Majo no Tabitabi Gakuen Vol 1 - Amnesia vs Saya, who will win Elaina's heart?!

Majo no Tabitabi Gakuen Monogatari is a spin-off series from the widely popular Majo no Tabitabi light novel series that spin off the original fantasy setting while keeping the characters exactly the same. In this alternate universe, they all attend high school together, living peaceful everyday lives filled with romantic comedy and slice-of-life antics.

In this spin-off, Elaina goes to school, constantly longs to eat more bread, and hangs out with her close friends Saya and Amnesia as the two bicker over who loves Elaina the most. Their bickering is precisely the kind of dynamic I dreamed about while reading the original series, wondering what life would look like if Elaina hadn't constantly moved on to continue her travels.

Elaina is a lot more mellow in this series compared to the original one. Less trauma I guess?

Saya and Amnesia are the closest friends of Elaina in this world. Plus they're totally in love with her!

There are plenty of familiar characters appearing throughout the text: older witches like Elaina's teacher Fran, as well as heroines from specific episodic journeys like Priscilla and Mina. We even get a dedicated human character for "Houki," who was Elaina's broom in the original series and now acts as her affectionate little sister.

The book is written strictly for fans, packed with inside jokes and references. We even see Saya and Amnesia dreaming about the original fantasy world, albeit with the roles reversed so that they are the ones rescuing Elaina instead of the other way around. It delivers everything fans might ask for, yet I honestly struggled to get into it.

I picked this image specifically because I wanted to show how hot Fran looks in the teacher outfit. Like whoa, she seems to be perfect for the role!

It feels shallow, and it is difficult to stay engaged with the narrative, or the distinct lack thereof. The light novel is structured as a collection of brief segments, with each chapter running only seven to ten pages and usually centered on a single gag. Some are decent, but others are genuinely boring, relying far too heavily on the tired "look, Character X is doing their trademark quirk" routine.

Even Elaina herself feels like a background character at times: she shows up, delivers her catchphrase, and then fades into the scenery. My favorite part was probably the introduction of Houki and the interactions between Elaina, her mother, and Houki. It turns out Houki has been looking out for Elaina all along in this world, too!

They even made the standard scene with someone running with bread in their mouth and getting hit at the corner of the road?!

There was also a scene with Elaina using a guitar, imagine Elaina having the willpower to learn an musical instrument!

I'll give the second volume a chance in the future, but I am definitely not enthusiastic about this side series. I wouldn't really recommend picking it up unless you are a die-hard fan of the franchise who simply wants more content featuring these characters. There are three volumes out so far, and new releases seem very sporadic, with over a year passing between volumes.