Reviews for The Witch and the Beast

"Do you know how to break a witch's curse? Method 1: A loving kiss from a prince on a white horse." ----- "Never met one." ----- "Method 2: Hope the wrathful witch has a change of heart." ----- "I'm in this mess 'cause I can't find that bitch!" ----- In the interest of function over form, here’s a quick yardstick to judge if you’ll enjoy reading The Witch and the Beast, for those in a hurry: - Are you looking for a seinen manga replete with explosive action, intriguing characters and a mature tone? - Do you want something that will keep you thinking after you put it down? - Can you enjoyexquisite paneling and detailed line art for its own sake?

- Do you prefer world-building spread out in layers like an onion rather than exposited through info-dump-trucks?

- Are you a fan of neoclassical/old world European architecture and characters with a sense of fashion?

- Are you ok with starting in-media-res & episodic storytelling?

- Did you admire the conceptual vibe of Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them, but wanted something better?

- Are you curious what Men in Black would be like if it was about witches instead?

- Have you ever asked yourself what it would be like if Sean Connery was a pretty-boy archmage? Or what if Wolverine was a petite blond girl?

- Are you tired of save-the-world stories about defeating a demon king or some-such?

- Is Power from Chainsaw Man your waifu?

If the answer to most of the above is no, then this manga isn’t for you. If everything was a yes, then why are you still here? Go look up chapter 1 already! Though, if you want a little bit more convincing, then keep reading.

THE REVIEW:

Now then, what follows is as much a review of and speculation on W&B as it is an effort to get my thoughts in order and vent my frustration at how overlooked this manga seems to be, at least in the English-speaking community. Up to the time of writing, W&B has successfully pieced together the skeleton of what could become a gripping story with compelling narrative stakes, well realized main characters (given more time), an intriguing antagonist that thus far eschews genre tropes and an impressively memorable art style that elevates it above most of its peers. The only lingering question in my mind is if Satake will continue the measured pacing of both the stated narrative and the meta narrative (Guideau's slow character development) that has allowed its aforesaid strengths to grow and come to the fore organically over about the first 5 volumes.

PRESENTATION (art & storytelling conventions):

Satake understands ‘show, don’t tell’. Time and again I’ve seen manga put the cart before the horse and fail at this most basic principle, typically in the form of exposition dumps; W&B for the most part avoids this pitfall by simply giving just enough info upfront to contextualize what will happen, and leaving the rest to be explained afterwards by characters reflecting on events or presenting narrative/artistic clues for readers to interpret.

The storytelling is directed in a cinematic style - both visually and verbally. The detailed European style cityscapes provide an atmospheric visual metaphor that informs the overall style and tone of the manga. Contrast this with the fluid yet intense character art in the action scenes and you have a captivating combination that makes for eye candy on every page.

And in line with the cinematic presentation, as a rule we are usually not privy to any of the characters inner voices. The importance of this paradigm to maintaining the necessary mystery and suspense for W&B to succeed as a thriller cannot be understated. This is a manga that will reward you for pausing and admiring the slight changes in facial expressions from one panel to the next, as well as contemplating what the characters say versus what they don't say. Indeed given that we cannot know with certainty the true motivations of even the main characters, much of your takeaway in terms of whether you find them intriguing or too lacking in definition for your taste will come down to how much you are willing to read into body language and facial expressions - as well as how much you are willing to speculate on what unstated motivations the main cast may have. At least, that's how things stand at present.

NARRATIVE (minimal spoilage):

The basic setup of W&B is fairly straightforward: witches are more or less universally powerful, and as a result, universally feared. Our protagonists work for a secret society of mages that sends them out to ‘deal’ with problems involving magic in general, and witches in particular. The narrative hook here lies with who and what exactly our main characters are; the ‘first class mage’ Ashaf and his partner Guideau - an ill-mannered girl burdened with a witch's curse. As the opening words posit, this is a story of Guideau's quest for a cure (and revenge).

