DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ActionMajo to Yajuu

REVIEWS

• 

  MicahDarkFantasy

  85/100
  A Fair, Yet Stellar Adaptation of a Hidden Dark Fantasy Gem

  ____A Fair, Yet Stellar Adaptation of a Hidden Dark Fantasy Gem____

  The Witch and the Beast is an enchanting masterpiece of dark fantasy that transcends conventional storytelling boundaries. Its allure lies not only in its captivating plotlines and stunning visuals but also in its profound exploration of symbolism and metaphor. Kousuke Satake's masterful craftsmanship is evident throughout the series, as he skillfully weaves intricate layers of meaning into every chapter. The characters, such as Guideau and Ashaf, are not merely vessels for the plot but embodiments of deeper themes and concepts. Each page is imbued with rich symbolism and deep metaphors, inviting readers to delve into the complexities of the narrative and uncover hidden truths. As I found myself immersed in the world of The Witch and the Beast, I discovered that my appreciation for the series extended far beyond its genre conventions. It became not just a dark fantasy tale but a profound meditation on the human condition and the nature of existence itself. For those seeking a truly transformative reading experience, The Witch and the Beast is more than just a manga—it is a journey into the depths of the soul. The manga is one of my personal favorite dark fantasy manga.

  With that said, the anime adaptation has come and gone, and I have some things to say about it after having seen every episode. This adaptation was easily one of my most anticipated anime of 2024, and I didn’t hear any red flags surrounding the anime or the studio adapting the manga. The anime itself has an addictive OP and a stoic EP, and they both capture the symbolism and themes of the manga perfectly. After watching every episode, I did have some questions about the choices the studio made and why they would make these kinds of choices. Some choices were good and other choices were okay, but it didn’t have any negative effect on me since I’m mostly judging this anime based on how well it adapts the material that it’s based on. The studio was very faithful to the story, the lore, and the worldbuilding; they weren’t disrespectful to the author’s vision and I respect that. In terms of adaptation’s sake, this studio did a great job at bringing this story to life.

  Now in terms of characters and voice acting, I was quite surprised with how much I enjoyed the VA. Guideau is so much fun to see, and the voice actress playing her is excellent. The writing of her character in both the anime and manga is splendid. I would, however, point out that her true form looks much better in the manga than it does in the anime. The manga’s version of Guideau’s true form looks more detailed and more ferocious. The anime’s version does feel a bit desaturated, yet the close-ups of her true form are pretty good. Then, there’s Phanora’s voice actress who does an excellent job of keeping the cold and chilling atmosphere of her character. Helga’s sub and dub actress is good at capturing the character’s strong personality while wanting a relationship. The female characters of Witch and the Beast are lovable, and I was impressed with the voice acting surrounding them.

  Some of the flaws I’ve noticed were that a few moments were missing in the anime that were in the manga, which I felt like they could’ve kept in and still made the narrative impactful. Some moments feel a little rushed, and other moments are a little strange with how they execute some of the manga’s more surreal moments. Even in moments with Guideau and Ashaf, only a few instances felt a bit desaturated compared to how those moments were executed in the manga. With that said the flaws in this adaptation are made up for with how well everything else around it is brought together. The symbolism, metaphors, rhetorics, theories, and poetic writing are still done with the utmost respect. The themes of the manga are captivating, and the way they are portrayed in the anime is pretty good, though not perfect. But Guideau’s themes of revenge are executed brilliantly in the adaptation, especially when they are shown in the last two episodes through their flashbacks.

  Overall, I quite enjoyed this adaptation. There were a few moments that I believe could’ve been done a little better, but I was satisfied with what we got. Aesthetically, I think they nailed the way everyone appears (though some appear better in the manga than in the anime) and from a narrative perspective, I appreciated the way they handled the lore and worldbuilding that the author came up with. Guideau’s VA does an amazing job, while the English VA also handles the character quite well. The Witch and the Beast is one of my new favorite dark fantasy manga, and the anime does a great job at remaining faithful to Kousuke Satake’s story.

  Rating: 8.5/10

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• 

  SenNkA

  60/100
  While not excelling in anything, it's a very decent show that might keep you entertained.

  In simple art there is success hidden

  I like how simple this anime looks. The characters aren't overdrawn like in Jojo, but they don't look bad. Their design is rather smoot and I would argue that all of them are hot. Even the witches were drawn rather beautifully, given that they were evil in this story.
  The gore parts were made good too. The blood looked a bit too thick, sure, but seeing dead bodies, seeing crime scenes and even horror aspect of this show were done the way that sent shivers down your spine. Which means, it was done right.
  That includes background too - houses, clouds, surroundings. They were interesting and true to the period this is supposed to be set in. Very good in this art aspect.

  Nothing was too overdone - the animation, too, was simple yet effective. Fighting, Guideau's real form, the magic runes/spells.. they looked so good it really made the visual side of the story rather pleasant. As an experience, Maho to Yajuu was a great mix of suspense & calmness.

  Interesting approach to witches being bad

  From the way they looked, to the limited number and through special "fraction" they belonged. Witches in this story were not the same as magic users, and that was clear. Witches were bad women that had their evil plans and regular looks with which they blended in with humans to execute their evil plans. (Okay, sexist much?? /jk)
  I loved this way of thinking. In 21st century with all this content we get everyday, it's hard to be original. It's the spin you put on things that were made a thousand times that you stick out. And this story here managed to do it.
  You don't know who the witches are or what they want, you don't know anything about them besides them being evil. Yet it's not that important because you know the main points of their existence.
  Each of them is different, and I appreciated that.

