Takaya is the author of the popular manga Fruits Basket. In 2011 she started a new fantasy romance, Liselotte & Witch’s Forest, but it went on hiatus in 2013. Yen Press has picked up and is reissuing and continuing the series, starting with volume 1 released in 2016 (volume 5 will be released in July 2017).
The first volume introduces Liselotte, an exiled noblewoman living in a remote house, with her two child servants Anna and Alto. They hear rumors about witches in the forest, but Liselotte’s main interest is in learning to do things for herself and to truly live her life. When she meets the mysterious stranger Engetsu, Liselotte immediately guesses that he’s her long-lost friend and servant Enrich. But there’s something different about him now. Between the strange characters that keep popping up, like witch’s familiar Yomi, and Alto’s determination that she live as befits her station, will Liselotte ever be able to start her new life?
The second volume throws in more action, flashing back to the events of Liselotte’s break with her older brother Richard and her exile. Liselotte is determined to participate fully in her new life, even going so far as to enter the forest to meet the witches who are rumored to live there, but when she encounters hidden dangers the story takes a darker turn. When the assassin who previously tried to kill her and wounded her friend Enrich attacks, Engetsu is seriously wounded. Liselotte discovers that Engetsu is no longer human, but she is still determined to save him.
Liselotte continues her quest to live joyfully and in the moment in the third volume. Despite the accusations and warnings of both magical folk and her servants, she chooses to keep Engetsu with her, but at what price? Liselotte has wondered if she ever really knew who her friend was and now she has a chance to start over with him without the dark past that overshadows them. But what dangers are ahead of them and will they survive to make a new life for themselves?
Although the story is intriguing, it’s also fairly confused. The author mentions in an aside in the first book that she’s basically just having fun with the story, but this might be frustrating to readers who want a more coherent plot. This is reflected in the art, which is sometimes muddy and indistinct, foreshadowing the involvement of witches and Liselotte’s flashbacks to her past, but then flips to the doll-like servants or Liselotte’s own new personality, bouncing about and exuberantly trying things, hair flying, big eyes shining. The fight scenes are kind of a mess, especially in the second volume when a witch attacks with a large force which turn out to be scarecrows. On the one hand, this gives a good feeling of the confusion and fear the household feels, but on the other hand readers may have a hard time figuring out what’s going on. However, the individual characters are well-drawn; Yomi, with his furry ears and quirky personality, is sure to be a favorite character and Engetsu/Enrich has a very dashing costume and swoony design which will please romantics.
The battle scenes are not particularly gory; lots of crosshatching implies blood and there are plenty of injuries, but nothing too graphic. Alto frequently fusses over Liselotte having a man in her room, which leads Yomi to making a joke about sex, but there’s no fan service and nothing particularly inappropriate for a teen audience.
More tricky is figuring out who the audience for this manga is. The plot takes a while to get going, jumping from scenes of Liselotte planting her garden and arguing with her servants, to desperate battles with the witches and assassins. Readers of adventure and fantasy are likely to want a more straight-forward plot, although there are enough cliffhangers to grab (and frustrate) readers. Romance readers may be disappointed by the abrupt change in Liselotte and Engetsu’s relationship, but it also heralds a deeper, more mature relationship which readers can look forward to following in later volumes. This is unlikely to fly off the shelves, but it holds enough interest to grab voracious manga readers and will interest those who like the fantasy romance genre.
Liselotte & Witch’s Forest
by Natsuki Takaya
vol 1 ISBN: 9780316360197
vol 2 ISBN: 9780316360227
vol 3 ISBN: 9780316361033
Yen Press, 2016
Publisher Age Rating: Teen
