English Dub Review: Witch Hat Atelier “Meetings In Kalhn”

Posted on by

Overview:

In the latest episode of Witch Hat Atelier, Qifrey takes Coco to the witches’ town of Kalhn to get some art supplies. Soon, however, Coco will be haunted from a “face” from the past.

Our Take:

Things follow up from the last episode, in which Coco has completed the test that Agott put her through. While she passed, she ended up ruining her shoes. Thanks to this, Qifrey decided to take her and the other apprentices to a stationer to get some more magical art supplies.

Kalhn is just as much a visual treat for Coco to visit as it is for the viewer, between the market stalls, the magical gadgets, and the witches’ colorful costumes. Of course, once Coco is caught being in awe of a silver tree is she reminded that much of this is already commonplace for witches. Soon, viewers are introduced to the Conjuring Ink, which is said to be the source of all magic in the story’s universe, which comes from said silver trees.

However, before she can purchase a wand, Coco is haunted by a familiar face: the witch that introduced her to the world of magic. Unfortunately, while chasing after the figure, she gets lost and traps the other apprentices along with her. The masked witch appears to taunt the girls with the figure of a dragon, while appearing to want something from Coco herself.

While here, each of the girls’ true characters starts to show. Coco is still unsure of herself. Tetia breaks down, admitting that she feels like a failure being unable to leave this world with a spell of her own. Agott tries to remain level-headed, but eventually breaks down to Coco when pushed too far. Finally, the quiet Richeh gets the job done when no one is looking.

The theme of connecting artwork with magic is one of the more unique aspects to the series. For example, it’s shown that the witches sketch sigils in advance in case of having to cast an emergency spell. One wonders if the magic wands will look, or even act, more like plumes or magic pens.

The episode teases a lot of what fans could expect within the overall series, especially Coco’s connection to the masked witch. Hopefully, those mole-worms won’t be too much of a problem, either.