Witch Hat Atelier Episode 9 was Really Good

Article at a glance:

• Instead of dropping boring exposition dumps, Witch Hat Atelier continues to excel by showing its creative magic system in practice, making the world feel incredibly rich and organic.
• Episode 9 gives us a compelling, almost out-of-character look at Qifrey, whose reckless and desperate hunt for the Brimmed Hats pushes him to make some seriously questionable, dangerous choices.
• While finally returning Agott’s repaired Sylph Shoes feels like a major, long-awaited win, Coco’s mounting nightmares and sleepless nights are clearly catching up to her in a big way.

The recent few episodes of Witch Hat Atelier have had a lot of good world-building and some great character moments. I really like the anime’s approach to magic. It is new, it is creative, and the story leans really well into how the magic system works. They’ve even managed to circumvent the usual fantasy exposition-dump issue by presenting information in segments or by focusing on showing things in practice instead. While both Episodes 7 and 8 were really good, it is Witch Hat Atelier Episode 9 that I really want to talk about because it had some great character moments for both Qifrey and Coco.

So welcome back to yet another article on Witch Hat Atelier, and I want to discuss the recent episodes, including Episode 9. Of course, there will be spoilers ahead, so only continue reading if you’re caught up with the anime.

What did I think of Witch Hat Atelier Episode 9?

I really want to learn why Qifrey is so obsessed with the Brimmed Hats. Because in the recent episodes, he has been acting almost out of character to keep his minuscule lead on them. He should’ve known that trying to tamper with the spell on the ink vial won’t end well. But he went ahead with it anyway and got electrocuted for it. And of course, he lost the vial in the process as well. Not to mention, he even wiped out the memory of someone innocent who just wanted to do the right thing, just to keep the vial to himself.

All this does make Qifrey a very compelling character, though. He chases everything related to the Brimmed Hats with a reckless obsession. We may get our answer on why he’s so obsessed just in the next episode, but still.

Putting Qifrey aside, the recent episodes gave us a lot to chew on in terms of world-building. From more intricacies involving the magic system to giving us more info on how the Magic society functions, there have been a lot of small details added to the world.

Also, Coco has clearly been having trouble sleeping. She managed to repair Agott’s Sylph Shoes and returned them. But because of all the sleepless nights, she literally collapsed in the recent episode. I do wonder if it’s just exhaustion or something more, since Coco had been having nightmares about the Brimmed Hats, too. But we will find out. Returning the shoes to Agott was something Coco had been working on since Episode 3, so finally seeing it happen was nice.

That is all for now

But yeah, Witch Hat Atelier has been amazing so far. I really love the world-building. Qifrey is proving to be a very interesting character. I just wish he didn’t remind me so much of Gojo… not just in terms of his appearance but his personality as well. But there aren’t that many flaws in the show to harp on. So small things like that just stand out more. Either way, let me know what you guys think in the comments. I will take my leave here. See ya!

Also, check out my thoughts on Slime Season 4 so far here!