Witch Hat Atelier 1
Registered by GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 4/18/2019
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I got this softcover at Barnes and Noble. It's the first volume in a newly-released-in-English manga series.
Later: I really enjoyed this! It's beautifully-drawn, and while the basic plot isn't anything new - lonely child who longs for some magic in her life has unexpected encounter with said magic and winds up as an apprentice - there are some dandy twists (hint: kids, don't play around with magic you don't understand!), and the characters are appealing and interesting. The book also spends time describing the process of magic in this fantasy world, which has to do with special ink derived from a rare type of tree, plus detailed patterns - magical circles, runes, and inscriptions - that channel the magic in the desired ways. (Or in undesired ways, depending on the skill of the caster!)
Young Coco becomes the apprentice witch to Master Qifrey after displaying some innate skill at accurately measuring and cutting cloth (yes, it does turn out to be a transferable skill!) - and after her own innocent mistake leaves her mother in peril. (As Coco's been dreaming of magic since first seeing it done as a child, she wouldn't seem to need any incentive to become a witch herself, but this way she has additional motives - and an excuse to leave home.) Master Qifrey is a handsome young man with spectacles, one lens of which is dark; as one of his eyes is hidden behind his hair we don't know if it's gone, or somehow magical, or he just likes the peekaboo-bangs effect, but the spectacles are clearly some kind of artifact. He seems to be kind-hearted and well-intentioned, helping Coco out before any hint that she might become a witch herself - but he also has contact with a wider organization of witches, and it's possible his motives are a bit ambiguous.
He has three other apprentices, one of whom takes exception to the speed with which Coco is brought in, leading to her challenging Coco to take the mandatory test - in the absence of Master Qilfrey, leading Coco to an adventure that might have killed her but instead challenges her to some really innovative problem-solving!
Just when it seems everything's working smoothly, a chance encounter (or was it???) in a "Diagon Alley"-type shopping area sends Coco chasing after the enigmatic figure who first interested her in magic, with her fellow apprentices right behind - and with all four of them winding up Elsewhere. Whatever will happen next?
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series, with some entertaining tidbits.]
Later: I really enjoyed this! It's beautifully-drawn, and while the basic plot isn't anything new - lonely child who longs for some magic in her life has unexpected encounter with said magic and winds up as an apprentice - there are some dandy twists (hint: kids, don't play around with magic you don't understand!), and the characters are appealing and interesting. The book also spends time describing the process of magic in this fantasy world, which has to do with special ink derived from a rare type of tree, plus detailed patterns - magical circles, runes, and inscriptions - that channel the magic in the desired ways. (Or in undesired ways, depending on the skill of the caster!)
Young Coco becomes the apprentice witch to Master Qifrey after displaying some innate skill at accurately measuring and cutting cloth (yes, it does turn out to be a transferable skill!) - and after her own innocent mistake leaves her mother in peril. (As Coco's been dreaming of magic since first seeing it done as a child, she wouldn't seem to need any incentive to become a witch herself, but this way she has additional motives - and an excuse to leave home.) Master Qifrey is a handsome young man with spectacles, one lens of which is dark; as one of his eyes is hidden behind his hair we don't know if it's gone, or somehow magical, or he just likes the peekaboo-bangs effect, but the spectacles are clearly some kind of artifact. He seems to be kind-hearted and well-intentioned, helping Coco out before any hint that she might become a witch herself - but he also has contact with a wider organization of witches, and it's possible his motives are a bit ambiguous.
He has three other apprentices, one of whom takes exception to the speed with which Coco is brought in, leading to her challenging Coco to take the mandatory test - in the absence of Master Qilfrey, leading Coco to an adventure that might have killed her but instead challenges her to some really innovative problem-solving!
Just when it seems everything's working smoothly, a chance encounter (or was it???) in a "Diagon Alley"-type shopping area sends Coco chasing after the enigmatic figure who first interested her in magic, with her fellow apprentices right behind - and with all four of them winding up Elsewhere. Whatever will happen next?
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series, with some entertaining tidbits.]
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Little Free Library, Annursnac Hill Rd in Concord, Massachusetts USA on Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Released 4 yrs ago (10/23/2019 UTC) at Little Free Library, Annursnac Hill Rd in Concord, Massachusetts USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book in the Little Free Library on this drizzly afternoon; hope someone enjoys it!
[See other recent releases in MA here.]
*** Released for the 2019 October Spooktacular release challenge. ***
[See other recent releases in MA here.]
*** Released for the 2019 October Spooktacular release challenge. ***