Witch Hat Atelier ‒ Episode 11

After all that Agott put Coco through, something is fitting about her being the person to realize what the Brimmed Cap has been saying all along: there’s no difference between a witch and an Outsider. Not that Agott is anything like a Brimmed Cap; if anyone seems more aligned to their philosophy after this week, it’s Richeh. But Agott’s role as the antagonist and the purported evilness of the Brimmed Caps make her sudden understanding of what they’ve been saying interesting, because, even if she doesn’t realize it, she’s suddenly grasped what they’re saying. Magic doesn’t need to be gatekept. Coco is no different than any other witch. Magic doesn’t discriminate; people do.

This realization of Agott’s comes in almost the same breath as her musing about the scalewolves’ mating season. Agott narrates that this is when the wolves deliberately remove their protective scales so that they can mate and have pups, and she wonders why they’d do that – wouldn’t it be better to find another way? Why would they trade invulnerability for love? (Well, for sex, but I doubt Agott’s thinking in those terms.) In her way, Agott is wondering if it’s worth giving up her own armor to be friends with Coco – or with anyone, since she’s kept Tetia and Richeh at arm’s length too. Are the rewards worth the potential pain?

Euini, another witch’s apprentice set to take the second witch test, seems to make the argument that they are not. Euini is trying for the third time, and his master is not shy about letting everyone know this. He thinks it’s okay to humiliate his apprentice in front of others and to potentially scare other apprentices into failing the test. Euini is clearly broken by all of his master’s little cruelties – the poor kid is apologizing for what is probably beyond his control. We’ve seen Qifrey nurture his students and Olly advise on how to do it better, or at least more efficiently. We’ve seen Nolnoa guide Tartah and work to make him feel worthy. Kukrow, in his brief time on screen, is exactly the opposite, making his apprentice feel like garbage and not even staying to see how the test goes. He has no belief in his student whatsoever, and it shows in Euini’s demeanor – the poor boy keeps trying to hide his face more with his bangs, a nervous gesture that says a lot about the way he’s been treated. He made himself vulnerable, and it backfired on him.

Whether or not Agott truly notices is up in the air. She’s lasered in on the test, which is what we might expect. It’s Richeh who’s the surprise. While we had a hint during the Knights Moralis episode that she’s not afraid to stand up for what she believes in, we haven’t seen her do that with Qifrey or her fellow apprentices. But when Coco invites her to look at spell seals with her, Richeh snaps. She throws up a crystal spell not unlike the one that Coco mistakenly unleashed and storms off, furious that Qifrey dared to gently go along with Coco’s idea. Richeh, she tells everyone, has no interest in doing what everyone else does. That’s not because she thinks she’s special, but because she’s holding on to a memory of her older brother Rili, who once told her to keep being herself.

The episode doesn’t tell us what happened to Rili. Is he dead? Is Richeh estranged from her family like Agott? Is he stuck under an apprentice like Kukrow? Or did he just grow apart from his sister? It almost doesn’t matter, because what’s left is Richeh’s pain and the way she reacts to it, steadfastly refusing to advance. It’s like when she told the Knights Moralis that she hates how adults treat children: she sees adults as the enemy because when kids grow up, they morph into beings who don’t remember who they used to be and what they were like. Richeh is afraid of that. When Qifrey surprises her by having her take the test alongside Agott and Euini, she’s angry because he’s forcing her to take a step forward. But what she’s missing is that by moving forward, she’s buying herself the power to stand still – to become the kind of adult she wishes existed.

Is there a right way to grow up or to be a witch? I don’t know, and the characters in the story seem to have differing opinions. But this test will almost certainly provide guidance, if not answers, and both Richeh and Agott will have to overcome their own stubbornness to find out.

Rating:

P.S. Scalewolves and brushbuddies are great and all, but I think myrphons might be my favorite creature designs yet – bunny/penguin hybrids? Yes, please!

Witch Hat Atelier is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.