I still don't know how shadows and lights work, but I'm trying now that I have some time, again.
I played Brick Bronze back in the day so I have head-canons that LL!player and BB!player are the same person from parallel universes. Makes for some fun angst angles, at least on Jake's side.
there is WAY more to WHA's magic system than just 'being good at drawing'!!!
I saw a post of someone saying that mangakas would be the most powerful witches in our society, and as much as I acknowledge how good they are at art, I hard disagree with that statement.
In real life, its got to be the architects and engineers who are the best witches, not just 'people who are good at drawing'!!!
Not only can they cleanly draw circles and lines (yes they can, architects are artists too), but they also have the minds to apply that into some really unique & creative spells, not just redrawing what others have drawn but also coming up with their own stuff!
disclaimer that I'm neither an architect nor an engineer, but I feel like because WHA's fandom is so based on art & artists, we often forget that other disciplines can also pick up a pen and think creatively.
There is more to WHA's spell-casting than being fast or good at drawing!!! Creativity is also very important! and while mangakas are very creative in their own right, I'd say that the specific brand of creativity that architects and engineers practice (ie. repairing old things, working on projects that are meant to better the lives of others, etc.) is more in line with how magic is used by the pointed hat witches in WHA. Therefore, they should be more suited to this kind of magic.
Physics is somewhat involved in spell-casting, too!! Which is something that engineers HAVE to know well. We see Coco's early water spell shoot off to one side because her spell was imbalanced, BECAUSE PHYSICS. Not just with the quality of the drawing, either. In this latest episode, Coco had drawn many successful fireball spells, but all of them kept failing NOT because they were poorly drawn (in fact they were all well drawn). But the reason why her spells kept failing were because the physics of her spells weren't balanced well enough to keep the carapace-melons afloat AND cooked completely in the fire.
Engineers and architects I imagine are very good at this, because its a part of their job, whereas mangakas (while yes they are very good artists) probably arent as knowledgeable on this subject. In this hypothetical scenario where WHA spell-casting is in the real world, the engineers & architects would be repurposing a skill that they already have for a new thing, whereas the mangakas would have to learn it from scratch like how Coco did. Not to say that they cant, but once again, the others would have a leg up on this aspect.
like spells are first impacted by how well you can draw, and then it's how well you're able to translate your exact intentions into runes, sigils and stuff.
for example: a water flower spell. My guess is that there's probably a specific rune or pattern that means "put [x] into the shape of a flower," but it could probably also be possible to have a similar "flower shape" effect through very specific & intricate wind runes shaping water or something like that.
Like how "2+2" and "(5+7)/3" both equal 4, maybe there are different ways to write the same spell
Of course, witches probably don't learn to be that specifically intricate, since it sounds like a big waste of both brain power & ink that could be better used for spells that actually need to be that intricate.
Among other things, this episode mainly showcases two things, one explicitly and one more implicitly:
(Explicitly) the skill-gap between apprentice witch and fully-fledged witch.
(Implicitly) the three guiding philosopies of magic in this show
Other section: Things that don't fit into my main argument but I thought were still pretty cool.
BACKGROUND INFO:
Episodes 1-4 showcase how witches cast spells, and the fact that Coco wants to be a witch. We know how spells are cast and that witches help people, but we/Coco (since we're learning alongside her) don't know how that "help" looks like, other than Quifrey doing redrawing a damaged seal (the pegasus carriage). We also don't know exactly how powerful a witch can be.
Episode 1, we've seen Quifrey use sylph shoes and that was awesome and shows a witch using magic. But come episode 2 and everyone else (barring Coco, of course) also uses sylph shoes just as skillfully. So the questions now are: what's the difference between Quifrey's skill level and the girls', other than how well they can cast? and what exactly does that difference look like? Up until this point, we haven't seen the other apprentices cast much magic, only Quifrey & Coco (I think).
