Witch Hat Atelier Review: The first and second episodes of Witch Hat Atelier were absolutely brilliant. Let’s see in detail how it went.
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Witch Hat Atelier Anime Directors
Ayumu Watanabe, Jun Shinohara
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AKA
とんがり帽子のアトリエ (Tongari Bōshi no Atorie)
Witch Hat Atelier Overview
Witch Hat Atelier is a Japanese manga series created by Kamome Shirahama, first serialised in Morning Two magazine in July 2016. As of November 2025, the series has been compiled into 15 volumes and has surpassed 7 million copies in circulation. It has also received critical acclaim, winning both the Harvey Award and the Eisner Award in 2020 and again in 2025. A spin-off titled Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen began serialisation in November 2019.
An anime adaptation was officially announced in April 2022, with further details revealed at Anime Expo 2024. Produced by Bug Films and directed by Ayumu Watanabe, the series features contributions from key staff, including Hiroshi Seko for series composition, Kairi Unabara for character design, and Yuka Kitamura for music. Originally planned for a 2025 release, the anime was delayed to ensure higher production quality and ultimately premiered on April 6, 2026, on Tokyo MX and other networks.
The opening theme, “Kaze no Anthem,” is performed by Eve featuring Suis of Yorushika, while the ending theme, “Tada Utsukushii Noroi,” is performed by Nakamura Hak. The series is available for international audiences through Crunchyroll and Netflix.
Witch Hat Atelier Review (Episodes 1-2)
This episode begins with the introduction of a world where magic is prominent, but only a very few people can do it. Coco loves magic and has always dreamed of becoming a witch. Even though she would do anything to get a glimpse of a magician performing magic, she cannot do it because the people who perform magic keep the craft under utter secrecy. Coco’s mother runs a shop, and that is when we meet the second most important character of this series, Qifrey.
Qifrey is a witch who came to their shop to get something, and even though he becomes quite impressed with Coco’s ability to cut linen, something else bugs him about her. His visit becomes one of the key moments that completely changes Coco’s life for better and worse. Coco gets to know about the secret of magic, but at the cost of her mother. Now, to save her mother, she must walk the path of learning magic from scratch and figuring out what went wrong. She becomes a student of Qifrey and meets more people like her. But that is not all, as there are way more challenges in her way than she originally thought.
The best aspect of this series is, hands down, its animation, which honestly blew me away. The story definitely has great fantasy elements, which hook you right away. However, the most important thing is the unique quality of its animation that I have never seen before. The studio Bug Films has done a phenomenal job in depicting this level of craft. For a new studio, their quality even rivalled bigshot studios like Mappa.
Verdict
I am beyond impressed with the two episodes that have come out, and I would definitely urge everyone else to give the series a try. If they manage to keep the quality as great as this, Witch Hat Atelier will become one of the best animated anime ever. I really hope this one gets all the love it deserves.
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Woke critic rating this higher than Re:Zero😭🙏🏽🥀