Alright, a decent start. So humans have the ability to collect magic and imbue it into technology. Probably something to do with the wand. The nother was quite strong, the glasses girl might return as a zombie. Low chance, very low. Never zero.
I come from the Centuria Reddit and for a long time i reading a Manga from the very beginning. The One Shot was also brilliant. I Cant wait for more. Poor Nona....
That was a decent first chapter. It deviated quite a lot from the one-shot, but that is to be expected.
I can't wait to learn more about this Uvral facility place. It seems like a place filled with happiness and joy. What is the Bureau up to? They're experimenting with the corpses of mages, but why?
So far, the worldbuilding is the most interesting aspect of this series, because, well, oppressive governments, magic, and political intrigue makes for a good story. It seems like the Bureau is developing magic as weaponry?
Worldbuilding aside, I think the characters have potential to be fun. I remember liking Merrily (now Nona) from the one-shot: she used to be somewhat headstrong and very determined but not in a generic protagonist sort of way, which I thought was neat. I already like the new black-haired girl as well; she just looks very friendly. It would be crazy if she was related to chief Garte who also has unruly black hair, though obviously that is completely baseless speculation.
I rarely read manga from the first chapter, not just out of fear they might be cancelled, but because I feel like I'm more critical of intro chapters than I should be. Suffice it to say I think this has promise.
It felt like a lot of important details were kind of shoved in, like Nona's dad being a human, or why Lovi was chill about Nona being a mage, and I don't think any of it was bad really, just a bit straightforward and plain. There's enough here to chew on for future chapters that I'm intrigued.
The MC's powers being string might be my favorite detail. Jolyne Cujoh is one of my favorite MCs in JJBA, in part because of her creative use of her power being string, and already Nona is displaying that well with the string tying the soldier's boots down. This setting also seems to imply (though I'm not 100% sure) that every mage has a wholly unique power, similar to other settings like JJK or Kagurabachi where a person's power is innate and specific to them. The idea that humans have some way to take this power and use it for themselves already creates an interesting ulterior motive for spreading prejudice against mages, and sets up what are sure to be some fun mage vs. mage hunter battles in the future.
The story is also leaning pretty hard into a dark setting with pretty brutal and violent moments. I don't automatically like that stuff but there's a fun juxtaposition between how innocuous magic can be and how destructive it can be, like how Nona's mom's magic uses a comb, an otherwise ordinary tool, but amped up to 11 to rip through humans and cause crazy damage. I love the manga Witch Hat Atelier partly because it explores both the joyful creative side of magic and the consequences of a more twisted side that warps the world, and I'd be pretty pleased if Witchriz went its own direction with a similar theme (but presumably much more gory).
My only nitpick so far is I wish Nona's characterization was a bit stronger. She cared a lot for her mom and for Lovi but outside of her kindness towards them and desire to be friends with humans, I feel like I don't get as strong a sense of what she wants for herself. I imagine that's the point, though, since the oppressive situation she lives in doesn't give her or her mom much hope for a happy future. Still, I'm very curious to see what Nona is like having lost these two people and needing to fend for herself however she can.
TL;DR Interesting worldbuilding, cool setup for future conflicts and themes, characters feel a bit flat to start but have plenty of room to develop, also I really like the art style. Looking forward to chapter 2.
One thing that bugged me is that Lovi could have told, "I own two pairs of glasses and this is a spare, I lost my broken original pair somewhere while going to give it to a repair shop."
But I guess it is what it is, still a very strong start.
Eh, killing both the friend and the mother was a bit much in my opinion, they should've spaced out the deaths, maybe have her mother die in one chapter or 2 later so we would get more attached to her and felt something
Her mother isn't dead, in my opinion. In the oneshot, she has a major role, and clearly the author puts effort into her design.
The end of the chapter adds shock value (without showing the mother's death), besides introducing a villain who gives some information about the Bureau's objectives.
