There were already plenty of reasons to think that WITCH WATCH could become a hit in the Spring 2025 anime season, but now there’s one more: Megumi Ishitani directed the opening sequence of the series.

WITCH WATCH is the latest manga created by Kenta Shinohara (SKET DANCE, Astra Lost in Space), and it has been running in Shonen Jump since 2021. As happens with most Jump series, there is clearly a huge investment in this adaptation, which is now available on Crunchyroll, Netflix and Hulu.

Megumi Ishitani Directed Witch Watch OP

After WITCH WATCH Episode 1 debuted earlier today, Megumi Ishitani confirmed on her social media a rumor that had been spreading during the week: she directed the opening sequence of the anime.

Here’s what she said:

In addition to its stunning visuals, WITCH WATCH OP also features “Watch Me!”, a song by YOASOBI, a band whose recent songs inserted into anime series have generally been a hit with Japanese and international audiences (Oshi no Ko Season 1 OP is a good example).

Is Megumi Ishitani Out of Toei Now?

Megumi Ishitani is a prolific animator who has worked on many One Piece episodes, and she co-directed the highly praised ONE PIECE FAN LETTER special series, about which she gave many interviews after the series debuted.

Ishitani is an in-house animator at Toei, and her involvement in WITCH WATCH had many fans worried that she had left Toei, but that’s not what happened. She explicitly stated in her comment that she was temporarily transferred with Toei’s consent, which means that they just allowed her to do this job, and then she returned to the studio. However, this could also mean that Ishitani could make occasional contributions to other anime in the future.

She also recently gave her views on the recent “Ghibli AI trend” that started after OpenAI released an update to ChatGPT that allowed users to transform their photos into illustrations, and they request ChatGPT to do it in a way that mimics the distinctive art style of Studio Ghibli. The trend was received negatively by many artists, and Japanese artists and animators were among those who expressed concern or even outright criticism of the trend. Ishitani was one of them, saying that the trend “dishonors Studio Ghibli”.

Source: X (formerly Twitter)

WITCH WATCH

Release Date

April 6, 2025

Network

TBS, MBS, CBC, Tulip Television, BSN, tys, NBC, HBC, RKK, i-Television, SBS, IBC, BSS, MRO, OBS, TUF, RSK, TUY, tbc, RKB, SBC, KUTV, RBC, UTY, RCC, MRT, atv, MBC

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  Rina Kawaguchi

  Nico Wakatsuki (voice)

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  Ryota Suzuki

  Morihito Otogi (voice)

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  Kohei Amasaki

  Kanshi Kazamatsuri (voice)

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  Kaito Ishikawa

  Magami Keigo (voice)