There are two universal truths in today’s rapidly changing comics industry. The first is that Dog Man remains the defining comic of our era. The second is that more people are reading manga and Webtoons (aka vertical scroll comics) than ever before. Therefore we at Comics Beat are continuing our Beat’s Bizarre Adventure. Every week we’ll have three writers recommend some of their favorite books and series from Japan, Korea and elsewhere. This week we have an ecological witch’s fable, another great shojo series for hopeless romantics, and our first book by the master Jiro Taniguchi.
Eden of Witches
Writer/Artist: Yumeji
Translator: Jessie Auliery
Lettering: Thomas
Publisher: Kana
Eden of Witches is a captivating manga set in a post-apocalyptic world where nature has abandoned humanity’s cruelty to find refuge in hidden sanctuaries. These sanctuaries are home to witches, the last beings capable of communicating with plants. The story revolves around Pilly, a young apprentice witch raised in one of these sanctuaries. Guided by the powerful Toura, Pilly struggles to awaken her powers until the day armed invaders shatter her safe haven. But then a mysterious seed she received from her mentor springs to life, summoning a massive wolf-like creature that becomes her protector and guide to a fabled paradise called Eden.
Although its humanity versus nature premise is familiar and its execution not quite as mature as predecessors like Princess Mononoke, Eden of Witches has huge potential. Its narrative balances the cruel realities of humanity’s destruction with the beauty of nature’s resilience, crafting a story that is both heartbreaking and hopeful.
One of the manga’s greatest strengths is its stunning artwork. Yumeji‘s richly detailed and dreamlike illustrations give life to the lush sanctuaries and the witches’ mesmerizing designs. The shrine settings and witch costumes are particularly striking, exuding a magical atmosphere that feels both ancient and otherworldly.
Pilly, the protagonist, is initially portrayed as timid and unsure. I found her to be relatable but not immediately likable, especially since I prefer proactive characters. By the second volume, though, she finds her footing, growing into her abilities as she learns the harsh realities of the world outside her sanctuary. Her bond with Oak, the wolf-like creature, also grows in complexity, offering moments of tenderness and tension that enrich the story.
The third and fourth volume then pick up momentum to deliver gripping developments and emotional payoffs. Overall, Eden of Witches is a visually stunning and thought-provoking tale that readers of fantasy and ecological fables will appreciate. — Ilgın Side Soysal
Sakura, Saku
Writer/Artist: Io Sakisaka
Translator: Max Greenway
Touch-up Art and Lettering: Inari Fukuda Trant
Design: Alice Lewis
Editor: Nancy Thistlethwaite
Publisher: VIZ
Saku has always felt invisible, playing characters without names in school plays nobody remembers. When she abruptly starts feeling light-headed on a cramped train and is about to pass out, a stranger saves her. After this incident, Saku decides to help others however she can in order to repay the stranger who helped her. Even though this “Ryosuke Sakura” left his name and phone number that day, Saku can’t get a hold of him. So it feels like fate that one of the boys in her high school, Haruki Sakura, has an older brother named Ryosuke. She immediately writes a thank you letter for Haruki to deliver on her behalf, only to be dismissed rudely by him!
I’m in my shojo manga reading era (as everyone should be), and Sakura, Saku was recommended to me by a friend. The artist Io Sakisaka needs no introduction, they are an established shojo manga artist best known for Ao Haru Ride. I immediately gave it a chance.
Sakura, Saku, like other romances Io Sakisaka has created, is such a comfort read! The pages are so beautiful and clean, the story flows smoothly. Io Sakisaka takes their time to introduce the characters one by one and set the scene with a relaxed pace.
My only critique of the art would be that, while I understand shojo protagonists must be cute and/or pretty no matter what, this sometimes comes at the cost of Saku’s expressiveness. She almost always wears a slightly surprised expression despite the varying emotions she experiences throughout the volume. Everything else is polished to perfection.
Plotwise, Sakura, Saku offers everything you could expect from a shojo manga. The kind, energetic female lead who’s just starting high school encounters the a good-looking, equally kind male lead who is cross all the time for reasons. The impending roller coaster of emotions. The blushes. The way you find yourself sighing, oh to be young again. All neatly packaged into 9 volumes.
Currently there are five volumes out in English with the sixth available for preorder. If you’re looking to invest in a short series where teenagers become friends, fall in love, have their hearts broken and then some, Sakura, Saku is a great choice. — Merve Giray
The Quest of the Missing Girl
Writer/Artist: Jiro Taniguchi
Translators: Elizabeth Tiernan and Shizuka Shimoyama
Publisher: Ponent Mon
The late Jiro Taniguchi was a cartoonist who could do any kind of story. Historical biography, rock climbing, and hard boiled crime comics are only a small fraction of the genres represented in his bibliography. All of these stories were rendered in beautiful line work influenced as much by European comics as by Osamu Tezuka. It’s no surprise that he collaborated with Moebius to create the sci-fi oddity Icaro. His comics have a sense of serenity to them. A stillness that can capture beauty in manga like The Walking Man or intensify violence like in Benkei in New York.
The Quest for the Missing Girl finds a middle ground between his stories of men wandering places and his hard boiled crime fiction. The lead Shiga isolates himself by living on a mountain where he guides tourists and climbers. When his “niece” Megumi goes missing, Shiga returns to Tokyo in order to find her. The police have no idea what happened. Shiga may not be a private investigator but he feels obligated to find Megumi. So he embarks on an investigation into the dark side of Shinjuku.
What makes this story so compelling is how Taniguchi transplants the conventions of noir into Japanese culture. His eye for stunning detail brings Shinjuku, Tokyo’s famous fashion and entertainment district, to dark life. Anyone can escape their worries here, but how they escape might not necessarily be legal. For Shiga to confront this darkness he must first confront the darkness in himself. . Perhaps he is driven to find Megumi by guilt over abandoning her father on his final climb. Perhaps he is even her illegitimate father. What Shiga tells people may not be the truth he knows.
The climax to The Quest for the Missing Girl might be one of Taniguchi’s best. While I recommend going in cold, just know that he makes great use of Shiga’s climbing skills.It’s rare that you find a manga action set piece that keeps you on the edge of your seat but Taniguchi pulls it off. This is manga from one of the great practitioners of the art form operating at the top of his craft. — D. Morris
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