Witch Hat Atelier‘s Creator Shares Her Inspirations and Aspirations for Its Anime

Anime has experienced a roar successful phantasy bid with shows similar Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and recently christened Harvey Award for Best Manga winner, Delicious successful Dungeon. While these shows person carved retired a generational tally successful the realm of anime arsenic refreshing bid that aren’t conscionable much isekai shows, there’s 1 much phantasy anime folks are chomping astatine the spot to circular retired the trio of must-watch phantasy anime: Witch Hat Atelier.

Witch Hat Atelier, created by Kamome Shirahama, follows Coco, a young miss who dreams of becoming a witch. However, the satellite of witches is shrouded successful secrecy and gatekept from mean radical similar her. Coco’s beingness takes a melodramatic crook erstwhile she stumbles upon the concealed that spellcasting requires thing much than drafting symbols connected paper, reminiscent of a storybook from her youth. Unfortunately, her naive foray into magic brings disaster, petrifying her parent and location with a forbidden spell. The remainder of the bid follows Coco’s travel nether the guidance of Qifrey, a benevolent and skilled witch, arsenic she delves deeper into the arcane arts, hoping to undo the spell and prevention her mother.

Shirahama archetypal entered the manga country with her debut series, Eniale & Dewiela, published by Beam Comics. Beyond her relation arsenic a manga artist, she has contributed her illustrative talents to Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Star Wars, among different American comic franchises. Her serialization of Witch Hat Atelier began successful 2016 successful the Monthly Morning Two magazine. The bid has captivated audiences successful Japan and garnered planetary acclaim, securing aggregate manga awards crossed France, Spain, and different countries. It has been honored with prestigious accolades specified arsenic the Eisner Award and the Harvey Award successful the United States.

Earlier this twelvemonth astatine Anime Expo, Crunchyroll revealed that a trailer for its upcoming anime would beryllium handled by Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead workplace Bug Films. The anime besides has the privilege of being the archetypal task legendary Dark Souls and Elden Ring composer Yuka Kitamura volition beryllium a portion of since departing FromSoftware past year.

With Witch Hat Atelier acceptable to premiere adjacent year, we sat down (virtually) and had a chat with Shirahama (through Kodansha U.S. Publishing translator Misaki Kido) during New York Comic Con to larn much astir however she came up with the bid and what she hopes fans get retired of the anime.

Isaiah Colbert, io9: How does it consciousness to yet person Witch Hat Atelier person an anime adaptation by Bug Films?

Kamome Shirahama: I’m ace excited and I’m looking guardant to it. I deliberation I mightiness beryllium the astir excited idiosyncratic astir the anime coming out.

io9: What inspired you to statesman penning Witch Hat Atelier aft moving connected different phantasy bid similar Eniale & Dewiela? Were immoderate different stories, beryllium they from Marvel oregon different mangaka, sources of inspiration for your archetypal pitching for the series, story, and characters?

Kamome Shirahama: I had this conception to constitute a communicative astir the satellite wherever everybody could usage magic for rather immoderate time. Even since erstwhile I was moving connected my erstwhile series. Although my erstwhile bid was overmuch shorter due to the fact that that was what was expected retired of the project, I took that connected arsenic an assignment. However, adjacent erstwhile I was moving connected those, I had this thought of the worldview that I wanted to constitute about, which ended up being Witch Hat Atelier.

©Kamome Shirahama / KODANSHA / Witch Hat Atelier Committee

io9: Witch Hat Atelier is unsocial successful that it’s not conscionable a phantasy bid astir witches, but that it’s besides a cosmopolitan communicative astir learning a caller accomplishment and the value and dangers of one’s persistence successful the pursuit of mastery. In what ways does Coco’s travel learning however to go a witch reflector your ain successful becoming an creator and mangaka?

