The lovechild of Art Deco, Film Noir and Dark Fantasy.
The Witch and the Beast (Majo to Yajū in Japanese) is a Dark Fantasy written and drawn by Kousuke Satake. The manga is best known for being one of the few works of its medium to utilize Art Deco and a bit of Art Nouveau as an aesthetic art choice.Ashaf, a tall, gaunt but soft-spoken man who carries a coffin around his back and Guideau, a short but erratic and violent girl are on a quest, to find the witch responsible for cursing Guideau with this body. For appearances can be deceiving, as within the coffin lies Guideau's secret that can only be temporarily freed by a kiss from a witch. Their quest would bring these two unlikely companions on an adventure throughout this grim, dark, atmospheric and heavily industrialized world where witches and the various magical cohorts and governments wrestle for control.
The manga began serialization in 2016 in Young Magazine the 3rd, later moving to Weekly Young Magazine in 2021. Kodansha Comics began publication of the English translation in 2020. The manga has been on a hiatus since 2023 due to Satake's health. An anime was announced on August 2022, which aired on January 12, 2024. It would be produced by Yokohama Animation Lab.
The Witch and the Beast provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Tons. Like, where do we begin? Almost every female character in the series could kick ass by themselves and have their own agency. It is to the point where there is just as many women that could hold their own or even exceed the male characters, which is something that is quite rare and unheard of for a manga of its genre. To give you some examples:
- We have of course, Guideau, the protagonist who often punch first, ask questions later. Is incredibly and perpetually grumpy with a hair-trigger temper and is incredibly violent to the point that Ashaf acts more as a handler than a partner.
- Than we have Phanora who is the most powerful necromancer in the world and a witch to boot. Whilst she never physically fights, her powers are so god damned scary that other amateur necromancers shit themselves when she is nearby.
- We also have Helga Velvette who, despite her Butt-Monkey status, could easily hold her own and prove how god damned deadly she is with her sword magics. Outside of Guideau, she is the most physical and 'hands-on' of the female characters.
- In an extra chapter, the Ludovseth Witch single-handedly wiped out a massive demon army equipped with kaijus with a single finger gesture just to exemplify how god damned overpowered she is.
- Even a young teenage girl like Falvell of all people could whoop some serious ass once her seal is broken and she is able to utilize her absolutely broken abilities to its full potential.
- And then we have the villains such as Angela, Lowell, Lady Ione and Lucia who would individually kick just as much ass by themselves in any other medium.
- Art Deco: One of the main highlights of the manga. The Witch and the Beast is one of the few mangas that utilizes Art Deco to its fullest. If the Zeppelins aren't obvious, then the bold architecture will.
- Art Nouveau: To a lesser extent. Plenty of buildings look like period pieces from the 1900-1910s, but some of the panel art is definitely Art Nouveau inspired given its gorgeous dynamism that resembles painted glass.
- The first time was when an amateur necromancer tried to threaten Phanora with your typical Hollywood zombies... only for Phanora to reveal she is not only the chief necromancer but also a witch to boot. Suffice to say, Phanora countered said zombies with her Death Knights and the results were... messy.
- The second was when Ashgan the Demon Sword was released in his full form, which led to Guideau kissing Helga to fully awaken and promptly beat the shit out of the sword into submission. This was a demonic sword of world destruction mind you.
- The third happened to Guideau, this time she is on the receiving end via Angela who not only incapacitates Guideau but showcases how scarily outmatched Guideau is compared to her.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: Although there are nice characters from here and there, the Witch and the Beast is filled with incredibly unpleasant people and societies.
- Buddy Cop Show: A dark and gothic example. Both Ashaf and Guideau plays out this trope straight.
- Church Militant: The Global Holy Church is essentially that, as not only are they the foremost manufacturers of magic and rest on the first continent, but the Paladin Corps and the Executioners are under their influence.
- Constructed World: According to Ashaf, the world has eight continents. The Holy Global Church's turf is on the First Continent. The continents after that First has varying degrees of magical technology. But the Eighth Continent, which is farthest from the First, is able to create its own magical technology. Guideau lives in the Seventh Continent and in between the Seventh and Eighth is a small island with a hole known as the Fall that connects to other worlds.
- Cool Airship: The world is filled with zeppelins, lots and lots of zeppelins.
- Costume Porn: One of the primary point of attraction of the series. Each character are dressed up like their attending in a Louis Vuitton fashion show.
- Covers Always Lie: One thing that the Witch and the Beast is notorious for, is its cover art. Don't get us wrong, the cover of the Witch and the Beast is known for how pretty it is. However, some fans has pointed out that the cover misled them into thinking it is some kind of supernatural, artsy romance novel from a Shoujo manga due to Ashaf and Guideau being positioned together dressed in some nice clothes in a fancy area. However, once they read the contents...well...lets say they were in a world of surprises.
- Curse Escape Clause: A witch's curse can be removed only by the witch who cast it or by the victim receiving a kiss of pure love. Kissing any witch will temporarily negate the curse, but this only works once per witch.
- Evil Versus Evil: The Paladin Corps vs the Executioners, the Paladin Corps and Executioners vs Angela's Witch Host, the Vampire political infighting, etc.
