Listen to the episode on Spotify.

Ron: Hello and welcome to Season 8 of Stereo Geeks, a bi-weekly pop culture podcast, and weekly newsletter. We’re starting this season with a review of Witch Hat Atelier, a new animated show on Crunchyroll. I’m one of your hosts, Ron, a pop culture critic and managing editor at Women Write About Comics, now on hiatus.

Mon: And I’m your other host, Mon, an entertainment writer with bylines in Bam Smack Pow and Huffpost, to name a few. There will be no spoilers in this episode.

Ron: Before we start our episode, we would like to acknowledge that the land we are recording on is the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. It is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Mon: While we are making this land acknowledgement, we understand that this is not enough and that positive action is required by the people of Canada to make substantive change for the Indigenous nations and communities whose lands we now reside on.

[Music]

Ron: Witch Hat Atelier is based on the manga of the same name, which was written and illustrated by Kamome Shirahama. Initially serialised in the manga magazine Morning Two in 2016, the first volume was published in 2017. 16 volumes of the manga have been published so far.

Mon: This is a fantasy story, that’s equal parts a quintessential training school drama, and a grander story of what makes someone good or evil.

Ron: Witch Hat Atelier is set in a world where witches have the sole ability and knowledge to cast magic. We follow young Coco, who has been enthralled by magic for most of her life. When a Master witch, Qifrey, visits her town, Coco accidentally learns the secret of spell-casting. 

Mon: Qifrey takes Coco on as his apprentice at his atelier, the titular Witch Hat Atelier. There, Coco meets fellow young witches, improves her skills, and learns the wonders, and terrors, of magic. That’s as far as we’ve got in the eight episodes we’ve watched.

Ron: We’ll go over the voice cast for the Japanese version of the show. Apologies for our pronunciations; we’re doing our best. The voice cast includes Rena Motomura as the protagonist, new witch apprentice Coco, Natsuki Hanae as Sensei Qifrey, and Hibiku Yamamura as the kinda antagonistic apprentice, Agott.

Mon: Rounding out the voice cast are Kurumi Haruki and Hika Tsukishiro as fellow apprentices Tetia and Richeh. And Yuichi Nakamura voices Olruggio–a character I cannot explain without spoilers. So just watch the show and find out. 

Ron: I first heard of Witch Hat Atelier from the WWAC team. They gushed about it so much that I had to read it. And, it was love at first sight for me.

Mon: I don’t have any connection to Witch Hat Atelier. I’ve probably only ever heard you mention the manga. But when you were offered screeners about the anime, you were so excited, I knew I had to watch it for our podcast.

Ron: Indeed, you had no choice in the matter. I had to watch it. I read, I believe, 100 issues of the manga and I loved each one. I couldn’t wait to watch the anime. And I really wanted you to love it.

Mon: Now, I haven’t watched anime in a long time. So, there are, let’s say, certain things that take some getting used to. The tonal shifts in the characters is definitely one of them. But what can be really grating, is the Kawaii voice–the overly cute-sy affectation of Tetia, for example. And then there’s the frenetic screaming thing that Coco breaks into constantly that’s so over-the-top. 

Ron: Right, yes, those were definitely jarring. However, the affectations of the characters, and their OTT reactions, are directly from the manga. There are visual interludes in the panels where the characters’ faces become funny, like the enlarged eyes, no facial features, to denote they’re having strong reactions. But manga doesn’t have sound so it wasn’t as grating.

Mon: Right, of course. And these are anime tropes that have been around forever. And they’re not going anywhere. Despite those though, I loved this show. I was mesmerized and captivated by the world we were immersed in. The lore is so rich and exquisitely spelled out. 

Ron: That’s why I loved the manga so much! The manga is much slower than the anime, of course. We spend pages and pages on how to create magic, the art and science of it. There’s a ton of detail. To the point where one actually feels like we could create magic by following the teachings in the books. 

Mon: Oh wow! No wonder you loved it. 

Ron: Right? The anime goes into some of it, and I do love that. But the manga really builds that part out.

Mon: Yeah, you can feel the anime is speeding through the story. I, honestly, feel like we could have slowed it down. 

Ron: I agree. In the manga, there were no bad guys for ages. It was the inner workings of the atelier for a long time.

Mon: That’s interesting. It’s fast-paced in the anime, but the story itself is great. And the art! Every character has a distinct look. Every location is breathtakingly different. The animation style is stunning–the magic is effortlessly rendered, and the characters are perfectly emotive. But it’s the details that drew me in. Manga are not easy to create and much of my praise for the show definitely goes to the manga creator. You feel like you’re part of this universe because of the detailed interiors of the homes, the shops, the atelier. I could watch this forever and find so many details. I’d just have to put the sound off. 

Ron: The art style of the anime very closely follows the manga. I’m so relieved by that. It’s been quite a while since I read the manga, but the moment I saw the characters, I was transported right back into those pages. It’s like watching the books come alive!

Mon: Now that’s what I call magical!

Ron: Let’s talk about some favourite moments. 

Mon: Absolutely. But it’s hard to talk about them without spoilers. We’ll give it our best shot. My absolute favourite moment in the episodes we’ve seen so far was this moment when a character draws inspiration from a loved one. And it was so touching. I teared up. The scene was short, but it was magically put together–no melodrama or sentimentality. Just a beautiful moment of showing how love can inspire. I could have done with a few more moments like that. 

Ron: Oooh, great choice. My favourite moment is a spoiler, as well, so I won’t reveal much. But it’s a scene when the characters come together to use their abilities to save the day. They go through so many ups and downs; they’re not sure if they’re working the problem right. And it’s only through their combined knowledge and effort that they succeed. I love stuff like that–people coming together for a common good is such a great trope.

Mon: You love that trope. Why am I not surprised?

Ron: Well, we are twins, after all. 

Ron: We can’t share much, but we can say, we loved this show. The world-building is extraordinary. The art style is beautiful. The characters are fun and easy to love. But the best part of Witch Hat Atelier is how magical it is. There’s a realness to the magic but it’s still glorious and wondrous.

Mon: There’s a groundedness to the magic, as well. You’ve got bureaucracy, insularity that borders on bigotry. And of course, mysteries and good vs evil. I loved the dynamics of the characters. By episode 8, we’re only just scratching the surface of who these characters are and what they’re capable of. 

Ron: I cannot wait to watch more of this anime. I had such a wonderful time.

Mon: Same here. Bring on the rest of the episodes!

Ron: That’s all for our review of Witch Hat Atelier’s first eight episodes. We’re certainly excited for what happens next.

Ron: You can listen to Stereo Geeks on stereogeeks.ca, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Don’t forget to rate us, and leave us a review; it helps other listeners find us.

Mon: And, get more exclusive content when you subscribe to our newsletter on our website, and follow us on Instagram, @stereogeeks_podcast. Plus, we’re also on BlueSky, @stereogeekspodcast.bsky.social. 

Ron: The Stereo Geeks logo was created using Canva. Our music is courtesy Audionautix. 

Mon: See you next time.