In an alternate historical Asian setting, with an art deco style, a matriarchal power system, and a recent brutal war between humans and magical arcanics, Maika Halfwolf is a traumatized teenager trying to find answers about her past and the monster that she's begun to feel awaken in her.

I really enjoyed this! First of all, it is gorgeous. The art deco and steampunk style is so intricate and lucious. Takeda's art is beautiful and rich and detailed and also, at times, horrifying. This is a very violent book but in my opinion it never seems to be taking pleasure in its own violence, which is important to me. There is also a lot of really great panel layout that I love, but am unsure whether to credit Takeda or Rus Wooton, who is on lettering & design. (If anyone who is knowledgeable about comics wants to chime in on that, I would be grateful!) Either way, the lettering is also lovely, with the monster communication bubbles in particular being perfectly ominous. Visually, the book is spectacular.

The writing also really worked for me. I loved the twisty way information was slowly revealed throughout the issues and I am excited to read more in future volumes. I like how all the characters (in a fairly large cast) have their own motivations, fears, and sometimes complicated loyalties. A complicated magical world full of complicated people (some of whom are cats!) is delightful to me. There is a lot of past (and present) violence and trauma depicted that is not always my favourite, but although it is sometimes graphic it did not feel gratuitous and I respect the choices the team is making. I also really appreciate how the traumatized teenage girl protagonist gets to have agency, and gets to be truly angry as well as confused and scared. It does feel very different to me than when cishet men write traumatized teenage girls and it's super weird. Lastly, opinions may vary on this, but there is a lot of swearing and I love that personally. Just overall a great read for me and I will be picking up the subsequent volumes!