#1: The skill-gap between apprentice & master
It takes the girls roughly 4/5ths (I'm eye-balling it) of the episode to pull themselves together, come up with a plan/spell to disable the dragon and execute it. This takes them roughly a night, going by sun-down to sun-rise change of scenery (side-point: time is kind of weird, the girls in the pocket dimension go from sun-up to sun-down to sun-up again but dont complain about hunger, while Quifrey & Tartah only experience sun-up to sun-down). And despite doubts their spell works! The dragon is happy.
In contrast, it takes Quifrey like half a second to do most/all of that at a much more effective degree (granted his spell must've been premade, but he still planned and drew it himself sometime offscreen. He went through choosing a spell for a specific effect like the girls). He doesn't just banking on the possibility that maybe it'll like the sand bed, he outright murks that sucker with an even BIGGER dragon made out of water and floods the lower levels of the "Dr. Seuss pocket dimension." It was a more sure spell, than the girls', that poor dragon isn't getting up any time soon.
The music supports this interpretation (I don't know music but I know how it makes me feel). The hype-music during the girls' moment is very fantasy (in a good way), wind instruments, strings, percussion and such. The vibe is very "hype moment" and gives me a vibe of "magic is wonderful" and showcasing the abilities and potential of the girls.
In contrast to the music during Quifrey's hype moment, which is full of tense strings (+ harpsichord, I love that thing) big booming brass, and other things I can't identify. This music coupled with the sheer scale of Quifrey's spell really showcases just how much of a power difference there is between apprentice and master, and also showcases just how much Coco has to learn if she wants to save her mom.
#2: The 3 philosophies of magic
Yes I believe this is showcased in this episode. Yes I know it might be a bit of a stretch but please hear me out.
1. Philosophy of Coco/apprentices: "magic helps everyone"
Coco is the one who forms the guiding idea of their joint "serpents bed of sand" spell. She and Tetia have made it clear that they want to disable the dragon by making it happy and giving it a nice warm bed. This is magic that helps, both the girls who need to get past the dragon, and the dragon who has no comfy bed.
2. Philosophy of the pointed caps: "magic helps some, and hurts others"
This is what Quifrey showcases with his magic, which is the magic he learned through the Pointed Caps system/curriculum. It's honed, practiced and VERY powerful, and has two purposes: The first is to ensure the safety of his apprentices (helping). The second is to absolutely wipe out that sucker (hurting). Althought you could argue that "the dragon's just a dragon, it's feelings don't really matter in the way that four human lives does," I argue that it does matter in this case. Remember that the main thing guiding the girls' sand spell is humanizing and helping the dragon ("it doesn't have a comfy place to sleep" and "it mustve hurt, bashing into that pillar"). In contrast, Quifrey's (I'm assuming) fully legal water bomb spell doesn't care about the dragon at all, only the girls' safety. This might be a stretch, but I can see this eventually being centered into a conflict with people being othered, rather than another species entirely.
3. Philosophy of the brimmed caps: "we hate those pointed caps"
We don't see much of this, but it's really cool that right after Quifrey's absolute aura-farm hype moment, that brimmed cap is like "I know magic much cooler than that bum Quifrey."
Right now Coco's philosophy (#1) is more inline with the pointed caps' philosophy (#2), since I don't think she's learned about the "hurt others" aspect just yet (I mean, I assume she was unconscious). We also don't know much about what exactly that weirdo wants from Coco, other than to teach her magic.
#3 Extra cool tid-bits.
Baby Tetia! She's so cute!
The art in this anime is SO GOOD!! And more themes about witches and their tendency towards secrecy. Coco talks about how her cloak is good at hiding secrets (like magic) from others. In this case, "the secret" is her fear. And this shot is just so pretty!!!
It's funny how just how much Agott struggles with letting Coco be "one of the gang." Like Coco apologizes for her mistakes and works hard to catch up with the others, and Agott is trying hard to keep with the "she's an ignorant outsider" shtick but failing, since Coco keeps showing her all her hard work to make things right.