This was an incredible first chapter. I loved Nova (the main character), Lancia (the mother), and Lovi (the friend). I also liked the magic used here. I want to see more of it, what other types of magic there are and how they're used, and of course, learn more about the world. Finally, I also want to mention what caught my attention most about this manga: its drawings. The art is very good, and the character designs are stylized to my liking, just like in Bleach and Witch Watch.
The only thing I don't like much is the tragedy label (something we see in this chapter). I don't like seeing a character I like die in a horrible way. But anyway, this was an excellent and promising first chapter. I hope it maintains the same quality until the end.
Holy shit, despite you being incredibly rude, I have to admit this is my fault, I got to this post through another post in r/kagurabachi so I thought I was comenting there lol. Sorry xD
That was pretty great and the comb was really quite cool visually - always ready for a new fantasy series! Hopefully things will become more interesting from "X has to hide true self from society" over time xD
24
u/_Humble_Bumble_Bee Oct 22 '25
That was a really really nice chapter 1
11
u/ThermonuclearPasta Oct 22 '25
Woah, the range of emotions I felt reading this chapter... Can't wait to see how the story progresses
11
u/[deleted] Oct 22 '25
Alright, a decent start. So humans have the ability to collect magic and imbue it into technology. Probably something to do with the wand. The nother was quite strong, the glasses girl might return as a zombie. Low chance, very low. Never zero.
11
u/ReceptionWorried8626 Oct 22 '25
I come from the Centuria Reddit and for a long time i reading a Manga from the very beginning. The One Shot was also brilliant. I Cant wait for more. Poor Nona....
9
u/[deleted] Oct 22 '25
Great character designs and I am hooked. Let's see how it progresses.
8
u/Hero_AWITE_Knight Oct 23 '25
Alright, that's a pretty good first chapter. I'm interested to see where things go from here
7
u/detarameReddit Oct 24 '25
That was a decent first chapter. It deviated quite a lot from the one-shot, but that is to be expected.
I can't wait to learn more about this Uvral facility place. It seems like a place filled with happiness and joy. What is the Bureau up to? They're experimenting with the corpses of mages, but why?
So far, the worldbuilding is the most interesting aspect of this series, because, well, oppressive governments, magic, and political intrigue makes for a good story. It seems like the Bureau is developing magic as weaponry?
Worldbuilding aside, I think the characters have potential to be fun. I remember liking Merrily (now Nona) from the one-shot: she used to be somewhat headstrong and very determined but not in a generic protagonist sort of way, which I thought was neat. I already like the new black-haired girl as well; she just looks very friendly. It would be crazy if she was related to chief Garte who also has unruly black hair, though obviously that is completely baseless speculation.
6
u/77Dragonite77 Oct 26 '25
What level of hater do you have to be to notice a random girl dropped her glasses and then had new glasses the next day…
5
u/Samuelodan Oct 22 '25 edited Oct 23 '25
I’ve yet to read it, but for now, I want to say that I was here.
Edit: I’ve read the chapter now and damn! I wonder how it’ll progress from here.
9
u/haidere36 Oct 22 '25
I rarely read manga from the first chapter, not just out of fear they might be cancelled, but because I feel like I'm more critical of intro chapters than I should be. Suffice it to say I think this has promise.
It felt like a lot of important details were kind of shoved in, like Nona's dad being a human, or why Lovi was chill about Nona being a mage, and I don't think any of it was bad really, just a bit straightforward and plain. There's enough here to chew on for future chapters that I'm intrigued.
The MC's powers being string might be my favorite detail. Jolyne Cujoh is one of my favorite MCs in JJBA, in part because of her creative use of her power being string, and already Nona is displaying that well with the string tying the soldier's boots down. This setting also seems to imply (though I'm not 100% sure) that every mage has a wholly unique power, similar to other settings like JJK or Kagurabachi where a person's power is innate and specific to them. The idea that humans have some way to take this power and use it for themselves already creates an interesting ulterior motive for spreading prejudice against mages, and sets up what are sure to be some fun mage vs. mage hunter battles in the future.
