers, so age might be relevant to target audience after all. There is an especially huge gap between high school, college, and after-college people.

"if you have a choice, what is the age range of the characters that you prefer to see? "

I'm still a high school student so around 17-18 is the ideal age although I get the feeling that it'll get weirder if I am still watching a show featuring little kids and teens when I'm already 30 or 40.

...I thought Chrona was a girl before I watched this episode. But watching this episode, made me think otherwise...

Witches in this series are generally bad, so I guess Blair(though she is technically a cat) and Angela are the exceptions.

About age range, I prefer 20~30. Honey and Clover is a good example, I guess? But I don't mind high school aged characters as long as they don't act so dumb and childish.

Well technically speaking Blair still isn't counted as a witch otherwise her soul would have enabled Maka and Soul to become death scythes/technician. Chrona still isn't interesting as you said even in the Manga.

Guess the witch's name isn't revealed yet so I won't say anything either.

And about the age range, usually 15~25 would be cool. It's ok to be able to relate to characters around your age range don't you think?

Maybe it's because I'm also in my 20 to 30 age range but that's the age of characters that I tend to like. I mean, I don't have problem watching a show like this one but it's a bit hard connecting with the characters sometimes.

Anyway, the show is becoming more interesting now that the introductions are over. I am a bit worried though because this is usually where the series goes on never ending battles that span over ten episodes or so...

If people used your souls as ingredients for a weapon, hunting your group down like animals, would you just sit back and hold no hostility towards them? I'd think not. That's the relationship between witches and Shibusen.

"This is the first time the anime shows a witch who's actually evil. "

Really? What about the witch from the episode with the Pharoah? Didn't she kill people to create all those mummies?

Really? What about the witch from the episode with the Pharoah? Didn't she kill people to create all those mummies?

Good point. I completely forgot about her since she was only in for 5 secs. Oh well, I fixed the paragraph.

Are we really sure that Chrona is a girl in this anime? She sounds like a man.....

@Silver Winged - don't confused that legendarily shitty fan translation with reality.
Chrona's gender has never been defined in Japanese; the line where she's called a daughter is actually "child."
English does kind of make it hard not to pick a gender and hope, and Chrona wearing a dress does make it seem like that's the more likely case, but the manga has never once specified a gender.

Chrona is voiced by Maaya Sakamoto. Decide Chrona's gender at your own discretion.

Chrona's gender is officially "unknown" according to the official anime site.

Any gender-specific pronouns/nouns in the scanlations are mistakes.

I'm disappointed in Maka. If this had been Black Star, he'd be able to defeat Chrona easily. Maka is too emotional in a critical moment that she always lacks focus.

If this had been B*S he would have idiotically charged Chrona and end up getting him or, Tsubaki killed.

Chrona has an utterly complete HAX ability doesn't allow her to take damage and can also damage a weapon.

There not much she or, the B*S and Kid could against that. She acted completely fine and in reason.

Or, would you have rather have her block Chrona's strike with Soul and he died?

^ I don't think BS or kidd would have lost their cool so easily but I agree that neither could really do more than Maka did. Her fighting in the beginning was amazing and she was more handling Chrona just fine, but than that witch stepped in. She saw soul get hurt and knew that if she used him to block the blow he'd get even more wounded. Thats why Soul changed into his human form so he could move on his own accord and take the blow himself.

I think the preffered character age is definitely a function of your real age. When I was in my teens, relating to simple love stories and hardships was easy; now in my 20-ies, such stories are becoming more and more annoying, especially the never-progressing romance lines present in almost every highschool anime. More mature cast (ex. Honey and Clover) allows for much more realistic storylines, which are easier to relate to for the present me.

Eh, I like the 20-30 age range. I understand that most characters are in their teens (even in video games) and thats a big market and all but I think it wouldnt hurt to throw a few early to late 20 yr olds. 20 yr olds are not THAT old >_<

@Nirrith: quite right. I doubt I would have so much as understood what the characters in Honey & Clover were talking about when I was at an age to appreciate Inuyasha and Kagome (or whatever her name is.)

Maaya Sakamoto is one of my fave voice actors, but I think she outdid herself voicing Chrona. She sounded positively insane!!! Really well done. :)

Even though I'm in the 20-30 age range, I still enjoy stories and shows such as this that are about teens. As long as the plotline isn't something copied from a previous series. But seeing more older people would be nice too!!! :)

There's one instance where Ragnarok pulls up Chrona's dress to peep at her. If she were a guy that wouldn't seem right.

i also tend to lean towords chrona being female, but as its been stated the actual langauge used in the manga so far is ambiguous

Guill0Teen's comment about the witches is pretty accurate

maaya sakamoto does a great job at voicing chrona, although from the manga i thought a more feminine voice should be used... and there are times she sounds positively like haruhi XDD

>>>"There not much she or, the B*S and Kid could against that. She acted completely fine and in reason."

Not quite so. As she noted, as bad ass as she and Soul are, Soul is pretty much just a cutting weapon, even in Witch Hunter mode. She has no training or way to use her soul wavelength directly, which she states (and which seems to be held up in the teaser for the next ep) would be effective against Chrona. Both Black*Star and Kid do have the ability (Black*Star via his ability whose name I forget, and Kid via his guns, as stated in the previous episode), and thus either should be able to do damage to Chrona in a better manner than Maka/Soul.

Still, there are any number of reasons why either one (especially Black*Star) would be taken out before they had a chance to successfully attack.

Hmm...I'm Japanese and I was leaning toward Chrona being a boy. Although he (I'll just say "he" for now) is being voiced by Maaya Sakamoto and looks feminine, there are several things within his speech-style that define him as a boy.

- What stands out the most is the fact that he refers to himself as "BOKU", which girls...just don't do (unless they're explicitly trying to be masculine like Tenjou Utena). Chrona is like a bullied child and wouldn't have the strong personality (if he was a girl) to use the masculine "BOKU". On the other hand, assuming he's a male, using the softer "BOKU" would be more appropriate than the strong "ORE".

- Chrona says he does not know how to talk to "girls" (and blushes!), suggesting he's not a girl himself.

- When Chrona shouts at Ragnarok, the way he talks sounds extremely mannish.

Not saying that any of these things are definitive, just very suggestive. Also, characters can be "non-gender specific" and still lean toward a certain gender (think Wish by CLAMP T_T Oh, I know you may not believe me, but the angel was a guy...). Anyways, decide for yourself, I guess.

Also, I never thought Maaya Sakamoto had a very feminine voice...that's why Haruhi was able to pass of as a boy so easily =)

It is definately hard to see if Chrona is a girl or a boy. However she is refered to a girl most of the time in the anime and manga. The funny thing is, she refers to herself as "Boku-wa" which is a rare thing amon females.