The Witch and the Beast – Season 1 Episode 1 Recap & Review

Episode 1

Witches can aid and curse people. If you’re cursed, there are a few ways to cure it. The first is to kiss your Prince Charming. The second is to make the witch change her mind and remove the curse. The narrator doesn’t tell us the last form.

Ashaf, a tall man carrying a coffin, and Guideau, a blonde woman, arrive at a city by train to find a witch. They talk to a girl near the station who says everyone in town knows Lady Witch. At the same time, the place’s windows shatter, and a giant shark screams outside. The cops have no chance against him, but the witch appears and says she will help. She conjures a blue sphere and throws it into the beast’s mouth, which instantly makes him turn back into a normal man.

The girl talking to Ashaf reveals herself as the witch’s student. She proudly tells him her mistress is the hero of the city. When the girl leaves, Ashaf says they can’t act on impulse, but Guideau is already on her way to attack the witch, who blocks her strike and captures her. However, she still insists the witch has seen her before and that her kind only brings misfortune. Ashaf quickly teleports there and leaves with Guideau.

400 years ago, a witch cursed the city, consuming it with hellfire. However, when the witch was defeated, the fire was sealed. That’s the history of the city. So, they go to the castle in which the fire is sealed to investigate. Coincidently, the witch lives there and is throwing a party for her students.

The girl they met before is there and prohibits them from entering. She tells them that the witch saved her life and that she made a lot of effort to become the hero of the city. Still, Guideau says all witches are evil and people shouldn’t trust them.

Ashaf affirms there’s something wrong with the story, as no one can seal curses. Therefore, the fire can’t be a curse. After he says there are hidden truths everywhere, the girl gets mad and sends them away. 

Ashaf investigates the connection between the castle, the witch, and the supposed anniversary she is celebrating at the party. He prepares to leave and tells Guideau he’ll let her focus on her mission, which makes her laugh. As they are leaving, cops arrive to arrest them at the witch’s request.

The girl suddenly awakes in a garden. She realizes her hands and feet were cut off and that she is naked. All of her friends suffered the same fate. When her mistress arrives, she explains that the witch from the story is her grandmother and, at the time, was trying to save the city from the fire. Even so, the citizens killed her. Now, to get revenge for her grandmother, she will use her students as keys to unseal the fire.

Guideau breaks the window and tries to punch her, but the with easily subdues her. Even so, Guideau sets herself free and tries to strike again, which doesn’t work. The witch notices something is weird and attacks Ashaf, who is behind her. He protects himself, but she is unable to make her stop releasing the fire.

Guideau gets up and asks the witch if she recognizes her, and shows a mark on her neck that resembles a rose. The witch realizes that is the mark of a curse and starts laughing. However, she wasn’t the one who did that to Guideau.

We finally learn what is the third way to break a curse: kissing a witch. Guideau gets punctured, but she smiles and grabs her enemy, giving her a kiss. At that moment, Ashaf’s coffin starts to shine and opens. A jacked masked guy with a mechanical arm comes out of it, saying nothing is better than your own body. That’s Guideau’s true self.

The witch tries to use a variety of spells, but none of them work. Ashaf says Guideau is the witches’ greatest and only natural enemy. Then Guideau punches her and sends her off flying, knocking the witch out.

Out of the town, Guideau is back to her other body. Ashaf says kissing the witch only works as a temporary solution, so they need to find the one who originally cursed her. They are part of the Ordeal of Magical Resonance, an occult organization.

The Episode Review

The first thing you think after watching is something along the lines of: “What the hell is Guideau?” Throughout the episode, she isn’t very interesting, so her transformation is a great way of solving that problem. Also, as it doesn’t give all the answers, it makes us want to keep following the story to learn what happened to her.

Ashaf is your usual competent, reliable (and, for some reason, almost always dark-haired) partner. His being a mage is very interesting, as the world fears witches, but uses magic to go against them. And, as both he and the witch get the same kind of writing on their arms and faces when they use spells, the origin is probably the same.

Overall, it’s a good introduction and tone-setter for the series. We get a lot of action and blood near the end, making for a pretty violent show. The bit in which the witch’s apprentice wakes up and finds out the truth is especially surprising. Fans of anime like Akame ga Kill and Seven Deadly Sins will probably like it.