Champignon no Majo • Champignon Witch - Episode 2 discussion

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Looks like there’s a lot of bullshit to navigate as a black witch living in a white witch’s world. Poor girl can’t even have a crush without it basically killing a guy. Henri seemed nice too. It’s a damn shame things had to end like that. Interesting this was all a set up for meeting this mysterious fella. I wonder if he’s related to Henri at all?

Poor girl has it rough that even falling in love ends in tragedy.

Henri may not remember exactly what happened to him, but he has a recollection of time spent with Luna and now he can't help but want to get to know her better. He may be an incorrigible flirt, but he's genuinely interested in her and seems to genuinely understand her, something that means more to Luna than anything.

I mean, sure, he's associated with the White Hats, the official legalized religion and magic order of this region that looks at Black Hats like Luna as apostates to burn at the stake so obviously we have all the set up for a forbidden love...but Luna seems so happy that you can't really blame her.

Of course there's also Claude (Jun Fukushima!) the crow who is super surly but, in his own way, takes care of Luna if only for the sake of other mages like herself. And knows that engaging in a romance with someone like Henri is destined to end badly for herself and others.

Yet Luna can't help herself...she continues to draw Henri and engage in written conversations with him via his paper self, as their romance (and the flowers of their love for each other) bloom beautifully. They even share their first kiss!

But all this romance was harmful to Henri's health, to the point where he's liable to die if Luna doesn't put an end to it...even if it means taking the flower of his feelings for her, that bloomed into something so beautiful, and erasing it. But Luna will always know that he truly loved her, and will still have the feelings for him that blossomed within her.

Maybe it's a good thing that the Witch Hunts are becoming more widespread...if only so that Luna has more reason to stay way from town and Henri. Luna might never know companionship like that again...until the narrator, and focus of the ED, washes away into her.

Wow, Henri speed ran that relationship.

Poor Luna, even falling in love doesn't end well for her.

Who is this new guy with a sword in his chest!

(Also. Why does anilist have this tagged as BL?)

She is so adorable, and the mushrooms are so fricken cute.

I gasped when Minos tried to eat that little mushroom, do not the shroom 😭

If my cats were that big, I’d suffocate into their bellies.

I want a full version of that second song.

I can see the cosplays for crowbro Claude.

I want a full version of the third song.

***

Luna deserves the world. She’s already on my “Characters I’d kill for” list.

I can also see why for the two episode drop if it means we’re introduced to the two leads rather than waiting a week to meet the other lead. I have no idea if that’s even a reason a two episode drop happens, but the two episode release was a pleasant and very welcome surprise.

It’d be a never-would-happen-but-would-be-cool-anyways dark ride where Luna takes you on a journey giving magic to books. Though I’m sure that’s been done before.

I want plushes of the mushrooms and the animals.

Is it just me, or is there a visible border around Luna in the OP? Like as if they incompetently cut the image from a white background, or messed up blending with pre-multiplied alpha

Constantly being in an A-Ha's Take On Me video was worse for his health than cigarettes for Henri.

That was quite the tragic love story, Luna almost killed Henri by falling in love with him. But she should have known better than drawing him again given the results the first time, I can understand why Raven Boy was mad at her. And in the end he doesn’t even remember her, even if she erased his memories to protect him.

And now she got a mysterious stabbed guy in her river. He is totally going to turn out to be the Prince of the country and son of a white witch queen, right ? Maybe she can even touch him without poisoning and killing him, although I assume she is still going to end up in even more trouble because of him than with Henri.

I wonder how powerful Luna is compared to other witches and how well she could defend herself from a witch hunt ? Her magic seems quite powerful and normal people cannot even touch her.

Man 😔

Henri was a real shrigma male 🍄

Damn, an actual dramatic romance where the main issue isn't them not confessing their feelings but actual world building? Really strong start to the series I had no real expectations for. The only thing I found a bit distracting was the narrator. I felt, the show could have really been interesting if they just used the art to carry the story, because I think it would have worked. Especially with the mushroom focused metaphors. Like, for example, understanding that the amount of roses on Luna's head is telling us how she feels, was easy enough to decipher. So I think the rest would have been able as well.

