Lucas Blogs About Witch Hat Atelier Volume 4

Ya gotta have blue hair!

So, what's this book's deal?

Well, we're on volume 4 of Kamome Shirahama's Witch Hat Atelier manga.

The one about the tween girl who needs to learn magic after she accidentally petrified her mother?

The very same.

Okay.

You're taking a much more blithe attitude about this than I expected.

I can grow and change.

Fair enough. Anyway, in this volume, Coco takes a backseat as some of the other students at the atelier are preparing for their next test. Specifically Coco's roommate/frenemy (froomenate?), Agott, and Richeh. In case you can't recall, Agott is driven by a desire to live up to her family legacy and Richeh just wants to do magic her way. In any case, they have to take the second test of their magical abilities, the Sincerity of the Shield. Basically, they have to lead a bunch of gryphons (in this case, four legged penguins with floppy ears) down a magical road without the gryphons catching wise that they're being herded. Joining them in this is Euini, an apprentice from another atelier who's failed the test twice and whose master isn't exactly supportive.

Is this test going to be disrupted by an evil witch?

It is. In this case, one who appears to have made him or herself invisible. At least, they seem to manifest as a floating hat and cloak.

What did you think of this volume?

Once again, I'm going to default to my basic read on this series. In terms of writing, Shirahama doesn't really stand out in the magic school fantasy genre, but her artwork is beautiful. Whether it's a cute creature or a certain character being transformed into a wolf-monster, Shirahama manages the perfect balance between manga stylization and realism. She also still manages to squeeze in fun panel layouts and neat artistic embellishments.

Is that everything?

I think so, see my previous blogs about this series here. That stuff still applies.

Witch Hat Atelier Volume 4 by Kamome Shirahama, (trans. Stephen Kohler), Kodansha Comics trade paperback edition, 2019 (originally published in Japan as とんがり帽子のアトリエ (Tongari Bōshi no Atorie)), 191 pages, pairs well with the realization that even though you enjoy this ongoing manga, you're running out of new things to say about it

Links:

Once again, should you be into that kinda thing, here are the mangaka's instagram and twitter feeds. (They're in Japanese)