Liselotte & Witch's Forest, Vol. 1

Really charming and relaxing, while building tension for the bigger story it hints is to come. Lovely artwork, and a nice blend of humor and charm. I love the characters, which is to me the most important thing to do in the first volume of a manga series.

In love with the author's work, so I was excited to see another type of series.

Arrived quick with no damages, great story!

A good manga made by Natsuki Takaya. If you have never read Fruits Basket and enjoyed this manga, be sure to check it out!

came in perfect condition! very excited to read this

Out of all the works she's done, Natsuki Takaya is probably the most famous for her fantasy works, most notably the enchanting "Fruits Basket."And after producing a slice-of-life series, Takaya returns to fantasy in "Liselotte & Witch's Forest Volume 1," which feels like a lost fairy tale that somehow wandered into a manga series. While it doesn't actually have any fairy tale elements, the pan-European setting, witches, apples and innocent heroine feel like they tumbled in from an older fantasy story, though the sunny tone and patches of darkness are pure Takaya.A young noblewoman named Liselotte lives in a remote corner of her land, in a little farmhouse two days from the nearest village, where her only companions are her child servants Alto and Anna. Liselotte is determined to make the most of her exile by planting a garden and doing her own chores, much to Alto's dismay. But one morning when she's out of the house, she's accosted by a witch from the nearby forest -- and is saved by a strange white-haired teen boy who promptly faints on her.The boy calls himself Engetsu, but Liselotte is almost certain that he's her childhood friend Enrich, who had the same face and white hair. The only thing that makes her wonder is his crimson eyes. But as Engetsu becomes a part of Liselotte's odd little household -- much to Alto's displeasure -- a witch's familiar begins causing trouble in the house due to his upset stomach, and Alto becomes gravely ill."Liselotte and Witch's Forest" is a lot like many of Takaya's other works -- they tend to start off relatively light and sunny, then take some darker turns as the story winds on. And though this is only the first volume, she has already started sketching in those darker moments -- Liselotte's sunny personality belies her troubled past, and it's not entirely clear what has happened to Engetsu or even what side he's on. And of course, the unnerving witches lurking in the woods.But the darkness is mostly on the fringes of the story, so that -- like Liselotte -- the reader is always aware of it, along with the romantic tension. Instead, Takaya spends most of the story dwelling on Liselotte's new life in her little house (gardening! housework! class tension!), and occasionally on a self-important, adorable yet irritating witch's familiar that decides to curse the humans because of bad cooking. No, really. And most of his cursework involves making lots of dirty laundry ("You'll see! You'll weep and tremble in fear!").And the characters are easy to like as well. Liselotte is the kind of sprightly, positive girl Takaya writes well, determinedly trying to "live" as much as she can in her exile. But she's also hinted to have more than that in her background, as it's revealed WHY she's in exile in the first place. She also has quite a bit of romantic tension with Engetsu, a guy with blood sugar issues (he passes out whenever hungry) who is shrouded in mystery on several levels, and leaves you wondering precisely what has happened to him in the past. He certainly looks like some kind of warrior."Liselotte & Witch's Forest Volume 1" is a solid introduction to Takaya's new fantasy series, and shows off her polished touch for mingling the dark and the uplifting. And it leaves you very much wanting to know where the story of Liselotte and her companions will go.

If you liked Fruits Basket's comedy and drama you will enjoy Liselotte & Witch's Forest.I couldn't put down this volume. The characters' chemistry works so well.

~3.5/5This is a very intriguing start to a series.Liselotte has been shipped out of her rich family's home, and now lives in a forest, with two kids as her caretakers. She's optimistically doing all she can to learn how to farm and scavenge, even when she's not particularly good at any of these things.And then she learns of the witch myths regarding the forest they live in. And suddenly, there's a man named Engetsu there to help her, and Liselotte believes she knows him from before everything happened. It's clear, though, that he's up to something, and that he knows more than he's letting on.We get a few hints, but this is definitely setting up for something more. Not giving any answers, but it's a good start. I love the artwork, and I'm happy to be reading a new Takaya book.I'm looking forward to the next one.[More of my reviews are available on my blog, Geeky Reading, to which there's a link on my profile.]