In his preface, the author Cedric Caballes says that 'The Witch's Throne' is a love letter to all the media he loved in his childhood. And oh, by many a cauldron's bubbly, exploding mixture, it definitely shows.
'The Witch's Throne' is a bright, vibrant, kaleidoscopic, energetic, thrilling, not-too fast paced, demented hodgepodge of all things alluding to shonen anime and manga. Reading it really made me feel like a kid in the 2000s again, watching those types of anime.It is set in a fantasy world where wannabe heroes, called throne seekers, must compete in a fighting tournament (this is only one of the myriad of lifted shonen conventions), in the Citadel, and only four of them - the mage, the rogue, the warrior, the saint - are chosen to be worthy enough to reach the ultimate goal of going on a witch hunt, which means killing an evil witch - an apocalyptic threat who is up alone in her shadowy, towering mountain-sized throne. Darkness, destruction, and death are the future if heroes are not chosen. So it is said.
This process has been repeated once every ten years, for centuries, and the witch's awakening and ascendance always seems to be random and spontaneous, never happening of her own free will.
Thanks to a famous wizard, in order to "combat the witch", everyone in this world is born bound to the law of numbers, with a power level and status, based on their predetermined (?) jobs. Their level numbers increase or decrease depending on their fighting wins (and kills) and losses. Yeah, it's a nod to its obvious influences, and is as charmingly on the nose as that.
There are goblins, elves, ogres, orcs, giants, dragons, dragon people, owl people, and all sorts of fighters and magic users you'd find in an RPG and a shonen anime.
Heck, I can even see 'Undertale' influences!
'The Witch's Throne' contains a vast cast of colourful, distinct, and unforgettable characters. Best of all, half of them, if not more, are female! This includes the protagonist. There is a subversion of shonen conventions for the contemporary days. Furthermore, not everyone's gender can be immediately known by their appearance! No one is blatantly sexualised, not even the characters, male and female, who show off their chest. Absolutely no romance is in sight, either! Just friendship and companionship.
A list of my favourites are Reksha the female orc/dwarf warrior and fighting master, Flora the psychotic assassin elf, and Mico Dhama the arhat and mage. But surpassing all the others, to me, is the aforementioned protag, Agni Arvelle.
Agni is a spirited, optimistic, altruistic, slightly naïve young human alchemist who has one big blue eye, and skeleton arms... for some reason I'm sure will be explained in later chapters. (This is also where I drew the 'Undertale' comparison). Anyway, having recently lost her beloved mother tragically, Agni, who had lived sheltered and isolated in a forest for ten years, is so pumped to achieve her dream of becoming a hero, alongside her own ragtag band of friends (her first friends!) on her quest, like in the stories she loved to hear from her mother. Her good heart and drive to do the right thing by people is infectious. She's a funny fish out of water, and freaking adorable, and a badass when she needs to be.
It won't be easy for her, but with her potions casting and fighting skills, she is on her way to being very powerful; OP, in fact. Agni is truly like any shonen hero you can think of, only, refreshingly, female.
The art in 'The Witch's Throne' is brilliant, all anime-esque. However, due to the paperback volume being adapted from what was originally a webcomic, its panelling placements (with so much white space) can make it tricky to follow character interactions sometimes. But I just went with the flow, and could follow everything fine as I got more immersed and engaged in the book; in the characters and their progress and development.
In conclusion, for a fun time, for a fun homage, for action, comedy, heart, and a wacky OTT hero's journey comic, read 'The Witch's Throne'. As picky as I am with my reading material, I might pick up the second volume. For Agni more than anything else.
And I'm curious about what the deal is with the as-of-now vague threat of the nameless, characterless witch, who I doubt is actually evil, or she isn't as evil as we are told. She reads like a victim of a spell or evil "destiny" to me; not the true villain the heroes have to defeat. There is definitely more than meets the eye about this world's messed up system, more than what it seems on the surface...
Final Score: 4/5
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