The World's Strongest Witch turns walkthroughs into the best magic trick

Lorna Hermit is not your typical isekai protagonist. She's kicked out of her home in disgrace, her father thinks her SSS-rank skill called "Internet" is worse than a G-rank one, and she's left alone in the forest. What nobody expected is that this skill gives her access to guides, wikis, and forums from the video game world she lives in. And just like that, this adorable little girl becomes absurdly powerful in a matter of minutes.

The World's Strongest Witch premieres its first three episodes and makes its premise clear: this is a LitRPG shamelessly inspired by Dragon Quest, but with a twist that surprises. Lorna interprets everything she reads online as divine word and repeats over and over that "the internet is never wrong." That innocence against the cynicism surrounding her power is exactly what carries the series, and for now it works wonderfully.

A walk through real gamer culture

What makes this series special is that it feels made by people who play games. It's not the typical anime with status windows and levels that only borrows the aesthetic of video games. There are real references here, the kind that get a laugh out of you if you've spent hours on forums or watching guides on YouTube.

In the second episode they drop an "I took an arrow to the knee" joke that takes you straight back to high school years browsing forums. And there's another scene where Lorna uses a crack outside a boss's reach to attack it from a distance without taking damage. If you ever played Demon's Souls, you know exactly what I'm talking about: it's the same strategy used to kill the Tower Knight.

Cleverness over budget

The animation is nothing special, but the team hides it with smart editing and cuts to a sixteen-bit style reminiscent of Super Nintendo games. The result is a cute and fun series that's easy to watch and leaves you wanting more.

The only complaint goes to the English dub, which is two episodes behind. Lindsay Seidel was clearly asked to give Lorna an "uwu" voice, and while it's not inappropriate for the character, listening to someone talk like a Discord puppygirl for twenty minutes straight gets old.

Asking for video game-inspired anime to feel like they're made by people who actually understand what makes them appealing shouldn't be a lot to ask. The World's Strongest Witch pulls it off, and hopefully it raises the bar for the whole LitRPG and isekai genre. The series is available on Crunchyroll.