Rafał Jaki

This was pretty much exactly what I expected and something I would only pick up through a library service. I'm working on reading anything and everything that remotely interests me on libby, so I gave this a go.

What if the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, went to ancient folklore Japan and did some Witchering, while trying to find Ciri, as is his second favourite hobby after grunting, and fought some monster from Japanese myth?

First things first Hataya, a pseudonym for a, I belive, Japanese artist's, art is phenomenal. I think it deserves a better project and script, but it's great and I'm happy they got to work on this. If I was judging this on the art alone my opinion would be higher.

"Polish-Polish-German", Rafal Jaki's script is *fine*. It reads like what it essentially is, a weeb getting to a Manga of a character he has done a bunch of other writing for. In this context, especially considering the Witcher vibrd, I do have to give it credit for not going Orientalism male sexy times. The unchecked or updated misogyny of so much folklore, as with other Witcher properties, is still very much there with women exclusively existing to be monsters and monsters almost exclusively having feminine traits. That's, the source material, but you really can bring a modern approach to it. We are doing a gender-bent Eredin here, after all.

This is decent enough Witcher fair with a few references to his magic and potions, though few and far between, and he just knows everything about the mosnters, so he doesn't really have to discuss or learn about them. We do get a classic Witcher, human bad, monster good moment, but it's nothing special.

Ultimately, it just feels extremely rushed and shallow, despite being rather beautiful to look at. I am also left responding to the question that this comic is asking with, why Geralt and not a Japanese Witcher? We could have new schools and techniques, rather than a Polish dude with traditional-style clothing and blades. Nothing, beyond having Geralt on the cover and using your favourite boi, would be anything but improved by having a new Japanese Witcher, which just makes this feel like weebtastic wasted opportunity.… (mehr)

Not a bad quick read. It has a collection of short stories, in manga form. They took the concept of the witcher and inserted it into Japanese folklore, including a slight makeover for Geralt. Geralt now wears Japanese attire and his swords are now katanas worn at the waist. His basic goals remain the same, find Ciri and Yennefer while hunting monsters for money.

Geralt's personality remains largely intact. He's standoffish, but stern when it comes to contracts and his sense of justice. Vesemir makes an appearance in one story, as do Yennefer and Ciri.

Fun read, hope to see more of the concept in the future, whether a full saga or more short stories.… (mehr)