The Witch and the Beast by Kousuke Satake is a manga series about a young woman named Guideau who is cursed by a witch, in which the curse suppresses her extreme power. Her partner, Ashaf, is a mage who is dedicated to helping her find the witch who cursed her. Additionally, they both work for the Order of Magical Resonance who solve the murders and crimes of dangerous witches and magical beasts.

I particularly love the art style and the time setting of the series. The series carries a strong gothic theme that plays a part in the manga covers, settings, and even the clothes each character wears. I also love how the side characters play such a large role in the plot, and how each arc goes into so much detail of each character. I especially love Phanora and Johan, and the small amount of chapters they’re in. Satake did an amazing job developing these characters, their personality, and their charismatic personas in a way that definitely captures the reader’s attention. 

I would recommend this series to anyone who appreciates gothic, fantasy stories as well as manga as a whole. The scenes do become a bit gory, so if someone does not appreciate blood or injury, try to avoid this series! Overall, I think this an amazing series and it was recently adapted into a show with twelve or thirteen episodes, so please give that a watch as well if you are interested in the series. 

Kaiya T.