Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 9 “A Nightmare Stained In Black”: Shades Of Grey Magic [Review]

Witch Hat Atelier stains the magical fantasy in shades of grey for Coco and Qifrey in Ep. 9 “A Nightmare Stained in Black”. With this episode really giving us a look into the darker aspects of the setting’s magic, and Qifrey’s involvement in it in his quest to uncover something very important to him being the main factor in that involvement. All while Coco is struggling with both her magic and her own guilt…oh, and with an illness being tossed in to boot.

Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 9 “A Nightmare Stained in Black”: Details in Brief

Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 9 “A Nightmare Stained in Black” is the ninth episode (you can read my reviews for Ep. 1-2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4, Ep. 5, Ep. 6, Ep. 7, and Ep. 8 here) of this dark fantasy anime series. Said anime is the anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Kamome Shirahama.

Bug Films (Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead) is the animation studio behind this anime. Ayumu Watanabe is the director of this anime, with Jun Shinohara as the assistant director, Hiroshi Seko as the writer, and Yuka Kitamura as the composer for the music.

The opening theme song for Witch Hat Atelier is “Kaze no Ansemu” by Eve ft. suis from Yorushika. Meanwhile, “Tada Utsukushii Noroi” by Nakamura Hak is the ending theme song.

Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 9 “A Nightmare Stained in Black”: The Good

As you can tell from the title, the best feature of Ep. 9 “A Nightmare Stained in Black” is its dark story. Previous episodes have taken a dip into the dark fantasy, teasing at the horrors underneath the grand high fantasy surface. This episode though is where the anime fully dives into that dark fantasy as Qifrey (voiced by Natsuki Hanae (JP) and Joshua Waters (EN)) tries to uncover the secret behind the mysterious magical ink bottle Coco (voiced by Rena Motomura (JP) and Anjali Kunapaneni (EN)) had on her.

He even dives into the dark side of this world’s lore, which reveals some very fascinating things about this magic society’s taboo on magic that alters the body. Apparently, that taboo extends even to healing magic, which the healing witches of ages past did not agree with and violently opposed. It’s even perfectly understandable for them. Imagine if a government suddenly declared that vaccination is illegal, and that anyone who performed vaccinations is to be put to death? That seemed to have basically been the reality those ancient healing witches faced, and then subsequently lost the war over.

It’s pretty bleak lore there, with some horrifying implications for the present day in which all healing magic is taboo. If you have an injury that mundane medieval medicine can’t cure, then oh well, you just die? And there’s even some healing-adjacent magic like a bottle that shares its contents with another bottle that was lost with the mental execution of those ancient healing witches. It’s not even magic that alters the body. It’s magic that the healing witches simply used, and then was lost when they were all summarily executed via that total memory wipe spell. That lore reveal is why I classify this anime as a dark fantasy.

And Now for the Action!

It’s not just the story that’s good about Ep. 9 “A Nightmare Stained in Black”. Qifrey’s attempt to examine the spell on that bottle results in one of the best action scenes in this anime. All because that bottle had an anti-tampering spell on it, like an anti-tampering fuse on a landmine. And like a landmine, it violently explodes in a most fantastical way. The scene is even bloody action, giving us a taste of the magical horror that will hopefully satisfy those action fans as much as the drama fans.

We even get more of that mix of action and drama when Coco falls ill, and Qifrey has to do a magical medevac to get her to a nearby hospital. That scene also highlights the previous problem with the taboo around healing magic. It means that Coco has to be treated with entirely mundane medicine that may or may not work. It’s a nice mix of action and lore that perfectly sets up the drama in the next episode of Witch Hat Atelier.

Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 9 “A Nightmare Stained in Black”: The Bad

Alas, while there is quite a bit of action in Ep. 9 “A Nightmare Stained in Black”, it isn’t the kind of action most people who are into anime would be looking for. It’s dark action with real stakes, but it isn’t the kind of high-intensity action between characters that shonen anime is typically known for. If you like that kind of action, then you might be a bit disappointed by this episode. You will need to wait for future episodes of Witch Hat Atelier to see that.

Anime Recommendations

Fortunately, there are alternatives if you want that kind of action. You can check out Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, DAN DA DAN, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, Zenshu, Blue Box, Solo Leveling, Black Butler, Nyaight of the Living Cat, May I Ask for One Final Thing?, TRIGUN STARGAZE, and/or Daemons of the Shadow Realm for that. However, if you want something more quiet to chill out to, then you might like Spy x Family, Senpai is an Otokonoko, Apocalypse Hotel, Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf, The Ancient Magus’ Bride, My Dress-Up Darling, This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Hana-Kimi, and/or Journal with Witch.

What did you think of this week’s episode of Witch Hat Atelier? Tell us your magically forbidden thoughts in the comments section below.

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