In the 2020s, we are blessed with so many phenomenal fantasy titles airing recently. Witch Hat Atelier looks to be another classic in the making. This anime is an adaptation of a seinen (men’s) manga by Kamome Shirahama. The main characters are small children, but this is an adult series despite the lack of any real sexual or graphic content. I would be okay with showing this title to kids brave enough to deal with a few scary scenes involving dragons and evil witches. This series was an absolute delight to watch and is on my shortlist for Anime of the Year (the other obvious frontrunner, season four of Re:Zero, will be covered next month).
In the world of Witch Hat Atelier, magic is an ability that anybody can use, but the witches (here a gender-neutral term for magic users) spreads the false belief that magic is a rare gift that only those born with the ability can use. Those who are allowed to use magic are witches and the Muggles are known as the Unknowing. Our protagonist is Coco, an ordinary girl, who accidentally discovers magic and invertedly turns her mother into a crystal. She encounters a mysterious witch named Qifrey who offers to make her his apprentice. He warns that there is a secret group of witch police officers known as the Knights Moralis who erase memories Men in Black style if any of the Unknowing finds out that they are capable of using magic. In this world, spells are done by drawing on magic paper rather than waving wands and spouting Latin-sounding gibberish.
Coco meets Qifrey’s other apprentices and makes friends and not-
exactly friends, as Agott looks down on Coco being a rookie at magic. A great deal of the series is about learning the art of magic, and it is easy to compare and contrast this series with Harry Potter. This series does have the major difference of it being about Coco taking an apprenticeship rather than attending a boarding school. In addition to avoiding getting in trouble with the Knights Moralis, Coco needs to worry about the Brimmed Caps, outlaw witches who break the laws of the Knights Moralis. Qifrey’s apprentices have tense encounters with both of these factions. Also, there are dragons to worry about.
This series balances whimsey, danger, and adventure as Coco enters the world of magic. The world of Witch Hat Atelier is a fascinating constructed world which is one of the most detailed and thought out in recent fantasy anime. The animation and magic effects are absolutely gorgeous. Bug Films, the studio behind hit anime Zom 100, is the studio responsible for this title and Witch Hat Atelier season one takes the crown for their best work. Season one ends on a massive and tense cliffhanger that leaves you wanting season two to come out soon.
There will probably be an inevitable rivalry between this series and Frieren, the other super acclaimed fantasy show. They are both very different series and very good in the story they are set to do, so I think such a rivalry is silly. Frieren is the story of a magical elf who’s lived for centuries, yet continues to learn life lessons while Witch Hat Atelier is about a newcomer getting acquainted with the world of magic. Both series are wonderful series and the idea of pitting one against the other is unproductive.
This series should be on the shortlist for Crunchyroll’s Anime of the Year award, but we all know that Jujutsu Kaisen: The Culling Game will inevitably win as the award always goes to the battle shonen series with the flashiest action scenes. At least it will get nominated even if it has no hope of winning. Witch Hat Atelier is streaming on Crunchyroll.