I guess, the narrator is kind of necessary considering that he is the person Luna finally met though. So I guess, there was a slight reason to still include it. But I still feel it would have added a lot to the show if it was mostly vibes than exposition. Tbf, it wasn't as bad in episode 2 as in episode 1. So I hope that it will stay in this reduced way for the rest of the show.

Oh don't tell me there's gonna be a love square or polygon in this

The conflict and dilemma was set up then we got hit by that at the end

Loving the good times when you had them, and loving someone enough to know when to let them go hits close to home for me. That’s an experience in life that’s hard to navigate, but it’s encapsulated really well in this fairy tale example. This show is a hidden gem.

So much cuteness with such dark and sad undercurrents. I was rooting for Luna and Henri... I just hope she finds happiness.

And so the prologue ends with a tragic romance that just wasn't meant to be.

At least it leaves Luna a precious memory.

I still like the moment where our narrator is revealed! I know not everyone will like the narration, however it is there to make the fairytale and picture book vibes stronger.

I also really like their choice of music. They are definitely trying their best to express the emotions of the moment.

Am i the only one who feels weird that one episode this guy was all up on another girl and now we're supposed to root for him?

I really thought I was going to dislike Henri because he's a womanizer, but [the dude was actually pretty charming](https://i.imgur.com/UMMr68T.jpeg), and he seems to be able to genuinely connect with Luna [because of his connection to magic in his family.](https://i.imgur.com/EfKNPcj.jpeg) So I was genuinely rooting for the two of them to actually become a couple, [especially when they started seeing each other regularly](https://i.imgur.com/9fSes3v.jpeg) through Luna's drawings. [They even had their first kiss!](https://i.imgur.com/kiiUWzR.jpeg)

So I was actually upset when Luna had to [not only take away the poison from Henri but also the memories and feelings he developed for her.](https://i.imgur.com/Qu1A4Su.jpeg). We're only in episode 2, and Luna's first love already ended in a bittersweet tragedy. Although it looks like Luna won't be lonely for too long, since it turns out, [the narrator is actually the guy she found on the river.](https://i.imgur.com/1wV3Dj4.jpeg) Curious to see how this one will turn out!

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Alot of two episode premieres this season

[Luna really is adorable](https://ibb.co/jvWtcV0g)

Though the animation is limited, I like how expressive the mushrooms are. I'm enjoying the mix of sadness and cuteness

The art style and music makes this show so beautiful. Honestly, I didn't like Henri at all but I'm willing to continue watching because Luna is so cute and I want to see more of this.

Poor girl, living alone and being feared because the people don't understand her powers.

Of course, we get a cliffhanger at the end.

Will continue watching for sure.

It was going a little to well for Luna and Henri very fast had a feeling there was a catch which sad because Luna was so happy and Henri too💔

So we really don't know how much time has passed at the end there

The music for this series has been wonderful so far.

After reading the comments for this episode… guys are we totally forgetting the aspect of maybe she bewitched him or something with the drawing? Considering she didn’t know that was going to happen can we not assume there are also side effects for that?

Entire time I just couldn’t get into it due to the whole aspect of: “this isn’t gonna end well is it?”

Yayyyyy we get Claude 😍 I too am a difficult and complicated person 😂 and Henri is gone I am still never getting over him but alas time to get on with the story poor Luna deserves the world 😭

Well, I suppose it's less of a problem she accidentally charmed him if he was just a womanizer and probably in more of a fling than a legit relationship.

Why is she so adorable ahhhh the way she hid in her hat and flew away

Mushroom fast travel back. Well, that mushroom at least shrunk back into the ground, doubt that's what happens to the mushrooms she naturally produces rather than intentionally though, considering the pharmacist asked her to take the mushrooms she grew on his door with her. Plus, with how the spirit explained those mushrooms purify the land, it wouldn't make much sense if the poison just went back into the ground.

The bodyguard mushroom pouting when it came up oh my god she's so adorable.

THE MOOD INDICATING ROSES IT'S SO ADORABLE

So the masses are aware witch hunts are more like a political thing than anything, and it's not the masses that are going out on witch hunts like I'd assumed when the spirit said that the witch hunt likely hit an innocent person. So it does sound like witch hunts are more like state political executions with the accusation of being a witch (usually) just being an excuse.

Damn, dude really accidentally (?) described what her mushrooms actually do perfectly huh.

