In folklore and fairy tales, the concept of a witch and a beast often coexists. The idea of a witch conjures images of a supernatural being, usually female, who possesses magical powers and practices witchcraft. On the other hand, a beast refers to a creature, often depicted as wild, fierce, or monstrous in appearance. The connection between witches and beasts can be found in various stories and legends throughout different cultures. In many tales, witches are seen transforming into beasts or summoning other creatures to do their bidding. For instance, the classic story of "Beauty and the Beast" features a witch who curses the prince, turning him into a monstrous creature until he learns to love and be loved in return.
The Witch and the Beast Series
Dive into Kousuke Satake’s suave and explosive manga debut, about powerful women good and evil, featuring a story of vengeance in a stylish, art-deco urban wonderland that’s one part Fullmetal Alchemist and one part Cowboy Bebop.
THE SILENT MYSTERY
Ten days have passed since the siege on the Paladin stronghold where stores of forbidden instruments were kept under lock and key. Ashaf leaves one such instrument, which takes the form of a child, in Guideau’s care until a method to contain its ability to absorb magic is secured. Meanwhile, Paladin Cugat finds himself at the Executioners’ doorstep, lured by Oakleave’s invitation to the shadowy organization…
Book 9
- Available formats:
- Paperback (1)
Dive into Kousuke Satake’s suave and explosive manga debut, about powerful women good and evil, featuring a story of vengeance in a stylish, art-deco urban wonderland that’s one part Fullmetal Alchemist and one part Cowboy Bebop.
Their business in the Fall finally concluded, Guideau and Ashaf next find themselves in a city teeming with artisans specializing in magical tools. Amid thetrivial and frivolous, Guideau is drawn to a mysterious doll said to have a deep connection with a witch. Could it finally be a new clue fortracking down Angela? If only the obstinate shopkeeper would be willing to part with it…
Book 8
- Available formats:
- Paperback (1)
Dive into Kousuke Satake’s suave and explosive manga debut, about powerful women good and evil, featuring a story of vengeance in a stylish, art-deco urban wonderland that’s one part Fullmetal Alchemist and one part Cowboy Bebop.
Dunward, Oscar, and Ashaf finally come face to face with the Queen of the Night. The encounter reopens old wounds for Dunward, and he must make a critical decision if he hopes to have his revenge. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to those in the fray, Guideau and a new weapon are not far behind…
Book 7
- Available formats:
- Paperback (1)
Dive into Kousuke Satake’s suave and explosive manga debut, about powerful women good and evil, featuring a story of vengeance in a stylish, art-deco urban wonderland that’s one part Fullmetal Alchemist and one part Cowboy Bebop.
Guideau and Ashaf continue their mission in Orlencia Sett alongside Dunward and Oscar, with tensions running high as each party is anxious to achieve their goals. To reach the Queen of the Night, they must first make contact with the Bridge—a mediator among the deeply divided vampire factions, known for his peculiar taste for flesh…
Book 6
- Available formats:
- Paperback (1)
Dive into Kousuke Satake’s suave and explosive manga debut, about powerful women good and evil, featuring a story of vengeance in a stylish, art-deco urban wonderland that’s one part Fullmetal Alchemist and one part Cowboy Bebop.
In pursuit of Angela, Guideau and Ashaf venture into the Fall—an immeasurably deep chasm that acts as a portal to other worlds, including the land of vampires, Orlencia Sett. As outsiders, the pair must rely on two envoys from the Order to navigate this unfamiliar territory. However, Guideau and Ashaf soon find themselves ensnared in a self-serving plot orchestrated by one of their companions, a plot that could upset the status quo of the vampire underworld…
Book 5
- Available formats:
- Paperback (1)
Dive into Kousuke Satake’s suave and explosive manga debut, about powerful women good and evil, featuring a story of vengeance in a stylish, art-deco urban wonderland that’s one part Fullmetal Alchemist and one part Cowboy Bebop.