As Ashaf and Guideau's episodic adventures progress, the narrative sticks to its original personal-level goal rather than doubling down the cliched rabbit hole of saving the world - and in fact it pulls off a somewhat tongue-in-cheek parody/sidestep of the trope in the vol 4 that's more apparent looking back afterward than at the time of reading. The first few volumes may leave the story feeling rudderless, but from vol 5 onwards, things begin coming together defining a clear direction.

ANTAGONIST (minor spoiler):

One final spoiler, but it really illustrates how W&B's approach to the mystery/thriller angle works. We are 6 volumes in and the main antagonist (the titular Witch) cannot be conclusively deemed a villain, insofar as the one-sided understanding of events presented via following Ashaf & Guideau's POV, combined with our lack of knowledge of events preceding chapter 1, allows for conflicting interpretations of the Witch's true motives and character. Indeed, given what Guideau may be/have been, one can speculate quite compellingly that her curse may have been justified.

The reader can imagine, for instance, the antagonist as a spiteful witch who seeks to torment an innocent Guideau, like the villain of a children's fable - as Guideau's character claims her to be. Or one can imagine a sane witch who perhaps sought to protect people by (spoiler) sealing Guideau's power via a curse. Or again the story is open to a third interpretation: the Witch as a completely amoral actor who has (not too surprisingly) grown egotistical and self-absorbed from possessing the power and lifespan of a witch, in which case, Guideau's curse is nothing more than a temporary relief from boredom in her eyes with no malice behind it. In fact, the story so far allows for all three interpretations to be true to a degree - and I certainly hope that's the direction it moves in.

CONCLUSION:

I could go on further, but at this point if your curiosity hasn't been piqued I'm not sure what else I could say to sway you. If for nothing else, W&B is at least worth checking out for the artwork alone.

Sad example when the author has no idea where he wants to go with a story. Or does not communicate this to the reader at all. It is sad because the arcs themselves are pretty good. But the lack of any logical connection between them and negligible interaction between main antagonist and protagonist leave you with a meaningless aftertaste after reading the story. First we had an actual witch hunt with flashy battles (the anime adapted it pretty well). Then, out of nowhere, the story teleports to vampire lands with loredump justifications as to how this is possible. The protagonist's powers are effectively sealed from thatmoment on. Then, after finishing this vampire business, we get the same abrupt teleportation back and some weird castle siege. This siege had zero build-up, just a flashy battle out of nowhere to justify the plot after it.

Funny thing is that there is an abundance of loredumps on concepts that often do not go further than a chapter, let alone an ark. But there is no foreshadowing at all. Enemy groups just appear out of nowhere and go straight into battle. Why are they fighting, what is their conflict? "Who cares?" seems to be the answer. By the end, you start to wonder what exactly you are reading and why.

THIS MANGA HAS RUINED OTHER MANGAS FOR ME! I will no longer be ablé to read subpar stories. The art, the story, the characters, the world, all 10/10. One of the best stories I have ever read. Truly a masterpiece. It would be a mistake not to read this, but if you do just know you will never be able to enjoy mid manga ever again as your expectations will rise for quality with this work. Once your eyes have gazed on this beautiful art, they will bleed at the average drawings in most mangas. You will thirst for epic action scenes so crazy toeven fully digest. There is nothing more I could say to convince you that this story is truly worth the title of one of the best mangas in HISTORY!

If the animation done right, 90% animes out there don't even hold a candle to this master piece. An elegant, fantasy-action work. Majo to Yajuu or The Witches and the Beast is the Epitome of witch story which one can indulge in. To be exact, I read a variety of manga genres; but narrowing down to fantasy/magic/witch theme which the current time has to offer, such as: "Witch Hat Atelier" and "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End" This one is S-tier list in term of fantasy. I admit each has its own unique way to serve the dish which what makes Frieren and Atelier altogether good read, but"The Witches and the Beast" world building and fantasy complexity is on a whole new level, it is GOAT so far.

I'm more into Shojo and Slice-of-life genres lately, switching from Shounen/Seinen because i'm slightly numb with the usual fights they could offer and lately, I couldn't reread a really good Shounen/Seinen twice. for example: "Kaiju No. 8"

But "The Witches and the Beast" action and fantasy work is compelling enough, I didn't feel boring reading the second time.

