Witch Hat Atelier: A Spoiler-Free Manga Review

In a world where magic is reserved, only to those born of witchcraft, will you dare continue dreaming of magic no matter the cost?

In this story we follow Coco, a young girl and the daughter of a textiles artisan, as she uncovers the secrets of this magical world. Despite being told that magic is reserved only to those that are born as witches, Coco dreams of becoming a witch herself. She continues to live knowing that this is wishful thinking and that there is no chance for her to be a part of the magical world. That is until she meets a peculiar witch named Qifrey and stumbles upon the secrets of magic accidentally. She finds out that magic is drawn.

Armed with this new knowledge, Coco experiments with the book of magic and a pen that was given to her by another mysterious witch when she was much younger. However, her child-like curiosity did not end well for Coco as one of the spells she copies from the book causes a curse to befall her home and consequently her mother became incased in stone.

Having no where to go after the tragedy, she has no choice but to rely on Qifrey to be her new mentor and become a witch at his Atelier.

Witch Hat Atelier explores a dozen different themes that are both hopeful and grim, but overall very mature for a story about young girl witches. People forget that as a seinen manga, this story is still targeted for adults.

Among the more hopeful themes, the theme that stands out to me the most are its thoughts on creativity. With its in-depth magic system and the rules around it, one would think that the magical system of this world may be extremely limiting. I would argue that it is anything but. The magic system of this world is rich with possibilities, while being constrained in clear rules on how one does certain magic. There is never one way to do things, and the magic system is merely a means by which witches solve their unique problems and can be catered to specific situations. In this world the only limit to your ability as a witch are both your knowledge and your creativity.

In the other side of the thematic spectrum, we also explore darker themes in this story through the world building and its central antagonists, the Brim Hats. In this world magic is a knowledge that is only exclusively known by a select few. This is because if magic becomes common knowledge, the witches fear that people with that power will abuse it. This also comes with restrictions for the magic users themselves, as certain types of magic are forbidden, particularly magic that directly effects the human body, this includes healing magic. With so many restrictions, the story of Witch Hat Atelier explores themes of exclusivity and accessibility. How much are people allowed to know? Is not knowing more or less dangerous than knowing? How does this effect people who need to know but are not allowed to know?

Many of these themes run true for modern day youth and our outlook to society, and anyone can take away a memorable lesson from this story.

Witch Hat Atelier is a masterclass in world building and storytelling, the likes of which very unique in recent media. With a oh so lovable characters, a world that you no doubt would dream of getting immersed into, and a magic system that is so interesting, you cannot deny the character’s fascination for it. I highly recommend this series as one of the best pure fantasy manga and comics series currently under serialization.

There are currently twelve volumes available in bookstores worldwide, selling over 5 million copies in global circulation, raking in numerous and well-deserved awards. There is no question about it, put this up soon as your next read!