THE WRATHFUL WITCH
An unexpected encounter with Angela, the witch responsible for Guideau’s curse, leaves Guideau in a primal, beast-like state. The regression calls to Ashaf’s mind the time the pair had first met—it was in a village out in the countryside, a place supposedly untouched by magic, but where rumors of a witch began to poison the community…
A dark fairytale set in a steampunk world of magic and monsters, The Witch and the Beast will entice and entrap manga readers looking for their next fantasy action fix!
Book 4
- Available formats:
- Paperback (1)
Dive into Kousuke Satake’s suave and explosive manga debut, about powerful women good and evil, featuring a story of vengeance in a stylish, art-deco urban wonderland that’s one part Fullmetal Alchemist and one part Cowboy Bebop.
THE DEMON SWORD
Paladin Corps officer Matt Cugat joins forces with Guideau and Ashaf in one last stand to protect the demon sword Ashgan from falling into the wrong hands–but their efforts are no match for the Executioner’s clever ruse. As all bear witness to the ancient weapon’s awakening, what sort of terrible calamity awaits? And is there anything that can be done to stop it?
Book 3
- Available formats:
- Paperback (1)
Dive into Kousuke Satake’s suave and explosive manga debut, about powerful women good and evil, featuring a story of vengeance in a stylish, art-deco urban wonderland that’s one part Fullmetal Alchemist and one part Cowboy Bebop.
A MYSTERIOUS LEGACY
Guideau and Ashaf ‘s next assignment puts them in pursuit of the youthful witch Helga, but they’ll have to contend with the illustrious Paladin Corps to secure their target. Helga herself has every intention of keeping her freedom–an aim better served if only her demon sword Ashgan would cooperate. With dark secrets plaguing all sides, just who will triumph in this free-for-all?
Book 2
- Available formats:
- Paperback (1)
Dive into Kousuke Satake’s suave and explosive manga debut, about powerful women and good and evil, featuring a story of vengeance in a stylish, art-deco urban wonderland that’s one part Fullmetal Alchemist and one part Cowboy Bebop.
After a routine job, Ashaf and Guideau have a run-in with a berserk “undead”–a deceased human being restored to life through the art of necromancy. Though the state strictly regulates the practice, these aberrant cases have only been growing in number. Out of his depth, Ashaf recommends necromancy expert Phanora and her assistant Johan instead, though the pair is as much a mystery as the one they intend to solve…
Book 1
- Available formats:
- Paperback (1)
Dive into Kousuke Satake’s suave and explosive manga debut, about powerful women and good and evil, featuring a story of vengeance in a stylish, art-deco urban wonderland that’s one part Fullmetal Alchemist and one part Cowboy Bebop.
Guideau: a feral girl with long fangs and the eyes of a beast. Ashaf: a soft-spoken man with delicate features and a coffin strapped to his back. This ominous pair appears one day in a town that’s in thrall to a witch, who has convinced the townsfolk she’s their hero. But Ashaf and Guideau know better. They have scores to settle, and they won’t hesitate to remove anyone in their way…
Manga Review | The Witch and the Beast Volume 1 by Kousuke Satake
When it comes to stories, I’m truly a sucker for anything dark with sassy characters, with magic systems being an additional bonus. So, when I saw The Witch and the Beast the synopsis basically ticked pretty much every box for me, and I requested it as soon as I could on NetGalley.
The manga didn’t disappoint at all and was brimming with cool scenes and beautiful artwork from start to finish, definitely one I’ll be grabbing as a physical copy and keeping up with!
Read on for my full review.
About the Manga
Title: The Witch and the Beast
Volume: 1
Mangaka: Kousuke Satake
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: 27th October 2020
Pages: 192
Source: e-ARC provided by the publisher through Netgalley (this in no way affects my review which is honest and unbiased)
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Synopsis
‘Dive into Kousuke Satake’s suave and explosive manga debut, about powerful women good and evil, featuring a story of vengeance in a stylish, art-deco urban wonderland that’s one part Fullmetal Alchemist and one part Cowboy Bebop.