Story: Awesome, Masterpiece

A duo on a journey with the same shared goal, but one vowed to kill the other after it's over (could change in the end).

This beyond imaginative Mangaka's work on the premise of Witches, Necromancy, Different Factions in Ruling Society, and the complexity of all them dived deep in, not superficially which many have done previously.

Art: Magnificently Drawn

I thought Witch Hat Atelier could be just the only if not very few beautifully drawn mangas out there, but this one is almost on par if not the same. Talented work.

FIght Scenes: Great

The only worry i have is will the nominated studio be able to bring out the maximum potential of the manga into animation. 9/10 fighting scenes.

Emotions/Characters:

All the arcs so far were great, no redundancy

Backdrop of the characters' past done timely and neatly.

Victims/Villains 8/10 so far.

Verdict:

Yokohama Animation Laboratory hopefully go all in animating this work.

I will generously give this 10/10. (Chapter 55)

Personal opinion, taste varies as to our personalities/preferences too.

I've currently read up to volume five and am waiting for the next two volumes to come in. This story's strongest point is the art, which is beyond stunning. I always love when characters are drawn with feline/animalistic characteristics and the artist does it so beautifully in this manga. I'm also a huge sucker for fantasy stories involving magic, particularly witches, so this was right up my alley. I admit, there is some predictable parts but they were enjoyable to read nonetheless. The pacing is on the slower side, but the characters are just so intriguing I can't even consider the possibility of dropping this.I'm usually not a fan of episodic type stories, and this manga does resemble that since the two main characters are investigator-ish and work on different cases with each volume, but I don't hate how its done here since the magic elements and hints of their story development continues to slowly progress. I personally cannot wait to continue reading and recommend giving at least the first three volumes a try.

Edit: I read volume 6 and it is now my favorite so far, the new case the two main characters are working on involves vampires and my goodness was it captivating.

Is this manga perfect? No. Does it somehow cater perfectly to my interests? Yes. Dark fantasy with witches, necromancers, mages, vampires... plenty of violence, mystery surrounding our main characters, ambiguous relationships that I genuinely have no idea how they will develop, lovely art and a dark aesthetic/atmosphere... yeah, I binge read the whole thing and I love it. Our main characters are Ashaf, a softly spoken mage who's motives we have yet to fully unravel, and Guideau, a beast/monster of world destructive power that has been trapped in the body of a girl due to a witch's curse. She (and I use 'she' loosely since Guideau's'true' form presents as male but she never seems bothered by people using female pronouns or dressing feminine while in the body she's cursed with) has agreed to work with Ashaf in the hopes of tracking down the witch who cursed her and eventually breaking the curse. This means assisting him in his work for the order of magical resonance, which basically deal with magical problems/threats (which can include witches).

There's some interesting side characters as well, including a necromancer - and I really appreciate her approach to dealing with the dead. She treats them with respect, as people deserving of compassion and not only tools, and it's refreshing to see.

I think what intrigues me most is the relationship between Guideau and Ashaf though... While he claims to have her best interests at heart, what is his motivation for working with her? Does he truely want her curse broken? Why does he want to teach her about the world? Why does he say their goals align? Does he have some personal business with the witch that cursed her? And while Guideau seemed quite frustrated with him at first (and happy to threaten to kill him) she does seem to be softening a little, is that leading anywhere? It took me by surprise to find myself so invested in this, but yeah... there's a lot going on there and I am really interested to see how it develops.

Their personalities are also a nice contrast - Guideau is quick to anger, loves violence, impulsive and has little patience for the world. Ashaf on the other hand is calm and collected, gentlemanly, and acts as if he had everything going to plan (even when he doesn't). They each have their strengths, and they play off each other well.

I'd fully recommend giving this manga a go (especially if you're sick of isekai), it deserves more attention.

For the past two months, I found myself in a reading slump regarding manga, but "The Witch and The Beast" helped me overcome it. Plot: 7/10. Objectively, this manga does not introduce anything novel: it presents a fantasy world populated by witches, vampires, mages, and humans, who are predictably at odds with each other. At the center is the ultimate evil, somehow linked to our fierce female lead, Guideau, who's got quite the attitude. Alongside Ashad, they tackle various gruesome murder cases to find clues about the witch who cursed Guideau. The full story of the curse remains a mystery, but I'm crossing my fingers thatthe hiatus ends soon, giving us some answers. Even though the plot doesn't break new ground, the dark and intense atmosphere kept me INVESTED.