So anyway, idk why I'm hooked on understanding the political climate of witches and the government. Black witches are stigmatized by the country, and the townspeople do fear her and not just in a 'she's literally dangerous' sense, they seem to fear her past that, but not to the point where they do anything about her, and it seems the average person doesn't really like witch hunts, and are concerned the dude talking with her would get the black witch reported to authorities, meaning no one has ever reported her despite her commonly walking through town undisguised. But authorities definitely persecute black witches. And also the spirit was of the opinion that witch hunts likely end up targeting completely innocent people. (Actually, now that I think back to that scene again, was it actually the spirit librarian that said that or did the narrator say that? And didn't they also say the person that died in the witch hunt was likely one of her acquaintances? Huh. I'm just confused as to how a witch hunt without an actual black witch happens. Is it just a political excuse to kill anyone the government doesn't like, or are they really just confusing people for witches, perhaps because they associate with witches?)

...What do they mean 'where did that witch go'? They didn't see her pull the hat over her body?

STOCK SOUND MOST FAMOUSLY USED IN MAJORA'S MASK JUMPSCARE

So crow boy is into her. Cool.

Oh, when they said he served a well known and respected wizard I thought that meant they would be a white wizard. But I guess you can be a wizard opposed to the government labeled as a black witch and still be well known and respected.

Ooh the hat is still flowing with petals even when she's not wearing it

...Wait wait wait wait wait. This entire time she could've been projecting herself as a drawing? Doesn't that get around her whole issue of being poisonous to the touch? Not being able to talk sounds like an acceptable tradeoff. Or hell, it sounds like something she might be able to get around with another spell.

And in the case of their relationship, it'd also get around him being drained from having to soul project. Though of course even with that one problem gone their relationship is seen as problematic to society so it's not like this solves everything about the relationship but it does feel like this should solve a lot of problems she has with interacting.

Ah. Well there we go. On seeing the ED after ep1 I thought it would be a 'what could've been' story where he never ends up with her but always had her in his heart, telling stories to his kid that would then fatefully encounter the figure from father's tales, then this episode had them actually go for each other and I thought they might actually have a kid somehow and timeskip to when he passed or something.

But now I'm guessing that mushroom embodying his feelings and memories for her will somehow turn into the child in the ED.

...Or not? The way it dissipates makes me feel like it's just gone.

Oh god and she still has to walk through town with him around not knowing. If it were me I'd probably remove my own memories of it too. But maybe taking your own memories is difficult, or maybe she keeps them b/c if she doesn't it'd probably just happen over again.

Huh what. Blonde prince looking guy?

Ok I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Wait the next episode was called Cursed Younglin

Could someone help identify the song playing towards the end of the episode when she takes the mushroom from Henri? tried using shazam no luck there, the song starts at around 19:15

Okay how am I already sobbing T-T 

Oh, so that's why there was the narrator. And I guess that also explains why Henri is listed as a "supporting character" rather than "main character".

I wonder a bit about the power balance of the world. It seems that Luna can regenerate a lost leg fairly easily (as well as all the other things she can do), so is she just an abnormally powerful black witch? I think I can see why they'd be feared, since mixing poison into the river could easily kill off an entire town, but the fact that she can provide so much value makes it weird that nobody's trying to exploit that.

Well, at the end of the day, it's just the setting in what seems like a character-focused story.

I was on the fence after episode one, but this ep was really great and sold me on the series. I love the tragedy of Luna and Henri's relationship. Even with conservative production values, this is a series that touches the heart.

No tienen el presentimiento de que vamos a sufrir con este anime, pinche escritores, por qué diseñan a una linda chica, toda bonita y pura y luego le dan una vida de mierda, como odie a esos aldeanos, y bueno me encantó este anime, aunque como dije, no se si pueda, si le ocurre algo malo a luna, tengo corazón de pollo.

Such a plot twist that the narrator is a real character I thought it was a classic storybook narrator. I thought this would be a anime I would not like as much and I was just watching for a break from all the action and isekai this season. But this may be in my top 5 this season. Perhaps top 3. Feel bad for Henry, he really loved her, thought he was a player but if the mushroom for her was that gorgeous even compared to all the mushrooms Luna seen it must have been a lot.

