Status Updates From Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 11

AGOTT

Pretty

that ending monologue is actual poetry WOW. even if the spell is made from fake fire and even if it has no real substance, the awe in the kids’ eyes is very much real. their memory of running together through the spell is real. the reigniting of their love of magic and of art and of creativity is real

the agott and olruggio parallels continue!!!!!! they both understand the importance of doodling to push through a creative block even if there’s no real “purpose” for the ensuing art. its purpose is simply to exist, and that’s enough

no it was MY fault for assuming that this would be a cute bonus chapter about olly struggling with impostor syndrome and procrastination why WOULDNT there be trauma

i mean…..deserved

okay so. arkco is arguably even more obvious than orufrey huh
the hands????? the clear love in agott’s eyes and words??????? vowing to make sure that coco never forgets to neglect herself in her spells?????????? olly being on the page for no fucking reason but to be paralleled i assume??????????

yknow what maybe i was too harsh before bc it is a good point that oftentimes the things that are good for the environment are too costly or inaccessible for the average person, so this is a much more nuanced take of how we should all be trying to help each other help the rest of the world

so not only did she modify the spell to add the beautiful flourishes that she shared with coco the night before, but she also made it so that they’re actually functional and solve the problem of the citizens being too lazy to dump the water out themselves. are you kidding me. coco and agott are a fucking unstoppable team they could conquer the world and i think we should let them

so my jaw is on the floor actually
first of all i eat this trope up every single time are you KIDDING, coco looking in awe at the magic around her while agott is staring right at coco????????
second of all yet another panel composition that is so fucking creative and dynamic and leaps right off the page, it invites us to share in the feeling of childlike amazement of the moment and i could sob!!!!!!!!!!!

i am tearing up again over these two oh my god their bond has really blossomed into something absolutely magical (pun intended). truly a rivals to friends to lovers story for the ages and i can’t wait to see how it continues to deepen and grow even stronger

THAT TOP PANEL???????? STUNNING!!! it almost looks like they’re dancing??? the exaggerated pose really emphasizes how agott is using all of her strength to pull coco up. and then the clasped hand forehead touch????????? insanity

“what am i supposed to do then?” and it’s over a panel of agott running to help coco?????? when you’ve done absolutely everything you can in a situation, the only thing to do next is to trust that your friends and loved ones are willing and able to jump in and pick up where you left off AND THATS EXACTLY WHATS HAPPENING HERE!!!! no man is an island goddamnit

oh. shirahama i love you so fucking much. the scathing critique of how people with their basic needs met often do not give a single shit about helping those who are less fortunate. helping them is a hassle, they need to just take care of themselves and pick themselves up by their bootstraps. GOD. i am fucking seething!!!!!! water is the source of life and so many people take their access to it for granted

yknow i was gonna criticize this by saying how tf is coco the first person to think of using a water purification spell in this way but actually it makes perfect sense that people simply would not know or care about the muckpool existing. and if they did, it’s very possible that they wouldn’t want to clean it bc then who would they blame for the dirty evils of the city?

AGGOTTT

oh so coco is literally always noticing what agott's doing and commits it all to memory right right right

"that's my agott" MY AGOTT????? *MY* AGOTT?????? wow this is really THE arkco volume

AND NOW COCO IS THE ONE DRAWING THE PANELS this manga is the magic art is the magic storytelling is the magic