Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 1-2: Magical Wonders And Horrors [Review]

Witch Hat Atelier is already a wonderful mix of magical wonders and horrors even just in the first two episodes. In fact, just those two episodes alone is already a glimpse into what’s likely to be the new hit anime of the season. All due to the very high quality animation from newcomer Bug Films, and the magical story by Kamome Shirahama about a girl named Coco discovering how wonderful and terrible magic in her world is.

Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 1-2: Details in Brief

Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 1 “The Magic that Started Everything” and Ep. 2 “The School of the Grassland” are the first two episodes of this dark fantasy anime series. Said anime is the anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Kamome Shirahama.

Bug Films (Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead) is the animation studio behind this anime. Ayumu Watanabe is the director of this anime, with Jun Shinohara as the assistant director, Hiroshi Seko as the writer, and Yuka Kitamura as the composer for the music.

The opening theme song for Witch Hat Atelier is “Kaze no Ansemu” by Eve ft. suis from Yorushika. Meanwhile, “Tada Utsukushii Noroi” by Nakamura Hak is the ending theme song.

Synopsis

Alas, Witch Hat Atelier has not even premiered yet as of this writing. Both Ep. 1 “The Magic that Started Everything” and Ep. 2 “The School of the Grassland” will make their debut on April 6, 2026 as a double feature exclusively on Crunchyroll. Alas, we don’t have synopses for the individual episodes. However, we do have the official synopsis for the anime as a whole for those of you who don’t want spoilers below:

“In a world where only witches can cast magic, they must avoid being seen by ordinary people while casting. While Coco does her chores, she daydreams of becoming a witch. When a young witch named Qifrey visits her village, Coco uncovers the “absolute secret,” becomes Qifrey’s apprentice, and begins her studies. This is the story of children who encounter despair, yet reach out toward hope.”

Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 1-2: The Good

Since this review covers two episodes, we shall split it into two segments. Note that neither of these episodes have actually simulcast yet as of this writing. This review is based entirely off of screeners shared by Crunchyroll. Now with that out of the way, let’s start with:

Ep. 1 “The Magic that Started Everything”

Ep. 1 “The Magic that Started Everything” is the start of everything in this story, as the title suggests. And really, this is a most wonderful start to any fantasy story. All starring a young girl named Coco (voiced by Rena Motomura (JP)) who is absolutely obsessed with magic. She is a fascinating character because of that obsession with magic, which implies that she is neurodivergent of some flavor due to that being characteristic of hyperfixation. Not only that, but that neurodivergency is depicted as being a positive thing by itself in the episode, which is a welcome concept here in terms of diversity.

And with some of the most gorgeous animation I’ve ever seen in any anime. Bug Films may be a newcomer in the anime industry, but they and their animation team are clearly flexing their animation skills in this episode. The dirty water from laundry billows out into clean water in a realistic way, and the wind blows both hanging laundry and strands of Coco’s hair in such detail that you want to cry from how gorgeous the animation is. This is the level of animation quality you normally expect from feature-length anime films, not regular anime series. I do believe that Bug Films’ animation team deserves a major kudos here.

With Yuka Kitamura also deserving much praise for the music of this episode. The soft flute music perfectly fits the fantasy themes, especially when coupled with the wind gently blowing across the plains. Wind instruments for the wind, get it? Joke aside, that calming music is then followed by the epic dark fantasy chorus when Coco accidentally casts a good dose of dark magic. That skill with the music is why Kitamura did such a wonderful job here.

Ep. 2 “The School of the Grassland”

Ep. 2 “The School of the Grassland” is where the story calms back down in order for us to get some slice of life in. All to better explore the atelier of magic instructor Qifrey (voiced by Natsuki Hanae (JP)), and the magic system of this fantasy world as a whole. Not to mention introducing Qifrey’s other students, which consists of Tetia (voiced by Kurumi Haruki (JP)), Richeh (voiced by Hika Tsukishiro (JP)), and Agott (voiced by Hibiku Yamamura (JP)). From the bubbly cheerfulness of Tetia to the quiet and aloof Richeh to the intelligently intense Agott, they make up quite the diverse list of personalities here and are welcome additions to the main cast.

And again, with Bug Films and their animation team giving us some of the best animation in any anime series. Especially in the quality of the food animation. I honestly would say that this anime is on par with Dungeon Meshi and Black Butler in how good the food looks. The bread looks realistic with properly browned crust and air bubbles in the interior, and the stew coats the ingredients floating within in a way familiar to food lovers. And when Coco tears off a piece of the bread, the bread stretches just a bit before breaking in a highly realistic way, making your mouth salivate at how delicious it all looks.

Lastly, the music from Yuka Kitamura continues to be amazingly good fantasy music, and with the new opening and ending theme songs finally audible in this episode. Both of them sound perfectly like fantasy music, with a calm yet epic beat to them familiar to fans of fantasy movies like The Lord of the Rings. All of this makes for a beautiful experience that makes Witch Hat Atelier the anime to follow in the future.

Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 1-2: The Bad

Now to be clear: the first episode of Witch Hat Atelier do contain a moment of amazing action in which Qifrey dashes in and spirits Coco away moments before the spell she accidentally cast would’ve devoured her along with her home and mother. However, it was but a moment of action. The vast majority of both episodes are slice of life fantasy comedy-drama stories, with no action in them. If you want bloody action adventures, then you will need to look elsewhere…for now.

Anime Recommendations

Fortunately, there are many options if you want blood, gore, and plenty of action. You can check out Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, DAN DA DAN, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, Zenshu, Blue Box, Solo Leveling, Black Butler, Nyaight of the Living Cat, May I Ask for One Final Thing?, and/or TRIGUN STARGAZE for that. However, if you want more quiet anime like this one, then you might also like Spy x Family, Senpai is an Otokonoko, Apocalypse Hotel, Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf, The Ancient Magus’ Bride, My Dress-Up Darling, This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Hana-Kimi, and/or Journal with Witch,

What do you all think of these upcoming episodes of Witch Hat Atelier? Tell us your wonderfully magical thoughts in the comment section below.

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