  But the important thing is - we need to find the witch that cursed Guideau. Curse, huh, again something every story has. But this anime focused on how to break the curse. The third way - kissing a witch mixed the cars. Who would think something like this might be important? A kiss. Because why would you want to kiss a witch, much more the one that cursed you? Kiss, of all things! The most intimate thing, that requires both parties to get ? this close without fighting.
  Brilliant!

  Suspense in every episode

  And it's not only witches. Magic users, the executioners, Order of Magical Resonance, regular police. So many things mix together, as if they were all from different shows. Still, they work together just fine in this show and make up for interesting power dynamic that might be hard to orientate in, but keeps you entertained.
  Every witch brought something to the story, and every witch meant fight. Executioners appeared halfway in the story and they brought a whole another dimension, but of course they had to have a beef with everyone.
  The police detective Kiera had the most interesting story in my opinion. Her arc was the one, during which I held my breath the most.
  And then Helga's arc... Helga is my favorite witch. She is a silly teenager with sad backstory and unhappy fate, but she is... oh how I love her.

  Why do they look the same? and ...did I miss something?

  Guideau and Ashaf, Phanora and Johan. They looked too similar to me. Sure, the boys have different hairstyles and the girls are "nothing alike". But I just didn't understand why they had to look so alike. Another point is - why is Phanora and Johan on the official poster, when hey are merely supporting characters? (Yes, I know, I am nitpicking again.)
  Anyway.

  Of course some episodes were confusing. It was hard to follow who are those people, what they want, where in the story we are. For that I took the most points off. I hate when things that are important are not clear or aren't explained properly in time. But I don't think I hated the mix of everything that was happening.
  The decision to divide/keep arc divided and put emphasis on them every episode was a good one. That way, the story didn't necessarily need to flow in one pace, and you knew you are focused on a whole different thing than the week before.

  There were some misses, of course. And the confusion or rather the mixture of different characters of different statuses made the story more complicated that it needed to be, but I guess the quality really shows if you don't mind it that much...

  Conclusion: recommended !!

  All in all, a good show with good soundtrack and interesting plot.

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• 

  Humble

  85/100
  A supernatural dark fantasy anime I never knew I needed!!!

  So, let’s talk about the sleeper anime of the winter season and possibly the year. The witch and the Beast! My thoughts going into this anime was that it looked boring and too complex, and I immediately thought I was going to drop this anime. Yeah, I was wrong. The best thing about this anime is how dark it can get... there is a lot of death and twisted point of views within this anime, and I loved it!! __Synopsis __ This dark fantasy anime focuses on the supernatural mysteries of their world. For example, witches. We see our main characters Ashalf and Guideau turn into which hunters within this series. Well, let us get a bit more in depth in this aspect witches are the alpha supernatural species (so far) we have encountered 4 (I believe) witches, and they have all been extremely powerful a little too powerful if we are being honest. Why are we speaking of this oh because our main characters are looking for the witch who cursed Guideau which turns out to be the strongest witch in history. Ironically Guideau meets with Ashalf who tells her the easiest way of breaking a witch’s curse, a kiss from the witch who cursed Guideau will break the curse. __Characters __ First, we need more information on our characters so Ashalf. He is the pale looking guy with the black slick back hair style, you would probably notice him carrying a huge coffin or smoking a cig. Yes, he is our guy. Smart as hell when it comes to this supernatural stuff and works for The Order of Magical Resonance which is an organization for supernatural crime. He is the guy who normally schemes up a plan to take on whatever foe, as in magic ability he is above average, but the man has gone up against a great elemental mage, so he gets credit for that. Besides this there is not much of a back story for Ashalf. Next, we have Guideau the blonde-haired lady that is a badass. Now here me out, I do not think we were ever informed of this, but I doubt Guideau is a woman. From research it only shows that Guideau true form is of a beast which is the witch's natural enemy but there is nothing feminine about her beside her form. But never mind that Guideau only have one thing on the mind and that is to hunt and kill witches. Makes sense, as I mentioned previously about the curse the witch put on Guideau. Now regarding her other form, she is obviously their ace in the hole. I am assuming this is Guideau’s true form, but it is an absolute juggernaut. There is nothing I have seen that can top her true form. __Animation__ The animation of this series is crisp and clean. Do not get me wrong it is no JJK but I do love the clean subtleness of the anime. There is a need for color. I feel like every day in the anime was gloomy. Another really big thing I appreciated is the dub actors voices, I honestly felt like the actor voices matched the character personality. __ To Conclude __ My concluding thoughts on The Witch and the Beast is that an anime must watch. I mean there are some questions I have about certain missteps that confused me. But the anime was everything a supernatural fan would want. We had witches, necromancers fighting each other, executioners which is bad magicians using magic, a life siphoning book, a world ending sword and Guideau lol. Not to mention how dark a brooding the anime get. __Hopefully, this anime gets a season 2 (soon) but if not, there is always the manga. I recommend this anime with a - __You should watch__.

  For those who don’t know scores of 80+ get a “you should watch recommendation"

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