Characters: 10/10. I must award the characters the highest marks! Regardless of their relevance to the main plotline, each character undergoes noticeable development, enriching the overall narrative. I can't relate to anyone in this story, and that's why I appreciate that I could enjoy the characters' stories from a distance (even though I mostly fancy the stories, where at least one character can be relatable). The pure chemistry between Ashad and Guideau, Phanora and Johan, Dunward and Oscar, is compelling. The characters bring depth and complexity to the story, making it much more than just another fantasy tale.

Art Style: 100000/10

The artwork is next-level. My gallery is now packed with frames from this manga. The fight scenes are intense and gripping, and the details in the horrifying deaths are so vivid they gave me nightmares ngl. The beauty in each character, especially in their eyes, is extraordinary. Satake Kousuke's attention to gazes and stares perfectly captures a range of human emotions. The art draws you in and makes you feel every moment, from quiet, reflective scenes to high-stakes battles.

By combining these elements, "The Witch and The Beast" offers a captivating reading experience. Although it may not be groundbreaking, it elicits a whirlwind of emotions.

And to stop being academic. PLEASE ENOUGH OF HIATUS, I'M EAGER FOR MORE

The start of the manga is really good, both of the protagonists are great and their relationship evolve nicely. The art is impeccable, simply put. However, it's a shame that the mangaka lost the plot, direction, and seemingly didn't know where to go next, much like other reviews have pointed out. It's all true. At some point, it goes into an arc that indicated that the mangaka wanted to force in a story, setting and characters that didn't really make sense with the trajectory that the main characters were following. The manga tries do some out of pocket worldbuilding, introduces (frankly unlikable) characters out of thinair and expects the reader to care about them, while completely ignoring the fact that the major part of why we're still reading is because we really like the two leads. It felt like a bait and switch, and it continued that trend until it hit the hiatus.

I do recommend reading it, but when you notice that the manga has shifted drastically, don't be afraid to drop it even if you like the two protagonists. The story doesn't pick up its quality after it drops.

Up to 10 volumes, I've re-read the first few volumes multiple times just because of how interesting the world-building is, both literally and figuratively. For anyone looking for an interesting concept rooted in dark and ambiguous themes with equally impressive art, this is a definite story to not miss. Overall (9/10) As someone who has been looking for new worlds to ponder and read about, this was one of the most unique settings in a while. The pacing, some may consider slow, is perfectly reasonable and creates a sense of intrigue and wanting to get to the next page to see how everything turns out. Art istop-notch and the architecture and attention to detail are possibly one of the best I've seen in recent times. Characters, I certainly enjoy, and they feel like real people in a world, rather than story elements being used to continue the plot (AKA, we're reading their story, rather than reading what happened to them).

Story (9/10)

The main story of a person trying to get rid of their curse by the witch who cursed them is compelling when the art is extremely non-shoujo and extremely dark. Then, when the subtle worldbuilding comes in, it intrigues. What is this world that these people are living in, and why are the people acting the way they do? As you explore more of the world, you find different areas with their own quirks, leading to an interesting adventure. The pacing of the story, I find well-paced with enough dialogue without boring me fitting the sub-stories seamlessly into the main overall plot. In a prey-chasing-predator type of story, it may get infuriating for some, but because of the interesting world-building that actually builds into the overall plot (unlike a lot of adventure stories), it did not lose me.

Characters (9/10)

Our two main characters don't get their full love until later in the volumes, but the snippets you get of their major personality traits and their relationships with the world and others are anything but boring. There won't be any 2-dimensional characters in any of the main cast, so, that beats like 80% of most manga. Not to mention, the designs of the characters are extremely fun and in-theme.

