W: Wish

For a short series, W Wish is actually a very good anime. Considering that there's only 13 episodes here and each episode contains only 9 minutes of actual story content, I am absolutely blown away just by how well the pacing was done here. It is flawless. This anime doesn't feel rushed in any way whatsoever. The story itself is fairly simple, a young guy named Junna Tono lives his days blissfully with his twin sister Senna. They go together to the same school, live in the same house and share every moment together. Beyond this blissful setting however lies a dark past that revolves aroundthe day his parents died in a car accident. What exactly happened? Lo and behold, the central premise of this anime is born. From there on the story will almost exclusively revolve around Junna, his twin sister and one more character - Inohara Haruhi, as he struggles to remember the past. So the story, while simple and often predictable, does have a certain element of novelty to it. It is a decent story, through and through. I also applaud the fact that 'W Wish' did not lose its focus at any time, it solely focused on the premise, had brilliant pacing and in the end managed to answer ALL the questions. All too often series like this will start dishing out fillers or plot irrelevant episodes. Not here however which is a positive considering the short time span of each episode. The characters were likeable and realistic portrayals of teenagers. I felt that Junna, especially, fit perfectly in to this kind of story. Surprised by his memories of past, he not always knows what to do. I found that to be a nice break from male leads that are always in control of the situation, which is fairly romantic but not always consistent with reality - depending on the situation. Likewise the female characters nicely contributed to the story, even though for the most part the anime focuses only on Haruhi and Senna. Some viewers might be disgruntled by the implied romantic vibes between Junna and his sister but then again we are dealing with a different culture here. This wouldn't be the first time siblings or otherwise close family members are shown to have romantic feelings for each other in Japanese media. The art fairly good and accurate. The style itself is very appealing and attention was paid not only to the characters but also background, static objects etc. The only issue here would be long distance drawing; the characters are over-simplified at certain distances but that is common to virtually all animes. The music itself is nothing special to be honest, I found the OST to be lacking slightly. On the other hand the voice acting was authentic so I guess the sound department as a whole can be considered fairly good. All things considered, a very good anime. Predictable but nevertheless decent story, flawless pacing, realistic characters and an OK sound department. As I mentioned before the romance aspect can be off-puting to some but even with a slight knowledge of anime, one will know that incest is a frequent theme in Japanese media. I for one enjoyed it as it was presented in an innocent, non-lustful way. Altogether, "W Wish" gets 8 points from me.

Overall, it was okay. But don't let the genre tags fool you. First of all, it's not a romance. Unless you think of an overly clingy little sister as romantic, I guess. There are no romantic feelings involved in neither side whatsoever. Also, I wouldn't really consider it Harem. There are 2 girls clinging to him, which both are in some way (it's complicated) his sisters. That'd be a pretty small harem in my opinion. So, if you want to watch this because you're looking for a harem/romance, you most likely won't be satisfied. Considering the short duration of the show, the story was fine. As it alsoincludes a supernatural aspect, some things are left unclear or simply have to be accepted 'as is' for it to work out. It's rather predictable, nothing mindblowing.

W: Wish, or Double Wish, is an anime adaptation of a pre-existing visual novel developed by Princess Soft. The anime is short, sweet, and simple. If you go into this anime expecting anything super deep and philosophical, you will be disappointed, because that isn’t what W: Wish was meant to be. W: Wish was meant to be a cute, light-hearted story, and it does this well. Art: 6/10 The art isn’t anything ground-breaking, but it wasn’t meant to be. Being released in the early/mid-2000s, W:Wish looks like any other anime released during that time period. It isn’t necessarily boring or ugly, just very average. Theart doesn’t add anything to the story, but it doesn’t take anything away from it, either. If you enjoy a simple, moe art style, you’ll enjoy the visuals of Wish. Some special effects might be a little outdated, but that’s to be expected, as this review is being written 20 years later. Characters: 5/10 The characters are alright. As episodes are 13 minutes, there isn’t much room for extreme character development. Side characters are very plain and static, but given they don’t take up an insane amount of screen time, this is fine. The main characters, Juuna, Senna, and Haruhi have a little more depth and character development, but not much. I found Senna the most sympathetic, but also slightly annoying. Overall, the characters serve their purpose, but they aren’t particularly memorable or super interesting. They’re just… okay. Pacing/Plot: 7/10 W: Wish’s story is relatively interesting. Juuna, our main character, and Senna, his twin sister, live together after the loss of their parents, an event that Juuna has trouble remembering. Everything seems to be fine, until Haruhi, a girl claiming to be Juuna’s childhood friend, reenters Juuna’s life. This prompts Juuna to try and remember his mysterious past, and that’s where the plot kicks off. I found the story entertaining, and it kept my interest the whole way through. If you can ignore the incestuous romantic tension between Juuna and Senna, it isn’t bad at all. The pacing was probably the best part of W: Wish. The 13 minute episode run time was a perfect choice for this series. Had the episodes been any longer, the plot would’ve been dragged out, which would’ve made the anime a dull, boring watch, and had the episodes been shorter, the story would’ve made little sense. Overall, my favorite part of W: Wish In conclusion, W:Wish isn’t a bad watch. It’s something you can watch while folding clothes, or doing homework, as it doesn’t require much critical thinking to understand. While it lacks in some parts, like its characters, it makes up for it in its good pacing and interesting premise. 6/10

Merchandise

Links may contain affiliate references

Studio

Themes