Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches
Company type	Manga series
Industry	Manga, anime, live-action drama
Founded	February 22, 2012; 14 years ago
Founder	Miki Yoshikawa
Headquarters	Japan
Products	Manga, anime, live-action drama

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches is a Japanese manga series created by Miki Yoshikawa. It was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from February 2012 through February 2017, compiled into a total of 28 volumes. The English digital edition was released by Crunchyroll in 2013, with North American licensing handled by Kodansha USA beginning in 2015.

An eight-episode live-action drama adaptation was broadcast on Fuji TV between August and September 2013. Later, a 12-episode anime series produced by Liden Films aired from April to June 2015.

Plot

The story follows Ryu Yamada, a rebellious high school student disinterested in his studies, who inadvertently switches bodies with the top-ranking student Urara Shiraishi after tumbling down a flight of stairs. They soon realize that kissing triggers this body swap phenomenon. Acting on advice from student council vice-president Toranosuke Miyamura, they decide to revive the dormant Supernatural Studies club. The group, which includes the enthusiast for the supernatural Miyabi Itou, encounters other witches whose unique abilities are also activated through kissing. After nearly causing a fire, transfer student Kentaro Tsubaki becomes a member. Upon discovering the identity of the seventh witch, Rika Saionji, Yamada’s memories are wiped; however, this effect extends to witches and other students as well. Despite resistance from the student council, Yamada restores the witches’ memories with a kiss, unites all seven witches, and wishes for their powers to disappear. Ultimately, he confesses his feelings to Urara, becoming her boyfriend.

After joining the reformed student council, Yamada retains his ability to copy witch powers but uncovers that more witches exist within the school. While forming an alliance with these witches, they confront opposition from male students belonging to the Shogi (Japanese chess) club who have acquired new witch abilities. Following a vote of no confidence that leads to a recall election, Yamada infiltrates the chess club and discovers a witch connected to his past. He negotiates with childhood friend turned rival Ushio Igarashi, exchanging restored memories in return for Ushio obtaining the seventh witch Nancy's power. As tensions escalate, Yamada uses his copied power to erase recent events; however, Ushio acts first, resulting in both being forgotten by their classmates.

Returning to the Supernatural Studies club during a new academic year marked by emerging witches, Yamada notices missing memories—including those concerning his relationships—from the conclusion of his first year. He gathers male witches to perform a ceremony aimed at restoring everyone’s memories. As Urara prepares for university entrance exams as a senior, she suddenly vanishes along with all witch powers and any recollection of her existence. Yamada discovers that Urara was originally the witch who accepted these powers so she could remain with him under the condition that her memories would be erased once she left school. At graduation, Urara reappears, and Yamada assists her in regaining her memories.

A decade later, Yamada has become a thriving businessman respected by his colleagues while maintaining connections with his high school friends. Although he has yet to propose to Urara, they eventually marry and share their experiences with their two children.

Production

Manga creator Miki Yoshikawa previously developed Flunk Punk Rumble (Yankee-kun to Megane-chan), serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 2006 until 2011, comprising 211 chapters in total. Upon her editor's recommendation, she produced a one-shot for Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine, which resulted in two narratives: an initial concept for Yamada-kun and another titled The Demon's Classroom. Although the latter was initially preferred, its focus on a grade school protagonist made it challenging, leading to the adoption of the Yamada prototype as the series' first chapter.

In an interview with Comic Natalie, Yoshikawa disclosed that the idea of body swapping was conceived during her work on Yankee-kun, informed by research into gender distinctions. She regards characters undergoing body swaps as separate beings. At Anime Expo 2015, she mentioned that she had originally imagined gender swapping as a magical ability but later abandoned this notion.

Regarding the delinquent traits of her main characters, Yoshikawa explained these characteristics naturally stem from her upbringing in a less affluent area of Tokyo. To maintain creative flexibility, all characters and their names are fictional. She also noted that although the characters from Yamada-kun and Yankee-kun attend different schools, their neighborhoods border each other.

Concerning the artwork, Yoshikawa varies each kiss scene's depiction, frequently employing side views to enhance clarity. The inclusion of same-gender kisses was not intended to target any particular audience but rather considered an "inevitable result." During Anime Expo, she revealed that she had five assistants and primarily worked manually in black-and-white, utilizing computers mainly for coloring purposes. Her time is roughly divided equally between crafting stories and illustrating.

Manga

Authored and illustrated by Miki Yoshikawa, Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches ran in Kodansha's shōnen manga publication Weekly Shōnen Magazine from February 22, 2012, through February 22, 2017. Kodansha compiled the chapters into 28 volumes, released between June 15, 2012, and April 17, 2017.

On October 26, 2013, Crunchyroll collaborated with Kodansha to offer digital distribution of chapters across 170 countries via Crunchyroll Manga, including an English-language edition. The series is licensed in North America by Kodansha USA, which began issuing releases in 2015. Yoshikawa appeared as a guest of honor at Anime Expo in July 2015 to promote the series.

Television drama

A live-action adaptation premiered on August 10, 2013, airing Saturdays at 11:10 pm on Fuji TV. It stars Yusuke Yamamoto as Ryū Yamada alongside Mariya Nishiuchi portraying Urara Shiraishi. The theme song "Time Machine Nante Iranai" was performed by former AKB48 lead Atsuko Maeda, who described it as "cheerful and fun," intended to energize the production. Samsung sponsored the show and featured its characters in commercials during its broadcast run.

Episodes

The drama averaged a viewership rating of 6.3%.

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Anime

An animated promotional video (PV) produced by Liden Films debuted on August 26, 2013, under the direction of Seiki Takuno. Prominent voice actors featured include Ryōta Ōsaka portraying Ryu Yamada and Saori Hayami as Urara Shiraishi. By June 2014, Liden Films announced the creation of an original anime DVD (OAD) consisting of two episodes packaged with manga volumes 15 and 17, showcasing all seven witches alongside scenes set in hot springs.

In November 2014, Liden Films revealed plans for a television anime series, retaining the voice cast from the OAD. The series was helmed by director Tomoki Takuno, with contributions from writer Michiko Yokote, chief animation director Eriko Iida, sound director Yota Tsuruoka, and composer Masaru Yokoyama. This 12-episode anime aired in Japan between April 12 and June 28, 2015. The opening theme was performed by WEAVER, while the ending theme "CANDY MAGIC" was by Mimi Meme Mimi.

The initial DVD and Blu-ray releases included a crossover anime short titled Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo x Yankee-kun to Megane-chan, adapted from another manga by the same author. Crunchyroll distributed the series on Blu-ray and DVD with an English dub, followed by a home video release through Funimation in July 2017. Licensing rights for Southeast and South Asia are held by Medialink, which broadened regional availability through streaming services such as Ani-One on YouTube.

OAD

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Episodes

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Reception

As of February 2017, the manga had achieved sales exceeding 3.85 million copies within Japan.

Works cited

"Ch." denotes chapter numbers from the Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches manga by Miki Yoshikawa, initially released by Kodansha and accessible in English through Crunchyroll Manga.
山田くんと7人の魔女 — スポニチ (Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches) television drama, 2013, consisting of 8 episodes.

External links