Maria the Virgin Witch (Volume 1) Masayuki Ishikawa Maria the witch uses her magical powers to stop war from brewing in France between various rulers. She calls on monsters, uses succubi to seduce soldiers, and whatever else she needs to stop the pointless bloodshed. Unfortunately, the archangel Michael is not amused with her efforts and tries to put an end to her meddling, so that no outside forces interfere with humanity's progress. And so Michael puts a curse on Maria. Maria, who, while obsessed with erotic literature, is still a virgin, can not lose her virginity, or she will lose her magical powers with it. It actually takes the whole first volume to set up the entire premise of the book, which is kind of nice. I like that it doesn't feel rushed, and that the story slowly unfolds around Maria and her friends, building toward her confrontation with Michael. Ishikawa is not just a great storyteller, but illustrator as well. The...
