Much is revealed about Liselotte's past in this volume, along with the pasts of the witches Vergue and Hilde. Takaya Natsuki seems to like creating these characters who seem fine on the outside but have a lot of hidden pain and suffering (see: Fruits Basket). I'm always happy for more background on the characters, especially minor ones, however all of it feels very superficial. Everything is glossed over pretty quickly so we can get back to the story of ~*~the cheerful and possibly dim-witted Lise and her quirky companions~*~. I enjoy the manga's comedy and the lightheartedness for what it is (shallow entertainment, basically) but it seems at odds with the sudden flashes of sadness we get from the character's histories. I think these two opposites can actually be integrated really well to form a deep and emotionally-complex story, however this manga, being only 5 volumes long, is far too short for that, especially when we have so many characters. Still, I'm eager to read the fifth and final book; I want to see how things are resolved with Engetsu, whom I find more attractive with each volume (although he's still the obligatory generic, mysterious bishounen love interest).

[Edit: I have since found out that the next volume isn't the final one. The author/artist has simply gone on hiatus after releasing it so... that still doesn't really say good things about the pacing of the story.] ( )

This series . . . is so dull . . . and tedious . . . to read . . . especially when . . . every sentence . . . stretches over . . . two or three . . . word balloons . . . and the story . . . hardly even . . . advances an inch. Must . . . stop . . . reading. ( )