The White Witch (白い魔女) is a 2014 action-military manga written by Naruki Nagakawa and illustrated by Pairan. It ran from January 8 to June 9, 2014, lasting for a single volume of six chapters. It chronicles the story of Simo Häyhä during the Winter War....except one thing's different.
Simo's a cute anime girl.
Finland in the 1930s is not a fun place to live. It becomes an even less fun place when war breaks out. Soviet forces cross the border on November 30, 1939, with the intent of invading. Peace is now foreign as soldiers massacre as they please, and civilians are forced to evacuate for their own good.
Amidst the chaos is Aki Kirjaivenen is an ordinary Finnish boy who's dear friend Katri is murdered by Russian soldiers. He's left feeling weak and helpless, unable to do anything....until an ethereal woman with long, flowing white hair and a sniper rifle returns the favour by shooting them in the back. She is Simo Häyhä, and while not many know her name, they will after the events of the war.
The manga is not an accurate retelling of The Winter War, and doesn't take itself seriously in some aspects, though it is fairly action-packed and does not shy away from showing brutal deaths.
Contains examples of:
- Artistic License – History:
- For one, Simo Häyhä was not a cute little girl in Real Life.
- His nickname was also "The White Death", not "The White Witch".
- Simo's gun has a round receiver when it should actually have a vex receiver as it was a Finnish Mosin-Nagant M/28.
- Bittersweet Ending: Finland and Russia manage to sign a truce and end the war, but Finland has to give up the area the war was fought on to the USSR. However, Simo survived, and has marked her legacy as a national hero.
- Chekhov's Gun: In this case an actual gun. Before being killed by the Russian soldiers, Katri takes Aki with her so she can show him the gun her father gave her. She's holding it when dies, and Aki uses it in battle afterwards. Later, when Aki is too injured to fight on and Simo's rifle is broken, he gives it to her and asks her to fight with it. In the final chapter, it is returned to him in the hospital, which is how Aki realizes she's not dead like the rumors claim.
- Child Soldiers: On both sides, you'll find a few kids serving on the lines, despite the fact that most of the troops are adults.
- Christmas Episode: Chapter 4 begins during Christmas, which signals that a month has started since the war began. The Russian camp also hear the Finnish soldiers singing Christmas carols and get annoyed.
- Dirty Commies: The Russians try to invade Finland with the intent of adding it to the USSR. They end up with their arses kicked, by a mini-moe of all people.
- Creator Provincialism: Averted hard. It's a story set in Finland based on a Finnish hero written by someone from Japan.
- Gratuitous Foreign Language: Finnish. During the Christmas Episode, some soldiers are heard singing Kulkuset, kulkuset, riemuin helkkäilee! which is the Finnish equivalent of Jingle Bells.
- It Can't Be Helped: The Russian higher-ups believe that the deaths of their men is inevitable no matter what.
Blood needs to spilt even for a truce. War is like that.
- Downer Beginning: The Russians invade Finland and commit several massacres. Several buildings and schools are burned down by the Finnish troops, because they don't want the Russians to gain control of them first.
- Killed Offscreen: Many of Simo's comrades like Silvo and Toni are mentioned to have died in battle by Juutilainen.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: When Simo tells Aki her name, Aki lampshades this by asking "isn't that a male name?", to which Simo responds "I hear that a lot".
- Period Piece: It takes place during the Finnish-Russian Winter War. However, unlike most Period Pieces, it's more goofier and loose with the liberties it takes.
- Savage Wolves: Aki is nearly eaten by a hungry wolf after being shot and injured.
- Scenery Porn: A minor example with the snowy backgrounds, and the trees and homes being coated in snow, that are rather pleasing to the eye in contrast to the brutality of war.
- Shout-Out: One of the characters is a little Finnish girl named Katri.
- Smug Snake: In the Christmas Episode, The Russians assume they have achieved victory because the Finns abandoned their base and went elsewhere.
- Title Drop: The final words of the manga.
''She was praised as a national hero. And people remember her as....The White Witch.
- War Is Hell: Despite the advances made by the Finnish military, none of the soldiers are able to feel personal enjoyment or pride in their work. Simo states that no sides are better than the other because both have killed many people, and Aki, who was motivated by wanting to avenge Katri, finds that Vengeance Feels Empty and is eventually dismissed from the military after being horrifically injured, though he does make a full recovery.
- World of Technicolor Hair: Unlike most works that depict Finland as a land of blondes, the Finns here are depicted with a range of odd hair colours like cyan blue and leaf green.
- Youthful Freckles: One of the Child Soldiers on the Russian soldiers, Aleksei, is a very young boy around Gratsja's age and has a face littered with freckles.
