Chapter One of the first volume of the Witch Hat Atelier manga series.
Summary[edit | edit source]
Coco is seen washing sheets at a spring and marvels at the magic that keeps the water clean. Later while hanging the cleaned sheets on the roof of her house, she sees a Pegasus Carriage land in their village. Excited, Coco rushes downstairs and encounters a tall man standing by the door in the tailor shop. People who came from the carriage are also inside, shopping for fabric.
The man whom Coco encountered was also there to order some smoke-colored cloth. Coco offers to do the measurements for the man's order since her mother is busy with the other people's orders. While drawing and cutting the measurements on the cloth, the man intensely stares at her work and then complements her: saying her concentration, steady hands, precise measurements and perfectly straight cut is some real magic. Flustered by the compliments, Coco denies it and tells the man excitedly that magic is more mysterious and sparkly. He then asks Coco the reason she likes magic that much.
Coco reveals that when she was young, her mom took her to a fair to the castle where she met a masked witch who told her what magic is, and sold her a slim picture book that even came with a free wand/pen and ink. Excited by it all, she declared she wanted to become a witch when she grew up. But her mother told her that people do not become witches, they are born that way. Since then, Coco reveals that all she could do was to enjoy watching magic, while still quietly hoping that maybe she could one day be a witch. While in the middle of their conversation, a loud noise crashes from outside. It appears that the carriage tipped over and broke because of two village kids.
The women who arrived in the carriage begin to shout about it when the man offers to fix the carriage, and reveals himself to be Qifrey, a witch. Coco excitedly offers Qifrey to use their workshop since he can't fix it outside. Qifrey then asks Coco to guard the door outside as he works, so nobody can see. The two village kids from earlier try to sneak up on the roof to see the magic but Coco spots them. Saying that it's not fair, Coco also climbs up to the roof but unfortunately, the curtains of the windows are shut. Suddenly, a noise appears above and Coco finds another way to enter the shop. Hidden in the rafters above, Coco witnesses Qifrey drawing magic and realizes how it works. After hearing Qifrey calling her name, Coco rushes to the outside door where she was initially told to guard. Qifrey successfully fixes the pegasus carriage and the women leave while the villagers watch. Coco however is withdrawn, hiding beside her mother and then forcefully giving Qifrey his bag and cloth when he tries to talk with her. Hoping he could have asked her more about the picture book, Qifrey instead bids farewell and tells Coco that perhaps their paths may cross again. Coco's mother however is relieved, admitting she was worried Coco may have asked to leave with the witch. Coco denies it, saying she could never leave her.
That night though, Coco revisits her childhood picture book with wand and ink, and armed with her new knowledge, draws the patterns inside. Though her lines are shaky, the completed spell produces magic. Overwhelmed, Coco jumps around the room in excitement before worrying if she'll get in trouble for knowing the secret, and then decides she'll just draw one more.
Meanwhile, in a forest, Qifrey has made camp for the night but is still thinking about the picture book and the oddness of selling it to a child who knows nothing about it. He leaps up as he realizes something.
In her room, Coco has drawn several pages of magic and has learned that ones drawn bigger are more powerful than tiny ones, and that the neat ones last longer than the messy ones. In order to make a drawing that is both big and neat, Coco tries to put a paper over the book page and trace over the spell beneath. Lost in her concentration, she doesn't register Qifrey standing behind her, who grabs her just as she completes the spell. With her in tow he races out the window as the spell activates and flies them high into the sky on his Sylph Shoes. Qifrey then demands what magic Coco drew, but Coco doesn't know as she only traced the pattern from the book.
Down below, Coco's mother steps outside as she shouts for Coco, and is unfortunately affected by the magic. Crystal-shaped stones erupt around her and consume the entire house, turning her into a stone statue.
