Journal With Witch Ep. 13 “Morning Is Here”: Life Going On With Style [Review]

Journal with Witch may be ending the anime series at Ep. 13 “Morning is Here”, but it’s going out in style. Specifically: life will go on for all of the main characters in this story long after the anime itself has ended. But at the very least, this anime is ending on a high note and plenty of good cheer, courtesy of Asa’s musical debut in this finale.

Journal with Witch Ep. 13 “Morning is Here”: Details in Brief

Journal with Witch Ep. 13 “Morning is Here” is the thirteenth and final episode (you can read my reviews of Ep. 1, Ep. 2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4, Ep. 5, Ep. 6, Ep. 7, Ep. 8, Ep. 9, Ep. 10, Ep. 11, and Ep. 12 here) of this slice of life comedy-drama anime series. Said anime is the anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Tomoko Yamashita.

Shuka (Durarara!!x2 Shō, 91 Days, Natsume’s Book of Friends: Fifth Season) is the animation studio behind this anime. Miyuki Oshiro is the director of this anime, with Kōhei Kiyasu as the writer, and Kensuke Ushio as the composer for the music.

Speaking of the music: the opening theme song for Journal with Witch is “Sonare” (ソナーレ) by Tomoo. Meanwhile, “Kotozute” (言伝; lit. ’Hearsay’) by Bialystocks is the ending theme song.

Synopsis

Alas, Journal with Witch has only just recently ended its run. In fact, Ep. 13 “Morning is Here” only just made its debut on March 29, 2026 exclusively on Crunchyroll. Thus, for those of you wishing to avoid spoilers, here’s the synopsis for this finale episode from Crunchyroll below:

A chance meeting at the station leads Asa to invite Chiyo to her band club’s upcoming performance.

Journal with Witch Ep. 13 “Morning is Here”: The Good

Ep. 13 “Morning is Here” continues the tradition of Journal with Witch having an amazing story from start to finish. With much of that story centering around Asa (voiced by Fuko Mori (JP)) and her aunt Makio (voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro (JP)). To be specific: it’s the life advice Makio constantly gives to Asa over the course of this finale (and the anime as a whole) that lets Asa finally shine on stage, singing in front of a live audience.

In particular this time though: Asa is singing to a friend named Chise (voiced by Himena Irei (JP)), who she met in the final moments of the previous episode. It’s Asa wanting to cheer up that friend after finding out about that scandal involving a Japanese medical university doctoring entrance exams to fail female applicants (based heavily on a real life scandal) that becomes the primary reason Asa is singing in this outdoor concert. I don’t know about you all, but I’m getting a strong sense of yuri developing between them. Alas, we don’t find out if any yuri ever blossomed in between them, but we do get a Mad Max: Fury Road reference from Chise. “I witness you” is something only fans of that movie will understand, I’m afraid.

As good as this story’s middle is though, it’s the ending that really hits you in the feels. Asa basically dreams of herself a decade in the future, eating a lunch with her 10 years older best friend Emiri (voiced by Sumire Morohoshi (JP)) while they make plans to visit Makio. Honestly, the vague nature of that dream makes you wonder if the current events of the anime are in fact a future Asa dreaming of her past. That vagueness contributes a dream-like quality to the ending, but it also makes it feels like it’s ending on a high note. The characters’ lives will go on long after the story has ended. It’s such a mundane ending, but honestly, it feels quite appropriate for this anime.

Oh, and to top it all off: Shuka’s animation team went all out on the level of detail for this finale. The fruit on the “birthday cake” for Asa’s deceased parents have an exquisite level of detail to them, nearly on par with more food-centric anime such as Dungeon Meshi and Black Butler. There’s even much attention to the smoothness of the animation, especially when Asa’s senior starts playing on her guitar to accompany her singing, where you can see some very accurate and complex finger movements to make the guitar do its thing.

Journal with Witch Ep. 13 “Morning is Here”: The Bad

Honestly, as great as the animation quality jump is for this finale, it does make me wish the rest of the anime had that level of quality. The vast majority of Journal with Witch had an animation quality that was…adequate. Not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but not great either. You can definitely tell that this anime had a hard budget ceiling compared to the high quality animation of, say, the average isekai anime.

And last but not least: there is no action in this anime. Journal with Witch continues to be a slice of life comedy-drama anime all the way to the end. There is none of the bloody action of a shonen action adventure in this anime. If you want that, then you will have to look elsewhere.

Anime Recommendations

Fortunately, there are many bloody and action-packed alternatives in the form of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, DAN DA DAN, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, Zenshu, Blue Box, Solo Leveling, Black Butler, Nyaight of the Living Cat, May I Ask for One Final Thing?, TRIGUN STARGAZE, and/or Daemons of the Shadow Realm. On the other hand, if you want more peaceful anime series like this one, then you might also like Spy x Family, Senpai is an Otokonoko, Apocalypse Hotel, Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf, The Ancient Magus’ Bride, My Dress-Up Darling, This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Hana-Kimi, and/or Witch Hat Atelier.

What did you think of this final episode of Journal with Witch? Tell us your dreamy thoughts in the comment section below.

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