Flying Witch Vol. 12

Flying Witch Vol. 12

High Stakes Missions

To atone for stopping time under the influence, Makoto’s sister Akane must undertake a challenging job for the Society. Her mission: retrieve a sacred artifact from a long-sealed chamber in the Tibetan mountains or risk forever staining her reputation. Back in Aomori, Makoto fits a friend in a handmade robe—only to unexpectedly unleash a little chaos. And when a special visitor asks for help, Makoto and her crew put all their skills to the test in a task that, if done wrong, could spell the end of the human race.

Biographical Notes:

Very little is known about Chihiro Ishizuka. She was born and raised in Japan’s far north and she broke into the comics world with Flying Witch in 2012. It is his first and only published comic, and is about to be adapted into an animated tv series.

Title Notes:

Great Humor and Great Art: One of the strong points for titles like Nichijou and My Neighbor Seki is how the comedy is strong enough to carry a title. In the case of Flying Witch there is great surreal humor but Ishizuka’s art is also impressive. There is a tremendous amount of detail to her worlds. But what is more important is how expressive her art is. Her characters, whether human or feline, are very expressive showing a humor that is accessible and transcendent of any language or cultural barriers.

Emerging Genre: Comedy has long been a tough riddle to solve for manga. While it is a staple in Japan, translating humor has not been very easy for the English market. In the last few years, with memes becoming more visible in social media along with improved translation stables comedy has come of age. Best of all, this genre is cross-market and often all-ages, like Flying Witch.

More details on Chihiro Ishizuka:

Chihiro Ishizuka’s Twitter account

More works by Chihiro Ishizuka

Publisher’s Twitter account