A Chinese fantasy web novel gets a high-quality animated adaptation.
Crunchyroll has announced that it will stream the upcoming Chinese animated series Release That Witch once it premieres. The news was shared ahead of the show's premiere at Anime Festival Asia (AFA) Singapore 2025, which will take place 28-30 November. The series will stream worldwide except in Japan, China, and Korea, with more release details to be revealed later.
The story is about a modern engineer that reincarnates as a prince in a medieval world and uses magic like technology to rebuild his kingdom and unite witches with humans.
You can watch the trailer below, which shows off an art style leaning more toward Western fantasy aesthetics than traditional anime.
Release That Witch is based on the fantasy web novel by Er Mu, which ran from March 2016 to June 2019, spanning 1,498 chapters across five volumes. The story also inspired a manhua adaptation illustrated by Yeqing and Kalin, completed at Chapter 695. Both the web novel and manhua are available to read on Qidian's WebNovel.com.
Here is the synopsis of Release that Witch, via Crunchyroll:
Modern man Cheng Yan unexpectedly dies and his soul travels to a medieval European-style otherworldly continent, becoming Roland, the fourth prince of the Kingdom of Graycastle. This playboy prince saves the witch Anna at an execution scene and is shocked to discover that magic really exists in this medieval-style otherworld.
When Anna, as a witch, displays her magical skills, Roland realizes that magic can replace some modern technology, so he formulates a "great development of magical industry" plan. Thus, in an era where everyone hates witches, the independent Roland begins to recruit witches, using their magic to transform Border Town and improve the lives of himself and the locals.
In addition to using magic to develop industry, Roland also introduces modern business ideas to Border Town. Under Roland's leadership, people manufacture firearms, and Roland gains public support. As the number of witches in Roland's camp increases, the magical industry continues to improve. At the same time, Roland will face battles with great families and other princes and princesses.
As his territory expands, Roland successfully creates a harmonious coexistence between witches and ordinary people, gradually bringing the western territory of Graycastle and even the entire kingdom under his rule, and slowly uncovering the secrets of the devil race and the Witch Empire.
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