The Magic of Desire: Diving Into the Cultural Obsession of Sexy Witches

The witch has a complicated history as a cultural fixture. From their inception as a concept, they’ve been used across literature for everything from fairy tales to propaganda. In the 20th century, the introduction of cinema and television added a whole dimension to their portrayal. First film, then television, and then – anime. How did the witch evolve across the 1900s and into the early 2000s? Let’s get on our brooms and take a ride back in time.

Early Appearances of Witches in Cinema

Image from the 1922 silent movie Haxan

One of the earliest images of witchcraft in cinema is a positive one. Haxan is a 1922 silent film from Sweden directed by Benjamin Christensen. A bold movie for its time – and even today – Christensen’s essay-picture hybrid (released elsewhere as Witchcraft Through The Ages) portrayed witchcraft as holistic and misunderstood. It argued that witch hunts were actually misunderstandings of mental illnesses and neurodivergence. A beautiful and expressive film, Haxan gave future filmmakers a lot to live up to.

However, witches remained primarily fairy tale fodder in Hollywood for years. From The Wizard of Oz to Snow White, the witch was always an antagonist and never well-meaning. She was usually typified by being a hyper-feminine arch-villainess or vindictive old crone. These portrayals were universally negative, and only served to demonize witchcraft further.

But 1942’s I Married a Witch – directed by Rene Clair – stirred the cauldron. An adorable Veronica Lake played a reincarnated witch fated to doom a man’s entire bloodline. However, she winds up breaking protocol and falling in love instead! It wasn’t a hit at the time, but over time, it was recognized as a wickedly funny and sweet romantic comedy that destigmatized the fantasy concept of the witch.

Witches Take Over In the 60s

Image taken from the popular serie Bewitched

Cult films like The Undead and Night of the Eagle served to further criticise demonizing portrayals of witchcraft. But arguably, the most important figure for normalizing witches was 1964’s Bewitched. It was a simple concept – a sweet-natured witch marries a mortal and faces the machinations of her disapproving parents – but the show proved to be a huge hit. It was followed by clones like I Dream of Jeannie and – in Japan – Urusei Yatsura. These changed key plot details, but ultimately hit many of the same plot beats.

Speaking of Japan, 1966 saw the debut of Sally The Witch. Sally is a witch from a magical realm that got herself lost and stuck in our world. She falls in love with the planet and its people, so she decides to keep her powers secret and live among humans. Inspired directly by Bewitched – which was a big hit in Japan – Sally paved the way for more to follow in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond. From Chappy and Megu-Chan in the 70s, to Creamy Mami and Minky Momo in the 80s, the magical girl (or mahou shoujo) genre evolved in its own interesting direction from there. Even if today’s depiction of witch may have changed in anime, it’s fair to say mahou shoujo remains the most popular type of magic-slinging ladies in Japanese pop culture.

Elsewhere, 70s and 80s European and American films introduced plenty of sexy witch exploitation films. Virgin Witch, Mark of the Witch, and Blood on Satan’s Claw resuscitated the witch’s image as slinky, scheming sexpots. 70S and 80s witch movies fell into two camps, quite often: sexy exploitation joints focused on the evils of cults or feminist commentary. Season of the Witch and Poison For The Fairies, for example, fell very much in the latter camp. These films could frame witchcraft as evil, liberating, unknowable, seductive, ugly – all at once. The 70s and 80s were a major turning point for this sort of complicated portrayal.

Modern Representation of Witches

Image taken from the cult movie The Craft

Then came the 90s. The Craft. Blair Witch. Scooby-Doo & The Witch’s Ghost. Practical Magic. The list goes on. Witchcraft was hot, and the only solution was to light more candles. This is the decade witches really came into their own, culturally, and got their redemption in the eyes of many. Well – not everyone. Around the 80s and 90s, the religious right began to accuse Hollywood of glorifying Satanism. This led to mass hysteria in the Christian community over things as watered-down as, say, Harry Potter. Into the 2000s, positive portrayals varied and became mainly cult fodder. However, mainstream pictures like The Witch helped to revive the demand.

