Creative Staff
Written by: Tobi Tana
Original Story by: Matsuri Isora
Character Design by: Nanna Fujimi
Translation/Adaptation: Alice Prowse
Lettering: Chiho Christie
What They Say
Monica Everett is the Silent Witch, the only mage in the world who has mastered the art of unchanted mage craft. But Monica hides a secret: The reason she learned to use magic without speaking is merely because of her extreme shyness. Until now, she’s been content living a peaceful life hidden away in the mountains, but an unexpected visit from a colleague brings her a task more daunting than any other. Now, it’s up to the world’s easiest mage to infiltrate an academy and protect the second prince from danger…without letting her fears get to her!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Having a silent protagonist is a hard task to handle but the Silent Witch does the most with this concept. Monica Everett pulled off the impossible and mastered magic without saying a word. She elevated herself to be one of the strongest mages in the kingdom. It’s an interesting choice to have Monica start the series as being one of the strongest mages in the kingdom. It puts her in a place with little to no room for growth with her magic. This choice puts the focus on room for her to have personal growth as she has to learn to cooperate with the world with her limited social skills. She can save the world but she can’t entirely live in it with her current state of self. Due to her status as a grand mage, she gets forced into a situation that is going to have her deal with some of her issues as the story moves towards its grand setting.
The school setting is a great place for Monica to be able to experience the world. It may be over cliche to do in a high school/academy setting especially since Monica is at the top of the world in her expertise. But it is what she needs to be a greater protagonist. It’s not just about expanding her horizons. Her classmates can make up for her silence as they can view and explain the world. Academy life isn’t going to be as easy as saving the world. The academy is proving to be quite a hardship as Monica has to learn to deal with other people. Its
The first half of the book has a bit of an identity crisis. It doesn’t know what to do with its main character, Monica. She is presented as one of the most powerful mages. She easily saves a town from a major catastrophe. From that point, it feels like her abilities are more than the book bargained for. The story moves on from this catastrophe like it wasn’t the big deal it was initially selling you on. I needed to spend more time on this topic to make it feel more real. We see the beginning and how horrifying it is for the citizens but that is about it. The identity crisis doesn’t get solved but it gets swept under the rug as the story moves on to another situation.
In Summary:
Silent Witch is not so silent as it makes a boisterous start. There are some places where it stumbles but it picks up the pieces where it matters. Silence is golden and it works wonders for Monica and this manga as Monica is forced into human matters. It gives her a way to be relatable to human society. She started at a strong magical level so there had to be another way to make her feel more human. She doesn’t have to find her voice but she has to find a way to live with the rest of society.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: July 18th, 2023
MSRP: $13.00 US/ $17.00 CAN
This review was done with a review copy provided by the publisher. We are grateful for their continued support.
