“Merry Witches’ Life, Vol. 1: The Three Widows of Berlebagille,” a 192-page fantasy manga by Menota, published on May 13, 2025, by TOKYOPOP, unveils the captivating island of Berlebagille, depicted in a map and a blueprint of Zoe’s house. Across nine chapters and a bonus story, three widows, Zoe, Shishka, and Eliza, pursue witchcraft to resurrect their lost husbands, aided by spectral entities and peculiar locals. The narrative blends heartfelt emotion with whimsical fantasy, though issues with visual clarity and narrative cohesion temper its overall impact.
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Zoe, a self-professed witch, anchors the story. Her grief at husband Clive’s funeral is palpable as she contemplates following him in death. A poignant encounter with Eliza, a scarab beetle mourning her husband Baudouin, redirects Zoe’s despair toward purpose. Eliza’s ambition to harness magic for resurrection inspires Zoe to try reviving Clive, forming a bond rooted in shared loss. A flashback to ten months earlier captures Zoe’s arrival by boat with Shishka, where she meets Clive, a respected villager. Though fearful of revealing her identity as a witch, once a point of conflict with humans, Clive accepts her, and they marry. Their brief happiness ends with his sudden death in a train accident.
In the present, Shishka, a widow who reveals herself to be a worm in human form, joins their quest. Her disengagement, likely due to her husband’s long-ago death, weakens their collective resolve. While Zoe and Eliza actively pursue magic, Shishka’s passive role and underdeveloped backstory feel like missed opportunities.
The trio’s magical efforts deepen the mystery of Berlebagille. At the home of Noe, a tourist unsettled by his lodgings, they encounter Marion, a ghostly baby cradle, who gifts Zoe a book of spells tied to the legend of the Flower Field Witch. This ignites new hope for resurrection. Clay, a lighthouse keeper and Clive’s friend, communicates with the ghosts Olivia and Jeremy. A birthmark on Clay’s neck, linked to a witches’ curse, hints at lingering historical tensions between the magical and mortal worlds.
Zoe’s spells often misfire, producing fluorescent paint rather than the desired effects, and her reliance on the book over her own intuition portrays her as nearly delusional, undermining her role as a witch in a world craving meaningful magic. Eliza’s beetle-to-human transformations, enabled by a magical ring, propel her mission forward, especially after discovering that Baudouin’s remains are held in a museum. Shishka’s worm nature, while intriguing, lacks depth and impact, limiting her role in the trio’s dynamic.
The festival in Chapter 9 provides emotional highlights and underscores the story’s structural flaws. Zoe helps fix a lantern by casting a modest spell that again conjures fluorescent paint, delighting the crowd with its unintentional beauty. Noe grows closer to Eliza but recoils when she references Baudouin and reveals her beetle form. Zoe’s realization that Clay’s birthmark marks him as an enemy of witches ties his ghostly interactions to the island’s deeper history. Visually, Zoe’s expressive emotions and Eliza’s striking transformations enrich Berlebagille’s evocative atmosphere, but key moments are often undermined by unclear panel layouts that disrupt immersion.
Zoe’s unwavering determination carries the story, yet her inconsistent magical skills and overdependence on external artifacts prove frustrating in a genre that demands clarity of purpose. Shishka’s detachment and undeveloped identity further unbalance the group, missing a chance for richer character interplay. In the end, “Merry Witches’ Life, Vol. 1: The Three Widows of Berlebagille” doesn’t quite unify its ambitions, but its poignant meditation on grief and the island’s strange allure offer enough intrigue to keep readers invested in what comes next.
