Aug 1, 2021
I decided to pick up a few volumes of the light novel after coming from the anime and I most certainly wasn't disappointed when reading this series.
Wandering Witch is a series of mostly disconnected stories that follows our main character, Elaina the Ashen Witch on her travels, with no overarching plot. However, I don't believe this structure of storytelling to be necessarily a bad thing. On the contrary, I believe that the series's structure of many different stories mostly disconnected with each other and no overarching plot actually makes for a good bit of world building. Throughout my time reading this series, there's been what
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I feel is a good balance of light and dark stories which I believe adds nuance to the world Elaina journeys through in by portraying it as neither a fantasy utopian world without strife or suffering nor as a completely dark and gritty world. One thing in particular that I liked was the slight callbacks the author makes to previous stories, mostly in the form of passing remarks or quick trains of thought by Elaina, which does help with a sense of continuity between these stories and volumes a little.
The characters of Wandering Witch are also a pleasure to read about. I really liked the interactions and banter between Elaina, the recurring characters, and even one-shot characters of the series and seeing how their personalities collided and shaped these interactions, which made them all the more memorable to me. On the topic of personalities, coming from the anime I was surprised with how Elaina is a bit more underhanded in the light novel but personally I feel that adds a bit more nuance to Elaina's character. She's not necessarily a bad person but she is not an angel either, which I also think fits well with her role in the story too. While Elaina may be the protagonist of the series, she is not a hero; she's a traveler, a bystander in most situations that don't directly involve her.
Overall, I found Wandering Witch to be an enjoyable read from the beginning to end and I can't wait for the volumes to come. I would definitely recommend this to someone who likes fantasy and adventure.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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