It is as the tags described, an adventure of a young (?) witch filled with comedy and also fluffy things. So far, there's no heavy plot waiting, and I don’t mind to have such heavy plot, but this novel is good as it is. If you want to relax while enjoying your tea in a beautiful garden, this novel is a perfect reading to accompany you.

It's an episodic novel, that's what you need to keep in mind when reading it. If you wish for a story with a long overarching plot, you're looking at the wrong place.

However, Elaina's story is nothing short of great. I highly recommend reading it one volume at a time, and not one chapter at a time... The way it was supposed to be read, as a light novel, not a webnovel.

It's a slice of life novel, a traveler's diary in a way, a lighthearted story about a witch that enjoys... more>> her travels... Sometimes she sees a weird country, at times a mostly unremarkable country... At times she finds a terrible story that she wants nothing to do with... At times she finds something that horrifies her and she tries her best to help... At others she can do nothing but cry at the reality she is faced with.

Elaina is by no means a weak character, but she is no cheat, she has limits and she can't do the impossible. She lives a mostly cheerful life, but also sees some pretty terrible things... Such is the life of a traveler. Not all days are good days.

I like that the author takes their time in showing old characters again from time to time. The story is Elaina's, so she doesn't usually meet people from her past, but they certainly do come up every now and then... It's a nice touch too.

Overall, it's a great Slice of Life novel. Just keep in mind that not all episodes are happy, there are some pretty dark ones in it. <<less

This novel is episodic in nature, generally. Almost the only constant character is the MC (who in a way acts as a "vehicle" to show the stories of other characters... in a large portion of chapters). Occasionally other characters from previous chapters will make appearances, but the nature of their appearance generally isn't affected much (if at all) by the fact that they have appeared before. The final chapter prior to the afterward is probably the only one which may evoke more emotion regarding previous characters as it is moderately... more>> based around a character present in some previous chapters.

There isn't really a plot. The MC decided she wants to travel and visit various "countries" (which are honestly more like city-states than countries). There are the barebones (very, very minimally) of a plot created in the flashback chapters, but the MC isn't actually working towards a goal.

As such, the story is... sort of a slice of life. I say sort of as it tends to revolve around the environments and the MC getting caught up in the stories of other characters, which generally last one episodic chapter. Each chapter tends to be a short story of its own.

Finally, a large portion of said short stories are tragedies. Honestly, I feel the Tragedy tag would be quite deserving for this novel, as while the MC herself tends to be unaffected, the "primary role" characters in each "episode" (chapter) are quite often embroiled in sad stories that don't necessarily end well. <<less

It's a weird but beautifull light story.

Its a story about a lone (weird) witch on her journey around the world.

Each chapter told us a different story, slightly, or unrelated to the previous one.

... more>> What's good about it is that it told us about light, and carefree stories that she experienced along the way, be it a weird, happy, fun, bitter, or sad experience.

It was writen as if we're hearing an anecdote from a traveler. It's short, yet entertaining, and would left an impresion toward those who heard it.

Then again, thats that. It is but a short and shallow story. Just like a traveler's diary, there's no plot, no background story, no character building, no conspiracy theory nor dark and edgy development or anything like that. Its just a collection of short story.

It definitely is a good light reading material. But for those who are looking for a heavier read, I guess this one wouldnt suit your taste <<less

A novel about the adventures of a traveling witch, a very good read it's not too long nor is it too short.
The witch travel from country to country having a different adventure in each one of them. Each countries and characters have their own features and stories wich make them unique.
Our protagonist is pushed by her curiosity and sometimes will to help, but will not get involved in dangerous stuff for strangers.

She is not some almigty cheat and can even be seen as naive a little bit, but it goes well with her lack of experience and age and is nothing annoying like for those hot-headed japenese protagonist (whoops I'm venting a bit here).
As someone who is tired of all the xiaxian et other-world japenese novel ect, it is a refreshing gem.

In conclusion this a refreshing breath of air, a nice novel to relax youreself "while enjoying your tea in a beautiful garden" like said in the review of elhessan.

A nice heartwarming story... No heavy content spotted...

It's like the other traveller that went with that motorrad... But more heartwarming...

Instead of using motor... Elaine use broom as means of transportation

She's a witch after all...

Don't mind my rambling here... It's supposed to be a joke review hahahahahaa

[Flat is Justice]

I got drawn into this series initially due to the anime, which I thought was pretty decent, so of course, I hopped into reading the source material.

While the anime was good, I always thought that the pacing was a bit too fast paced, and that details were left out that the novel should have elaborated more on. Oh well, time constraints. It's only 12 episodes, and there's so much content to cover. I'm sure that the arcs in the novels would be more detailed, and would give more worldbuilding, and... more>> give a more in-depth view of the countries that Elaina, the Ashen Witch visits, a better view of her personality, and a better understanding of the magic system.

Well, color me surprised when the anime is actually slower paced, has more attention to detail and explains the story arcs much better than the novel ever did. The novel really does not like adding in details to Elaina's journeys. Each story arc is at best, 25 pages long, so you never really get to see the full picture. The scenes that I though the anime did well, were basically glossed over within a few sentences in the novels. When there are fights, as few as they are, they are described with as little detail as possible: "Oh, she overwhelmed me with all types of magic!" I'm not joking, that's basically how the description of her first battle with her teacher went. It's actually astonishing how little detail is put into the novel. Quality over quantity. I would have loved to just see 2-3 story arcs rather than the 8-10 put in each novel if it meant that there was more exposition, details, worldbuilding, better expressed characters, but no, it's really quick event logs that don't get explored in a meaningful manner.

The anime actually does a much better job at using its medium to its full advantage compared to the novel. This is one of the few exceptions where you ignore the novels and just go straight to the anime. <<less

If you like fantasy slice of life type stories, then you will definitely like this story. Its a bunch of stories of a travelling witch, and has light hearted overtones but it doesn't shy away from the dark undertones of life in a fantasy world. The author doesn't shy away from death, not by any main characters of course, but just the people she met along her journey and the impact they had on her.

A lovely novel consisting mostly of short stories about the people and places that the protagonist, who is a travelling with encounters. It also has a nice story about how she became like this which also cathedral up to the main story in a nice way. It's written very well and the translation is also well done (I only spotted one error).

If you want a good, albeit short light-hearted read, this is something I can recommend.