A witch who’s been living in isolation suddenly discovers social media and starts yapping about being a witch. What could go wrong?
About Wicked Spot
Wicked Spot is a manga by Sal Jiang and is published by Kodansha in English. Creator Sal Jiang is known for her girl’s love manga such as Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko! (which I’ll also be reviewing soon!)
This manga tells the story of a witch named Sada who’s been living her life in isolation for centuries, only to discover social media by accident. Once she sees all the cute girls online wearing cute outfits, posting pictures, and living their best lives she wants in. She leaves her mountain to join the modern world and become a cute social media girl. She soon grows a massive following and gets noticed by Hanako. Hanako is a girl who’s been bullied all her life and been called a witch (derogatory.) When Sada admits in a live stream that she’s a witch this sends Hanako spiraling and she starts trolling Sada from fake accounts. Little does she know, Sada has the powers to track her down.
My Thoughts
As someone who’s been creating online content for the past 10 plus years, I was sold on the premise of a witch kind of becoming an influencer. Sada is so funny and her realizing she had free will in real time and could just leave the mountain was golden. I thought we would just follow her and her wacky adventures discovering the modern world, which I was down for. But when Hanako was introduced and my yuri senses started tingling, I said “oh, I’m LOCKED in now.” I didn’t initially recognize that the mangaka was the Sal Jiang from Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko! which I LOVED. But once I did, it all made sense!
I loved the contrast between Sada, an actual witch, and Hanako, someone who’s been called a witch and treated terribly her entire life. I felt so much for Hanako because it’s clear her life hasn’t been easy. She’s had zero true friends and the one person she sort of feels some kinship with, is a loser and has treated her HORRIBLY! The straw breaks for her when she realizes this influencer she’s been admiring calls herself a witch (positive) and she resorts to trolling. Stooping to trolling someone anonymously is bad but I get why her frustrations led her there. Plus, it’s the trolling that allows Sada and Hanako to meet.
This story was so funny, with surprisingly deep moments. I laughed out loud so many times and couldn’t predict what would happen next. Both Sada and Hanako are gorgeous, but some other characters we meet are also stunning! (Or maybe it’s hat Sal Jiang can’t draw ugly people, I don’t know.) This series is one that I will be collecting and I’m already counting down to volume two.
Where to Buy Wicked Spot 1
Wicked Spot 1
Mangaka: Sal Jiang
Translation: Mei Amaki
Letterering: Madeleine Jose
Editing: Alexandra McCullough-Garcia
Publisher: Kodansha
Wicked Spot 1 releases on 5/26 and is available for preorder now.
Thank you to Kodansha and NetGalley for the ARC!
