Witch hat atelier!

Yes, magic can be used to bring terrible things into the world, and people can misuse it to torment and oppress others. People can misuse it because they don't understand the magic they're using, because they were never educated about it. But it can also be used to bring wonderful things, both for personal and artistic joy, and for day-to-day material uses.

We have the Brimmed Hats who misuse the magic because they think their right to knowledge gives to right to harm others. They target vulnerable people and try to radicalize them.

But we also gave Qifrey and Olruggio, who are loving teachers to their apprentices. They give them a personalized education based on their needs, talents, and areas where they can improve. And while Qifrey is a very flawed man, but he also tries, and he cares for his loved ones.

I also really love how it focuses on the marginalized of society, such as children, people with disabilities, people from abusive families or teachers, people who learn differently or don't have access to the same level of education.

It's pretty great, in other words.

Edited by SilentColossus on May 4th 2023 at 12:27:11 PM

It amuses me to see people who ship Agott and Coco together

Edited by Ultimatum on Jun 3rd 2023 at 4:35:26 PM

I've read up to volume 9. I have to say I really like how the brimmed cap-pointed hat conflict is set up. It's fun to see a villain completely chew out the protagonists and have it actually be deserved.

I have a prediction regarding Qifrey. Currently his two main attributes and his primary conlfict as a character is on the one hand his teacherly bond with his students, and on the other his ruthless memory erasure of anyone who finds out too much about his quest, including his oldest friend. I predict that the contradiction between these two attributes will eventually come to a head, and that there will be a time when one of his students will find out too much and he'll have to make a split decision on whether to erase her memories or not.

Edited by Druplesnubb on Jun 19th 2023 at 9:36:37 PM

Hmm

I'm not sure Qifrey could bring himself to do that to his apprentices, even if he's willing to betray Olruggio.

I could see one of the kids having their memories wiped and then one of the others turns to forbidden magic to try and bring them back, however.

> even if he's willing to betray Olruggio.

the question then is he willing to fight his best friend to save their apprentices memories?

Maybe. Qifrey loves his students and I'm sure he'd do anything for them.

I just wonder what he'd do if/when Coco joins the brim hats.

Edited by SilentColossus on Jun 18th 2023 at 6:27:46 AM

Has anyone else read articles such as Thinking Outside the Circle: Accessibility and education in Witch Hat Atelier and Witch Hats and Prejudice (Part I and Part II)?

Nope,first time I've noticed them

I appreciate a decent summary tho

The essays all focus on how the protagonists of Witch Hat are marginalized by society in some shape or form, either because they have some sort of disability or because society has rejected them.

The first essay by Dee on Animefeminist is the most broad, focusing on the themes of the manga and how they play out in the story. In particular, its about disability and accessibility in the setting.

The second and third by Labarch are more in depth and analyze witch society and how it effects the characters directly. They focus a lot on Qifrey in particular, with the first one focusing on his relationship with Beldaruit and the second primarily on his relationship with Olruggio - and despite how much they love Qifrey, the power dynamics between them isn't balanced. Beldaruit is the sage of education and Qifrey's master, and Olruggio has power over Qifrey as Watchful Eye.

If you have time you read them, you ought to.

Edited by SilentColossus on Jul 9th 2023 at 2:59:30 PM

The Knights Moralis considered erasing Qifrey's memories even though the Brimmed Caps had already done it to cover up their crimes after they kidnapped him, took his eye, experimented on him, and buried him alive.

Those who took him in refused to give him a space appropriate for a child who had been traumatized to the point of near death—they sent him to a room empty of furniture and made him live under the ocean despite his trauma-induced fear of water—and to investigate his past and the Brimmed Caps who victimized him.

Even his own teacher, Beldaruit, views him as dangerous due to contact with forbidden magic—one that was inflicted on him instead of something he committed out of his own will—and a subsequent desire to pursue the Brimmed Caps without considering that it's all the fault of the adults around him that he distrusts the authorities and refuses to seek help from anyone in the first place.

It's egregious that none of the Knights Moralis, who are supposed to enforce the law of magic, pursue and investigate the Brimmed Caps as much enthusiasm as whenever they jump to conclusions and attempt to punish victims. Otherwise, Easthies wouldn't have been content with seeing an ordinary spell in Coco's pocketbook during the river incident.

If you're interested, see here for more of my thoughts on the Knights Moralis. I wish Shirahama had given them much more criticism than she did.

Edited by IukaSylvie on Jul 10th 2023 at 7:31:59 PM

That article was full of weird assumptions and misunderstnadings. Like somehow complaining that Easthies didn't do arrest the nobleman that abused Luluci. This both assumes the Knights Moralis had the power to arrest him (their jurisdiction seems to be exclusively forbidden magic and witches breaking the law), and that they decided not to do anything about him (the flashback ends immediately after Luluci's teacher gets chastised, with no hint as to how they decided to deal with the enobleman aftewards). It also seems to misunderstand the reason why Coco was arrested after the river incident. She wasn't arrested just for causing damage, but because her spell was way more powerful than what she should have been normally able to produce, which thus suggested she had used Forbidden Magic to boost her abilities. Destroying a wall like Luluci did could be a crime in many circumstances (destruction of property and endangering of people), but it's not Forbidden Magic, and thus doesn't trigger the Knights Moralis' "arrest and mindwipe everyone including the victims" clause.

