It's still a One Shot story consisting of 3 episodes and 1 prequel (Burn the Witch #0.8) with the anime released last March 2020. This story was written by Tite Kubo who authored the popular series Bleach.
I've seen this a few years back and made a pass because it's a one shot story which guarantees cliff hangers anyway. Fast forward to the last December 2023 when I was browsing for shows and the prequel 0.8 was released.
Noel and Ninny are Pipers that are part of the Wing Bind (WB) organization that is in charge of the conservation and management of Dragons in in Reverse London. Dragon related incidents make up most of the cause of deaths in London which prompted the existence of WB as an answer to subjugate and regulate the existence of these magical creatures. All dragons are potentially dangerous but some can be domesticated for resource production which halts ideas of fully eradicating them.
There's not a lot needed to be stretched here because it's a one shot story which leaves plenty of open-ended questions probably never answered until a full serialization is released.
Reverse London is exactly London but existing on a different plane (bottom of London) where magic and dragons exists and world kept hidden from those without affinity for magic. Pipers are units that handle the domestic concerns in dragon management but are equipped and trained for subjugation.
It's canon that this story is part of the Bleach universe but under the Western Branch. I like how there's not any mention about the Eastern Branch is up to with regards to souls, hollows and death gods.
There's a limited amount of information I can share without giving away the plot and minor expositions. It's a one shot and most of the revealed lore can be done under one post.
I went in expecting cliff hangers and got exactly that. You know it's a show you like even if it ends with a cliff hanger that makes you wanting more closure. I said like but it doesn't necessarily mean it's a good show. I wouldn't call this one a good show based from the sample but it has the potential to be one based off the momentum the story went. A show is really bad if it ends with a cliff hanger and yet you can't even find yourself be invested on wanting to see the conclusion or make up one for your own.
Burn the Witch does look promising but at it's core, it's still not so different from any good shows out there. What I mean is that take off the general plot ideas and tropes apart and you'll see ideas that aren't even new. But it's strength lies in how characters are fleshed out Tite Kubo style. Kubo is know for creating impressionable characters as seen from his work Bleach. While Noel and Ninny's duo dynamic is proof of that magic.
The latest prequel 0.8 showed an improvement with the animation compared to the first 3 episodes released last 2020.
Noel's looks reminds me of Giselle Gewelle from Bleach and I can't unsee. It's probably a consequence of the author's art style.
Hope this gets full serialization.
Thanks for your time.
