Thanks for the clarification! I gave the 1st chapter a look, and it was really funny! I like how everyone has their name and lvl over their heads, and how he put all his points into strength, haha. I wanna read more of this now.

If nothing else, you can just watch the opening. It's pretty fantastic, and was honestly why I tried the anime in the first place.

Daww...I love that ending part. Bold Shiraishi is the best.

Okay, that was pretty good and cute, especially seeing all the witches with their hats xD But they show a lot of spoilery things in the opening!! D: Why do they do that..?!

If you haven't read the manga then you'll have no context for what you're watching until it happens.  In that regard, the only thing it spoils is that some cute girls are going to appear.  The title itself tells us that there are seven witches.

Of course, many of those in Japan who watched the anime already knew the story from the manga.  I've seen anime openings which have characters who won't even appear in the anime.  They're less concerned with anime spoilers than we are.  Pre-release trailers will often show a lot of key moments.

Yeah, that is true. I just can't help but wonder a bit why they would show all of the witches. Part of the joy of reading it was the mystery of the next witch, like what they looked like, and what their power was. They even showed the most dangerous one too! I just feel maybe they could have left some of it a mystery? Just a nitpick from me.

Also, I read the 1st chapter of Again!!, and it's really good! The art is great, the main characters are interesting, and the story's got me hook, line and sinker. I didn't expect that girl to be sent back as well, let alone continue to stick with the main guy.

I've always found it interesting how an animated work, where so much more effort goes into production, is often used simply to promote the written work. I mean, I suppose it makes sense based on the profit margins of both (mangaka salary vs. animation team, manga volume sales+magazine vs. DVD)...but it's such a difference with how this type of material is treated in the west.

I guess that's a bit of an aside, but it came to mind reading your post. It seems like a given that the Japanese audience is familiar with the source material, since the manga industry is so substantial there.

I feel like the anime didn't have much build up to the witch reveals, as in they were revealed to be witches shortly after being introduced. I can't really remember how Saionji's entrance went down...but I thought she only appeared after they decided to meet her. So her first appearance made it clear she was a witch.

Asuka is totally a spoiler though. Watching the anime first, I was totally expecting that reveal. 

That was one of the twists I mentioned, Aki being there.  It really changes the dynamic of the story.  She's a really funny character, too.  She's up there with Usami, the Danchou, who I think is a fantastic character.  Usami is a really good person but she is so stubborn that she is her own worst enemy.  Really, it kills me that she messes up the main character's attempts to fix everything almost as much as the primary antagonist.  The author did a good job creating personalities that clash, thus creating natural conflict.

Actually, I just found out earlier that the mangaka is female and that she's writing/designing the new upcoming anime Yuri!!! on Ice, which is about male figure skaters.

Yeah, it really does feel backwards, almost.  I see a lot of new anime fans here who have not yet realized that manga is the key industry in Japan, not anime.  Most anime is basically paid advertising that airs really late at night.  The fact that they're trying to use anime to sell figures and posters and such actually explains a lot about some of the copy-cat anime that gets produced.  

What kind of reinforced that realization for me was then I noticed that manga/anime characters read manga all the time but they only seem to watch anime when the narrative is trying to stress that they're otaku.

Darn, despite not really wanting to see the anime, I am getting more curious about how it is, just out of morbid curiousity. I can't really imagine how it plays out in a short amount of time, haha...

Yeah, I just finished the 1st part where Imamura gets the old members to return and saved the club. This manga really is a good read. It's well written, the characters are great, and the humor is great as well. I love the honey trap girls joke, and Aki as well as the glasses guy are just too funny. Her character not how I expected at all. She's pretty goofy and just an overall oddball compared to Imamura, and seems quite lonely... The glasses guy though, his random English cursing just cracks me up. The manga overall is quite comical, even though I feel like that's not the goal of it, and it's pretty great. Characters are well made and memorable too, even the minor ones. Imumura is nothing like his appearance and is quite timid, Usami is way too strict and stubborn to a fault, Aki is not such a bad girl and is quite funny and friendly, Reo is a very friendly, kind, and kind of not very shy of a person (Who else would actually go through with talking with Imamura with his scary appearance and reputation) It makes for unique characters and story, and doesn't do cliche things like other manga. Well, except maybe the lead cheerleader. She feels very much a typical villain, but it works here.

Overall, it's great and I am hooked. I can't stop reading it..

What I like is that the manga keeps being fun.  Yeah, there are serious moments and themes but it never turns into a drag.  The comedic timing is just really good.  I admire writers who can do that.  As you mentioned, I think Aki is a good example, where she acts like an airhead so often but now and then she will show a much deeper expression.  She's funny and sort of a scatterbrain but she is also shrewd and insightful in some areas.

I think you've almost caught up to me ...

Also, I love Reo.  She's a great character, too.  I didn't want to mention her until after the honey trap incident, though.  And, yes, the honey trap label is hilarious.  I loved it when Aki first called her that but then got stuck with it herself.  Reo probably goes through as much conflict in the manga as anyone but she's such a good person that she still tries to help.  I really want her to end up happy.  Inamura's mom is also really funny.

This is where I'm at now and I think this page is a good example of how the manga keeps the serious moments from being gloomy.

Found a manga that seems like he style you guys read called Tomo-chan Wa Onnanoko! It's a really funny manga about a girl who is a total tomboy, trying to get her best friend to realize that that she has feelings for him. Problem is he's as dense as a blackhole(and so is she in some points) and treats her like a bro all the time. Nothing too original sure, but the characters really make this special with the way they interact with one another. It's up to chapter 359, but each chapter is only a single page, so you can catch up rather quickly(basically like 20 chapters into a normal weekly manga) and there is a new chapter every day from Monday to Friday(it's on hiatus until next month now though). This is the first chapter, to get a feel for it.