Tite Kubo, known for his magnum opus Bleach, returns for a brand new series with magic and dragons and action galore.

So what did I think?

Eh.

I only read the first volume of Bleach, and I was discouraged from continuing because there were way too many volumes and the ending was universally hated, but I definitely enjoyed it. It was a cool concept with awesome characters, and tons of action. Burn the Witch, however, felt bland.

The only reason I would’ve connected this to Kubo is the art style and unique character design, but the story had nothing to it that made it memorable. Actually, I’ve goth most of it already, as there was nothing that made me connect to anything going on. There were cool scenes, but that was about it. The one shot aspect of storytelling did little to help keep me engaged in his messy storytelling.

It must be hard to follow up after the mega hit that was Bleach, but Kubo has proven he can write an awesome story, so hopefully we will get another hit from Kubo again.

Tite Kubo, the king of the manga world, returns again but this time in a story that transports us to magical London. Burn the Witch is like if Harry Potter and VE Schwab’s Shade of Magic combined into something even greater. Dragons, witches, transforming puppies, and battles combine into a fun ride of a manga!

I'm not entirely sure how Burn the Witch will fit in as the Western equivalent of Soul Society, but volume 1 presents a solid start. Tite Kubo's art is excellent and I particularly enjoyed the diverse array of dragons in the book. The world building for Reverse London in Burn the Witch is weaved in very well with the story that the only confusing thing was why Balgo is so obsessed with Noel, other than the obvious shallow reasons. It feels like an awful lot of characters get introduced, and a lot is set up for a second volume, whenever that may be. Thanks to Viz for the free ARC.

This was an interesting one for me. It was really neat to see another side of the Bleach universe, and I really liked some aspects of it: the magic, the dragons, and our two new protagonists, Niiha and Ninny. There were other aspects that fell very flat, however: all the underwear jokes, the absolutely ridiculous 'English' names, the "Slave" hoodie/T-shirt. All in all, I was interested and mildly entertained. I'll give the second volume a shot, but I'm not getting my hopes up. This is definitely a title I'll be purchasing for the YA section of my library, as it has a built-in fan base thanks to the author.

I was very interested in this one when I heard about it. Sadly for me, this one didn't quite land for me. I just didn't connect to the story. The art is lovely, and I do think that people are going to love this one. It just didn't connect for me, and I'm sad about it.

I went in blindsided and thought this was okay; I did not expect it to be a manga but was excited when it was. I thought Burn the Witch, Vol. 1 by Tite Kubowas okay!

This was a pretty nostalgic read. I remember waiting impatiently for new chapters of BLEACH to come out as a teen. It was such a good, fast paced, action manga. So I saw this and was ready to read some more than Tite Kubo.

Burn the Witch is set in a world where there is a London and a Reverse London. Reverse London is a thing of fairytales where dragons live and witches are employed to manage and, sometimes, fight against them. Volume 1 introduces the 3 main characters: two witches in the Pipers and one regular boy whose unknowingly spent too much time in the presence of dragons and become dragonclad. To come in contact with a dragon is a death sentence, but to become dragonclad is something else. Dragonclad individuals attract dragons, even legendary ones.

Overall, Tite Kubo's art is solid and interesting. The first volume is interesting and I want to see more of the world and learn its lore. I can definitely see the echoes of BLEACH in Burn the Witch and that has it's pros and cons. Some instances seemed pretty dated (i.e. the atrocious underwear jokes) while others were fresh and exciting (the lore). Hopefully this series picks up and doesn't fizzle out like BLEACH before it.

3/5 stars