Witch Hat Atelier 1×1 and 1×2 Review – “The Magic That Started Everything”

One of the most anticipated new anime of this year, Witch Hat Atelier, more than delivered with a two-episode premiere, titled ‘The Magic That Started Everything’ and ‘The School of the Grassland’, respectively.

After an intriguing first episode, Witch Hat Atelier didn’t need to debut with two episodes, but I’m not complaining. Both chapters were well-animated and well-paced, making me excited for what’s to come in Coco’s adventure to learn magic and rescue her mother.

Due to being a narrative heavy on magic, I was very interested in knowing more about the magic system, especially with (from what I’ve seen) the promos mentioning how the act of casting spells in Witch Hat Atelier was kept secret from non-witches. Fortunately, the first episode quickly exposed Coco to the truth about magic, and the second episode offered information about the magic system, including the history behind it. From mangaka Kamome Shirahama, the magic system in Witch Hat Atelier is, as of now, quite basic, yet engrossing enough to make you want to mimic it in real life.

Coco also served as a likable young lead whose desire to become a witch led to her life changing in a drastic way. Aiding her dressmaker mother in a simple cottage, Coco’s a dependable daughter. However, she’s been interested in learning about magic ever since, as a kid, a mysterious witch sold her a picture book, complete with a strange-looking wand. The flashback to kid Coco thinking she could do magic because the enchanted ground lit up with every step she took was so adorable yet gut-wrenching, because as Coco’s mother put it, you had to be born a witch to cast spells, and it was highly unlikely the ground would continue to light up on their way back home from the festival.

I can’t blame Coco’s mother for how she handled her only daughter’s desire to become a witch. After Coco’s father’s death, her mother had to keep their small business running. And of course, Coco’s mother was worried about being left alone if Coco ever decided to tag along with a witch as an apprentice or runaway from home to learn magic. Again, it would have been different if Coco had been born a witch and her mother had stopped her from becoming a witch just so she wouldn’t be left alone. In my opinion, Coco’s mother was being realistic and operating on what the general public knew about magic. And, hey, it wasn’t if she had ever stopped Coco from pretending to be a witch around the house, with kid Coco waving around the strange-looking wand she bought at the festival.

The fate-altering moment in Coco’s life was ignited once a witch named Qifrey appeared to buy some cloth. When the Pegasus-drawn carriage (belonging to three wealthy women) broke because of two mischievous boys, Qifrey offered to repair it. However, no one was allowed to watch Qifrey perform the required repair magic, with Coco being tasked to prevent anyone from entering the workshop. I mean, of course, curiosity got the best of Coco, and she secretly witnessed Qifrey perform magic not via a wand, but by using a pen to literally draw magic to cast it.

With Coco realizing that the strange-looking wand from her childhood was actually a pen, with an accompanying bottle of ink, Coco went to work that night (after Qifrey and the women had left) to draw the numerous symbols in her storybook. Even though it was clear Coco was going to invite trouble, I couldn’t blame her enthusiasm. I would have done the same. Coco was observant enough to realize how sharply drawn symbols cast longer-lasting spells as well as how the larger symbols created stronger spells compared to the smaller symbols.

As they say, be careful what you wish for, because Coco’s curiosity resulted in her casting an incredibly potent binding spell that led to Coco’s mother being imprisoned (in what looked like blue ice crystals). Even though that moment was supposed to be shocking, I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. I had been wondering what would make someone like Coco leave her mother to learn magic, and after seeing the answer, I was like, “Of course, they temporarily took the mother away like this.” Ha!

At least, the mother’s imprisonment gave Coco an objective to work toward. Our young heroine was all about learning magic and tracking another copy of her picture book to hopefully find a way to unbind her mother.

‘The School of the Grassland’ focused on introducing Coco to the rest of Qifrey’s young apprentices while experiencing actual magic lessons. I also liked how the second episode allowed Coco to feel the emotional pain of losing her mother, especially since she was responsible for the accident. A bunch of shows out there tend to make characters get over recent tragedies in their lives a bit too early for my liking.

Qifrey’s other apprentices were Tetia, Richeh, and Agott (who was Coco’s roommate). Though Tetia and Richeh were welcoming toward Coco, even after learning how she was responsible for casting a powerful binding spell, Agott was, understandably, cold toward Coco. Being Qifrey’s top apprentice, she wasn’t a fan of Coco being taken under Qifrey’s wing without having proven herself to be apprentice material. However, from what I can tell, Agott isn’t a mean person. She was willing to help Coco study casting magic after Qifrey went out for a couple of days on an errand. Agott’s lessons were obviously going to be very different from Qifrey’s, but at least, Agott’s not into actually harming Coco.

Coming back to the magic system, anyone was capable of casting magic as long as they had a pen and special ink. Spells consisted of three components. There was the sigil in the middle, the signs around the sigil, and then the ring bringing it all together. The sigil would need to be fire, water, light, and wind to determine what kind of magic was being cast. The signs determined what you wanted the magic to do. For example, the magic could be directed inward or outward, including targeting a specific direction.

As I said, it’s quite simple yet effective, and will likely get fans, especially younger ones, to draw the spells themselves.

The reason the truth behind casting magic was kept secret from the public was that, back in the day, magic was accessible to everyone. And of course, humans being humans, decided to create dark and harmful spells. A group of powerful witches came together to go after dark magic users, and ultimately created the lie behind the public’s current relationship with magic. If, for some reason, a non-witch found out the truth, their memories would be erased to keep the lie alive.

The only reason Qifrey didn’t erase Coco’s memories was that he needed her to recognize the specific picture book she used and who gave it to her. He also needed the picture book to find a way to reverse the binding spell.

Magic that involved human skin or harming another person was considered forbidden magic. This also involved healing someone. Erasing memories was also forbidden magic, but a necessity to keep the secret safe.

After listening to what Qifrey shared with Coco, I couldn’t help but side-eye the group of witches making all the rules, especially gatekeeping magic from non-witches. It was giving elitism, including a way for certain witches to maintain societal control. I have a feeling something more complicated is occurring behind the scenes, which Coco will find out soon.

The animation’s top-notch, with the voice acting (both sub and dub versions) doing the characters and scenes justice.

I can see why Witch Hat Atelier was the most anticipated new anime of 2026. From the magic system to the character and the narrative clearly building toward social commentary, I can see that this particular piece of media is going to be more than just your run-of-the-mill “Yay! I’m a young witch!” stories.

Did you watch the two-episode premiere of Witch Hat Atelier season one? What did you think of them?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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