[Yamatogawa] Witchcraft

Witchcraft tells the story of Mochizuki Kaoru, a meek young man who no matter what he does, misfortune always seems to be hot on his heels. While he's more than used to getting picked on, one day he musters up the courage to stand up against a group of bullies, hoping that they'll leave him alone. Much to his chagrin, the bullies don't appreciate this sudden surge of confidence, and he's forced to run for his life to avoid a serious beating.

He rushes down a rainy shopping street, and after he finally comes across a store that's still open, he slams open the door to a fortune telling shop run by the bespectacled beauty Kagami Kyouko. She offers to patch him up a bit, and after learning about his bully troubles, she suggests a curious solution to his problems: hypnotism. While skeptical, he agrees to be put under a spell meant to help him face his adversaries without fear. Is Kagami a charlatan, or does she actually have some special ability? She's quickly put to the test, as the three thugs enter her shop as soon as she's done hypnotizing Kaoru...

The two protagonists are later joined by a large supporting cast, including Sara, Kagami's self-proclaimed rival in the art of the arcane; the gangster Kurosawa, looking to exploit Kagami's rumored psychic powers for his own gains; the famous idol Megumi, who out of nowhere slips Kaoru a love letter at school; and a mysterious young girl who seem to have a history with both Kagami and Sara.

Make sure good fortune awaits you as we enter the new year! Start off 2019 right with the supernatural comedy Witchcraft from industry legend Yamatogawa, a title sure to spellbind any and all readers when it hits FAKKU! in early January!

Release Dates
Pre-Order - December 1, 2018
Digital - January, 2019
Paperback - May 2019

Get the book here!


Jacket subject to change

This will be my third time buying this book... but for a Fakku version? Here's my money!

They're up now!

Label created.

So I just received my third copy of Witchcraft. I figured I'd make a quick comparison in case anyone has a copy and is on the fence of buying the Fakku Version:

Project-H First Edition: This edition is the worst printing. Poor quality paper, inconsistent cuts, missing color pages and panels... if you have this edition, you SHOULD upgrade to the Fakku version. It is superior in every possible way to the first printing from Project-H, so not bothering with any direct comparisons.


Project-H Second Edition vs Fakku's Edition: This is where there is an actual comparison. Project-H really stepped up their game and included all of the panels and proper pages in color along with much better quality.

- Print Edition Quality comparison: They are actually quite close. Fakku's has a smoother paper stock, but both are of similar paper weight. Neither edition has any real alignment issues that I can see, and the printing is solid. So while I would rate Fakku slightly higher, the difference is small enough I wouldn't rank it as a reason to upgrade to Fakku's version.

- Digital Edition Quality comparison: Here it is a different story. Fakku's editions are lossless high quality PNGs while Project H's are PDF copies filled with artifacts. If you care about the digital edition, the quality difference alone is vast enough to be worth the upgrade.

- Translation comparison: So this ended up being far more different than I expected. Not knowing Japanese nor having a Japanese edition, I can't technically compare, but I can give my opinion of how the translation feels/reads to me. And honestly, it is a bit of a mixed bag. Some translations I like better in the Fakku edition, and some I like more in the Project-H edition. However I trust Fakku's translators more, and considering just how different the translations are, if accuracy is your concern, this can be a major reason to upgrade.

- Lettering: When it comes to fitting the lettering to the text bubbles, I actually prefer Project-H's efforts as they fill them better, making the bubbles more often feel like they were meant for the text. I also slightly prefer the font Project-H uses, but they are so close that it doesn't really matter. This is the one and only area where I'd give the "win" to Project-H, but again they are still so close as to not really be a deciding factor.

- Sound Effects: Sound Effects in Project-H's edition has the original Japanese characters with translations just plopped in. Fakku actually redraws all the sound effects into English. This would be more opinionated on what you prefer, and unfortunately Fakku doesn't always do it perfectly with some letters having their centers incorrectly filled in rather showing the artwork behind, or sometimes being more obtrusive than the original effects. These issues are not pervasive enough to really bother me, and I prefer direct translations rather than the doubled up of having BOTH the Japanese and the translation blocking things up.

- Artwork Lettering: Now when it comes to Artwork lettering Fakku is miles ahead. Project-H just has poorly fitted typed words over any Japanese characters, and while it gets the translation across, looks ugly. Fakku took the effort to have any writings worked into the art so they look much more natural.


TL;DR --
- If you have the 1st Edition of Project-H: Unquestionably worth the upgrade
- If you have the digital edition of Project-H: Unquestionably worth the upgrade
- If you have the 2nd Edition of Project-H: If you are looking for a better translation, better artwork lettering, and sound effects in English rather than both, upgrade. Or if you want to support Yamatogawa and hopefully encourage him to produce new works, upgrade.

Actually there's 4 editions for this in english.

Icarus which was like the Project- H 2nd edition but a non book cover variant. Different translation but better paper then project- h 1st edition.

Anyways mine is on the truck for delivery. Pics later.

That actually surprises me. I don't own the Icarus publishing of Witchcraft, but I do own a copy of Aquabless from Icarus. The paper quality might be slightly better than 1st Edition Project-H, but still the terrible newspaper quality gray paper that you can see the printing of the other side of the page through the one you are reading. It also contains zero color pages, the cuts are even more inconsistent, and sound effects have no translation (which some may consider to be a good or bad thing). I didn't rank the Icarus edition of Witchcraft as I didn't own it, but if it is anything like the Aquabless printing, it is also one that you should replace. Though seems you already have. :)

The version I seen wasn't on newsprint but not on the current type of paper they use. More like viz media or seven sea paper. A middle of the way halfway type. Like swing out sister, read me or take on me/domin-8 me. I only see pics of witchcraft from another user review on a private site.

Ot:

Seem the same outside some text and translation.

One continuing storyline.

If you want to know this for any other title, you can always check the chapter listing, either on the store promo page or by clicking the chapters tab on the gallery. Every part is titled Witchcraft Chapter 1 to Finale, which tells you it is indeed one continuous story. Same as Power Play! which we just announced.

Attempting to buy digitally but it mentions it has sold out despite it showing in my cart before checkout. (Some items are no longer available. Your cart has been updated.) I sent out a support ticket yesterday.