Ellen, from when she was born, had no luck. For whatever her ancestors did, she apparently has to pay it back two-fold — she’s sickly and unloved. Left with an illness that’s essentially incurable because she and her family live in the slums, she grew up with the only desire to not have her mother leave her, which meant her choosing to never leave the house. Well, that worked for a time, until Ellen left her house to bury a mysterious dead black cat. After that moment, her mother left, and her dad, who pretends to believe Ellen doesn’t exist, ignored her even more somehow. Left in a morbid state, she tries to get herself back up just in case her mom returns.
When her mom does return, her ultimate fear came true: mom never actually loved her.
This moment ends up driving Ellen into a state where the only choice was to kill her and, soon enough, kill her dad. After her house goes up in smoke, Ellen runs away only for her sickness to crop up again, and with that, she accepts her fate. Until the black cat she buried because it was dead appears out of nowhere and claims she can be saved. With no other options available, Ellen follows along with what the black cat says, and when she awakes again, she finds herself inside a new house. Specifically, a witch’s house that’s all for her — and no one else.
Seems far too special doesn’t it?
The Witch’s House: The Diary of Ellen was something I’m glad was released in volume format. I checked out the (gruesome) first chapter that left some questions, but not too many. That’s mostly because this is the prequel to Fummy’s The Witch’s House freeware game, so going in, we understand we’ll be looking at how Ellen became the witch and the reasons why. People who played the game might have far more tidbits to look forward by reading this manga, as it’s definitely for them. And unless the violence, especially to kids, is a sticking point, then in general this manga does work out well for those who haven’t played the game. While it’s not quite Angels of Death because of the premise, the focus on one character and the horror elements it uses will at least keep you engaged as the mysteries of what’s happening to Ellen plays out.
As in, what exactly does lead Ellen to become a witch? Well, her upbringing was awful, to say the least. Then she encounters a black cat, who has plenty of secrets that she’s not on pace to figure out. When she finally does change, in how she looks to the powers she has, it’s like she’s a brand new person, and her past life could be forgotten. But her past life can’t be forgotten because despite everything that she can do, she’s still a prisoner: she loses her powers once she leaves the house. So her ailments, all of that comes back once she leaves. So in reality, you wonder if she actually will know what freedom looks like.
Yuna Kagesaki working on this probably helps more than most. She’s dabbled in a bit of this stuff before (from Chibi Vampire to Aion), and it shows in key scenes. For example, there’s a moment where Ellen is lonely and ignored after her father came back from a meeting, and you can tell with how she’s isolated in the panel compared to her parents that shows the disconnect she has with her family. So between this and certain scenes, like where someone is about to die, you don’t actually get to see who gets crushed or eaten. But the splotches of blood, the despairing eyes of the one in question, and Ellen’s horror tell you all you need to know. The art’s not like at Kaoru Mori’s level, but it certainly gets the job done and tells the story.
There are some misgivings with this though, which mainly stems from accepting this turn of events where killing is all Ellen has to do in general, and the kinda lazy hints regarding past inhabitants at the Witch’s House. Maybe you can buy that when you’re in despair, raging and killing is the way to go, but after reading that first chapter again, I dunno if that’s quite the case for Ellen. There’s little to suggest that hey, I’mma go grab a knife and start killing in my sickly state! So that part is a little questionable. Then there are the vague hints involving not only past inhabitants of the witch’s house, but also what they plan to do to her. I have to imagine a good amount of people were living in that house right? Not sure why we’re being totally vague as to who was there, as to tease that is super important.
Despite all of that, I was entertained by The Witch’s House from start to finish. Usually these types of works based off games or other media have a lousy quality to them, and I’d avoid reading them ever again. But I’m looking forward to finding out just what that Black Cat is actually up to and what exactly more we can learn about Ellen somehow.