Witch Hat Atelier has an inflated ego.
Witch Hat Atelier says a lot without saying anything. It’s is one of those series where it thinks it’s saying something important but in trying so hard to do so, it just ends up shoving every meaningless message down your throat so hard that you get irritated at the characters before you have a chance to appreciate it. I get that some people are super attatched to it and it’s like their emotional show security blanket but honestly the writing is so pompous and these kids speak in a way kids never would. They’re spoiled brats with attitudes. Did some bad stuff happen to them? Sure but that doesn’t give them an excuse to turn around and be rude or off-putting to others. The only likable girl is Tetia and even then her whole thing of wanting to do magic for praise is strange. Qifrey goes on and on about the problems and hubris of humans, the dangers of not understanding limits and capacity to do wrong while he’s out there actually hurting people and being a nut.
Is this somewhat of a rant? Maybe but I think we devalue media today that are able to show you the message / meaning without telling you outright every second. Apothecary Diaries for instance is good at this, you get the gravity of choices, you see the progression of characters but no one is beating you over the head with “this is about the consequences of personal choice, harem politics and how men and women both suffer in a world where power is what’s most important.” Witch Hat just thinks the audience is dull and keeps telling you “everyone should be allowed to do their own thing, restriction is bad, anyone restricting you in any way is a fascist” when in reality a world without proper rules and boundaries would be anarchy.
Ugh, needless to say I’m dropping this one. The straw that broke the camel’s back was Richeh saying for the 50th time that she didn’t want to do someone else’s magic when it’s like “how did you learn to do your own spells then” cause she wouldn’t even know the basics without someone else’s forms helping her create what she’s now calling “her spells.” This story just does a lot of annoying pontificating and preaching from a high horse. There are plenty of other good stories out there though so I really encourage people to maybe look at those.
