Majo no Moribito
Guardian of the Witch

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

From the story and setting the series has similarities both from Attack on Titan and Demon Slayer, but finds some ways to deliver different ingredients to the mix. First of all what comes to mind is the great female character variety with the witches at the center of this world when in other shows you see an overrepresented cast of males to females ratio wise.
Some of the typical Shonen tropes are also put on its head when you consider that Manfasa the witch is more powerful than her guardian and can stand her own ground and only sometimes needs assistance. Some of her mannerism ... remind more of a man, so she doesnt act like a typical girl and bosses around her guard often.
Fafner the guardian has a unique fighting style with his sword and sheath, but seems a little overpowered at times. He goes through much change at the start and gets some fascinating philosphical ideas about how the safety system of the world should be. Natha the maid is also a good addition to the team with her knowledge of the world which translated into a convincing world building til now. Its also interesting that not much was revealed how Manfasas magic works only the dark story of how it came to be, so I see some potential in there which also says something about that the pace is right.
The artstyle is not bad, but not the best either but some of the villains look good I guess. The goal is set clear at the start without dragging on to much and you can see from there what to expect. Some elements from JRPGS could be found in here, but it doesnt have to be a bad thing.
The shady government is also part of the intrigue what opens up many possible conspiracies.

Here's how a good idea can be misused.
Having read it when it was already finished I already started with low expectations, but I did not expect such an engaging start with such an interesting good opening. After the first chapter I could imagine a future with many chapters, large and interesting world building and many secrets to discover... But it did not happen.

Story 4/10
The story started well with a medieval fantasy world where cities are fortified as in attack on titan to protect themselves from monsters (which will be seen at most 3 times). Each city has a guardian and a witch to protect ... the walls, but there is a curse on each witch that will make them run away to find the cure.
Scrolling will always be too fast leaving you with very little of the previous chapter, except for the training arc which was fast but slow at the same time.
In addition to being full of time skips, the ending is both disappointing (although one could not expect anything else) and discreet, if only there had been hundreds of understandings before...

Art 5/10
The drawing and paneling are average, the character design of the characters is monotonous and very similar to others except for the witches.
The action, on the other hand, as well as being badly managed, is too simple and therefore unsatisfactory.

Character 3/10
The characters are practically anonymous and boring, including the third "protagonist" who at some point you forget even though superfluous. The inventor was on my cock right from the start, especially his training that lasts for three boring chapters is unnecessarily random.
The rivals are guardian and witch like the protagonist. Interesting the witches, minus the guardians except for the two best characters of the work with also a good story behind.
Ah and there is no antagonist as the protagonist uses friend no jutsu on rivals and the work ends with a huge time skip.

Enjoyment 5/10
The first chapter had me hype for those after, but it dropped immediately from the second. From then on it is a continuous ups and downs that made me read at times with speed or ease.

Overall 4/10
Light reading to read when you have nothing to do but which I would never recommend. At most you can read the first chapter to savor the bitterness of a nice opening used so badly.

If you ever asked yourself how can a good idea turn to a mediocre work, than this manga will give you the answer. First of all, this manga clearly failed why it got axed. Also it is to mention that it started at the same time (1-2 weeks apart) with Undead Unluck and Mashle, so I will a bit compare these 2 with this one to get a more accurate picture why it failed and got lost in the mediocre world.

Story 4/10
The story started interesting. A well-skilled protagonist, a witch which has to be saved from her curse, so they go on a journey full ... of monsters, mysteries and interesting world, kinda like Shingeki no Kyojin. However, all that could have been but never did. Shortly after they put their first step outside the world, they immediatly lose against a monster and a short training arc begins and just after that we get our first "rivals". What does that mean? The mangaka just skipped all the world building and adventure vibes, to get us as fast as he can to action, which was immensely underwhelming. And just after the first "rivals" you get (almost) the same twice again...
I really appricated the base aspect of the story and the mysteries behind them, but it got totally sacrifced for the sake of poor, repeating battles. On the other hand the readers of jump get 2 mangas (undead unluck and mashle) which had a much weaker base story but have an incredible and developing action (not to mention that after they started to work on their world building, even the story got outpaced).

Art 4/10
Some of you may think: "Action? Nice! That is what I want!". Of course you get action, but it's so damn unsatisfying due to this weak art style you won't really enjoy it. All the characters look also very similar, while you get maybe 2 or at most 3 monsters (even it is supposed to be, that the world is full of them... So where are they?). So after a little bit you will think even if a new character comes, you saw that and due to the hiatus of the monster you just get the same drawn characters again and again...
However, even if the story and the characterdesigns are repeating, the art itself was not a catastrophe, mediocre for sure, but not bad.
While 2 other competitors (you know which 2 I mean ;) ) have an amazing artwork, which even get better and better...

Character 3/10
Do you remember when I mentioned at the beginning we have a well-skilled protagonist and a cursed witch? Yeah, forget them just like the author did, and make them to some total average boring characters... After a 2-3 chapters, all what was interesting in our 2 mains get totally lost... The third one, which I didn't mention yet, got so strongly unnecessary that you would forget her, if she wouldn't be on every page to standing in the background doing nothing! All the "rivals" are almost the same as our protagonists, this is also the reason why I don't call them villians, because they have similar ideals than our characters. So yeah, this work even miss a true villian (because, as mentioned, you can't even find any monsters).
So you get boring / empty characters which are also copy pasted, because to think of a new character is way too hard... And then jump has mangas where you get a multifaceted characterpool...

Enjoyment 4/10
I had a bit of fun with this work, mostly because I hoped for more/better. More worldbuilding, more tension due to the deadly curse or monsters, more mysteries, better adventures and actions. But at the end it was just disappointing... Some parts was nice, so I wouldn't say it was a total waste of time, but you can spend it better.

Overall 4/10
If this manga maybe started later, where other works ended (like Demon Slayer or The Promised Neverland), and hadn't compete against 2 very strong uprising works, than it may had more time for a better world building, more adventure and mysteries. Especially, because it got replaced with mangas which in my opinion (at least currently) not even as good as this (failed) one. So it's a bit sad, but it had its chance to be much better.
So I would say, don't read it, you have better options. And at the same time I hope that the author comes up with an even better idea (maybe next time with someone else on the art), because I see potential for a good work with a bit more of luck and patience.