Fans who prefer their fantasy anime in English have a new show to add to the list. Crunchyroll has released the first English dub episode of The World's Strongest Witch, the anime adaptation of Mochimaru Sakaki's light novel series about a girl whose so-called useless skill turns out to be the internet.
Crunchyroll announced the dub yesterday, revealing the full cast and crew alongside the premiere. According to Crunchyroll, new dubbed episodes will arrive "every Wednesday at 6:00 a.m. PT."
The World's Strongest Witch English Dub Cast
Lindsay Seidel leads the English cast as Lorna, the young witch at the center of the story. She is joined by a mix of Crunchyroll regulars in the supporting roles. Here is the cast for the first episode:
- Lorna voiced by Lindsay Seidel
- Rowser voiced by Blake McNamara
- Brau voiced by Randy Pearlman
- Yggdrasil voiced by Mikaela Krantz
- Lord of the Woods voiced by Trey Upton
- Lorna's mom voiced by Maganda Marie
Additional voices are provided by Conner Allison, Tom Aglio, Greg Dulcie, Jonathan Lim, Jordan Kendrick, Zach Zeidman, Dusty Feeney and Cheyenne Haynes.
Who Is Behind The Dub
The dub is produced at Crunchyroll's own studio, with Manuel Angel Aragon serving as voice director. Here is the full crew list Crunchyroll shared:
- Studio: Crunchyroll
- Studio Producers: Justin Cook, Michael Harcourt, Nathanael Harrison
- Producer: Zach Bolton
- Adaptation Supervisor: Macy Anne Johnson
- Adaptation: Domonique French
- Adaptation Prep: Stevie Rae Krieger
- Voice Director: Manuel Angel Aragon
- Talent Coordination: Tara A. Williams, Brittni Hurley
- Engineering Managers: Gino Palencia, Brandon Peters
- Engineer: Paola Guzman
- Mixer: James Baker
What Is The World's Strongest Witch About?
The series follows Lorna, who is thrown out by her family after her magical ability is judged to be worthless. That ability turns out to be anything but. Yen Press, which publishes the original light novels in English, describes the setup like this:
"When Lorna manifests a completely useless ability, she's labeled an embarrassment to her family and kicked out of the house. With no money or food, she's about to hit rock bottom. But then, she figures out how to use her supposedly worthless SSS-Rank skill, 'Internet.' This cheat-level talent gives her the know-how to gather an unlimited amount of valuable items and easily acquire rare equipment."
The description ends on a joke that sums up the tone of the show, noting that Lorna is free to do anything she wants, if only she could figure out what "lmfao" means. It is a fun twist on the usual isekai cheat skill, since Lorna is not reborn in another world. Instead, she is a fantasy native who somehow has access to an online strategy guide for her own life.
From Web Novel To Anime
The series goes by a much longer full title in English: The World's Strongest Witch: I'm Starting My Free Life in a World Where Only I Can See the Online Strategy Guide. That title does a good job of explaining the hook before you even press play.
Mochimaru Sakaki first published the story on the Shosetsuka ni Naro website in May 2022 before Square Enix picked it up for print. According to Crunchyroll, six volumes with illustrations by riritto have been released in Japan under the SQEX Novel imprint so far. A manga adaptation by Tamaki Toga has also been running since May 2023.
The anime is directed by Joji Furuta, whose past work includes SHAMAN KING, at studios Bridge and Aisle. Shoji Yonemura handles series composition, and Yuki Morimoto is the character designer.
The subtitled version is already streaming on Crunchyroll as part of its fall lineup, so viewers who start with the dub now will be able to follow along week by week from here.
Will you be watching The World's Strongest Witch in English, or are you sticking with the subtitled version?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.