A few days ago, I finally cracked open the first volume of Witch Hat Atelier, which I had bought a while back when it was on sale. It’s a decent read, but I haven’t fallen in love with the series yet. Nor do I can tell if I ever will. After all, despite it ending on a cliffhanger, the first volume didn’t exactly make me jump and buy the second volume. Why? Well, a couple things bother me.

The setup is simple but charming enough. Ever since Coco had a fateful encounter with a witch, she has dreamt of becoming one herself. Unfortunately, magic in this world is a closely-guarded secret. They’ll literally erase your memories of magic if you’re one of the uninitiated. Moreover, Coco lives with her mom and her mom only. Dad has passed away a long time ago. If she decides to just run off and become a witch, her mother would have no one left. So what’s a girl to do? Well, she can disobey orders and dabble in something she doesn’t understand, thereby triggering a forbidden spell that turns her mother to crystal! The call to adventure has always required a catalyst, but I just wish that catalyst didn’t come at her mother’s expense. I hate that the woman’s final emotion before turning to crystal was abject fear. You hope that she feels no pain in her current state — that her mind is in suspension like her body — but who can really say?

Maybe this is a sign that I’m getting old. I’m not a parent, but I’m starting to sympathize with them more and more in recent years. I’m not saying that Coco should give up on her dreams. Certainly not. At some point in every parent’s life, they need to allow their precious babies to spread their wings and leave the nest. Parents need to allow their children to become their own person and not just a mini-me. There’s no doubt that Coco has a talent for being a seamstress, but her heart yearns for magic. Her mom knows that, too. After all, the girl hardly ever shuts up about witches and magic. To put it in simple video games terms, the mom was always going to be the “first boss.” She was always going to be the first obstacle that Coco would need to overcome in order to embark on her journey. But we could’ve done this by sitting down and having a frank heart-to-heart conversation. I honestly would’ve been more excited for that. Unfortunately, tragedy, in some people’s eyes, makes for a more compelling narrative.

As a result, a young-looking male witch by the name of Qifrey has no choice — none! — but to take Coco in as an apprentice. It’s not entirely out of the goodness of his heart, mind you. He has his own agenda. He’s on a mission to find these heretical witches and their forbidden magic, and Coco seems to represent his first lead in a long, long time. As such, he whisks her away to his atelier where three other students are already studying under him. Look, I’m not saying Qifrey’s a bad guy… but this is anime. And how often has anime given us a young, attractive guardian several years older than the even younger main character only for said young, attractive guardian to become a love interest? How many times have I convinced myself that a series is safe to enjoy only for the author or mangaka to be like, “We just think huge age gaps are neat!” This is then followed by fervent fans writing essays upon essays of pure mental gymnastics: “Here’s why it’s actually not problematic…” I hate that we have to go there, but it’s a recurring pattern. I also want to make it clear that I have no clue what will happen. I have only read the first volume of the manga. Nevertheless, I’m a little wary of what the future might hold for these characters.

Because Coco couldn’t come to a proper understanding with her mom, she spends the next episode oscillating between being a lump of heavy-hearted guilt and beaming with boundless joy and curiosity. She’s joined by the usual cast of characters. There’s always the genki one. Then there’s the quiet, mousey one, who fittingly has blue hair. I swear, Rei-types will haunt us until the sun dies. And of course, there always has to be the mean one who rejects the main character until the latter proves herself. Then all of a sudden, the mean one becomes the undyingly loyal one — the bestie. But for now, Coco is going to be put through the wringer, because our genius witch boy thinks it’s a good freakin’ idea to leave a child in charge. Is he too dense to notice that Agott is displeased with the current situation? He shouldn’t be a guardian if he’s that clueless. Or is this one of those frustrating “ah, they’ll figure it out” scenarios?

Like I said up top, Witch Hat Atelier starts off decently enough despite some hesitation on my part, but the series still doesn’t quite have me under its spell. Manga can be pretty pricy once you start stacking up the volumes, and I haven’t found the mystery behind the heretical witches compelling enough to keep forking over my sadly limited cash. But on the bright side, this means I can appreciate the adaptation without spoiling myself… well, after a certain point. The next few episodes will remain familiar territory, unfortunately.

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Stray thoughts & observations:

— Well, it’s certainly a pretty adaptation relative to other shows. But I don’t understand some of the choices to frame certain scenes differently. Some scenes lose detail. Some scenes are just flat out less interesting. But I’ll stop the comparisons here. At some point, the adaptation needs to become its own thing.

— Isn’t it curious that the witch showed a younger Coco visions of things that the child would only stumble upon years later? Did the witch know the future? Did the witch have a plan for her?

— This dinner looks tasty, but no way is it substantial enough for a growing child.

— It’s like giving a kid a chemistry set without any supervision or even an instructions manual.

— We get some world-building in the second episode, but also a lot info-dumping in general. Granted, a magic system where you draw symbols instead of uttering an incantation is somewhat novel. Even so, I’m not the right audience for this sort of minutia. It’s not something that a show like this can avoid, so I guess it’s better to get it out of the way now.

— “Oh yeah, we have a copy of every book that has ever been written. But oh yeah, you gotta become a full-fledged mage to find said book. No, no one else look for it except you!”

— Again, I think growing children need more than soup or stew all the time!