Witches, who practice herbal magic and wear pointed black hats, are often relegated to the realms of folklore, trotted out once a year on Halloween. Then they ride their broomsticks across the sky, cavort with black cat familiars, and lay traps for unwary children. Sure, famous fairy tale witches like the one in Hansel and Gretel make appearances in children’s literature, but for the most part, this sort of old-fashioned witch is viewed as incompatible with the modern world.
What, then, would happen if one such old-fashioned witch were to cross paths with it? That seems to be the question Aria of the Beech Forest is setting itself up to answer. Set in Ireland, the story revolves around Aria, a young teen witch (she looks to be around thirteen or fourteen years old) living by herself deep in the eponymous beech forest. Aria wasn’t always alone; until recently, her grandmother was there with her. Gran was also a witch, and she taught Aria her trade, which seems to be primarily herbology and herbal medicine. Aria says that she can use other magic, as Gran could, but nothing in this volume truly bears that out.
That’s almost certainly on purpose. Aria makes her living (so to speak; she’s largely self-sufficient) by selling her herbs and remedies to a “merchant” who comes roughly once a month; he’s also Aria’s only contact with the outside world. Her grandmother put up a barrier spell to keep their tree house hidden, and the merchant is the only person who can get through it. Therefore, through him, she can hear about the humans in the town and the way the world exists outside of her small enclave.
Everything changes one winter night when a white wolf makes it through the barrier. The wolf, whose opening imagery strongly suggests he is a werewolf of some kind, seems like he may have been specifically looking for Aria, although we don’t know that for certain. Aria is delighted to welcome him in after a brief panic, which speaks volumes about her loneliness and potential naïveté. She’s been faithful to her grandmother’s decree to remain behind the protective barrier, but that means that she’s only seen one other person around once a month since her grandmother died. The poor girl is clearly starving for companionship. Gwyn, as she names the wolf, says that he will stay through the winter, and when spring is about to come around, Aria’s panic causes her to demonstrate – perhaps – that she isn’t so bad at magic after all.
This happens off the page, however. We never know whether Aria can cast real magic, although there’s a real implication that perhaps she can when she really tries. And maybe she fails to recast the barrier around the forest because she doesn’t want to be alone anymore. Theodore, the merchant, shows up towards the end of the volume and seems to be doing his best to keep her isolated, as her grandmother did. But Gwyn doesn’t appear sure that that’s really in Aria’s best interests, and while the barrier is down, two local children find Aria’s home, Alvin and his little sister Colleen. Aria is giddy with fear and excitement when they show up, while Alvin is wary for some very good reasons that form the best reveal of the volume.
The Irish setting is just unusual enough for manga to help this stand out, although, by the time we hit the major reveal, it doesn’t need that edge. It’s clear that Yugiri Aika researched traditional Irish culture or cuisine – if you’ve ever wanted a very simple recipe for colcannon, this book has it. There aren’t many mentions beyond a reference to Halloween that deal with witches in Irish folklore, which feels like a missed opportunity. Although, in all fairness, the idea of “witches” as we think of them today isn’t necessarily a piece of traditional Irish mythology. There is one glaring translation issue, however, when the text uses “cat-sith” to refer to a type of Celtic feline fairy; “sith” is the Scottish spelling, and in Irish it should be either “sidhe” or “si.”
Aria of the Beech Forest‘s first volume is a largely cozy fantasy. Aria’s life is simple, if lonely, and as of this volume, there don’t appear to be any terrible stakes. But that stands to change as more about the world is revealed, and why Aria is supposed to remain in her hidden grove may bring a darker side to the story. But even if it doesn’t, this is a fascinating first volume with strong plot points and warm, detailed art. It should be worth sticking around for volume two to see where the story goes.
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.
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