As per the pact, witches aren't permitted to pick sides in a conflict. They're allowed to defend themselves, which is what Luluci was doing. They're just not allowed to, for example, help outsiders deal with their bandit problem.

And the Knights do investigate Brimhats and forbidden magic - most recently, they're hunting the witch that wiped Galga's memory, but they don't know who Ininia is. They're likely to prove even more fanatical in their pursuit because one of their own is the victim. The reason there is more focus on Qifrey's independent investigation of the Brimhats is because he is one of the lead characters, while the Knights are morally grey antagonists.

Edited by SilentColossus on Jul 11th 2023 at 3:12:57 PM

> They're just not allowed to, for example, help outsiders deal with their bandit problem.

but when they have a bandit problem would anyone else be obliged to help them out?

Due to how powerful magic is, the witches could deal with any bandit problem on their own - though they might avoid actually hurting the bandits.

Bandits probably know that, so I imagine they avoid witches. There is no point in attacking, because they'd lose.

That or the witches would just fly away.

Witches are also incredibly insular and live away from outsiders, so they'd live away from any bandits, who would stick to trade routes and people they could target.

Edited by SilentColossus on Jul 11th 2023 at 3:32:06 PM

The lines "Don't tell me you think there's good in them", "Damn your pretty words, Palutena! / What good are your words / When the mortals care just for themselves?", and "Your pretty lights, empty words, are as bile" from the song "Palutena vs Medusa (Boss Battle 2)" of the Kid Icarus: Uprising Bytes series by Man on the Internet encapsulate my feelings towards witch society and the Knights Moralis.

I wonder if Coco convincing Beldaruit that the counterclock spell being used on humans is not forbidden magic actually fits into Iquin and Sasaran's goals. They want her to use forbidden magic for "proper reasons" and bring back the magic that was outlawed.

... and Coco seems to be doing just that? She has the "proper goal" of wanting to save people, and she seems to have convinced one of the highest ranking witches that this magic is in fact permissible. That seems to be exactly what the Brimhats want from her.

Tartah also argued that they could use the counterclock spell as a way of temporarily keeping someone alive until they can access an actual doctor. So Coco might plan to bring Dagda and the other injured straight to the healing spire - exactly where the king is. The king finding out about forbidden healing magic would be interesting... and I think that's exactly what Ininia's Brimhat faction wants: to tell the king about forbidden magic.

On that note, this arc has been taking way too long.

(Speaking of the Brimhats: are they a single faction, or a collection of witches who use forbidden magic, all with different goals? Ininia and Restys don't seem to have the same goals as Iquin and Sasaran, and Engendale is doing his own thing. Is a Brimhat just a witch that dons a brimmed hat, and practices forbidden magic?)

Edited by SilentColossus on Nov 8th 2023 at 5:06:29 AM

Brimmed Hats just seem to be a catch-all for anyone who doesn't follow the laws on forbidden magic. I'm pretty sure even the brimmed hat itself is optional, but people wear them in order to make a statement.

An interesting Tumblr article I've found. https://www.tumblr.com/kustas/733320053528969216/id-love-to-hear-your-hashtag-wha-critical

Okay, I'll preface this by saying that I've only read up until volume 11 so far, but I really disagree with the author's take that the Knights Moralis are represented as pure good guys now. Yes, we see them be upset for their friend when he gets his memory wiped, but Ininia points out that they have zero problems doing the same thing to others, when they consider it necessary. (And yes, I realize how ironic it is for me to write this, considering what out last argument was about.)

IMO the Knights Moralis treat the act of erasing people's memories too casually. They nearly did that to Coco and Agott at the river and Qifrey when he was a child without trying to investigate. They love jumping to conclusions and branding anyone nearby as guilty.

From the moment they were introduced they were sketch as fuck with secret police vibes so I really don't know what the author was going for there. The whole thing about them being from the US and extrapolating our cop issues into another country or a fictional setting also kind of rubs me the wrong way as well for reasons I can't quite put into words.

Edited by doomrider7 on Nov 16th 2023 at 6:16:28 AM

They might look beautiful but that only underscores their (and witch society's) cruelty and hypocrisy to me

It rubbed me the wrong way how dismissive they came off as to Garuga's partner when he was clearly in distress about what happened and even seemed to threaten him to back off lest their be consequences. That they were upset that he questioned whether they cared when they privately were VERY upset was also kind of iffy. I'm 100% sure that this was all intentional and you're supposed to see them in a morally grey sketchy light.

I honestly prefer Colonel Mustang and his followers from Fullmetal Alchemist, Atelia from Tweeny Witches, and Vlad III from Vlad Drăculea by Akiyo Ohkubo when it comes to morally grey authority figures. At least they make genuine efforts about what they do and have more redeeming qualities than the Knights Moralis.

Edited by IukaSylvie on Nov 16th 2023 at 8:44:44 PM

Also like the article writer seems surprised about Coco being against using forbidden magic, when Coco has been shown to be against it from the start, and absolutely terrified of becoming a brimmed cap herself. They also have some weird hangups about Custas looking stressed and when he's stressed and looking threatening when he's threatening Coco (though I guess I may be misremembering the contexts of those panels). They also seem to think its weird that the prince boy can have sinister plans and want to help people at the same time. Why?