The Dawn of the Witch Vol. 1 Manga Review – A Charismatic RPG-Esque Party

Written by Kakeru Kobashiri and illustrated by Tatsuwo, The Dawn of the Witch Vol. 1 seems like a promising start to an RPG-styled manga. With an interesting world and intriguing events that keep the story moving, I’m already captivated by the main characters in mere five chapters.

The Dawn of the Witch tells the story of a young boy called Saybil. Without memories from before he enrolled in the Academy of Magic, he faces a dire situation. With his low grades, he’s likely to be expelled and forget everything from his time at the school. 

To prevent that, he’s given a chance: join a special course in a faraway village. If he’s able to show the results of his training in a way that helps the place and satisfies the academy, he will be able to graduate.

However, he’s not alone in that task, as other students will also participate in the special course. He travels along with Hort, a young girl who’s well endowed, charming, and usually acts happy, and the Dawn Witch, Loux Krystas, who’s currently working as their teacher.

Besides them, there’s a second group led by the beastfallen Kudo. This guy is an interesting fellow with a lizardman body. Ostracized and feared by many people, he’s the lone wolf type, but he has a hard time lying, making the protagonist trust him.

Not spoiling anything, the volume does a good job at exploring the character’s backgrounds. Their stories and personalities make them into a nice group that has chemistry right out of the bat. It didn’t take long for me to root for them and be intrigued by the world.

The Dawn of the Witch Vol. 1 has this magic feeling akin to a nice RPG game. The kind in which you get to know the party, enjoying small conversations during their journey. Some of those inevitably mean worldbuilding, while others are more mundane character-driven talks that humanize them.

My one complaint about it is just the bad implementation of fanservice shots. Though I’m not against them, they sometimes feel a little forced in context due to unnatural poses. It never really reaches the stronger erotic border, so it isn’t a good stimulus on that front either.

Other than that, there are dynamic battle sequences and impressive setpieces. The art also makes characters feel very expressive, which allows the scenes to be strong and emotional when combined with their charisma and chemistry.

The first volume already offers good twists that make it more than just an introduction to the world. Thanks to that, the story isn’t a slow start while not skimping on important details to understand how the world works.

The Dawn of the Witch Vol. 1 is a fascinating adventure manga. With charismatic main characters, nice pacing, and interesting twists, this looks like the beginning of a story that shouldn’t be missed.