Ichi the Witch

Ichi the Witch (Japanese: 魔男のイチ, Hepburn: Madan no Ichi) is a Japanese manga series written by Osamu Nishi and illustrated by Shiro Usazaki. It began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine in September 2024.

Plot

The series takes place in a world where monsters composed of magic called Majiks exist. Specialized hunters called Witches can obtain magic from them after performing a trial, but it is thought only women can become witches. A young boy called Ichi, who lives in Druid Mountain and hunts for a living, defeats a Majik, and ends up being the first male witch.

Characters

Witches

Ichi (イチ): Ichi is the main protagonist of the series. He is a feral hunter who came from Druid Mountain. He was abandoned by his parents when he was six years old, forcing him to learn to hunt to survive. Initially, he was self-taught, but later also learned from a traveler named Minakata. He interrupted the battle between Uroro and Desscaras, saving the latter by passing the former's trial due to him being exempt from Uroro's restriction that no women could damage his heart. As the result, Ichi acquired Uroro's power and became the first male witch in history. He was recruited by Desscaras to become her assistant in acquiring other majiks, forming an anti human-hating majik group together with her and Kumugi. He is prophesized to be the messiah that will save the world from the World-Hater Majik, but he will die once he acquired the majik. Following this revelation, Ichi is tricked into making master-pupil blood oath with Desscaras, forcing Ichi to follow Desscaras' every command, but not knowing that should he die then Desscaras will die along with him. Growing up most of his life in the mountain, Ichi developed a passion for hunting, getting excited when hunting a strong prey. As a hunter, Ichi strictly follows the tenet of "death-for-death", only hunt animals meant to be eaten or endangering humans, which he also applies when hunting majik. His upbringing also resulted in Ichi developing a sense of combat, able to sense bloodlust or murderous intent and instinctively react to it.

Desscaras (デスカラス, Desukarasu): The Abyssal Witch and widely known as the most powerful witch. Ichi saved her when she got cornered by Uroro due to the restriction of his trial that will not allow a woman to scratch his heart. She recruited Ichi to become her assistant to watch over Uroro whom Ichi had acquired as his Magic while also helping her hunt other Majiks. Once Ichi was recognized as a witch, she and Ichi, along with Kumugi, formed a team of anti human-hater Majik called Team Desscaras, dedicated to hunt Majiks that harm humans. Confident, assertive, and somewhat narcissist prodigy witch, Desscaras initially preferred to work alone, dismissing any help as she believed it would only slow her down. Her tendencies to do things her way caused other witches from the association to view her as handful. Beneath her tough exterior, Desscaras is kind-hearted and always look after her peers. She gradually grew attached to Ichi as he reminded her of her deceased younger brother, Libro, who was killed by World-Hater Majik 15 years prior. As the result, Desscaras developed a grudge against the majik and determined to stop him. She tricked Ichi into making mentor-pupil blood oath that ties her life to Ichi: in exchange for Ichi following her every command, she will die if Ichi dies. True to her name as the most powerful witch, Desscaras has acquired countless majiks at her disposal, being one of the few capable of fighting on an even ground against the World-Hater Majik.

Kumugi (クムギ): Kumugi is a Witch Cadet and a member of the Witches' Research Club. She is appointed to be a watcher who observes and records Ichi's actions and report it to her master, Shirabedonna, making her a member of Team Desscaras. She lacked self-confidence due to being looked down upon by her peers since she was little despite her efforts and having low aptitude for offensive magic with her specialty being a workaday magic. As the result, she joined the club so she could spend her days researching and not having to go out and fight. She was initially afraid of Ichi for his boldness, but soon warmed up to him after he appreciated her kind gestures.

Monegold (マネーゴールド, Manēgōrudo): The Aureate Witch and one of the highest-ranking witches in the Mantinel Witches Association, making her Desscaras and Togeice's superior.

Shirabedonna (シラベドンナ): The Analytic Witch and the club supervisor of the Witches' Research Club as well as Kumugi's master. She is one of the most intelligent witches in the association, to the point that the whole witches of the association agreed with the result of her analysis without question. She's the one who vouched for Ichi after his demonstration test, allowing him to be approved into the association as a witch.

Chikutoge Togeice (チクトゲトゲアイス): The Silver Snow Witch who is specialized in ice magic. She is one of the most naturally talented witches, having acquired 17 majiks in total and alongside Desscaras became the youngest witch in Mantinel history to earn the title of Full Witch at just 11 years old. Her dedication to the Mantinel Witches Association also made her a candidate to become Monegold's successor. A workaholic perfectionist, Togeice is very strict in upholding and promoting the good image of the association by enforcing discipline to her fellow witches, particularly her students. This caused her to often be at odds with Desscaras who often disregard the rules. Despite her strictness, Togeice cares for her fellow witches. Her insistence on maintaining dignified appearance is her way to look after the people around her, earning her admiration from her students. She has a poor sense of direction, she often going in the opposite direction of her intended destination even when they are at a close distance, which became a running gag in the series.

Jikishirone (ジキシローネ): The Oracle Witch who is capable of seeing the future in the form of a prophecy. She is originally a girl who had been comatose for a decade until she was forced to clear the trial of the Prophecy Majik, causing her to be possessed by the majik and her consciousness remained hidden, with the Prophecy Majik completely taking over her body and her identity. She is one of the majiks who willingly cooperate with witches by sharing her prophecies. She was the one who prophesized's World-Hater Majik's demise at Ichi's hand at the cost of Ichi's life.

