A WITCH'S PRINTING OFFICE (Mahotsukai no Insatsujo), written by Mochinchi & art by Yasuhiro Miyama. First published in 2018 and first published in North America in 2020.
PLOT:
Mika Kamiya was heading home after Comiket when she was whisked to a fantasy world. There are countless magic users in this world, but they can only specialize in one kind of spell. Mika decides to use her knowledge of doujin printing and distribution to create a spell market where mages from all over can trade copies of their spells with the help of her own magical printing press. This way, Mika can help others, make money, and just maybe find the spell she needs to get back to Japan.
STORY:
I really hope that you are fascinated by the concept of operating a small printing press and/or running a large book convention within a fantasy setting because that's mostly what you're going to get with A Witch's Printing Office. That's not to say it has nothing else to offer, but that is where its greatest priorities lie.
There's still some novelty in having a heroine instead of a hero. Mika is certainly a good and helpful sort of woman. While she can get overwhelmed by crowds at time, she demonstrates good business sense, good organisational skills, and a compassionate heart. It's also novel to find an isekai story where the protagonist who is willing and wanting to go home, even if it's little more than just another little plot thread woven into the volume. Still, I wish there was a little bit more to her personality-wise. She is present and pleasant, but there's not much depth to her.
That probably has something to do with how the story is structured. A more conventional story would have followed Mika from the moment she was transported to the moment that she founds her own "Magiket." What we get here is a sort of in media res approach, where Mika's plans are underway and the plot alternates between her helping random magical folk and the preparation and running of her conventions. What exposition we do get about her past is delivered in "as you know" fashion. This does help get the story going in something resembling an action-packed manner, but it also has the side effect of making Mika feel like she's getting lost in her own story. Instead we are introduced to a large slate of mostly one-off characters who barely have a chance to make an impression. I guess it just goes to show that just because you can do something different doesn't always mean it's a good idea to do so.
ART:
Miyama's art is a lot better than I'm used to seeing in these kinds of manga. The big reason for that is that he uses a lot of fine, dense linework and hatching for texture and detail. That attention to detail can (and does) go too far at times. With so many elaborately layered and accessorized outfits and suits of armor on display, panels with large groups of people can easily turn into visual chaos. There's also more than a few character designs here which are clearly ripped off from other sources, particularly the Fate series. I even have my suspicions that Mika is meant to visually evoke Yomiko Readman, the book-loving heroine of Read or Die. I get that they had a lot of fantasy-type people to draw, but they could have tried a little harder to hide their sources.
RATING:
A Witch's Printing Office has novelty and better than average art working in its favor, but the focus on the technical elements instead of Mika makes it a harder sell to someone who isn't particularly interested in isekai stories or Comiket.
This series is published by Yen Press. This series is ongoing in Japan with 5 volumes available. 4 volumes have been published and are currently in print.
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