Witch Hat Atelier 4
by Kamome Shirahama
2019
In the last couple volumes of Witch Hat Atelier, we've gotten to meet Coco's three classmates, especially Agott, but Coco has remained the focus of the plot. In volume 4, we step away from Coco to follow Agott and Richeh as they take the qualifying exam to be allowed to perform magic in public. (In this world, the biggest secret of magic is that it's drawn, and anyone with the right ink and the right pattern could use it, if they knew...)
Richeh has hipster bangs and the heart of an artist. Agott wants to be the best to impress her family. Richeh rejects conventional success, and only wants to create and cast her own spells, not study and practice other people's. It seems her teacher before Qifrey was very strict about rote memorization; Richeh feels a bit betrayed by Qifrey for signing her up for the test.
The exam is a practical, a task that requires the students to use magic by drawing without looking with their hands hidden by their cloaks. Instead of human civilians though, they'll be casting in front of another master witch, and some adorable fantasy animals - tiny adorable penguin griffins! The students are wearing illusion cloaks to disguise themselves, and their test is to lead the penguins along their migration route through a site ruined by forbidden magic without the animals realizing they're being shepherded.
Joining Agott and Richeh is a student from another atelier, Euini, who has a cruel teacher and like, negative self confidence. Getting through the dangerous magical site will require the girls to use their own magic intelligently. Richeh also tries to interrupt Euini's self-hatred and convince him to trust himself. She also starts to realize there may be a limit to her philosophy of magic as self-expression, with no 'right' use, and that by not learning other people's spells, she's limited herself more than she knew.
So far, so heartwarming! But then one of the witches who use forbidden magic shows up. This one has no physical body, just a cloak and hat that he's possessed. He causes the teacher to vanish, turns Euini into an animal, and Agott and Richeh are only barely able to escape him. Then they're forced to split up. Richeh will continue leading the migration - witches have an obligation to this species, since this site was their route before it was twisted and polluted with magic. Agott, who knows more spells and thus has a broader range of abilities, will try to rescue Euini.
Outside the testing site, the disembodied witch has caused a giant statue to attack Qifrey and his two younger students - Coco and Tetia. His goal isn't just to use forbidden magic himself, it's also to tempt others to use it too ... such as by creating an emergency so severe they feel like they have no choice but to reach for the power he's promising them.
With everyone in peril and nothing resolved, the volume ends on quite a cliffhanger!
Richeh has hipster bangs and the heart of an artist. Agott wants to be the best to impress her family. Richeh rejects conventional success, and only wants to create and cast her own spells, not study and practice other people's. It seems her teacher before Qifrey was very strict about rote memorization; Richeh feels a bit betrayed by Qifrey for signing her up for the test.
The exam is a practical, a task that requires the students to use magic by drawing without looking with their hands hidden by their cloaks. Instead of human civilians though, they'll be casting in front of another master witch, and some adorable fantasy animals - tiny adorable penguin griffins! The students are wearing illusion cloaks to disguise themselves, and their test is to lead the penguins along their migration route through a site ruined by forbidden magic without the animals realizing they're being shepherded.
Joining Agott and Richeh is a student from another atelier, Euini, who has a cruel teacher and like, negative self confidence. Getting through the dangerous magical site will require the girls to use their own magic intelligently. Richeh also tries to interrupt Euini's self-hatred and convince him to trust himself. She also starts to realize there may be a limit to her philosophy of magic as self-expression, with no 'right' use, and that by not learning other people's spells, she's limited herself more than she knew.
So far, so heartwarming! But then one of the witches who use forbidden magic shows up. This one has no physical body, just a cloak and hat that he's possessed. He causes the teacher to vanish, turns Euini into an animal, and Agott and Richeh are only barely able to escape him. Then they're forced to split up. Richeh will continue leading the migration - witches have an obligation to this species, since this site was their route before it was twisted and polluted with magic. Agott, who knows more spells and thus has a broader range of abilities, will try to rescue Euini.
Outside the testing site, the disembodied witch has caused a giant statue to attack Qifrey and his two younger students - Coco and Tetia. His goal isn't just to use forbidden magic himself, it's also to tempt others to use it too ... such as by creating an emergency so severe they feel like they have no choice but to reach for the power he's promising them.
With everyone in peril and nothing resolved, the volume ends on quite a cliffhanger!
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