Ashaf: a soft-spoken man with delicate features, a coffin strapped to his back, and an entourage of black crows. Guideau: a feral, violent girl with long fangs and the eyes of a beast. This ominous pair appear one day in a town in thrall to a witch — a ruler with magic coursing through her tattooed body, who has convinced the townsfolk she’s their hero. But Ashaf and Guideau know better. They live by one creed: “Wherever a witch goes, only curses and disasters follow.” They have scores to settle, and they won’t hesitate to remove anyone in their way, be it angry mob or army garrison.
A dark fairytale set in a steampunk world of magic and monsters, The Witch and the Beast will entice and entrap manga readers looking for their next fantasy action fix!’
Review
From the very first pages of The Witch and the Beast, the thing that stands out the most is by far the gorgeous artwork. The first couple of pages are in glorious colour, which you can see for yourself on Kodansha’s website here. Without the colour though the detail is so great that you can’t help but stare at the images. The example to the right was one of the first pages that made me ‘wow’ out loud – look at the crazy detail right down to the monsters rows of teeth! The example later on in this post is just as impressive, you can see depth right down to some of the smallest of petals.
These are both from our main characters’ first encounter with a witch, and it’s an action-packed ride to get you invested in their story.
So, we have Ashaf and Guideau. As the synopsis itself states, Ashaf is a soft-spoken man and he’s also very level-headed throughout, being meticulous in how he approaches situations. If you’re here for sass, then that’s Guideau. She’s stuck under a curse and that makes her more than a little annoyed, whenever something is sensed by her she pretty much just charges straight into the situation headfirst without thinking – making the two of them a pretty enjoyable pair to witness on the whole.
‘Stop whining about a bunch of crazy nonsense. If you want revenge, just take it.’
Honestly, Guideau is most definitely my favourite so far. When they aren’t in the middle of fights she just oozes stubbornness and coolness simultaneously.
In the world, these two are kind of like mercenaries for hire when it comes to magical issues. Ashaf is content with any job, just glad to help out wherever he can (he’s very cute like that) but Guideau is pretty much unhappy unless she’s chasing down a witch. It makes sense though, Guideau is locked out of her true form due to a witch and, unless a knight on a white horse gives her true love’s kiss, she won’t be able to break it unless she finds the one witch who did it to her and gets her to undo it.
Without giving too much away, they end up on a job which does involve a witch but it’s steeped in mystery – with no one being able to even catch sight of the witch.
The fact that there’s clearly so much more to this job just makes me want the second volume already, and I can’t wait to see what happens next! With the books themselves looking beautiful, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself from collecting the physical volumes.
Have you read this?
Feel free to leave a comment or tweet me @LuchiaHoughton!
The Witch and the Beast Vol 1 Review
A dark-fantasy manga tinged with elements of horror, Kousuke Satake’s The Witch and the Beast intrigued me, in large part due to it’s beautiful and atmospheric-looking cover art. Satake’s detailed artwork didn’t disappoint and it’s just as lovely inside the book as on the cover, but I found the story to be a bit lacking.
Synopsis:
Guideau and Ashaf make for quite the unusual pair. Guideau is an attractive-looking, but crass and angry, young woman and Ashaf is a refined and gentlemanly man who carries a coffin strapped to his back wherever they go. The two are on the hunt for witches, tasked by The Order of Magical Resonance with putting a stop to their wicked ways and bringing them in, but Guideau also has personal reasons for joining Ashaf on his search for these dangerous witches. A witch has put a curse on Guideau and finding them is the only hope Guideau has of having it removed. There’s just one problem: Guideau doesn’t remember anything about the witch, not even what she looks like!
Their search isn’t going well.
Review:
I’ll start with the positives. As I mentioned in my intro, the art in The Witch and the Beast is stunning and the detailed style fits very well with the gothic feel of the story. I also found Ashaf and Guideau’s catty interactions to be frequently funny. These are people working together due to circumstances and, while Ashaf seems amused by Guideau, they are not friends and they take every opportunity to mess with and snipe at each other.
It kind of looks like he might, indeed, be the boss of you, Guideau!