Today, witches are everywhere. From cinema, to video games, books, and, as you might have guessed, Porn, there is always some room for a bit of witchcraft in popular stories. Popular witches centred media like the movie The Craft have become classics with merchandise of all kinds going on sale during Halloween, even after years of getting released. In some cases like Hocus Pocus 2 or the remake of Charmed, movies or series can even get sequels or remakes to spark nostalgia in the older gen who loved the original and the younger folks who might not know what it is. The 2018 series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is the perfect example of a remake sparking huge waves for witches in modern culture.

Picture showing the marvelous Megumin in all her glory, from the anime Konosuba

A boom can also be observed in modern anime such as Berserk, Little Witch Academia, and Witch Craft Works. These new representations fell more in line with traditional (if more fun) depictions of witches. Characters like Roxy from Mushokou Tensei or Megumin from Konosuba are some of the most popular anime characters ever, with both having a gigantic fanbase.

Adult content creators during Halloween often spice up their content with a bit of magic, by doing witches cosplay.Their often use the classic "witch" attire with their classic pointy hat, stockings and black dress or sometimes do various "sexier" other versions. Multiple pornographic parodies of popular witches also exist in the wild, one of the most popular being Elvira. Because of her stature and popularity, adult entertainers often portrayed her in sexy ways (if this is even possible).

To sum it up, witches are more popular in than ever today in modern culture, and hentai games have not been absent on the trend!

Game That Will Put a Spell On You

Today, witches and magical girls alike are pop culture fixtures that can never truly be slain. Nutaku has a wide selection of games that celebrate both, and we’re excited to show them off during this most sacred of months – Samhain! Here’s what’s in our brew.

Project QT

It’s best to start with broad strokes, and it doesn’t get much broader than Project QT! This match-3 puzzle RPG extravaganza puts dozens of adorable anime girls front and center. The Witch is one of those – an immortal babe who wasn’t that into sex until she met the protagonist. She’s busty, lusty, and probably scheming about what to put in her cauldron next.

Fantasy Tavern Sextet

Remember how we mentioned magical girls? How did they take off in their own direction? And how they’re a super popular genre in Japan now? Well, one smash-hit direction is Fantasy Tavern Sextet, a fun and sexy visual novel with plenty of waifus to choose from. Players take the role of a cook that gets spirited away into another world filled with adorable monster girls and witches. Stuck into this weird predicament and without any other options, you start working at the tavern, but as you might have guessed, it’s really not that easy and soon you realise that a lot of the girls working at there like you more than it seems. Split into 3 amazing games, Fantasy Tavern Sextet is a must if you enjoy fun light-hearted comedy filled with sexy times and magical beings, including witches!

Booty Calls

Booty Calls offers a similar variety to Project QT, but with a totally different art style. It’s more Western-influenced, which means a whole new type of hotness for some hentai fans. Included are a fair share of aliens, catgirls, and – yes – witches. There is plenty to do in this one, a large cast of stunning honeys and its addicting gameplay makes you come back for more every time. Try it out, we are sure you will fall under its spell.

Sabbat of the Witch

Sabbat of the Witch is a premium visual novel that follows a young lad and his extremely horny female friend Ayachi. Ayachi has a problem: she experiences random fits of arousal and pleasure that she can’t control! As luck would have it, this ends up being tied to magickal powers and an ancient witch conspiracy. It’s a fun and funny visual novel with plenty of hexed babes to meet n’ greet!

Under The Witch

Under The Witch… I mean, isn’t that where we all want to be? You’re cast as a useless and helpless warrior who’s been caught by a witch. After being used as her sex slave, you’re on a mission to fight back and reclaim your honor. Something tells us, however, that the busty and lusty magic mommies in your way might try to stop you. Can you resist their witchy wiles? Could ANY of us?! This full 3D experience says otherwise.

There you have it! Plenty of content for you to choose from and explore, with witches at the centre of it all! Don’t dally my friend, it’s your time to go recruit one of these beautiful characters and see why they are considered truly magical! 🧙🏻‍♀️🔮