YEN PRESS
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Yu Shimizu
ART: Kazuma Ichihara
TRANSLATION: Christine Dashiell
LETTERS: Phil Christie
ISBN: 978-1-9753-9922-1; paperback (March 2020); Rated “OT” for “Older Teen”
194pp, B&W with some color pages, $13.00 U.S., $17.00 CAN
Hokago Bitchcraft is a manga from writer Yu Shimizu and artist Kazuma Ichihara. Yen Press is publishing an English language edition of the manga in North America as a series of graphic novels, entitled After-School Bitchcraft.
After-School Bitchcraft, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 6) introduces high school student, Ririka Kirise, a “gyaru,” or “party-girl fashion” type. This style-savvy high school girl is also serious about keeping up with her chemistry class, although she struggles with the subject. Looking for some help, she opens the door to her teacher's office and inadvertently breaks his magic barrier in the process.
It seems that Renji Fuyumi is both a high school teacher and a sorcerer. Unbeknownst to Renji, Ririka also has the makings of being a sorceress herself. Before she knows it, Ririka is Renji's apprentice, and she finds herself wrapped up in the world of witchcraft and stuck in some sticky situations.
[This volume includes four color pages; an “Extra” manga (Episode 4.5); an “Afterword” by Yu Shimizu and Kazuma Ichihara; and “Translation Notes.”]
The After-School Bitchcraft manga has an unusual name. What is “bitchcraft?”
After-School Bitchcraft Graphic Novel Volume 1 does not introduce us to a high school teenage girl who is a “bitch,” not as far as I can tell. The first volume presents, in Ririka, a girl who is very powerful, but who is more of a “klutz” or “ditz” type. However, she is a likable, and readers may find themselves wanting to discover the world of magic through her eyes. Writer Yu Shimizu, who is also an author of light novels, hints at a complicated and dangerous world of magic that Shimizu is bound to unveil before readers' eyes as the series unfolds.
The art and storytelling by artist Kazuma Ichihara is playful and is filled with “fanservice,” in the form of panty-shots, T&A, and Ririka's curvy figure and bountiful bosoms (which always seem ready to burst forth like eager and playful puppies). Christine Dashiell's translation plays up the aspects of this story that are a sexy romp and teases the parts of the story that deal with this world of mysterious magic. Letterer Phil Christie splashes fonts and word balloons across the pages that make this story pop even when it is being teasing and frivolous.
I don't know if After-School Bitchcraft will be exceptional, but the first volume does make me curious about the second volume. Plus, it is hard to resist Vol. 1's cover art, which features the number “1” emblazoned in red on Ririka's ample left breast.
7 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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