This is a case of fascinating concept, not-great execution. The world, which looks a bit like a steampunk/gaslight fantasy setup, offers us interesting ideas about witches driven to the dark side by the persistent belief that they're evil, mingled with fairy tale lore about how to break curses, but it fails to adequately explain it. The protagonists are either "deliberately vague" or "definitely annoying," which doesn't help, and even the fact that Guideaux isn't in her real body isn't handled quite as well as it ought to be. It's interesting, but fails to really build on that.

A pretty solid start to an action/adventure/magic manga series. There's clearly a lot of backstory, and while some of it is revealed throughout the first volume there's still a little too much left unexplained and it makes this first volume a little confusing to follow at times.

Our two main protagonists of The Witch & The Beast are Guideau, an impulsive young woman witch a vendetta against witches, and Ashaf, a refined, low level mage who works for a company that operates by magic, for magic, of magic.

I struggled to get into this one as it starts off quite fast paced with a lot of action and very little context. However the second story arc in here I found to be a lot more compelling, with mystery elements and more of a slow build.

The art style is detailed and beautiful and played a large part in my enjoyment.

I requested this book because the concept intrigued me but I wasn't sure how much I'd like it but I actually really enjoyed it.

I'm not a massive fan of the art or character designs. It's all a little too dark but kinda elegant to me. Not my thing but it works well with the story.

But the idea of witches, curses and murder? Yeah, I'm liking it. The volume unsurprisingly ends on a cliffhanger and I cant wait to find out what goes on at the police station. I have my suspicions but we'll see.

Okay, first things first, I loved the cover and that's what made me want to get into it asap, and it did not disappoint, although I was expecting the whole thing to be coloured which it is not, it's a black and white Manga save for the first few pages. I think it'd look really cool and more to it if it was coloured. The plot is interesting and thoroughly enjoyable, but it sure took me some time to get the hang of the storytelling style. I felt a bit confused initially about what was happening and why given there isn't much background to either the characters or the story. That said, the graphics are nice and striking, even in black and white, and the panels flowed smoothly. The story was a bit confusing in some places but great overall, and I loved the darker gory parts. Would love to see how it develops further. Not that I didn't enjoy it but I think this would appeal more to teens, and no I don't think Manga is for teens only, lol.

Thanks to Netgalley, author, and publishers for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

The art and the storyline are great. It has suspense, action, gore and mystery. If you like dark supernatural stories, this is for you.

This story wasn’t for me though. I prefer light hearted shojo stories and I had a difficult time getting through this. I have to admit, it put me to sleep a couple times.

I just reviewed The Witch and the Beast 1 by Kousuke Satake. #TheWitchandtheBeast1 #NetGalley

Great retelling of the classic Beauty and the beast! If you love retellings, then you are sure to enjoy this one :)

The art of the novel is wonderful and should be highly praised. Especially the action scenes.

I found the chemistry between the two main characters really well written and very authentic of two people who are stuck with each other. The story itself feels quite simple to understand. There is an organisation that makes sure magic is not misused and hunts witches down. It's a decent plot with the first volume ending on an interesting note and intriguing enough to pull the audience back to volume two. It's a very decent start and I look forward to reading more.

The Witch and the Beast is an enjoyable opening volume with intriguing characters and an engaging plot. Ashaf was my favourite; he comes across really well on the page. The first volume closed in a way that certainly left me keen to know what would happen next. Regarding the artwork, although the style was not my absolute favourite, the images were clean and easily legible both in static scenes and in the action sequences. Worth checking out if you are a fan of fantasy manga with a darker edge.

This wasn't quite what I was expecting based on the title of this series, but I still really liked it. While the female MC has the most interesting background and curse that she's trying to break, I liked the male MC more. He was a lot more reserved and we don't actually learn a whole lot about him, but I I don't really care for characters who are overly aggressive in the way that the girl is.

These two work for an organization that deal with magic in all forms. Occasionally they get assignments to hunt down and stop witches. We get two of these with this first volume, though the second one isn't solved yet. The witches here are a vicious bunch and that gives us some gory scenes. The first time it surprised me, but I'm totally all for this and it completely works here. The magic is neat and the story kept me interested. I'd definitely like to keep reading this one.

2.5 stars.

I liked the art style and the overall concept of the plot, but I got confused by the storyline itself at points. I’m hoping that things become clearer in future volumes because there’s a lot of potential.

**I received a free digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

I was instantly intrigued by this manga when I read the description. Fantasy, magic, and witches are things I enjoy reading about. This was no exception, but at a few points, I did feel a slight bit lost. I'm sure there'll be more exposition in upcoming volumes, however, as it stands, there were moments when I backtracked because I thought I missed something. Overall, this is a really good start, and I did enjoy reading this. I do recommend this, just be aware there might be a few moments where you may have to infer why some things are happening.

This review will also be posted on Goodreads.com and Amazon.

<i>arc provided to me by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

I’m not sure how to describe what this manga is about but basically these two characters, a mage and some sort of beast character and they are on the hunt for the witch who cast a curse on the beast character.