Individual

Gokuraku (ゴクラク): Infamously known as Gokuraku the Brutalizer, he is a young man who is on the list of the witches' association's official dangerous persons list and a notorious criminal in the land of Bakugami for repeatedly attempting to kill slumbering majik Bakugami. He wishes to become a witch, and so he challenges and beats up any majik he encounters. True to his title, he brutally beat up the majik he encountered repeatedly to clear their trial, but due to not having any magic power, he's unable to acquire them even though he fulfilled the conditions to clear the trials. Despite his repeated failure, he still wishes to become a witch so he could acquire Bakugami. When he met Ichi, Gokuraku enlist Ichi's help in acquiring the slumbering majik. He is the younger brother of Princess Richia.

Majiks

King Uroro (王の魔法, Kingu Uroro): King Uroro or simply called Uroro, he is infamously known as the King Majik, the worst type of majik who hates humanity. Ichi found him asleep in Druid Mountain before he fought against Desscaras. The trial to acquire him was to stop his heart, but no witch was able to acquire him for a thousand year because of the restriction that no woman could scratch his heart. During his battle against Desscaras, he got caught by Ichi's trap and got his heart pierced by Ichi, resulting with Ichi acquiring him and became the first male witch. Though majik generally became a magic stone after a witch passed the trial, Uroro instead became a small blob that occasionally popped out from Ichi's body and many times tried to entice him to go against other witches in the hope Ichi will die fighting and he will be freed. His scientific name is Ultra-Amplification Majik, which allows Ichi to amplify a spell to the maximum degree, but it comes at the cost of the witch falling asleep for three days every time he activated Uroro's power.

Inazuri (雷狐): Classified as Raiko Majik (雷狐の魔法, Raiko no Mahō), he is a lightning majik and the second majik acquired by Ichi. He has the appearance of a large fox with five tails constantly surrounded by sparks of lightning around his body. His acquisition trial requires someone to steal his heart jewel that is on his neck, without being struck by any of his lightning. Ichi easily acquired him after using a trap that he usually used to neutralize a fox.

Uruwashi (氷鮫): Classified as Hisame Majik (氷鮫の魔法, Hisame no Mahō), she is an ice majik and the third majik acquired by Ichi. She has the appearance of a shark wearing a diadem. She terrorized a village in Thazanwood, freezing the villagers into her personal ice sculpture. Her acquisition trial requires someone to make her look fabulous, which Ichi succeeded by cutting up her body and then decorated it like a sashimi.

Macilvaine (マシルヴェイン, Mashiruvein): Classified as Kindake Majik (菌茸の魔法, Kindake no Mahō), it is a mushroom majik that caused havoc in the forest close to town of Hoitaka. Though it does not resent humans, it was classified as human-hater for making giant mushrooms appeared and spread spores that will overwhelm the town if it is left alone. As the result, it became the target for Team Desscaras and Team Togeice in their showdown. Its acquisition trial requires someone to cut its stem and harvest it while it is running away. Togeice acquired it after Ichi got distracted by the appearance of World-Hater majik.

World-Hater (反世界の魔法, Hansekai no Mahō): Also known as God Majik, he is an S-tier majik with the ability to carve out and wrap chunks of the world, including even majik. He is the Mantinel Witch's Association's greatest enemy. 15 years before the story, he appeared and warped out two towns he covered in his barrier, killing every living beings inside, including Desscaras' younger brother, Libro. He reappeared in the town of Hoitaka to warp it, but this is thwarted by Ichi, Desscaras, and Togeice. He took an immediate interest in Ichi after he fearlessly expressed his desire to hunt and injured the majik. He has a history with Uroro, the latter is so wary of him that he spent years laying low to avoid getting detected by him. Jikishirone prophesized that World-Hater Majik will eventually destroyed the world, but this can be prevented by Ichi, who will acquire him at the cost of his life.

Origumo (檻蜘蛛): A spider-like Majik who builds strong cages with its silk to imprison its prey until it is ready to eat them. Its trial involves destroying the cage and cutting off the horn on its head.

Bakugami (バクガミ): Also known as the Slumbering Majik, he is a majik revered as a god in the country of Bakugami. In public, he took on the appearance of a tapir, while his real form is hidden inside his tapir form. 10 years before the story, he approached Richia, the princess of a country named Kagami, and took away her feelings of sadness, which quickly spread throughout Kagami, causing people to worship him as a benevolent god who gave them happiness, and they renamed the country to Bakugami in his honor. Due to his status as a living god, those who intends to harm or acquire him will get capital punishment. Unbeknownst to the citizens, Bakugami has a twisted fanatical admiration for World-Hater, considering him as the god of destruction. He intends to destroy the whole country in the hope it would please the World-Hater.

Publication

Written by Osamu Nishi and illustrated by Shiro Usazaki, the series began serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jump on September 9, 2024. It is Usazaki's first major work since her previous work, Act-Age, was canceled due to its writer getting arrested. The first tankōbon volume was released on January 4, 2025.

Viz Media and Manga Plus are publishing the series in English simultaneously with its Japanese release.

Volumes

Chapters not yet in tankōbon format

These chapters have yet to be published in a tankōbon volume. They were originally serialized in Japanese in issues of Weekly Shōnen Jump.

Reception

Nick Valdez of ComicBook.com described the first chapter of Ichi the Witch as the "strongest the magazine has seen since the likes of Kagurabachi", and said "it could be the next big thing". Joshua Fox of Screen Rant praised the worldbuilding, artwork, and protagonist of the story.

The series has been recommended by manga creator Kōhei Horikoshi, with Horikoshi describing it as "the ideal shōnen manga".