Ake no Joi to Yoi no Majo - Vol. 1 Ch. 1

[MangaDex]

 

[MerlinD]

thanks for the chapter

 

[beep_repair]

Interesting. Events are deliberately dreamlike, and mangaka Hino Tomoyuki does an unusually good job of capturing the texture of a dream, the fragmentation of experience, externalization of inner states, surreal juxtapositions and psychosexual weirdness. As in a dream, "reality" is perceived by a passive observer who seems to exist only in the present moment, yet does not understand it.

MC Kagozaka Kou seems to have been raised and/or schooled in the Christian faith, and there are Biblical symbols and references throughout this chapter. In that context, the unnamed Sorcerer seems to represent Babylon the Great (aka the "Whore of Babylon"), including even her cup "full of abominations and [the] filthiness of her fornication..."

Dr. Saturnia Babel's surname may also point in that direction (as well as back to Genesis, of course). Her given name refers to the genus of silk moth associated with the Sorcerer and seen at several points in the story. These connections incline me to view the Sorcerer and Doctor as aspects of a single being or idea: a mother figure freighted with power, eros, and threat.

Don't know where all this is going, but I'm intrigued enough to follow...