At the start of reading this series, I believed that the premise of this story was incredibly juvenile. A rom-com/harem series set in high-school where the main character can switch bodies with anyone by kissing... I wouldn't fault the reader into thinking that this would be just another harem series, and to be fair there are times it does get immature. However, looking deeper and you can find a genuinely competent, well thought out story with many likable characters and a serious passion for the work by the author, Miki Yoshikawa.

This shouldn't come as any surprise when you look at her past work, Yankee-kun to Megane-chan. Both of these stories actually have some similarities, with a delinquent male protagonist who is not well-liked throughout the school, a high school setting, and themes of trying to find your place and be happy with who you are. I would absolutely say that if you liked her previous work then you will enjoy this work as well, but that doesn't mean they are carbon copies of one another. I will touch on this later, but first...

Let's get this out of the way, the story of Yamada & the 7 Witches is good. I would even say very good at times. The reason I say this is because of the care Yoshikawa-sensei takes with crafting the world of Suzaku High. Let's start with the summary of the plot: Yamada & Shiraishi discover one day that they have the ability to switch bodies with anyone. Spurred on by their own intrigue as well as the student council vice-president Miyamura, they re-establish the Supernatural Studies Club and start investigating their powers. Along the way, they discover more witches, with their own set of problems, and different groups of students who wish to use these powers for their own reasons.

With the above summary, we can see that the story is, for all intents and purposes, an amalgamation of Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life, Supernatural, and Mystery. Each category I have mentioned is an important part of this story, so looking at each individually can help determine whether the story will be a good read for you (the reader of this review). To start things off, the Comedy portion of this story has always fallen flat.

In my opinion, the comedy was the absolute worst part of this story. That isn't to say I didn't find some moment's to chuckle at, as the characters are very intriguing, however, there was always a heavy reliance on "ecchi" humour, dirty jokes, and accidental situations. These are all tropes used in typical harem manga, like To-Love-Ru or Love Hina, though I must stress that it never gets as gratuitous as those series. That doesn't make it any less groan-worthy and your mileage may vary. If you like that sort of humour then this won't matter as much, but I do believe it was worth pointing out.

Many "harem" tropes utilized within the comedy aspect of this series, also appear within the romance side as well. In contrast, the romance of the story fares a lot better. I believe that this is because the characters in the series are likeable and, to an extent, believable human beings. Unlike in harems, not every single woman in the show falls head over heels for the Yamada, which is nice. Of course, there are still a number of girls who want to be with him but that is not a problem given the context of the story. Yamada helps a lot of people out throughout the story, and so it is inevitable for at least a few of them to fall for him (there are 5 to be exact, out of the 15+ people he helps out all over). So the problem here is not that there are girls that like him, the problem is that the end couple had been decided on since the first chapter.

The appeal of the Harem genre comes down to the appeal of the women in the series. You read those types of series to cheer for the best girl, the girl you want the main character to end up with. Another problem is this series is that they try to appeal to these types of readers even though it is dictated from the very beginning who the main love interest is going to be. Due to this, I found that there were many pointless or boring chapters since the plot was never progressing. Those moments were the most boring to me, however, that also depended on the "rival" the series was focusing on at that time. If you like the character they are focusing on, then you will not find the chapter boring. In a way, Yoshikawa-sensei did her job properly but I don't think it was a good move.

What about the main couple though? Together, I thought the chemistry was really good. Yamada has a lot of charisma with his character, so playing off the more stoic yet playful Shiraishi was a delight. Here is where we get into one of the biggest issues of the series: except for the first arc & the very last arc, Shiraishi is completely sidelined. I have no idea why this was done, maybe it was because Yoshikawa-sensei didn't know what to do with her, however, this was a massive detriment to the story. Personally, I would have liked to see more of their relationship together, so it was a huge shame to see them sideline her and do other things to Yamada.

Individually, I think the main characters were... fine? Yamada is as dumb as an ox, but with a heart of gold. He can be very emotional but is also stubborn and with a penchant for being too forward. He does go through a lot of growth, especially because of Shiraishi and his friends, but the traits stay the same. That isn't a bad thing though, as he has a lot of charisma and it made me want to see what he would do next. Shiraishi was also fun to read about, seeing her cold demeanour turn into a more stoic and playful one. She absolutely had some of the best character growth in the series, which makes it more painful that she was done away with after the first arc.