It's interesting how in this shot, there's a clear shadow between Agott and Coco (the shadow), showcasing the difference between witch and outsider that Agott would like to believe in, at this point. However, that difference is only superficial. They're both wearing witch uniforms, and a line cast by shadow doesn't actually do anything to stop someone's movement. Coco is definitely a bonafide witch, but at this point Agott is so stubborn and still doesn't want to acknowledge her as such, ahah.
At the end of the episode, Coco is in her witches uniform, standing along the others and being acknowledged as 100% "one of them." I think Agott finally gave up on the outsider thing, at least for now.
The artstyle change when we change from Quifrey to Brimmed Cap!!! I am in love with this art, dude
Knights Moralis mentioned! I love how mysterious and vaguely threatening their vibe is, since it's been 5 episodes and we havent seen them at all.
I DIED IN MY MINECRAFT SUPERFLAT (not hardcore because I'm not good at minecraft)
I've been raiding bastions because I dont have the diamonds to duplicate my one netherite trim (diamonds are rare in superflat) AND I DIED TO A BIGLIN BRUTE BECAUSE I WASNT SMART AND FORGOT TO BRING A BOW OR CROSSBOW
AND IT'S SOOO FAR FROM MY SPAWN SO BY THE TIME I GET BACK MY GEAR WILL ALL BE GONE!!!
THAT STUFF WAS TRIMMED! IT WAS EXPENSIVE, DAWG
That's it, really! I don't play minecraft enough for this to be a negligible loss
I don't like when people use Akane's rant in Chapter 69 to analyse Aoi's character when most of it is inaccurate.
The first part is true because Aoi does have trust issues,even with her loved ones which is why she puts on an act.
But the other points are completely wrong.
"You're intelligent but part of you is always looking down on everyone."
Aoi has never looked down on anyone throughout the whole manga. She does hold grudges towards others but that's not the same as looking down on others.
Aoi has a real reason to hold a grudge towards others and have trust issues,because people have always put her on a pedestal and only see her as a perfect cute girl.
Even her friends,Nene and Akane put her on a pedestal too. Yes,Akane too. (the constant compliments,grand gestures and confessions)
It's canon that Aoi is constantly getting confessed to and got called a man-eater by the girls and got shunned.
(Even harassed by a cashier in the convenience store Chapter.)
Rather than her looking down on people,isn't it the people around her that's looking down on her?
The other point that Akane got wrong was "Maybe the reason why nobody ever really tries to get to know you is because you never really tried to get to know anyone else."
BRR WRONG!!
Aoi actually did try to get to know Akane and Nene more.
She's asked Akane why he suddenly wore glasses,and what he was up to after school and if he was hiding things from her yet he didn't actually tell her the truth and covered things up.
As for Nene..
She tried to chat with her as well but they don't have enough time since Nene is busy with her lifespan and supernaturals.
Aoi most likely did notice that they were hiding things from her and probably gave up on probing more.
!!!The point Akane makes here is also wrong!!!!!
Aoi has worried about Nene from the start when Nene has been talking to Hanako.
She also got worried when she thought Nene hated her. (Other panels added)
Her being happy about being able to apologise to Nene and having Akane to accompany her.
Her being happy and moved when Nene forgives her.
Aoi wanting Nene to focus on her own problems first.
Last point of why people should not be analysing Aoi by what Akane said in Chapter 69.
WRONG!!
In literally 2 timelines,Aoi put herself in danger in the Red house to save her friends.
In the alternate timeline,Aoi literally fights Amane (possessed by the red house demon) and tells her friends to escape.
She doesn't run away,even though she's scared. Akane tells her to but she still stays.
In one time loop,Aoi stays back with Nene to be a decoy so Teru and Akane can get out of the red house alive.
Girlie sacrificed herself in two TIMELINES to save her friends.
Cough,even her alternate self still cares for Teru and Akane deeply.
The last look is her looking at Akane.
For a girl who "only cares about herself",she sure does seem to have many moments where she has put her friends above herself...
She cares too much.
Y'all can analyse Aoi by also looking at other chapters in the manga as well!!!
