By Saka and Chorefuji. Released in Japan as “Aru Majo ga Shinu Made: Aokiumi ni Shukufuku no Kane wa Narihibiku” by DENGEKI no Shin Bungei. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Megan Turner.
When I reviewed the first book in this series, it was the only book in this series, and I wondered in the review if there would be any more of it. Since then, of course, we’ve had three more volumes (the fourth of which seems to be the final one). And an anime, which was not particularly popular here but was well received by the few who watched it. Fortunately, almost two years later, we finally have the second volume, with the third scheduled for the summer. Of course, I watched the anime as well, which leads to the problem that I broke one of my rules, which is “try not to watch an anime that passes where you’ve read”. This second volume contains the bulk of the back half of the anime, so folks who watched it know what’s going to happen. Fortunately, the story is still well-told, and honestly, we read this for Meg being a freakish gremlin in any case.
While technically not a short story volume, this book can be rather neatly divided into four sections. 1) Meg goes with Faust and Sophie to a giant witch convention that only happens every twenty years, and while there runs into a young girl who seems to be lost and also is more than she seems… and also a terrifying witch who has another bad prophecy for Meg. 2) Meg notices that a young girl… and later, her mother… have a dark mark on their necks that no one else can see. Faust says it’s a sign they’re going to be a sacrifice to Satan, and warns Meg not to get involved. Meg gets involved. 3) The huge tree in the town is overfloweing with magic and needs to be destroyed… but Meg has made friends with the spirit inside the tree, who is also getting corrupted. 4) After the events of Story 3, Meg has a broken leg, and goes to the city of Aquamarine to get treatment from a powerful medical witch. While there, she also learns about her past.
The first book was there to introduce us to Meg as a goofy little ball of energy who talks and acts like a dirty old man, has a big heart full of compassion, and seems to think she’s just an ordinary minor apprentice to a witch. This second volume is here to remind you that her master is possibly the second most powerful witch in the world, she’s best friends with the third most powerful, wants to intern with the fourth most powerful, and also is habitually achieving the impossible seemingly every single day, especially in the back half of the book. We see Meg basically invent her own magic here, twice, and most of it has to do with the fact that society has tried to math up magic to the point where it’s forgotten about the feelings. Since Meg is zero logic and all feelings, it’s no wonder she’s destroying all the common sense laws of how to cast spells.
This reads breezily, has a great main character voice, and some surprisingly dark horror within its pages. it’s a winner. Also, you can sing the title to the opening line of Secret Love by Doris Day.
