It's Desscaras’ time to shine in Ichi the Witch chapter 18 as the clash with the World-Hater Magik takes on new, awe-inspiring proportions. Will she be able to prevent another tragedy before it's too late?

The difference between Ichi the Witch now and the last time we checked in with it is almost light and day. While chapter 9 was filled with light-hearted jokes and gags around the theme of beauty, chapter 18 is deathly serious, full of high concept action and sky-high stakes. In many ways, that’s not exactly a bad thing: the first couple of chapters gave the impression that this would be a relatively straightforward action series, so it’s more of a return to form than anything else.

Where Ichi the Witch chapter 18 proves worrying is how it disregards another key concept established in the initial part of the story: a magik’s trial. Not only would clearing allow a witch to use said magik as part of their repertoire, it also gave the series an interesting narrative structure as characters would be required to work around logical or logistical problems. Even so, less than 20 chapters in and we already have a character that is exempt from this, posing serious problems in the realm of powerscaling.

Powerscaling is a word that’s often thrown around with regard to modern action manga, but the point is that a proper escalation in the relative strength of each antagonist is essential for building stakes and tension. Coming straight out the gate with an incredibly strong enemy won’t seem as impressive as it would after a series of weaker characters, while suddenly jumping from weak foes to stronger ones makes it that much harder to prepare the next narrative development. This latter problem is exactly what Ichi the Witch is struggling with right now: we’ve gone from the underpowered but orthodox Hisame Magik to the mighty and rule-defying World-Hater Magik in the blink of an eye, leaving the future of the story very certain.

Even so, it would be totally inaccurate to say that Ichi the Witch chapter 18 fails to sell the sheer power of the World-Hater Magik, alongside Desscares herself. Shiro Usazaki’s talent as an artist was already evident back on act-age, but the different setting coupled with the genre shift has unleashed an entirely new side to her abilities that we’ve never seen before. It’s no exaggeration to say that Desscares’ and the World-Hater’s abilities are perhaps some of the most exciting visuals in Weekly Shonen Jump since Jujutsu Kaisen’s Domain Expansion, with similar potential to penetrate popular consciousness if given enough time.

With a reprint of the first volume already underway, it seems like Ichi the Witch won’t be facing an early cancellation. Whether or not it can continue to serve up a satisfying narrative, however, is another question.

You can read Ichi the Witch chapter 18 in English for free via VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump.