If 2024s crop of anime was any indication, shonen fans have a growing desire to watch more romantic comedies with a supernatural spin. As if predicting the forecast, Gkids has released a theatrical cut of the first three episodes of Witch Watch, a new Shonen Jump anime, weeks before it premieres on Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Hulu. Although its comedic chops may take a bit of getting used to for Western audiences, Witch Watchleft a good impression for what could be the forerunner to 2025s goofiest rom-com. Witch Watch, animated by Bibury Animation Studios, follows the story of two childhood friends: an extremely extroverted fledgling witch named Nico, and an introverted ogre boy named Morihito. When Morihitos father reveals that he and Nico must live alone together under the same roof to protect her from an impending calamity, Morihito jumps at the opportunity to become familiar and thwart any threats. While Morihito is on guard dog duty, treating every day as a shonen anime battle with the safety of his childhood friend at stake, Nico is living on cloud nine, viewing their uncanny situationship as the humble beginnings of their generational love story. A series of comedic misadventures ensues as the duo balances squashing supernatural events (caused mainly by Nico) in their hometown while figuring out the ebb and flow of their one-sided relationship. Despite being the new anime on the block, Witch Watch evokes a nostalgic feeling reminiscent of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyamas early gag manga and the simmering will-they-wont-they romance found in Urusei Yatsura creator Rumiko Takahashis works. Although much of Witch Watchs early comedic back-and-forths dont translate as well for Western audiences because of their regional baggage, the show quickly finds its more situational humor between its leads and its wealth of referential humor to other shonen anime. At the shows heart is the flow of Morihito and Nicos manzai style straight man and funny man dynamic. Nico has a heart of gold with a compulsion to show off her magical abilities when an opportunity presents itself to make the townspeoples lives easier or impress Morihito. Whether saving a woman from a house fire or letting her classmates fly in the sky during her free period, Nico will pull out a spell to save the day from mundane and life-threatening situations with Morihito.However, Nico is a klutz, so her boastful, show-off-y spells backfire more often than they succeed, leading to ridiculous situations that she inexplicably makes worse. Such oopsie daisies include outing herself as a witch to her class after mistakenly enlarging Morihitos head and arm in the middle of class in an attempt to embiggen Morihitos crumpled eraser, or splitting into four mini-versions of herself in a counter-intuitive effort to make moving boxes easier. This in turn creates hilarious situations where Morihito has to cover for Nico by playing off Nicos overzealous spells to the non-magic public, or straight-up saving the day from danger with his demonic powers. Meanwhile, Morihitos role as Romeo heightens Nicos delusions of grandeur about their budding romance, which are hilariously punctuated with reality TV-esque confessionals taking place in her imagination, where she talks up the progress in their relationship in the heat of her overzealous spells.Bibury Animation Studios/Gkids The other half of Witch Watchs winning comedic chops is its referential humor to other popular manga series. Witch Watch has the luxury of being a Shonen Jump manga series, but it doesnt shirk from the opportunity to straight-up name-drop marquee anime titles in its punchlines. This manifests in through straight-man characters like Morihito and their closeted otaku teacher Yuri Makuwas punchline to sight gags where Morihitos hair floats on end like adult Gon in Hunter x Hunter, Nicos anti-gravity spell making their classroom look like Demon Slayers Infinity Castle, or Nicos flight spell causing her classmates fly around like Piccolo from Dragon Ball Z. All of the above comes with the territory of being familiar with big shonen titles. So, itll be interesting to see if the show will include niche titles in its Rolodex of referential humor. The theatrical premiere of Witch Watch effectively sets the stage for an anime with the potential to be 2025s most charming and lighthearted romantic comedy. Heres hoping Witch Watchwill continue to cast its spell on anime fans when it premieres on Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Hulu on April 6. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.