Manhwa Review: Ciel: The Last Autumn Story
In the world of Ciel: The Last Autumn Story Arc Dragons are linked to the forces of nature. They are, in essence, nature personified. The Fire Dragon gave humans language and magic. Now some of the dragons regret this decision as they now fear for the planet’s future. Upon his birth, the Sky Dragon, who can predict the future, predicted that the world would become a barren waste land. The dragons can’t help but think that this will be due to humans. With the turmoil between dragons and the political turbulence linked with having magic power Yvienne, her partner Lariatte, and their friends Daughter and January must do more than just study in the Lockwood Institute, a school for wizards and witches. They must battle demons, monsters, and other fowl creatures while being socially and politically active.
It seems that the supernatural is all the range nowadays. All you have to do is turn on the tv to see countless generic shows about witches, wizards, vampires, werewolves, and the like. But that these shows are missing is originality and experimentation. Ciel: The Last Autumn Story takes an interesting twist on the usual witch and wizard arctype. Here, witches use sentences and phrases to draw upon their unique power. However, they are so powerful that witches need partners to remove them from their field. A field is the area-of-effect of the witch’s spell, the catch is that if the witch is not removed from her field she will continuously drain her magic until she dies. Magic is linked with life, the stronger the magic you use the more life you lose by sleeping. Wizards on the other hand, are much weaker as they use words not phrases to produce magic. But they do not require a partner to to help them out of their field. A magi is one who transcends the boundary of witch and wizard combining the best of both.
Art wise, it is easy to notice the strong influences from manga. As a hybrid between manga and manhwa we can see the best of both worlds. We see the originality of mangwa with the form and techniques of manga. The originality of this work along with its art makes this a manhwa to watch out for. However, readers should beware of chapters that are out of order. For reasons beyond my understanding this manhwa has been uploaded with the occasional chapter in the wrong place in the volume. Does this take away from the overall enjoyment of the manhwa? Yes, but only a little. It no reason not to read this manhwa as it is not the fault of the manhwa itself. Besides, the plot is too interesting not read. Although it has a laid back tone plenty of action and adventuring happens. The arcs are very small allowing for a wide range of exploration, from battles to politics.
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Sources: Mangafox.com, Mangaupdates.com
