MANGA TITLE: Flying Witch vol. 5
RELEASE DATE: March 2018 (USA Release Date)
STORY AND ART BY: Chihiro Ishizuka
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Kodansha Ltd.
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: Vertical Comics
RATED: T for Teen
What happens when Chito breaks the paper screens inside the home? Makoto gets her first job and that is to take care of a young boy named Yomogi, but there is something special about this boy that will surprise Makoto and friends. What happens when Makoto and family plus Nao go on a fishing trip? Kei has hiccups that won’t stop, Chinatsu learns to control magic and what happens when Makoto and Chinatsu use Mi cream?
All this and more in Chihiro Ishizuka’s “Flying Witch” vol. 5!
What is “Flying Witch” all about?
Back in 2012, Chihiro Ishizuka created the manga series “Flying Witch”, which was serialized in Kodansha’s manga magazine “Bessatsu Shonen Magazine” and has been collected in five tankobon volumes.
An anime adaptation aired in Japan from April through June 2016 and the manga series was released in North America via Vertical Comics in March 2017.
The story revolves around a young woman named Makoto Kowata who came from Yokohama with her black cat Chito to move to the countryside in Hirosaki, Aomori (northern Japan) to live with her relatives, the Kuramoto family.
While her cousin Kei welcomes her back, Kei’s younger sister Chinatsu feels a weird vibe from Makoto and is scared to look at her at first.
With Makoto needing to buy a few items, Kei sends Chinatsu to bring her to the store as Makoto is very bad with directions and often gets lost.
While they go to the store, Chinatsu is shocked when Makoto goes to buy a broom and the next thing you know, she starts elevating with it and flies Chinatsu back home with it.
For Chinatsu, she is shocked to know she has family member swho are witches and to Kei and their parents, Kenji and Nana, they don’t think anything’s odd. But for young Chinatsu, it’s all brand new.
As Makoto starts attending the same high school as Kei, she is shocked that Kei doesn’t spend time with her but instead pushes her to hang out with his friend Nao. While Makoto reveals to Nao that she is a witch and Nao sees her riding on her broom, she is also slightly freaked out about Makoto being a witch but accepts her (although she reminds Makoto that shouldn’t being a witch be a secret and not public?).
And we get to see as Makoto readjusts to life in Aoyama but also a curious Chinatsu who wants to learn more about Makoto’s magic.
Vol. 5 features Makoto’s black cat Chito breaks the paper screens inside the home, can she get him to stop? Makoto gets her first job and that is to take care of a young boy named Yomogi, but there is something special about this boy that will surprise Makoto and friends. What happens when Makoto and family plus Nao go on a fishing trip? Kei has hiccups that won’t stop, Chinatsu learns to control magic and what happens when Makoto and Chinatsu use Mi cream?
Having enjoyed the first volume of “Flying Witch”, the series has become one of those manga series which you can just kick back and enjoy. Read at your own leisure, one chapter and it wouldn’t matter if you read a chapter out of order, you can still enjoy and understand what the manga is about.
Unlike Vertical Comics’ “Witchcraft Works” which is more action-driven and featuring a plethora of characters, “Flying Witch” is like a slice-of-life manga series but one happens to be a witch trying to become independent and learn more of her craft in a rural area.
There is no fighting with antagonists, no action-driven storyline, it’s more or less a teenager named Makoto who moves in with her Aoyama-based relatives and trying to improve on her witchcraft. She goes to high school, makes new friends and her young cousin, who was scared of her at first, starts to become fascinated with witchcraft magic.
In the fifth volume, it’s so kickback and fun to read. For example, Makoto’s cat sees a butterfly and keeps breaking the paper screens and one can learn about how family’s replace their paper screens. We see Makoto taking on her first job babysitting a young rain master, we see Makoto and family with Nao going on a family trip (this was quite funny as Akane keeps teasing Nao by calling her Kei’s girlfriend), a story about Kei hiccuping uncontrollably, we learn how Makoto gets paid for a job and what gift Akira will give Makoto and what happens when Beachy’s tooth starts growing too big for them to handle.
I found each chapter to be hilarious and fun, but it’s because how writer Ishizuka Chihiro is able to weave the slice-of-life high school life of a teenager with witchcraft and interesting characters. Also, Makoto’s naivety and also Chinato’s curiosity and Kei’s aloofness adds to the enjoyment of the manga series. While the manga illustration may not be as detailed as other manga series, still, Ishizuka’s “Flying Witch” is more about good-writing and solid characters which enhance the overall enjoyment of the series as opposed to some manga where art is great but the storyline is not all that great.
Overall, the fifth volume of Chihiro Ishizuka’s “Flying Witch” is delightfully fun. I definitely recommend it!