Witch Hat Atelier demonstrates that a well-designed test can have many solutions in Ep. 12 “The Shadow of Romonon”. See, the whole point of a test isn’t to see if the student can see which answer is the one that’s defined as “correct” by the instructor. A good test is to see if the student can arrive at the solution, regardless of what method they use to get there. It’s a lesson that Richeh, Agott, and new kid Euini learn quite well here.
Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 12 “The Shadow of Romonon”: Details in Brief
Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 12 “The Shadow of Romonon” is the twelth episode (you can read my reviews for Ep. 1-2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4, Ep. 5, Ep. 6, Ep. 7, Ep. 8, Ep. 9, Ep. 10, and Ep. 11 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. 12 “The Shadow of Romonon”: The Good
Unlike most of the previous episodes, Ep. 12 “The Shadow of Romonon” is basically one long story arc. You can’t really divide it clearly, but we can start with:
The Test
The test itself is basically the entirety of Ep. 12 “The Shadow of Romonon”. All starring Richeh (voiced by Hika Tsukishiro (JP) and Nerida Bronwen (EN)), Agott (voiced by Hibiku Yamamura (JP) and Madeleine Morris (EN)), and newcomer Euini (voiced by Hiiro Ishibashi (JP) and Justin Briner (EN)) as they try to tackle the problem of a twisting, gravity-defying road. All while under the watchful but encouraging gaze of their proctor Alaira (voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi (JP) and Cassie Ewulu (EN)).
This part of the story is basically like watching an escape room story in action, with all of the apprentices coming up with their own unique ways to overcome the obstacles before them. That creates no small amount of drama, especially when we learn about the rather traumatic backstories that both Richeh and Euini have had (and are currently having in Euini’s case) under some disgustingly bad and abusive teachers. In fact, that drama is the primary source of tension in this episode, oftentimes with nail-biting levels of tension as you watch them overcome that trauma to find their own solutions, and their inner peace along with it.
No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition…Or Rather, the Brimhats
It seems that the Brimhats have learned from Monty Python’s interpretation of the Spanish Inquisition, for they appear in a most unexpected manner. All in spite of them advertising their appearance early on in this episode to boot while we were learning about the lore of this world, as delivered by Qifrey (voiced by Natsuki Hanae (JP) and Joshua Waters (EN)). The appearance of the Brimhats is literally in the dying minutes of the episode, but it sets up a major plot twist that is quite well-timed. Alas, we will have to wait for the next episode of Witch Hat Atelier to find out the conclusion of that story.
Relax and Enjoy the Animation
Fortunately, while we wait for that, we can stop to appreciate the amazingly good animation from Bug Films’ animation team. They did some amazing work on the quality animation of this episode as always, with special kudos to the flow of water across the magical road. The way the water flowed over the scales of the serpentine road was so smooth and natural-looking that it added to the drama of the scene, culminating in the bizarre flows of water down a broken section of the road. Those animators honestly poured their hearts and souls into this episode with that alone, not even counting all the other amazing work they did here.
Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 12 “The Shadow of Romonon”: The Bad
Honestly, my one complaint about Ep. 12 “The Shadow of Romonon” is that it ends on a fairly bad cliffhanger. It basically ends right in the middle of a battle in which Team Witch takes a bit of a loss. Alas, it’s also a good one in that it sets up a dramatic confrontation in the next episode, so I can’t complain about it too much. We’ll just have to wait for the next episode of Witch Hat Atelier to see how Richeh, Agott, and Euini do against the Brimhats.
Anime Recommendations
If you can’t wait for next week to see that epic battle though, then you can see some bloody action in 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. If you want something more calm though, then you might want to check out 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 do you all think of this week’s episode of Witch Hat Atelier? Tell us your educational thoughts in the comments section below.
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