It was surprising enough that Secrets of the Silent Witch, now streaming on Crunchyroll, was among the new anime in 2025 at all given the pretty quiet success of its flagship light novels, so I certainly didn't expect it to be among the best anime I've seen all year. But here we are. This anime is competing with giants like Kaiju No. 8 season 2, the excellent Gachiakuta adaptation, the ongoing Dan Da Dan, and fan-favorite My Dress-Up Darling season 2 for the best anime to watch this summer.
Secrets of the Silent Witch follows the titular silent witch Monica Everett, a high school-age girl and math genius who struggles with speaking in front of others so severely that she pioneered the only method of chant-less magic in the story's fantasy world in lieu of conquering her social anxiety. It's a bit like Komi Can't Communicate, but with magic school.
Monica's accomplishments burdened her with the rank of sage, and the responsibility that comes with being one of the Seven Sages lands her back in the type of academy she despises – not to study, but to guard royalty and investigate anti-imperial factions. It's a fantasy slice-of-life with school and mystery trappings, in essence.
The story of Secrets of the Silent Witch, which is all the novels have to go on, is fine. Good, even, especially in its considerations of what caused Monica's anxiety. It's been enough to keep me reading after several volumes despite the usual young adult novel hangups with prose and some character motivations. Monica is endearing and it's fascinating to watch the world warp around her.
What really sets the anime adaptation apart is the production. Studio Gokumi has smashed this one right out of the park, utterly eclipsing all its other works – which, for my money, previously peaked with Tsuredure Children – and rocketing it up my list of studios to follow.
In animation, character designs, voice acting, and music, Secrets of the Silent Witch is lightyears ahead of most modern fantasy anime. In two episodes it earned a seat at the table with modern greats like Frieren: Beyond Journey's End and The Ancient Magus' Bride.
More than anything, Secrets of the Silent Witch is so relentlessly funny. No other anime has made me smile like this this year. Monica's anxiety comes through with the kind of color and exaggeration that only animation can pull off, expressions and groans and caricatures conveying the exhaustion and desperation of her interactions. But it rarely feels like she's the butt of the joke. The show is not nasty or mean-spirited; it's right there with her championing solitude.
Monica is the type of character you want to root for and can't look away from, and so far Secrets of the Silent Witch is the type of anime I can't help but watch weekly simply because I can't resist new episodes. It's at 4.9 out of 5 stars on Crunchyroll after 6,500 user reviews, so I'm definitely not the only one who feels that way. A good novel series has become an exceptional anime, and you absolutely should not miss it.
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