Random Thoughts (for two episodes because I am too lazy to separate my comments in two threads lol)

Blind Watch. I see witch and I click. Although this actually has a witch in it thankfully. Kind of vaguely reminds me of the Death Games Anime, in that it has some real gorgeous backgrounds. Although the witches familiars kind of evoke a "kill it with fire" response.

First impression was "Okay, this is Romeo and Juliet but Witches", but then they completely wrapped up the romance with Henri in a single episode. The fact their relationship had more development in one episode than most romance anime have in like...multiple seasons...is funny

Seems like the main story is now picking up at the end of this episode. Kind of feels like the new character might also be a black witch?

Digging the lore in the show and I hope it explores it more...like what is the actual difference between the two types of witch, beyond societal acceptance. I can't imagine that Luna's mushroom/can't touch a living person issue is general to all black witches.

Well now that was some dangerous business with Henri. Mean crow boy was completely correct in his meanness.

That said "Even the way he got rejected was inconceivable!" made me laugh so very hard.

I was kind of expecting the love that Luna extracted from Henri as a mushroom was going to turn into the kid in the ED but then it just evaporated.

The way she just retreats into her hat is hilarious.

Pretty striking narrator reveal at the end there.

This was a beautiful and bittersweet episode. Poor Luna, man. She is so sweet and adorable, I really would want to give her a hug... Such a shame that would propably poison and kill me.

This show also really uses music so well. Beautiful OP and ED and 2 great insert songs I'm really slowly falling in love with this anime!

damn, this is quite a strong start for the season icl. im guessing that Luna will never interact with Henri ever agin, because i just can't see any plot that could be re-loop back, whilst having the guy at the end. maybe, if they're doing the remembering "lost" memories, i guess but i'm all for this series, hopefully they're consistent with the production this time

Wow that's quite some unexpected sweetness appearing in this episode, even if 95% of that may have been originated from Luna's own imagination! Even so, after spreading half of that feeling to Henri unconsciously, somehow that chemistry actually worked and a gem of a mushroom that we call "First Love" grew out of Luna's longing for keeping in touch with anyone else. Yes, that twisted relationship may well have really doomed Henri if not ultimately dealt with like at the end of this episode, but don't you think this little tale is just adorable?

This very episode also reminds me that - after seeing so many stories in and out of the anime world of perhaps one of the sweetest things we can ever have in our lives - it doesn't really need a elaborately decorated story and/or scene to bring out the rosy tint of First Love. A simple meeting between two people, a gentle touch of hands and pure happiness - that's what it always has been.

My heart goes out to Luna. Pure of heart with her hands metaphorically tied. This show is dripping with symbolism.

Pretty neat first couple of eps. We get to learn a bit about the world, and Luna's somewhat tragic circumstances in it.

Tragic first love. My heart goes out to Luna, but we know her magic is too powerful for mere mortals. She needs to find her own Oscar.

Love the way Luna expresses her emotions via her hat and mushrooms.

that majoras mask sfx lol

I love this so much. I'm glad this exist. Q\_Q
Oh gosh. I know I will CRY a lot this season because of this anime.

I might be getting the wrong read on Crow guy but I don't think he's very likable. In general I dislike this kind of tsundere male character who exerts power and witholds information because of some 'good intentions' bs, but I feel like there were a million better ways he could have helped Luna before things got to that point. Just randomly showing up and screaming "Don't do that again or I'll tell my Master!" comes across as unnecessarily cruel and childish. He also placed the fate of ALL BLACK WITCHES AND WIZARDS on her alone which again feels ridiculous. It's not like she's a secretive witch, she makes mushrooms simply by walking through town. Literately everyone knows who she is and what she is. There was also nobody who mistook the interaction between her and Henri as a result of her actions. I mean he shouted for her and then waited around for her to show back up.

Actually I think I just don't like him because he never talked *to* Luna only *at* her, and since we, the audience, don't really have any understanding of their relationship he just comes across as a random asshole.

That's of course made much worse by how tragic and beautiful the rest of the story really was. Great season premier, looking forward to it, Crow guy is just an asshole but maybe that's intentional! I'm excited (and worried) to find out.

The raven lad certainly had every right to yell at Luna for her carelessness. She already knew the effects of projecting Henri's form through the drawing on his own body, she even regretted doing so in the first place.

