Witch Craft Works Vol. 1 Manga Review

    Another manga that had a winter 2014 anime, this one is about Honoka Takamiya, a run of the mill high school sophomore who has the misfortune of sitting next to the most popular girl in school, Ayaka Kagari.  While normally this would be a good thing, Kagari has rabid fanbase who delight in assaulting anyone who they believe is getting to close to the “Queen” of the campus.  After a normal day of being assaulted by the goon squad, Takamiya is on classroom cleanup duty when he is suddenly attacked and then rescued by Ayaka.  It is then he finds out that she protects him every day from witches who are after his power.  From then on, Ayaka and Honoka travel out in public and the goon squad lays off him after she threatens to burn them.  He then meets and learns more about the witches who are after him and he starts learning about magic itself from Ayaka.

    The art quality in this manga is very good, especially during the action scenes like when Kagari goes on the attack with her flame magic and causes explosions.  Its a pity that the manga is in black and white and not in color for many scenes because the black and white scale just don’t do justice to a lot of the scenes.  There is also a lot of detail in the faces of every named character as Kagari, Honoka, and the Animal-Ears Girls gang have a myriad face expressions during battles, school, or being captured by Kagari.  Kagari’s deadpan expressions coupled with Honoka’s over reaction’s is always a hilarious contrast so it can take a couple readthroughs to catch all the little things that the illustrators show.

    Overall, this is a solid Vol. 1 release of a pretty good manga series.  It introduces the characters, and provides good starter action as it sets the mood.  There is a good blend of action and comedy throughout the book and anyone familiar with the anime series knows it doesn't disappoint.  There are some translator's notes and other additional information that help the reader understand some of whats going on towards the end of the volume.  With more volumes on the way and western release for the anime, there is a lot for fans to be excited for in the upcoming months.