Witch Hat Atelier ‒ Episode 5

© Kamome Shirahama/KODANSHA/ Witch Hat Atelier Committee

It's probably worth taking a step back and remembering that all of Qifrey's apprentices are children. This episode sees them placed in a situation filled with impossible dangers, with no one to turn to for help but each other, which is an extreme way to force Agott to stop being so petty and horrible to Coco. She still is, to a degree – but she's also not just being a bully when she says that she can't trust Coco with a spell, because it's true that Coco hasn't mastered them yet. She also shows she's at least a little self-aware, since she mentions Coco being upset by what she said earlier. This implies that she knows she was wrong; she just doesn't care or isn't mature enough to apologize.

Tetia, on the other hand, is. She fully and unabashedly asks Coco to forgive her for her cruel words and overreaction. It's a striking scene compared with any scene between Agott and Coco, and, by positioning Tetia as Agott's foil, it ought to make us wonder what the difference between the two girls is. Yes, part of it is simply different personalities, but there's more going on here that's backed up by Coco's observation that all three of her fellow apprentices have a trick for drawing perfect circles. They all use the same one, which either indicates that Qifrey taught them or that this is such common knowledge among witches that they picked it up by observing the adults around them. It reinforces Coco's position as an outsider and also reminds us how children learn: by observing grown-ups.

That should make us think very hard about other differences between Tetia and Agott. Where Agott's main goal seems to be perfection, Tetia's is more a desire to use magic to make people happy. Again, this could come down to personality, but it could also speak to how they were raised. Tetia's family perhaps encouraged joy and whimsy, whereas Agott's enforced perfection in all things. Even if that's not the actual situation, it's clear that Tetia has learned some humility and needs to apologize when she's wrong. That Agott didn't paints her less as a deranged sociopath and more as someone who was failed by the adults in her life. While there are always exceptions, usually when a child acts out, it's because of specific problems rather than being a so-called bad seed.

Speaking of adult influence, Coco very clearly has two dueling grown-ups invested in her education – and after the look Qifrey gave poor old Nolnoa at the end, I'm less inclined to call one “good.” If you listen to the way the mysterious Brimmed Cap speaks, it sounds very much like they consider themselves Coco's master in much the same way Qifrey is. They're essentially a cuckoo, putting their egg in Qifrey's nest, only they keep checking back in to carefully raise their chick the way they want. I doubt if they intended for Agott, Richeh, and Tetia to get caught up in their labyrinth alongside Coco, but I also suspect they'd be quite pleased to have the chance to subtly influence even more witch children. Watching the girls make Tetia's magic bed spell a reality demonstrates the sort of creativity that the Brimmed Caps seem to value. It's not a forbidden spell per se, but it's also not a conventional one, and that may be a step in the right direction as far as the “bad” witches are concerned. It's the sort of action that makes it a bit difficult to decide which side is the good one, especially since Qifrey's emphatic wish that Nolnoa not tell the Knights Moralis (whose name makes it easy to guess they're some sort of morality police like those that existed in the 1920s U.S. and Canada) suggests that he's not keen on them learning what happened. Of course, his determined glare and Nolnoa's reaction to it almost suggest forbidden magic, although I don't think there's an actual spell involved. It still feels awfully close, though.

What gift did the Brimmed Cap give their “student?” Can BUG FILMS keep up the extraordinary quality of animation they've maintained for five episodes so far? What is Qifrey's deal? It's a sign of how good this story is that even as we get more questions than answers, the need to keep watching only grows stronger.

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Witch Hat Atelier is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.