#idk......

(2 versions bc i dont know how i want to draw them older lols)

if this man could hed probably slap the fuck outta me lmfao

reference image bleow

I'm not a huge manga reader. Not that I don't enjoy it - I do - but access is an issue, especially because I prefer to read manga physically; and even when I read online, access can be difficult. And I really don't have anywhere to store a bunch of manga if I were to buy it.

I'm also not super into the manga ✨ scene. ✨ Up until now, the only manga I've really read has been from shows that I already watched and wanted more of (Yona of the Dawn, Snow White with the Red Hair, My Hero Academia, Sangatsu no Lion...). So I've never really had the experience of picking up a manga I knew very little about and getting into the story organically via that medium.

I'm having a complete and total blast with Witch Hat. Honestly I feel like I'm being spoiled for manga by "starting" with this one 😅 it's even more beautiful than I heard it was, which is saying a lot, because I heard it was just next-level incredible. It's taking me ages to get through because I keep stopping to gape at the pages. The framing, paneling, visual direction, sense of movement and gesture, the creative way of showing various things to the point that it's downright cinematic.... WOW, you know? Wow. I've been driving my friends crazy by sending them no context pictures of my favorite panels.

Plus the story is really interesting and fun!! I was invested after the first volume, although I felt like story-wise it hadn't done anything particularly interesting yet (I was ok with that though - sometimes great execution of a familiar concept is good on its own); but I've changed my mind now. I think I changed my mind at the point when a character with a disability was introduced and the story briefly contemplated magical ableism and the concept of magical disability accommodation. That's absolutely rad. I can't wait to see what else this story has to say!

With the story being so interesting and the art being breathtaking, plus the gentle way it encourages the reader to try their hand at some drawing, I think it comes together into something that's really, really special.