Hi! This is my first time posting on the animerealm, I usually just lurk and look at other posts. I thought it was high time I started making my own thoughts and ideas out as well. To start, I would like to talk about the new recent shounen manga that came out: Madan no Ichi or Ichi the Witch!
Ichi the Witch is a manga series written by Osamu Nishi and illustrated by Shiro Usazaki. It’s serialization started in September 2024 by Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine.
The story follows a young hunter boy’s adventure to become a witch and use amazing fantasy magic powers, but the thing is, only girls had ever became witches!
Ichi, our main character is literally the FIRST MALE witch in that world! You can imagine where the initial direction goes right? Well, maybe slightly, it will definitely explore the fact he is the first boy to wield magic, but for some of you who expects a harem, no! Turn back and find something else because there will be no such tropes in this manga.
Sure there are obviously a lot of female characters, but each have their own distinct characters that certainly will not revolve around romance. This is a shounen manga, remember that, even if there is a romantic plot later, it would be limited to one or two girls as it goes per the usual formula of this genre.
Now for a little preview on our most notable cast.
Characters
Ichi, is a young boy living very wild and independent as a hunter, he helps his fellow while being close to nature. I would describe him as a simple down-to-earth boy, but possessing the kind of intelligence and skill where a person is an expert in a specific specialty, in his case being a hunter, which is amazingly used in how he deals and uses magic later on.
Descarras, she is the first witch Ichi will encounter and the one who will help him integrate to the world of magic. Beyond being one of the high ranking witches in their government, you all will realize quickly how much of quirky character she is as much as our first boy witch. Seriously, my first impression was she was going to be the strict and elegant type, that got surprisingly switch after the first chapter.
For people who are into the fantasy genre who want witches, unique magic systems, world building and hot blooded action and comedy, I highly recommend following the manga. Ignore the fact that the main premise is a boy witch out-numbered by girl witches if you get too privy about that detail, the characters and how the story flows make it clear that the trope isn’t there to be the main thing, but it is what will kick-start the progress of the plot.
As of now from the time of this post, there are only 14 chapters out, so we all have to be patient before the best stuff comes out. I certainly enjoyed them, it left me wanting for more, checking every now and then when the next update will come out.
I truly believe that this manga has the potential to be one the greater shounens, and by that the kind that will eventually have it’s own anime(I will certainly hope for it!). Now we only need to wait and give the best support we have to the author and publisher!
Well, that’s all I can say for now, I can’t give any more details otherwise it would be spoiling the fun. Here is the Launch PV, it’s in Japanese, but this is the only video released on youtube from Shonen Jump’s official channel.