This was a lot darker than I expected! But it was still enjoyable, I prefer darker stories especially with manga. This had a ton of action and intense moments mixed in with a mix of magic and otherwordly creatures.

I hope in future volumes we get to see more creatures and how they are involved in this world.

The witches were great, super creepy and angsty. That one scene with her assistant.. I was not expecting the body horror that was shown!!

Overall, this was a pretty interesting and explosive start to the series and I am intrigued to continue on.

3/5 🌟

TW: violence, murder, body horror, blood, gore, fire, death.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the free copy of this manga in exchange for an honest review. My opinion was not affected by the free copy.

Unfortunately, I don't think this manga is really captivating me. It has elements that I should enjoy, but I think the problem is that I've seen those elements in other things and they've been done better or in ways that I liked more than this.

I will say that the art style is very nice and the story seems like it could go in interesting directions. It just didn't grab me personally. I think because I was thinking of things like Miyazaki that often deals in fantasy and magic in creative and interesting ways. I also couldn't help thinking of Witch Hunter Robin. So I would say I would watch the anime of this because it lends itself to some creative imagery. It just didn't hold my interest as a manga.

The Witch and the Beast has somewhat of a realistic art style. The tone of the art is a little dark but quite fascinating as this is a steampunk world.

I went into this thinking it was a fairy-tale like romance but it definitely is not that. That's not to say it is bad, it's just a whole different genre. It’s a bit like a supernatural police procedure in parts where revenge is a theme.

Ashaf is this glamorous quiet man and first class mage while his reluctant partner Guideau is a very brisk harsh around the edges girl, or so it seems. They are of The Order of Magical Resonance, a group that works by magic, for magic, and of magic. Their job is to bring witches back to the order. If there's any kind of trouble with magic they are the ones to call. There is a specific reason Guideau is working for the order and it drives the whole forward action of the story. The dynamic between Ashaf and Guideau is part of what adds to the appeal of the story. They aren’t necessarily friends, but I wouldn't call them enemies either. I know that Guideau is very important to the story but I would really like to learn more about the mysterious Ashaf.

There were three cases dealt with in this volume and there were some pretty neat dialogue peppered throughout. Overall this is a promising start to a very cool partnership and an important quest. I’m looking forward to the rest of the story.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

9.25 out of 10
Wow.

Keywords: manga, dark, horror, witches, magic, action
Trigger warning: gore and violence, torture

REVIEW
The Witch and the Beast is a terribly dark manga about witch-hunting. The story is gripping even from the first few pages. I'm scared yet I keep turning the pages because I need to know what would happen. As the trigger warning suggest there are a lot of gore and blood, the tone itself is very grim and bleak. You need to brace yourself for some scare if you intend to read this manga.

Artstyle is very pretty and the flow between panels or dialogues is good. I could certainly feel the emotions intended.. The horror parts are scary and action parts look smoothly cool.

Thank you Netgalley and Kodansha comic for giving me e-arc of this manga in exchange of honest review, it's good.

This is the first volume in the series and a good start. We are introduced to a witch who seems to be kind and the saviuor of her town, but is she. When two mysterious characters arrive in the town everything is turned upside down as we are introduced to the beast. I think this started slow but it soon gained momentum and is actually quite an engaging story. The art work is good too.

What I liked most:

* The drawing style
* Supernatural creatures
* A badass female character (Guideau)

What I liked least:

* I need more information. I've found kind of lost sometimes. And I also need to know a bit more about the main characters, so I can really say if I like them or not/empathize with them.
* Witches are the bad ones

The story is about two particular characters, Guideau and Ashaf who work for The Order of Magical Resonance. Guideau wants to find the witch that cursed her, in order to break this curse and take revenge by killing the witch. So she partners up with Ashaf and go after the malevolent creatures that are behind the gruesome acts in different places. Most of the time they're witches. In the end, they're sent to deal with a witch who's murdering people with abominable cruelty.

Thanks to Kodansha Comics and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Nettgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Wow, that was crazy AMAZING!! I'm so happy for this discovery. This manga is so cool, I love it and I just want more about Guideau and Ashaf. That story was impressive and the moment with the coffin I was just fangirling.

Guideau is cursed because of a witch that she ignores the identity, so to find her, she is hunting all the witches in order to break the curse. This is like fullmetal Alchemist but differently better and with top magic and mystery. e can't say more because it will spoil this good story.

Also, I loved the slogan of The Order of Magical Resonance for whom the two protagonists are working for "Our group works by magic, for magic, and of magic" it could be cool on a T-shirt.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the copy of The Witch and the Beast volume 1. This is a voluntary review.

The Witch and the Beast has an alluring storyline: two people arrive to town looking for a witch, one with a coffin on his back. As the story progresses we see why they are looking for witches, but we don’t know much about the characters yet. We see some fantastic fighting scenes and magic use, but there isn’t that much background to connect the levels of magic, or if there are different types, how the characters met etc. I am intrigued by the plot line as I want to find out more, and am hoping it doesn’t become one of the shallow fantasy series that fall out for me.