The Witch and The Beast by Kousuke Satake

OVERVIEW:

"Guideau, who solves magical cases for the Order of Magical Resonance along with the mage Ashaf, is a cursed being who looks like a teenage girl with a savage temper, but in truth is something else entirely. Many of the duo’s cases are on the mundane side, wrangling magical beasts and opening bespelled boxes for owners who lost the key. But Guideau is focused on investigating witches. Sometime in the past, a witch cursed Guideau, and now she (or possibly he) won’t rest until that witch is dead and the curse broken.

The exact difference between mages and witches isn’t fully explained, but witches seem to have surpassed both humanity and mortality to become something else altogether. The details largely don’t matter, as the focus is on action, adventure, and mystery. The manga drops a lot of worldbuilding into the story without explanation, but enough information is provided that everything more or less makes sense. The action is fast-paced from the outset and Guideau’s and Ashaf’s personalities are well-developed early on. Guideau is the “punk” and Ashaf is the level-headed one, and their continual bickering provides entertainment throughout the book"- Otaku Magazine, 2021

WHAT I LOVED:

The series had this sort of old-school anime/manga throwback vibe with lots of great action, dialogue, and character development. Sometimes I felt like Cowboy Bebop or Vash the Stampede would walk in or be a believable background character. The nostalgia of the storytelling was comforting and did not feel forced.

Additionally, roles were reversed. Typically, the all-powerful main character is super masculine and tends to take on the role of a beloved hero; in this story, Guideau is a violent girl who is not well-liked, tolerated, or accepted. It brings new meaning to the antihero role. Some of you may say, "Hold on. What about Harley Quinn? Isn't she an antihero?". Yes, to a point, but Harley is a character who, after living the life of a villain, realizes the flaw in their thinking and attempts to make their life mean something more than it was before. Guideau, on the other hand, really does not give a flying, you know what, about redemption. To a point, without giving the story away, they are only there because they have to be, making their choices more chaotic and less aligned with a true hero or redemption arch.

Partnered with Guideau is Ashaf. Upon first viewing, you question a lot of this mysterious individual. Everything about them is neatly tailored and a little on the androgynous side. Ashaf is a soft-spoken individual who loves poking fun at his partner while wearing a coffin and smoking. Not a lot is revealed about him in the first volume.

There is so much in volume one that I can't say anymore without ruining this journey for you.

WHAT I DISLIKED:

Some action scenes are a little hard to follow, but that could be more related to my first time reading an action-based manga versus the storytelling and paneling.

OVERALL RATING:

5 out of 5