Manga Review - 'Eden of Witches Volume 1' by Yumeji

'Eden of Witches Volume 1' is a great, refreshing, dramatic, emotional, thought-provoking, heartfelt, and stunning little epic fantasy manga. It's small yet near-perfectly, wonderfully compact.

It's about witches and nature, and animals and plants (and a combination of both, like a wolf called Oak!), and the cruelty, greed, hubris, deviousness, and blind piousness of humanity.

The heroine, Pili, is a young redhaired witch living in seclusion, and who has believable self-esteem and confidence issues. She is scared, but brave. She is sensitive, and strong. She is determined, and kind. The child is wiser and more powerful than she knows. I am proud of her, and her journey - towards finding the legendary Eden, a haven for witches, and planting seeds there to save everyone - and adventures, filled with tragedy, have only just begun.

'Eden of Witches' really is like 'Witch Hat Atelier', 'Aria of the Beech Forest' (there're plants, a tree home, a young redhaired witch and a wolf in that, too!), 'A Cat from Our World and the Forgotten Witch', 'The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún, 'Frieren: Beyond Journey's End', and 'Snow White with the Red Hair', with art and themes influenced by Studio Ghibli films. As a plus, I can easily see it as a 'The Legend of Zelda' game.

But it flowers and blooms in its own light.

I can't fathom how this particular witch manga alluded me until now!

Save, respect, and preserve nature, and in turn you will save the world and humanity. Living together in harmony, working together and growing things together, instead of burning and destroying, is the key to survival.

Love grows and flourishes, hate annihilates.

Final Score: 4.5/5