Art (10/10)

Seriously, for the debut work to be so good has to be a crime. How someone can be this amazing at art, and also storytelling is something I absolutely envy. The battle scenes are top-notch, and the attention to detail in the buildings and characters is beyond what is required for a manga. With a lot of adventure manga, there are two camps of art style, one that is a lot more simplistic and fitting for an anime, and another that is rather sketch-like with a lot of details with extreme stylization. I would say this is a polished art style, especially when you get to the full-page arts (and not to mention the full-color in the first few pages of the first volume) that I would consider to be more detailed than most, but maintains a sense of balance in where it doesn't overwhelm.

Definitely hyped for the anime adaptation (kinda eh on the studio, but trailer looked amazing, so I'm going) and seeing the action scenes. But, yes, when it comes to the manga, it's absolutely a must-read for those who like adventure (mystery-esque) stories with an adult spin to it.

A really good read if you aren't the type to anally pick apart the plot. (Coming from someone who has spent an ungodly amount of time reading and watching anime related media!) Solid characters, pretty decent world building, and visually quite the work of art which always leaves me wanting MORE!!! Unfortunately the Author seems to be unwell as they have gone on hiatus a few times (wishing the best) so you may have to wait a hot minute for new chapters. However, objectively I would rate this a solid 8/10. Would highly recommend giving it a read and would like to see more in the future:)

So far I’ve only read the first volume and the series looks like it as potential so I’m going to keep reading and see if the score improves but so far it’s somewhat underwhelming. It’s not boring in any sense (at least not to me) and the art and premise are fantastic but so far I feel like it hasn’t quite lived up to that potential. One main issue is it seems to be leaning heavy into secrets and mystery but almost in the wrong sense. So far both mages and witches have been confirmed to exist at least and yet so far nothing abouthow those two things are different has been explained. Normally that wouldn’t be to much of an issue except the series seems to be telling us that witches are inherently bad. The male lead seems to be hoping to find a “good” witch and the First evil witch’s supposedly witch grandmother was supposedly good if we can take her word for it. But so far at least despite those two factors witches seem pretty clearly stuck in the evil category which means knowing the difference between a witch and a mage feels important. They also go like halfway into explaining who/what our female lead actually is but then just stop like they realized halfway in that they weren’t supposed to be telling us this yet. That’s what I mean when I feel like they aren’t going about their secrets well enough there telling us to little for us to feel satisfied or understand but to much for us to accept the mystery. All that said though I still enjoyed The first volume and the story seemed to be improving near the end of it so I do plan to keep reading to see if it manages to continue the trend and capitalize on its potential. If it does I’ll come back and update it’s score Accordingly

The plotline/premise is a lot like Dorohedoro and Undead Girl Murder Farce, except this is incredibly generic shonen action cringe that takes itself way too seriously while failing miserably to actually be seinen. It's a 1-note storyline to kill the generically evil witch yet lacks direction filling its story with pointless and repetitive magic baddie shonen arcs and numerous irrelevant sidestories and oneshots of irrelevant non-characters. And the characters (especially the MCs) are all cardboard cutouts we learn almost nothing about and what we do learn amounts to: generically evil witch, generically persecuted good witch, generically evil executioners, generically good mages, generically angry MC, etc.Shonen trope hell. If it weren't shonen it would actually put effort to have meaningful character depth to give any of it emotional weight.

The worldbuilding is generic fantasy trope cringe. The interactions are contrived. The pacing is terrible with so much pointlessly drawn out action and cringe dialogue to overexplain exposition and feelings stretching out everything with filler within filler.

The plots are juvenile. If you actually consider any of the situations the author sets up you'll realize that it's often contrived as hell and what little information surrounding the character motivations/interactions is idiotic at best and often riddled with plotholes.

Some people claim that the art is good, but past the first few color pages' bait and switch, the manga art is mostly terrible. The way the mangaka draws black haired MC is often hilariously bad, there are meme-worthy low-effort shit faces scattered around the mangaka clearly didn't intend. The art during action also often poorly conveys what is happening.

Its mile-wide inch-deep multiworlds of generic fantasy cringe story, vampire world turned out exactly as cringe and jumping-the-shark shonen trash as I expected it to be.

3/10 (where 5/10 is average)