Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Different Country Diary, Foreign Country Diary
Japanese: ้ๅฝๆฅ่จ
English: Journal with Witch
Information
Episodes:
13
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Jan 4, 2026 to Mar 29, 2026
Broadcast:
Sundays at 23:00 (JST)
Duration:
23 min. per ep.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Score:
8.801 (scored by 3000930,009 users)
Ranked:
#38 2
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#2433
Members:
96,793
Favorites:
1,454
Available AtResources
Streaming Platforms
May be unavailable in your region.
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Ranked #38Popularity #2433Members 96,793 Thirty-five-year-old novelist Makio Koudai never had a good relationship with her older sister Minori, who always berated her for being different. Due to this, Makio is not stricken with grief upon hearing the news that Minori and her husband died in a car crash. But when Makio is asked to identify their bodies, she runs into her 15-year-old niece, Asa Takumi, whom she has not seen in years.
As Asa struggles to process her parents' death, Makio reassures her that her complicated feelings are valid and suggests that the teenager start writing in a diary as a way to cope with the loss. Upon learning that no other relatives wanted to take in Asa, Makio decides to become her guardian despite her lack of experience. In a world full of uncertainty, the novelist and teenager must learn to live with each other while figuring themselves out.
[Written by MAL Rewrite] | |
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MALxJapan -More than just anime-
| Characters & Voice Actors
| "Sonare (ใฝใใผใฌ)" by TOMOO (eps 1-12)
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| "Kotozute (่จไผ)" by Bialystocks
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Reviews
Apr 10, 2026
Journal with Witch is a measured, yet immensely moving and captivating drama about loss, grief, and self-discovery. The boundlessly complicated emotions of Asa losing both her parents at one of the most pivotal moments of growth in her life, the adjustment to new surroundings amongst people doing their best to accommodate but still falling short in one way or another, and the unexpected recontextualization of how she views her parents and their attempts at raising her all swirl together into an unnerving mass of despair and loneliness. At the same time, it conveys the trials foisted upon her new caretakers in a manner that simultaneously
...
sympathizes with their struggles yet still holds them accountable for the mistakes they make in a situation they chose to take responsibility for, making this all one big round of imperfect people doing their utmost to navigate a fragile situation. Thatโs not to say itโs doom and gloom all the time; in fact the levity brought about by the adorably charming and humorous interactions between Asa and her socially awkward, yet surprisingly wise and well-spoken novelist aunt makes the tenser moments between the two that much more endearing.
It also cannot be understated how incredible the acting is and how much that contributes to the gravitas of each scene. Whether itโs the immense experience of Miyuki Sawashiro as a newfound caretaker or Fuuko Mori in her first major role deftly handling the wavering emotional state of a troubled teenager, the vocal performances in this are truly among the best from this year so far, as is the superb directorial work of Miyuki Ooshiro. The layering of multiple dialogue scenes into a nonchronological blanket in order to form a more thematic throughline for a given idea, the snappy, often purposefully jarring editing that keeps every episode moving at a brisk pace, and the seamless integration of more symbolic imagery makes this a show I never wanted to stop looking at, and the deliberate limitation of flashy or more bombastic animation cuts never detracts from its sense of forward momentum. This is the Rakugo Shinjuu of this season, bringing to the table a delightfully complex dish filled with as many emotions as possible. It manages to answer all the lingering questions it deems necessary, while leaving certain ideas open to interpretation so as not to overly spoonfeed its audience, leaving you well satisfied by the time the final episode draws to a close.
Reviewerโs Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Apr 8, 2026
The first episodes of "Ikoku Nikki" (2026) are bittersweet. Thereโs a sense of estrangement and distance between the two protagonists, brought on by the loss of someone who was (for better or worse) key in their lives.
It feels like every conversation carries a heavy emotional weight, as they are constantly interrupted by sudden memories that take time to process. Not many anime portray the grieving process in such a restrained way.
Also, its handling of time is excellent, because when you least expect itโฆ a seemingly isolated line of dialogue can come back in a powerful way to reinforce its meaning.
Itโs a shame I canโt say
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the same about the second half of the series, since the addition of so many bland characters (like Asaโs school classmates) makes it lose some of its strength. But Iโll stick with the best parts, the ones that actually feel relatable.
Reviewerโs Rating: 6
What did you think of this review?
Mar 30, 2026
Not Recommended
Preliminary
(5/13 eps)
Ikoku Nikki has to be the most mixed-feelings series for me, where its reception and my own view feel way too far apart. I didnโt want to write a review of it, but after seeing that there isnโt a single negative one, I got somewhat annoyed and decided to make one.
At first, when I dropped it, I thought I might give it another try someday. But now that I think about it, there are so many things I just canโt stand about this show.
The first thing is the character design. I donโt have anything against minimalistic styles, but man, the way these characters look is
...
just ugly for some reason.
Now the bigger issue: the characters themselves. People love to defend this show by saying โoh, itโs realistic,โ โitโs ADHD-coded,โ โitโs subtle,โ etc. but honestly, I donโt give a shit about that, when both of them feel completely inhuman to me. One has an extreme level of hatred toward her sister that feels way too overblown, and the other is just a cocky teenager who seems more worried about her school life even after her parents died. And yeah, I get it โescapism,โ โcoping mechanism,โ whatever. But thereโs a threshold where that stops feeling real and starts feeling forced, and this show crosses that line hard. And then the aunt keeps saying the most obvious shit like "yOuR FeeLings Are YoUrs" at one point I was just like โplease just shut the fuck up, you look like a MAN lolโ (you can let that slide, itโs just an unfunny joke).
It feels like the entire anime is more interested in sounding deep than actually being deep. Instead of properly exploring grief, relationships, or emotional complexity, it just repeats vague messages about โaccepting your feelingsโ and expects that to carry the whole story. Anyway, idk if it gets better, and honestly I donโt care enough to find out. Iโm not going any further with it, at least not right now. Thats why I'm still giving it an average score of 5.
Reviewerโs Rating: 5
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