Halloween Manga Showcase, Part 1

 

As we march on through October and draw closer to Halloween, I thought I’d put together a little list of manga series I’ve translated that feel appropriate for the spooky season.

Starting today with part one: non-horror titles with a dark or witchy aesthetic.

 

The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid by Yugata Tanabe

A black cat called Sumire wakes up to find that she’s become a human (sort of). Wandering the Demon Realm in search of a place to belong, she encounters Rose and Ivy – an undead woman and an android girl – and decides to join these monster maids in their splendid work recovering their master’s magic.

This series has gorgeous art with a lot of Victorian gothic influence in the character designs, particularly the maids. The characters are for the most part based on monsters and creatures from folklore and mythology, e.g. demons, nekomata, mermaids, and various forms of the undead, to name but a few. It’s like it was engineered in a lab to perfectly match my interests! I remember having a lot of fun working on this series and getting thoroughly invested in the story.

 

A Witch’s Love at the End of the World by Kujira

Long ago, witches were driven into hiding by witch hunts. After centuries of amassing power in the shadows, the teachers at the Hexenschule think transfer student Mari could be the key to finally getting revenge on the humans. Just one problem: she’s hopeless at magic. So the school star, Alice, is assigned to be her personal tutor.

Alice and Mari’s blossoming relationship is sweet, and I liked seeing how Alice gradually opens up and Mari gains confidence over the course of the story. Fun(?) fact: during my research while translating this series, I discovered that the founder of Mari and Alice’s school, Alice Kyteler, is named after a real woman who was condemned for witchcraft in Ireland in the fourteenth century. She escaped before she was sentenced and there are apparently no records of her life or her whereabouts after that point.

 

The Witches’ Marriage by studio HEADLINE

A witch’s power is built by forging bonds of love with another witch. Melissa has paired up with a string of naïve witches in the past, discarding each one once she got what she needed, but she may have finally met her match in her latest partner, Tanya, and her irresistibly pure, innocent cuteness.

Basically a GL romcom with magic. Melissa and Tanya’s interactions are fun and sometimes pretty cute. Plus, any time Melissa is forced to put aside her pride and admit to her true feelings is a good time. The character designs are what stick out the most in my memory. The costume designer must have had a lot of fun coming up with so many different outfits for the witches.

 

That brings us to the end of this instalment of my Halloween Manga Showcase. Keep an eye out for part two, which should be ready sometime in the next week (just in time for Halloween)!

Romance Manga Update

 

A 10-volume yuri romance series that I have been translating since 2022 is coming to an end. The final volume of Assorted Entanglements by Mikanuji is being released in September.

Link to the series page on Yen Press’s site

 

Our various mismatched couples are growing, changing and entering new life stages. Where will they end up? What will happen in the end with Minami and Iori, especially now that Shizuku and Saori are moving in with them? How will they adapt to their new life together? Find out next month in Volume 10!