Novel Review: 有看到我家的魔女嗎？ Did you see my (family's) witch?

[ShadowZeroHeart]

http://www.books.com.tw/exep/prod/books ... 0010534332

Chinese title: 有看到我家的魔女嗎？

Synopsis:
All witches in the world has just died out, with the last one dying in the lab, without ever using her magic. Magic is believed to perhaps be a myth, yet some people still go hunting, believing that magic exists, and thus the eternal confinement and study of witches. The protagonist (whose father left home to find "Eden", believed to be the land of Witches, where they go/return) was dragged along by his witch-fanatic classmate(made a bet with a female classmate, to show her true magic), to the forest where the last witch was found.

They found a vacant house in the forest, and as he was exploring, he dropped some food on the floor and to his surprise, see a little girl munching on it in a mirror later, yet was never found in the house. He then lured her out with food, capturing his very own witch. He then named her "Mira", as she came out from a "Mirror". However, the witch is incapable of speech, nor control her magic. Her attempts to fly on a broom sends the broom flying like a rocket, and crashing into the roof, so much so she was forbidden from using a broom. Seeing this, they decided that she is unfit to show the female classmate, and decided to take care of her(the protagonist does so partly due to guilt, especially towards how the girl's mother was tormented by humans to death, never to return to the house where her daughter resided). As most believed that all witches are dead, despite some ridiculous actions performed by Mira, they managed to keep it secret(is it even considered a successful attempt? Note, things that happened: her ahoge moves up and down with her emotions, which is humanly impossible, i think. Swimming for 50meters without coming up to take a breathe. Incapable of reading kanji, but managed to do high level mathematics that even the teacher was surprised at). However, the secret was eventually still let out of the bag, and agents came to get her. Being just normal school kids, they were incapable of fighting nor winning, and was easily overwhelmed, and Mira willingly leaves with them in exchange for the protagonist's safety.

The protagonist eventually went to get her back, and they escaped to the forest where Mira was found, as Mira revealed that when the white flowers bloom there, the gate to Eden will be open. Mira happily went back to the house with the protagonist, only to her horror at the end that the protagonist is incapable, nor has any intentions of joining her to Eden. However, despite her realizing this fact, it was too late, as she was dragged to Eden, with the protagonist wishing for her happiness...

Comments: Personally, I really like this novel, at least for this volume that I had obtained. Up to this point in time, the emotions and feelings are rather clear and good. Mira is pure and innocent, and stayed that way throughout. There was no "love blossoming" between Mira and the protagonist (up to this point in time), but truly a feeling of family, as the protagonist was abandoned by his father, just as Mira lost her mother and waited patiently for years for her to return, and the two comforts each other. The interactions between Mira and the protagonist is rather natural, with Mira being silly and ignorant in many cases, and afraid to make the protagonist angry. The protagonist worrying about Mira, as he does not really know how to deal with a witch. In one incident, Mira found out on the news that her mother had died, and it was due to humans, humans just like the protagonist. Her magic powers rampaged, causing everyone around her to faint. The protagonist then blamed himself, regarding why he held that fact to himself all along, forgetting to put Mira's feelings in mind(though I don't blame him).

The ending was good as well, it was not those lovey-dovey lame kind of ending, but instead, the two are really separated by the gate of Eden. I am interested to read the next volume, if there is one. Mira's silliness is cute, like how Mira always wants to try to use a broom, but the protagonist always wants to stop her(his room was totally destroyed already), and I would want to see more of those.

One reason for such great support for this novel(at least for volume 1 at this point in time) might be due to how angry I am towards "Dragon Crisis" where Ryuuji and Rose seems to portray how a father is falling in love with the girl thats saying "I wanna marry daddy when I grow up", ruining the cute charm of Rose in the earlier part. This novel so far maintained the proper father-daughter relationship, with the father(protagonist) worrying about his daughter(Mira), and Mira innocently just enjoys being pampered by her father(no "love towards the opposite gender") and continues to perform silly gestures/actions that worries her father. The protagonist truly wishes for Mira's happiness, even if Mira does leave his side, or if they are to never meet again. That is what I think is a great thing, which makes the parting scene even more touching.

In short, great novel, and I would hope I get to read the next volume(if there is one), and that this series would maintain this goodness.

[jonathanasdf]

FYI: Japanese title, うちの魔女知りませんか？

[Mystes]

You'll post it on the blog? There's no posts these days...

[ShadowZeroHeart]

FYI: Japanese title, うちの魔女知りませんか？

Thanks a lot, I have no idea how to find these Japanese titles. I just love reading!

You'll post it on the blog? There's no posts these days...

Nah, it was because I was replying to the question of where did that quote come from in "Quote of the day", but it went too long, so I made a separate thread for this.