Kamome Shirahama: I consciousness like, arsenic an artist, I did enactment a akin benignant of effort arsenic Coco did to fulfill my imagination to go an artist. In that sense, I consciousness similar my effort was successful, and truthful I tried to task a affirmative position onto Coco successful that sense. The crushed wherefore I utilized magic arsenic a metaphor [for] creativity [is] that determination are truthful galore ways you tin beryllium expressing your creativity. Whether utilizing TikTok oregon YouTube oregon thing that you station connected societal media is an expression. However, there’s a unsafe broadside to releasing these expressions into the satellite connected the internet. I deliberation look ever comes with a responsibility, and this is simply a constituent that I wanted to marque successful the series.

io9: Witch Hat Atelier sets itself isolated from different phantasy bid with its magic strategy being channeled by a witch’s creator accomplishment successful drafting symbols alternatively of a accepted wand. How did you travel up with Witch Hat Atelier’s magic system?

Kamome Shirahama: I wanted the readers to consciousness the difficulties of trying to maestro the artistry oregon the magic. Sometimes there’s a simpler mode to bash something. Those are the benignant of aspects that I wanted to bring retired successful this worldview.

Coco suffering from the dreaded imposter syndrome. © Kamome Shirahama / KODANSHA / Witch Hat Atelier Committee

io9: Witch Hat Atelier has the favoritism of being scored by seasoned FromSoftware composer Yuka Kitamura, who worked connected Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and different precocious phantasy video crippled projects. What was it similar learning that she would beryllium progressive with the anime adaptation?

Kamome Shirahama: [Kitamura-san] produces a batch of truly chill songs. She’s a large composer. A batch of her themes thin to thin towards the benignant of a darker taxable songs. But erstwhile I was provided was a demo portion for the euphony for Witch Hat Atelier that we usage successful the promotional videos, I thought this was truly fitting to the worldview of Witch Hat Atelier. I felt similar this creator is truly precise overmuch talented and I was looking guardant to listening to much euphony by her.

io9: Buzz for Witch Hat Atelier‘s anime adaptation has reached a fever transportation successful the United States. Some fans adjacent see it arsenic 1 of the “Big Three” similar Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece but for phantasy anime bid alongside Delicious successful Dungeon and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. How does it consciousness to cognize fans clasp your bid to specified acclaim alongside these different pistillate mangaka phantasy series?

Kamome Shirahama: (laughs) This is really archetypal clip I ever heard that we were called the “Big Three.” I really honestly bask speechmaking the Delicious successful Dungeon and Frieren, personally. I work the manga arsenic good arsenic ticker the anime truthful it’s rather an grant to beryllium successful a lineup with specified a large titles together.

When I was increasing up, determination was a batch of phantasy bid that came retired successful the movies and TV shows similar Lord of the Rings and [The Chronicles of] Narnia. Now I person grown up that and that procreation of artists has grown up to marque their ain phantasy series. Which means those radical who volition beryllium watching these caller “Big Three” bid mightiness beryllium making their ain phantasy bid 5 to 10 years down the line. So, I’ll beryllium truly looking guardant to that.

the beatified trinity of phantasy manga adaptations is yet coming to beingness <33 pic.twitter.com/I63GQFWTXz

— 🍉🌿 (@shinkanes) July 5, 2024

io9: What bash you anticipation anime fans volition instrumentality distant from watching Witch Hat Atelier‘s anime that you deliberation often gets overlooked with your manga? Be it however your panels are akin to embroidered representation frames oregon however you picture dire stakes successful Witch Hat Atelier‘s storytelling portion weaving lighthearted moments to supply a spot of levity. How volition the anime accommodate your manga’s unsocial tone?

Kamome Shirahama: Now that you notation it, it is imaginable [that the] manga and anime are rather different. There mightiness beryllium immoderate differences successful the mode wherever you tin bask thing arsenic an illustration successful manga. [It] mightiness beryllium a small spot antithetic erstwhile there’s a question erstwhile it’s becoming an anime. But the bottom-line connection for some manga and anime are precisely the same. So, immoderate the assemblage person perceived from watching the caller anime I conscionable privation them to consciousness what they people would feel.

Witch Hat Atelier volition merchandise connected Crunchyroll sometime successful 2025.

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