Writer and Art by: Jung-Man Cho

Volume 1 begins with a Witch Hunter named Tasha Godspell who arrives at a town but is denied access due to an inspection checkpoint.  He’s thrown in jail and learns from his cellmate that a group of Witch Hunters are in town searching for a witch.  She reveals herself as a witch to him (which honestly makes no sense since she could’ve attacked the town before he got there).  Summoning her supporter, Golem (which looks freakin’ awesome) she attacks the town but is confronted by Witch Hunters, Team Black Star.  She easily kicks their ass which not only seems like a waste of time but also begs to question why those guys are even Witch Hunters.

Of course, Tasha steps up and with his supporter, Halloween, and his mana gun, Colt Custom, he easily takes out the witch’s golem clones.  The witch detonates her supporter before escaping.  She later on returns and after a brief confrontation with Tasha and Halloween, she gives him the location of the Red Witch in Mountainville before disappearing again (she’s actually a pretty cool witch).  After Halloween’s swords are damaged in the fight with the witch Tasha request the aid of another Witch Hunter and Xing Bairong is sent.

Xing looks cool but shows gay tendencies towards Tasha for some reason.  The two make it to Mountainville when they come upon the battle between Witch Hunter Tarras and witch revealed to be Tasha’s sister, Aria.  Her abilities allow her to control this mechanical disc things that look really cool.  She also has this really creepy obsession over her brother Tasha that does make her come off as psychotic which she proves by stating she clearly doesn’t care about human life, only being with Tasha.  Xing survives Aria’s surprise attack and attacks Aria.  Also, surviving her attack is Tarras who rejoins the battle.

They manage to subdue her with Xing and Tarras temporarily incapacitated but the fight is interrupted by another witch named Varete, who is sent to retrieve her.  Tasha and Varete engage each other but her shadow abilities prove badass even more so that the shadow is her supporter, Abyss. Tasha summons Halloween and the two engage her.  She is just too badass and even stops Tasha’s attack at point blank range.  Before Varete can kill him Aria surrenders herself. Volume 1 ends with the witch from the beginning revealed to be the Great Witch East who is approached by Varete with a message from her master which she refuses.

The Verdict:  In the end, Volume 1 is pretty fast paced with a lot of great action.  Tasha Godspell is a pretty decent character and the reveal of his sister Aria Godspell being on the opposing team makes for an interesting arc.  Xing and Tarras seem pretty cool but really didn’t have any great moments.  Varete is straight up awesome and easily kicks ass.  But the volume does raise some good questions.  Who is the witch Tasha fought at the beginning?  Who is Varete’s master?  Who is Tasha’s mentor, the White Witch?  Volume 1 is really cool and deserves a 3 out of 5.