On the other hand, I wasn’t really gripped by the story and I think this was largely because I couldn’t get that invested in the characters. Guideau is very one-note; they’re rash, violent and consumed by rage. They want to track down the witch that cursed them and that’s all that they care about, they’re only working with The Order as a means to further this end and aren’t interested in helping anyone if it isn’t potentially related to tracking down their witch. Guideau is so selfish and unlikeable that I didn’t feel at all moved by they’re plight, even when it’s revealed what the witch’s curse actually is.
Ashaf doesn’t fare much better, as we learn so little about him that he winds up feeling boring. I guess you could say that he’s mysterious, but I personally found that this didn’t work in his favour and that he wound up being too enigmatic to be compelling.
This volume of The Witch and The Beast ends with a lot of questions left unanswered, such as: why did a witch put a curse on Guideau in the first place and why can’t Guideau seem to remember anything about her? It’s possible that the story might pick up as these mysteries are explored further, but I don’t think that I’ll be continuing on with the series. That said, there are enough good things here that I think this manga could be appealing to fans of dark fantasy and horror stories. It just wasn’t for me.
But man, this art is gorgeous!
Final Score: 6 out of 10
What did you think of this manga? If anyone has read further ahead in the series, let me know if you think it’s worth sticking it out a little longer.
For more information on this series, visit Kodansha Comics’ website.
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For instance, the classic story of "Beauty and the Beast" features a witch who curses the prince, turning him into a monstrous creature until he learns to love and be loved in return. In some stories, the witch may take the form of a beast herself. One example is the myth of the Greek enchantress Circe, who transforms Odysseus' crew into pigs.
Here, the witch embodies the characteristics of a beast, using her powers to manipulate and control others. The relationship between witches and beasts is often portrayed as one of fear and danger. Witches may be associated with dark magic and evil intentions, while beasts represent a physical threat or symbolize untamed nature. This dynamic is common in fantasies and fairy tales, where witches and beasts serve as antagonistic forces to the protagonist's quest or personal growth. However, it is essential to note that the depiction of witches and beasts is not limited to negative stereotypes. In some stories, witches with their magical powers can also protect and help characters in need. Similarly, beasts can be shown as misunderstood creatures, capable of transformation and redemption. The concept of a witch and a beast intertwines various themes such as power, transformation, and the human-animal connection. It explores the boundaries and facets of magic and humanity. The archetype of the witch and the beast continues to captivate and inspire storytellers, offering a rich tapestry of symbolism and meaning that transcends cultural boundaries..
Reviews for "Exploring the Dark Realm: The Witch and the Beast's Haunting Journey"
1. Amanda - 2/5 stars - I was really disappointed with "Witch and the Beast". The storyline was confusing and hard to follow, and I found myself constantly having to backtrack to try and understand what was going on. The characters were also very one-dimensional and lacked depth, making it hard to connect with them. Overall, I found the whole reading experience quite tedious and it just didn't live up to the hype for me.
2. Mark - 1/5 stars - "Witch and the Beast" was a complete letdown. The art style was messy and overcrowded, making it difficult to focus on the main scenes. Additionally, the plot was jumbled and convoluted, leaving me feeling lost and uninterested throughout. The dialogue was also lackluster and lacked any real depth or emotion. I wouldn't recommend this manga to anyone.
3. Jessica - 2/5 stars - I had high hopes for "Witch and the Beast" but was ultimately disappointed. The pacing was incredibly slow, and it took forever for anything significant to happen. The characters were also uninteresting and lacked any real development. The artwork was decent, but it couldn't make up for the lackluster story. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this manga unless you have a lot of patience and enjoy a slow burn.
4. Thomas - 2/5 stars - "Witch and the Beast" fell short for me. The story felt disjointed and confusing, with random plot points that didn't seem to connect well. The art style was unique but didn't resonate with me, and the characters lacked depth and complexity. I was hoping for a captivating fantasy manga, but unfortunately, this one didn't deliver. It felt disjointed and underdeveloped throughout, leaving me disappointed.