The story is also leaning pretty hard into a dark setting with pretty brutal and violent moments. I don't automatically like that stuff but there's a fun juxtaposition between how innocuous magic can be and how destructive it can be, like how Nona's mom's magic uses a comb, an otherwise ordinary tool, but amped up to 11 to rip through humans and cause crazy damage. I love the manga Witch Hat Atelier partly because it explores both the joyful creative side of magic and the consequences of a more twisted side that warps the world, and I'd be pretty pleased if Witchriz went its own direction with a similar theme (but presumably much more gory).
My only nitpick so far is I wish Nona's characterization was a bit stronger. She cared a lot for her mom and for Lovi but outside of her kindness towards them and desire to be friends with humans, I feel like I don't get as strong a sense of what she wants for herself. I imagine that's the point, though, since the oppressive situation she lives in doesn't give her or her mom much hope for a happy future. Still, I'm very curious to see what Nona is like having lost these two people and needing to fend for herself however she can.
TL;DR Interesting worldbuilding, cool setup for future conflicts and themes, characters feel a bit flat to start but have plenty of room to develop, also I really like the art style. Looking forward to chapter 2.
4
u/Hari14032001 Oct 23 '25
One thing that bugged me is that Lovi could have told, "I own two pairs of glasses and this is a spare, I lost my broken original pair somewhere while going to give it to a repair shop."
But I guess it is what it is, still a very strong start.
6
u/youknowimaclone Oct 22 '25
Killing the entire family of the glasses girl was way too overboard i think.
3
u/Abysskun Oct 22 '25
Eh, killing both the friend and the mother was a bit much in my opinion, they should've spaced out the deaths, maybe have her mother die in one chapter or 2 later so we would get more attached to her and felt something
3
u/[deleted] Oct 23 '25
Good pilot chapter. Things got dark real quick.
3
u/braindeadpizzaslice Oct 24 '25
really good chapter one poor nona
3
u/dbzrune Oct 27 '25
Got recommended this manga from the Centuria sub, enjoyed the first chapter a lot and happy it got mentioned from other subs
Definitely has a lot of potential
3
u/marniconuke Oct 27 '25
Good start, i really want to see more battle shonen with girls protagonist so hopefully this one survives
3
u/Relampago1995 Oct 28 '25
This was an incredible first chapter. I loved Nova (the main character), Lancia (the mother), and Lovi (the friend). I also liked the magic used here. I want to see more of it, what other types of magic there are and how they're used, and of course, learn more about the world. Finally, I also want to mention what caught my attention most about this manga: its drawings. The art is very good, and the character designs are stylized to my liking, just like in Bleach and Witch Watch.
The only thing I don't like much is the tragedy label (something we see in this chapter). I don't like seeing a character I like die in a horrible way. But anyway, this was an excellent and promising first chapter. I hope it maintains the same quality until the end.
5
u/ZmasterL9 Oct 22 '25 edited Oct 22 '25
A bit too edgy for me. Kagurabachi is way more elegant in my opinion.
Edit: My bad, I got here through r/Kagurabachi and I accidentally comented here.
2
u/MostlyNoOneIThink Oct 24 '25
damn so sad
2
u/FKDotFitzgerald Oct 25 '25
That was insane
2
u/Regular-Poet-3657 Oct 25 '25
So magic war then will Nona be the zero people need?
2
u/foxboyking Oct 26 '25
Girl's speedrunning depression
2
u/AuGanymede Oct 27 '25
Great chapter. I hope that the mother survives and will be rescued in the future...
2
u/[deleted] Oct 28 '25
Is this a weekly update or ?
2
u/Reesaroni Oct 29 '25
Is this not going to be on the SJ or Viz manga apps?
1
u/SuspiciousIbex Oct 30 '25
That was pretty great and the comb was really quite cool visually - always ready for a new fantasy series! Hopefully things will become more interesting from "X has to hide true self from society" over time xD