Kustas wraz z tajemniczą Ininią zakuwają Koko i Tartara w magiczne kajdany. Chcą, by dwójka młodych czarodziejów pomogła im zbliżyć się do władcy półwyspu Zoza. Ale to nie ostatnie nieoczekiwane spotkanie, jakie czeka naszych bohaterów. Podczas obchodów Święta Srebrnej Nocy Koko i Tartar spotykają Dagdę, na którego piersi umieszczono magiczny krąg. Czy zakazana magia naprawdę niesie ze sobą wyłącznie cierpienie?
Witch Atelier is a fantasy manga series teeming with positivity about the power of magic in the world to do good. Of course, it is also used to do damage, but the central group of young people here, developing into full-blown witches, are do-gooders, mostly, though they do screw up once in a while, encountering the dark side. They have mainly, for nine or ten volumes here, been kinda just taking their time, going to festivals, learning their chops, until this volume, where the intensity seems to be building toward something, hopefully. A kind of transition, set-up volume, but the elements seem to be here to move to some resolution, some set of encounters between the witch hats and the brimmed hats, among other factions.
Coco is such a great MC, so likable and smart, questioning the sort of good-evil binary assumptions about different kinds of magic she sees and considers. I like her relationship with Agott. Prince Eoleo Ezrest shows up; can we trust him? Dagda has a forbidden magic rune on his chest, a counterclock seal; interesting. A transitional volume, with more energy than usual.
Eisner-award-winning artwork from mangaka Shirahama continues, deepens. Look at that lovely cover!
Even if you took away the intricate art and fantastic worldbuilding, you'd still have a story that does an excellent job exploring questions of right and wrong based on fear. The adults are so enmeshed in the problems of the past that they can't see that they're ruining the future.
ok boom, before my review i’m sharing some quotes from this volume because they are insanely reflective of the story so far and foreshadow upcoming plot-lines:
“witches and normal folk… i’m starting to wonder why they’re separate to begin with…” (coco)
“all sorts of dangers lurk in the dark. steer clear of those alleyways. and keep especially far from the muckpool!” (master nolnoa to coco)
“if only he knew. i’ve already glimpsed down those dark paths, just beyond the sun’s reach. and i know… people live there, too.” (coco’s thoughts to master nolnoa’s concern)
wheewwwww this series is really starting to heat up. i love when a series starts out bright, wholesome and whimsical only for the dark reality to slowly bleed in and reveal the harsh truth…
i think witch hat atelier does that perfectly, because even from the first volume, the shadows creep around the edges of coco’s life.
this was a very revealing volume, in which we understand part of the brimmed caps’ goals regarding magic; we also see how unfair the magical laws of the pointed caps are regarding usage and knowledge of magic… i’m very excited for more of the political and moral/ethics conversation of this series to be divulged.
This series remains as visually stunning as ever but I'm struggling with how every single book expands the cast. There are so many characters now that I don't care about that much, and have trouble remembering from volume to volume. I wish the story line would stick more closely to Coco, her classmates, and their main mentors!
5 ⭐️ oh the collateral damage in this one broke my heart. The plot is really kicking in and I am worried for poor Coco and crew, and also very sad I now have to wait with everyone else for volume 11.
Woooow, on se dirige résolument vers du plus sombre. C'était clair depuis quelques tomes déjà mais ce tome 10 vient le confirmer. C'est un tome tout en nuances qui vient nous faire nous questionner sur les règles qui régissent le monde des sorciers: sont-elles justes ? Sont-elles justifiées ? Où se situe la limite entre le bien et le mal ? On se pose des questions aux côtés des personnages et... Je veux la suiiiite pour avoir des réponses !! Le trait est toujours aussi sublime et transmet à merveille ce côté entre ombre et lumière 👌🏻
A lot of the manga series I'm deep into right now seem to be on the slow and sleepy side. This one tries to throw in some exciting elements and offers a little progress, but so much of it just seems to be the regular cast hanging out at a festival, nattering or emoting at each other. It all looks very nice, but I'm bored and finding it harder to care about what the end game might be here.
reediting my comments here to just talk a little about the knights of moralis / easthies himself. i’ve been seeing several people online band together to hate on either easthies himself or the group of knights, which makes no sense. for there to be witches, it would make sense for there to be a group to keep things in order. magic is foreign and boundless, still, in this verse and mostly unexplored. we’ve seen the consequences of it on several major and minor characters already, both negative and positive. it’s just slightly bizarre how people find easthies this villain at the end of the tunnel? albeit, it’s not easy to be fond of him (not so in my case LOL) but it’s not hard to discern that he is like this due to his teachings, and what he’s learnt as his duty as a knight of moralis, and further being a pupil of the sage of principles.. there isn’t an excuse for their harshness, but we can /see/ through his coordination with lulucy that he stands against harassment and wrongdoings - he has a certain way to wrong-doers. easthies is a rigid man, and by no means yielding, but people baselessly hating him without considering where he stands has left me a little shocked!!!!!!!!!!!!
This volume really both made my mind spin and tugged at my heartstrings. A lot of that reaction has to do with how this has built up on certain conflicts in the series, and also just how invested I am in the characters.
What an emotional rollercoster, holy shit The tension is suffocating, anyone and everyone could be in danger atp and I don't have a clue what else could go wrong but I'm sure something will
[primera lectura: diciembre 2022] Le doy un 4,5. Lo que echaba de menos a las niñas, ¡este tomo se ha hecho demasiado corto! Me encanta lo oscura que se está volviendo la trama, y todos los frentes abiertos que vamos teniendo. Aunque al haber tantas situaciones distintas se me ha hecho todo demasiado rápido, hay muchas tramas diferentes ahora mismo QUE NERVIOS. Este tomo tiene varias escenas PRECIOSAS, que si ya me impactan en papel no quiero ni pensar animadas. Vamos conociendo más a fondo a las niñas, tenemos personajes nuevos, muchas intrigas, remordimientos e injusticias. Y MUCHA VISIBILIDAD, as always. Si es que nunca me cansaré de recomendar esta obra.
[relectura: febrero 2024] Opino igual que la primera vez que lo leí pero le doy las 5 estrellas. Que seguro que vendrán mejores tomos pero este es muy completo, muy oscuro y con muchos debates. Se tocan muchas cosas y a muchos personajes, así que como mínimo le daría un 4,75. La escena del mental breakdown de Agette es una maravilla, adoro como dibuja está mujer sos, que expresividad.