Where this series really shines is with the side characters. Almost every single one of them is a great addition to the story, and every single one of them has had a purpose to either the story, the protagonist or to the world of the series. It's hard to go over all of them in detail without rambling or spoiling anything, but there are a couple I wanted to mention. Miyamura is Yamada's closest friend in the series and is pivotal to Yamada's growth. He is the one that pushes him to pursue the other witches and constantly supports Yamada through his endeavours. Tamaki, one of the Student Council President candidates, had the greatest growth of the series. While his personality at the beginning is incredibly grating, he grows into a confident and outspoken person who will fight for what he thinks is right. Finally Noa, the best girl in the series. She steals every scene she is in because of her childish nature and overall nonchalant attitude. She does what she wants in the story and is always open and honest which is a great foil for Yamada.

It's characters like that that make the Slice of Life aspect engaging. Seeing the characters deal with day to day aspects of high school, while a bit glamorous and melodramatic, was also fun and uplifting. It even made me a bit nostalgic for high school and the friends I made along the way. The flaw here is that this series didn't give a good enough balance between this portion and the Mystery/Supernatural portion. There were many times I forgot that they were even in school since you never really see them in class or studying (except at the very beginning and at the very end). It isn't a huge issue, but it was definitely prevalent throughout.

It also doesn't help that the art of the series is pretty generic. Yoshikawa-sensei used to be an assistant to Hiro Mashima, of Fairy Tail & Rave Master fame, and you can see a lot of similarities in the way they design their characters and worlds. I do enjoy Yoshikawa-sensei's artwork though, as unlike Mashima-sensei the characters are fairly distinct from her other series and from one another. Backgrounds are not very prevalent either early on, neither is the shading though the linework is done well. This changes as you go through the story, but expect many panels of blank backgrounds or bland/generic. The exception to this is the area where a lot of the supernatural rituals occur, which is very distinct, as well as the student council room and some more "exotic" areas they go to sparingly. Speaking about the supernatural...

Honestly, I'm very mixed on this portion. On one hand, there is a lot of creativity in terms of what the powers do and how the characters utilize them. I would argue it was one of the biggest draws of the series, "Who are the 7 witches?", "What are their powers?", "How is this going to affect their high-school life?". Overall I think the powers and the utilization/effect on the story was done very well, however near the end it got to a point where plot points and abilities were being re-used in a very similar manner. Having had to read those moments again and go through similar experiences again was not just boring, but also insulting to the reader. I won't mention the biggest offender of this problem, but you'll know exactly what I mean when or if you decide to read it. The most I can say is that I will not forget those moments.

Everything above leads into the biggest portion of the story: the Mystery. By far the best aspect of the series, shining just as much as the side characters. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed learning about the witches and all the other secrets of this high school, it is incredibly well thought out and well written. With the exception of some filler chapters about the other girls I mentioned earlier, every single moment spent within this story is used to unravel another mystery of the witches. I can tell that the story was meticulously constructed in a way to keep the mystery at the forefront, and I wholeheartedly enjoyed that... but this is where the biggest issue occurs.

At the very end of the series, everything gets bungled and the Slice of Life aspect takes over completely. I am unsure as to why Yoshikawa-sensei went in this direction but it was a major blow. Firstly, some of the plot points are wrapped up in exposition dumps, which is one of the worst things a mystery can do. There was no putting the pieces together to figure it out, it was instead just flat out explained to us. Secondly, some of the mysteries or twists came completely out of left-field, with no foreshadowing or hints. There is one very specific case of this that really offended me, involving a character named Takuma, that I specifically can't get out of my head. Finally, there are some questions that are introduced in the last 30ish chapters but then never explained again. There is no reason for this to have happened unless Yoshikawa-sensei just didn't want to work on the series anymore.

It is pretty disappointing to see the story get rushed like that near the end, but it still doesn't take away from the overall core of the series. There is a lot good about this manga, as I have highlighted above, but the issues with the ending makes this a little difficult to recommend. So let me put it like this: If you have read the work of this author before and enjoyed it, I would definitely recommend that you read it. I would also recommend this to you if you want a decent high school story or fun characters, though I also caution viewers that they may end up disappointed with how the mystery ends up if that is the reason they wish to read it.

Overall, Yamada & The 7 Witches is a good read. There is a lot of creativity, a lot of fun and engaging characters, and a genuinely good mystery. But that bungled ending for the mystery leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. That, coupled with some of the ecchi parts that are thrown in, it's hard for me to say that it's a great or spectacular manga. I guess in this case it's more about the journey rather than the destination, so if you want a simple but fun ride I would definitely climb on board.

Story: 7/10 - Good but the ending missed the mark for me.
Art: 5/10 - Nothing bad, but generic. Once or twice has a beautiful image or spread though.
Character: 8/10 - The side characters make this way more enjoyable than it has any right to be.
Enjoyment/Engagement: 7/10 - I wanted to know what happened next, and while there was some disappointment I still loved it all.
Overall: 7/10 - It is a good read, but it can be juvenile and the ending leaves a sour spot. I recommend with caution.