- Fantastic Racism: Withces are a small ethnic minority descended from the Origins. Between the hard anti-witch stance of the Holy Global Church and the destuction blamed on witches in the past, either rightly or wrongly, the populace tends to view witches with distrust and fear. This in turn makes it very easy for parties such as the Executioners to frame innocent witches for crimes and rally mobs to hunt them.
- The Fashionista: The entire manga is this, as everyone looks quite sharply dressed. But special mention goes to Guideau. For such as foul-mouth and foul-tempered monster of a beast trapped in a girl's body, Guideau sure knows a surprising amount of fashion sense.
- Fate Drives Us Together: A dark and non-romantic example. Strings of fate or magical bonds are a running theme in the series, especially in regards to the bond between the hexed and the hexer. For Guideau, her single-minded target to the witch Angela is a more literal example.
- Fate Worse than Death: The Witch and the Beast has many fates worse than being turned into an undead automaton:
- Anyone who is cursed by a witch would spend the rest of their lives permanently disabled in some form or another unless broken by a very ridiculous set of circumstances.
- The fate of Lowell and the Global Holy Church's envoy after Matt Cugat is done with them. The last time we see of them, they were frozen eye-high alive. Whatever punishment they will receive for treachery and betrayal is left to the viewer's imaginations.
- Folks who are cursed into a doll would be forced to live in an object that cannot move nor speak; essentially becoming a prisoner in a foreign body for all eternity.
- Film Noir: It is a dark, broody manga series that literally starts with a mystery, filled with dark moody characters that wear either trench coats or some form of 1940s-1950s drip, smoke cigarettes and introspect with some monologues. It is film noir as hell. On the other hand, this may also clearly bleed into Fantastic Noir as it is a film noir story filled to the brim with fantasy and magic.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Ashaf and Guideau's first meeting was initially antagonistic given that Guideau sees Ashaf as a nuisance, who tries to block her from getting to Flavall. However, Ashaf becomes interested in her because he's curious about what she exactly is. After dealing with the Executioners and saving Flavall, Ashaf offers Guideau to join the Order so she can have more resources to track down the witch who gave her the curse.
- Gothic Horror: When Ashaf and Guideau went inside a magical elevator to gain access to Orlencia, the realm of Vampires, this trope is played entirely straight.
- Hot Witch: Most of the witches are incredibly attractive as they are overpowered; no one can deny that.
- It Only Works Once: If the victim of a witch's curse kisses another witch, it will temporarily negate the curse. However, this method is reliant on the "purity" of a first kiss, so it only works once per witch.
- Magic Is Feminine: The power of witches is hereditary and expresses itself almost solely in female descendants of the witch bloodlines. The few males who do develop a witch's powers tend to appear very feminine.
- Magical Eye: Whenever a witch powers up, her eyes go from normal to a glowing iris resembling a lizard. It is also Guideau's default eye state.
- Magical Society: Although magic exists as well as wizards and other sorts of fantastical creatures, the world's society is less Harry Potter and more Bioshock. This isn't a fantasy you would want to live in.
- Magitek: The world is essentially magic industrialized into the modern technology.
- Mark of the Beast: People who are cursed by a witch would have a mark on their bodies. In Guideau's case, it is quite literal.
- More Deadly Than the Male: With a series that is considered by some, to be a rare female power fantasy in the seinen genre, don't be too surprise that whenever a mix-gendered team is presented, the women is the more powerful and more dangerous of the two.
- The Nothing After Death: Zombies raised by necromancers have their souls forcibly dragged out of the cycle of reincarnation. Their soul is unable to reenter the cycle after this point, instead becoming trapped in the Void, existing as little more than a mind aware of its fate but unable to even think.
- Occult Detective: That's the entire schlick of the Order of Magical Resonance, of which Ashaf and Phanora Kristoffel is a part of.
- Our Witches Are Different: Witches are the descendants of the seventeen Origin witches, from whom they inherit a natural magic talent that can put them in the same league as an archmage. The talent expresses itself primarily in female descendants, though not every member of the bloodline will develop magic. Each bloodline has its own unique magic and distinct Ultoma, but all share the ability to apply a curse. Witches tend to be inhumanly beautiful and do not age on reaching adulthood, though they will grow old and die after two hundred years.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Almost every witch is essentially a One-Man Army. In one backstory set in the medieval era, a single witch vaporized an entire demonic army by summoning a rain of ''fucking meteors at them''. Archmages themselves are also a one-man army and the only ones that can rival a witch in power. One of them for example, was able to summon the arm of a dragon so big, it flattened the entire surrounding geography with one swipe.
- Pimped-Out Dress: The victorian dress that Guideau wears in Orlencia counts. And even outside of it, any woman wearing a dress is bound to have some slick fashion sense.
- Power Tattoo: Each witch bloodline has a unique Ultoma, a distinctive set of markings which appear on their face or body when they use their magic.
- Reincarnation: Magic has proven that all souls are bound to a cycle of death and rebirth.
- Runic Magic: When a witch activates her magic, runic lettering would cover her entire body in the transformation. For mages and their magic in general; it is only activated when runes are drawn as well.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Plenty, but special mention goes to Asghad the Demon Sword and the coffin that Ashaf carries around which contains Guideau's monstrous other half.
- Zeppelins from Another World: The first continent's sky is filled with so much zeppelins it can blot out the sun.