But apparently draining someone of their life essence is okay because the other party consented to it, right? And it wasn't even for a reason that could potentially justify such toll, she just wanted to see the guy she was crushing on.

The story got much better in the second episode. The first episode seemed like some cat lady's fantasy, but the second episode has a better sense of the tragic and Luna having a sense of maturity about things.

Did anyone else catch the mushroom in the middle of Luna and Henri disappearing at 7:08 and magically reappearing at 7:18? I was like, wait a gosh darn second, something ain’t right🤣

You wouldn't download a husbando.

this has a nice fairy tale late middle ages/early renaissance aesthetic.

spice and wolf is the only other anime like this.

I dropped reading Champignon Witch last year, but I still kind of like it.

Despite knowing what would happen, I can't believe I still got affected with Luna and Henri's tragic young love. T\_T

"A hero among womanizers!"

Man, she's got zero sense of self-preservation.

I wonder if she'll ever recognize and return Crowboy's feelings. At this rate, never.

Urgh, I saw this coming from a mile away but I was honestly rooting for Henri and Luna to figure a way out. Granted, their romantic development did feel like a speed run and I guess it was somewhat for the better since Luna could put a nip in the bud early on before any serious consequences happened. But still, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to see Luna being forced to live such a shitty life.

Despite having been ostracized by humanity, she still chooses to interact and offer her assistance to people. She purifies toxins and negative energy by taking them on herself, only for people to accuse her of bioterrorism. She makes wonderous medicine that are made affordable for the masses, but yet, these people would stop using them in a heartbeat if they were to find out about their origins. She is so kind hearted that she even developed a remedy for lost limbs just because she saw one single person in need of help.

Call me a cold person, but I could never be like Luna if I were in her shoes. But that is why she is an endearing protagonist and I really hope that this story does not remain the tragedy that it is going at this rate. Given that the white witches are in a position of political power, it makes me wonder why some witches choose to remain as black witches.

I love her little hat tricks. Her and Silent witch are my favorite witches. Poor Luna though finding someone and having to let them move on.

I actually thought Henri was going to be the male lead…

A surprising good show for something I didn’t expect much from. Luna is adorable, the fairytale atmosphere with an edge of darkness is great, and the young romance was cute but ultimately doomed to tragic failure from the start.

Did anyone notice that the sound when a particular mushroom grew uses the same sample as that in Final Hours from The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask? I *love* that game, so I noticed it immediately.

Damn, it's been a while since an anime get me all teary eyed for a character. Poor Luna..

I'm confused. Why was henri sick? The scene of her drawing the mushroom & poison out of his heart implies that it was her love, but after their very first dance he also was sickly until she returned his soul to him from the paper suggesting that the paper itself was the cause and not her. These two things seemingly contradict one another, so I'm not convinced there was any reason for her to erase his memories. Seems like the paper was the problem.

*record scratch*

You may be wondering how I ended up in this river with a dagger in my chest

when luna fell in love with henri I got so scared and couldn't help but exclaim LUNA U DUMMYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!! i didn't want my girl to get romeo juliet TT

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There is a particular framing to this show that seems simple but is frightfully difficult to execute properly. It has a complexity of storytelling that is more than a children's storybook like The Hobbit, yet not quite into the depth of The Fellowship of the Ring. It exists in a tier between these two narrative styles, storyboarded and animated such as Studio Ghibli might. The setting strongly evokes what is called a "Ruritanian romance," particularly as Luna and Henri share the fate of Flavia and Rudolf in The Prisoner of Zenda.

Then there is the music, as important an element as that which is visual. Something about the music felt familiar, like it was from one of the Zelda games. Which in fact is the case: Takeshi Hama did the music for Skyward Sword. The Celtic feel of the lyrics of the insert song had one searching "did Loreena McKennitt release a new album?" "Is that Moira Brennan?"

Was not expecting a fantasy show to give Frieren a run for its money this season, but here we are.

Poor girl...

Man.. come on. If Luna and Henri don't find some kind of way to be together, whatever that may be, we have to riot

Wow, super happy with this show. I'll unexpectedly be watching it all I think.

Not sure if anyone mentioned it, but Luna was so darn cute with her different outfits and hairstyles!