James Nicoll Reviews

Witch Hat Atelier Volume 9 is the ninth tankōbon in Kamome Shirahama’s Witch Hat Atelier secondary universe fantasy manga series. Titled Tongari Bōshi no Atorie in the original Japanese, Witch Hat Atelier has been serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Morning Two magazine since July 2016. First published in Japan in 2021, the English translation of Volume 9 was released in 2022.

Volume 9 begins with a mystery and a revelation. Unfortunately, they are unrelated to each other.

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Witch Hat Atelier Volume Eight is the eighth tankōbon in Kamome Shirahama’s fantasy manga series. Witch Hat Atelier (Tongari Bōshi no Atorie in the original Japanese) has been serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Morning Two magazine since July 2016. First published in Japan in 2020, the English translation of Volume 8 was released in 2021.

Unaware of teacher Qilfrey’s horrifying actions in volume seven¹, the students at his atelier (protagonist Coco, as well as friends Agott, Richeh, and Tetia) are delighted to be invited to assist shop-boy Tartah to set up a tent at an upcoming fair. Normally this would be a task for Tartah’s boss/grandfather Mr. Nolnoa, but a back injury has sidelined Mr. Nolnoa. If the girls don’t help Tartah, he will have to manage alone. This might affect sales, which would be bad; the fair is financially important to Mr. Nolnoa’s shop.

An entirely different matter emerges to engage Tartah and Coco’s attention.

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Witch Hat Atelier, Volume 7 is the seventh tankōbon in Kamone Shirahama’s secondary world fantasy manga. Witch Hat Atelier (Tongari Bōshi no Atorie in the original Japanese) has been serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Morning Two magazine since July 2016. First published in Japan in 2020, the English translation of Volume 7 was released in 2021.

Having passed senior witch Beldaruit’s test in the previous volume, Beldaruit takes Coco into his confidence regarding certain sensitive concerns. Coco’s teacher Qifrey and Qifrey’s friend Olruggio happen to be talking about the same subject.

The subject: does Qifrey have Coco’s best interests at heart or she is merely the means to an end? Is her well-being a secondary consideration?

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2019’s Witch Hat Atelier, Volume Six is the sixth tankōbon in author/artist Kamome Shirahama’s Witch Hat Atelier fantasy manga series. Witch Hat Atelier (Tongari Bōshi no Atorie in the original Japanese) has been serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Morning Two magazine since July 2016. The English translation of Volume Six appeared in 2020. 

No sooner have our central characters (protagonist Coco and her fellow student witches Agott, Tetia, and Richeh) emerged from their latest test than they, their badly injured teacher Qifrey, and their Watchful Eye¹ Olruggio are summoned by the Assembly to account for certain irregularities in the test.

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2019’s Witch Hat Atelier, Volume Five is the fifth tankōbon in author/artist Kamome Shirahama’s Witch Hat Atelier fantasy manga series. Witch Hat Atelier (Tongari Bōshi no Atoriein the original Japanese) has been serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Morning Two magazine since July 2016. The English translation of Volume Five appeared in 2020.

When last we saw our heroes, they were venturing into Romonon. The party had divided into: Coco, Tetia, and their teacher Qifrey in one group, and Richeh and Agott in the other. The first group finds itself in a dire situation, while the other is facing a challenge that is even worse. 

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Witch Hat Atelier, Volume Four is the fourth tankōbon in author/artist Kamome Shirahama’s Witch Hat Atelier fantasy manga series. Witch Hat Atelier (Tongari Bōshi no Atorie in the original Japanese) has been serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Morning Two magazine since July 2016. The English translation of Volume Four appeared in 2019. 

This volume offers readers that for which they read fantasy manga: pop quizzes!

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2018’s Witch Hat Atelier, Volume Three is the third tankōbon of Kamome Shirahama’s Witch Hat Atelier fantasy manga series. Witch Hat Atelier (Tongari Bōshi no Atorie in the original Japanese) has been serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Morning Twomagazine since July 2016. The English translation of Volume One appeared in 2019.

When last we saw magic-obsessed Coco, she was about to be summarily mindwiped by a passing Witches’ Council member. She is accused of being suspiciously adjacent to a magical anomaly. 

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Witch Hat Atelier, Volume Two is the second tankōbon of Kamome Shirahama’s Witch Hat Atelier fantasy manga series. Witch Hat Atelier (Tongari Bōshi no Atelier in the original Japanese) has been serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Morning Two magazine since July 2016. The English translation of Volume One appeared in 2019¹.

When last we saw young witch-in-training Coco, she and her schoolmates (Agott, Tetia, and Richeh) walked into a trap while shopping. Coco wanted a better pen. What she and her chums have is an angry dragon.

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2017’s Witch Hat Atelier, Volume 1 is the first volume of Kamome Shirahama’s secondary-universe fantasy manga series. Titled Tongari Bōshi no Atorie in the original Japanese, Witch Hat Atelier has been serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Morning Two magazine since July 2016. The English translation of volume one appeared in 2019.

Coco has been fascinated by magic since she was a little girl. Heart-broken to learn from her widowed mother that only those born into magical families can use magic, a small part of her continues to hope that perhaps she will be the exception. Thus when a mysterious masked witch gives her a grimoire and a pen, Coco accepts it. Thus when the witch Qifrey assigns Coco the task of ensuring nobody spies on him as he carries out a quick magical repair, she uses the opportunity to spy on him herself. 

Qifrey unwittingly provides Coco with the vital piece of information she lacked; now Coco can practice magic herself. 

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