17 February 2026: I’m qualityslopmaxxing my Winter 2026 anime season by watching Ikoku Nikki (Journal with Witch), fellow kids
I am genuinely impressed by these business cards.
I was aware of Ikoku Nikki (Journal with Witch or occasionally Foreign Country Diary) before the Winter 2026 anime season began, but I didn’t have much interest in it. However, I noticed it attracted a significant amount of praise each week, so I figured I ought to give it a try. Turns out it is excellent, and refreshingly serious if you’re in the mood for some heavier adult-type fare in your seasonal anime content.
Makio should really use a desktop computer instead.
I say heavier, but it’s not overly melodramatic or discomfiting, at least through the first seven episodes. The characters’ feelings and reactions on display each week feel genuine, and I’ve never felt as though the series was trying to manipulate its viewers into an emotional response. Part of that probably has to do with how it portrays Makio’s penchant for keeping people at arm’s length (which naturally brings challenges after volunteering to be her newly orphaned niece’s guardian). I suspect even viewers who strongly relate to Makio’s discomfort with other people are more likely to commiserate with her internal conflicts than they are to feel secondhand anxiety, necessarily.
Either Makio wasn’t trying to hide it from Asa, or she is terrible at hiding things.
Despite being wholly positive about Ikoku Nikki I don’t have much to say about the series as a whole or about the episodes individually, so far. I am glad that the source manga is complete, so we’re more likely to get a full adaptation with a real conclusion. I don’t know if the current pace means if it will finish in a single cours or if more will be required, but I’m at least optimistic viewers won’t be left unsatisfied.
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