I agree with your analysis on Aoi's character and that Akane's rant shouldn't be used to analyze her character! Since it's his rant, it should be seen as how he views her.
However, I don't quite agree with your reading on Akane's rant, mostly because I don't think all of what he said was false.
( From this point on, I will be arguing against this rant, so I apologize in advance. I aim to be critical but not disparaging, so this might be a hard read and please please don't read if that'll make you uncomfortable because I don't want that to happen. )
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Aoi (pre-ch69) has a habit of assuming that everyone around her is shallow or narrow-minded. This is what I believe Akane to be referencing when he cites her as "looking down on others." She believes those who confess are unreliable narrators who don't understand her, & thus don't truly love her (including Akane), and that the people who gossip about "her" are just as surface-level, just in the opposite direction. Aoi says herself that "You're all like that," with the implication that she is the lone exception because she's the only one who knows how she really is. Not only is she "looking down on others" because she doesn't believe they could ever possibly, truly understand who she is and what she's going through, but she's also saying that this worldview also applies to her own childhood friend, which is the one person who should actually be equipped to understand her. And that's why Akane digs at this in his rant, because he believes it to be false.
A coward by definition is "a person who lacks the courage to do or endure dangerous or unpleasant things." This fits pre-ch-69, actually. Dangerous/unpleasant things doesn't always mean physical or life-threatening danger. In Aoi's case, "dangerous" means "opening yourself up to someone, being seen for who you truly are, and potentially getting hurt because of this," and I agree that that's plenty scary. So instead of doing that, Aoi hides her true self under masks & the facade of perfection, and that's the Aoi that the student body sees. By doing this, she avoids being hurt. By this definition, it would make sense why Akane would describe her as cowardly.
Aoi to me is "looking down on others," "not trying to get to know people" and "a coward" in the same way a lot of introverted & shy people usually are, which I think is why I can relate to her so strongly, while also acknowledging these aspects as character flaws.
Slight-topic-change-but-still-an-important-point: I think simply replacing the rant with Akane admitting that "I'm sorry I didn't know you were going through that, I still love you regardless of your perfection" wouldn't have had as much impact on Aoi, if any at all. At this point she believes that no one understands her, and that if people were to understand her, they'd stay away for disgust.
Imagine your childhood friend, who should be the one person that understands you better than everyone (even though you don't really believe that he does) affirms your belief & admits that he doesn't understand you (Key-words: "I didn't know"). And because he doesn't understand you, you do not consider him to be a reliable narrator. "I still love you regardless of your perfection." How are you supposed to trust that when he just admitted he doesn't know you, or what you're going through? The answer is that you don't. Having Akane say this would have just proven her right, and she'd smile like "I told you so" for the thousandth time and walk all the way to the other shore.
This is why Aoi kept brushing off his advances pre-ch69, and this is why Akane's rant was so effective. Because by laying out her flaws and insecurities and showcasing his genuine opinions, even though he really doesn't want to, Akane shows that both he truly knows about her (not just the facade that she puts in front of others) AND that he's not lying about how he feels. That despite his knowing all the flaws and "ugliness" of her character, he still loves her. It's a lot more powerful that just words, and that's why this rant is the first time one of his confessions have actually worked.
finally found a ship account of two members in an anime trio that actually posts content of the two of them and not just images where they crop out the third
I'm actutally really excited for this new season!!!
I like the vibes of Elsewhere, with vaguely more muted colours and a sucky dystopian dream island to look forward to. It reminds me of elementary school recess/play-time during the Fall season, where everyone's booted outside and has to make stuff up in the cloudy, honestly kind of dull field for play (I genuinely don't know if elementary schools still do this, and if they do I don't know if those kids are even playing without electronics but that's a side tangent). Elsewhere's general flora (coniferous trees & brown grass) reminds me of this childhood, its a nice vibe.
I was a bit apprehensive that we didn't continue the BFDIA/TPOT plotline & episodes, but nonetheless I'm happy with this return to early-BFDI-style outside recess/play-time vibe!
This new cast of characters will be fun to watch, I think!