Distraught, Coco apologies while Qifrey explains that this is why magic is kept a secret, and how anyone who finds out the truth must have their memories erased. Coco immediately begins to fight back, as the conversation turns to the picture book and potentially reversing the spell she cast. Qifrey realizes that if the book belongs to whom he suspects, he can't let Coco's memories be erased as she is his only lead. Asking if she could identify the book and the spell if she saw it again, Coco stops fighting and pleads that she'll do anything to find the book and save her mom. Asking if she will keep the secret of magic, she promises she will. Qifrey then says that if she is to keep the truth she has learned, then she is choosing to stand alongside them, and that from this day on she will be a witch.
Characters by Appearance[edit | edit source]
- Coco (Debut)
- Qifrey (Debut)
- Coco's Mother (Debut)
- Iguin (Debut)
- Three Outsider rich sisters with a Pegasus Carriage.
- Two Outsider village boys who break the Pegasus carriage.
Image Gallery[edit | edit source]
-
The Japanese Morning Two magazine cover for this chapter
Chapter Notes[edit | edit source]
- The Pegasus Carriage and Pegasus were introduced in this chapter.
- This is the longest chapter in the series to date, at 62 pages. The second-longest chapter to date is Chapter 80, at 44 pages. The shortest to date is Chapter 74, at only 12 pages.
- The Morning Two magazine chapter cover features a unique phrase not present in the volume versions of this chapter. It reads: ある日、小さな村の少女は憧れを抱いた。いつか自分も、魔法使いになれるのではないか、と。and can be translated to: One day, a girl from a small village had a dream. Perhaps one day she too could become a witch.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Kamome Shirahama on Twitter: https://x.com/shirahamakamome/status/754878485798150144
- ↑ Morning Two on Twitter: https://x.com/morningtwo/status/756753842650296320
- ↑ Kamome Shirahama on Twitter, English version announcement: https://x.com/shirahamakamome/status/1555029736476160000
[edit | edit source]
| Volume 1 | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 |
|---|---|
| Volume 2 | 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 |
| Volume 3 | 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 |
| Volume 4 | 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 23.5 |
| Volume 5 | 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 |
| Volume 6 | 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35 • 35.1 • 35.2 |
| Volume 7 | 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 • 40 |
| Volume 8 | 41 • 42 • 43 • 44 • 45 • 45.5 |
| Volume 9 | 46 • 47 • 48 • 49 • 50 • 51 |
| Volume 10 | 52 • 53 • 54 • 55 • 56 • 57 |
| Volume 11 | 58 • 59 • 60 • 61 • 62 • 62.5 |
| Volume 12 | 63 • 64 • 65 • 66 • 67 • 68 • 68.5 |
| Volume 13 | 69 • 70 • 71 • 72 • 73 • 74 • 75 |
| Other | 76 • 77 • 78 • 79 • 80 • 81 • 82 |
| Volume 1 | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 10.5 |
| Volume 2 | 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 20.5 |
| Volume 3 | 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 |
| Volume 4 | 32• 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 • 40 • 41 |
| Volume 5 | 42 • 43 • 44 • 45 • 46 • 47 • 48 • 49 • 49.5 |
| Other | 50 • 51 • 52 • 53 |
| Introduction Arc | 1 • 2 |
|---|---|
| First Pentagram Test Arc | 3 • 4 |
| Draconic Labyrinth Arc | 5 • 6 • 7 |
| Watchful Eye Arc | 8 • 9 |
| River Rescue Arc | 10 • 11 • 12 |
| Twin Bottle Arc | 13 • 14 • 15 |
| Silver Sight Arc | 16 • 17 |
| Second Pentagram Test Arc | 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 |
| Great Hall Arc | 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 |
| Silver Eve Prologue Arc | 40 • 41 • 42 • 43 • 44 • 45 |
| Silver Eve Arc | 46 • 47 • 48 • 49 • 50 • 51 • 52 • 53 • 54 • 55 • 56 • 57 • 58 • 59 • 60 • 61 • 62 • 63 • 64 • 65 • 66 • 67 • 68 • 69 • 70 • 71 • 72 • 73 • 74 • 75 • 76 • 77 • 78 • 79 • 80 • 81 • 82 |