Witch Hat Atelier has Agott make some important realizations about her own motivations in Ep. 7 “Who Is Magic For?”. All while an ongoing disaster caused by flooding is giving our witches some magical search and rescue to carry out. A search and rescue operation that is, alas, interrupted by a combination of human error and the unexpected appearance of magic police officers with the power of inquisitors.
Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 7 “Who Is Magic For?”: Details in Brief
Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 7 “Who Is Magic For?” is the seventh episode (you can read my reviews for Ep. 1-2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4, Ep. 5, and Ep. 6 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. 7 “Who Is Magic For?”: The Good
Interestingly, Ep. 7 “Who Is Magic For?” doesn’t follow the structure of most previous episodes of Witch Hat Atelier. Previous episodes have a structure in which they start off calm and slowly ramp up the tension until it hits that climax before winding down afterwards. Not this episode.
Ep. 7 “Who Is Magic For?” starts off in the middle of tension, with a major emergency happening in the middle of a heavy rainstorm. The tension increases to a climax carried out through some epic river parting on the part of Qifrey (voiced by Natsuki Hanae (JP) and Joshua Waters (EN)) before calming back down into a more quiet moment in order for the witches to assess the damages and to treat the injured. However, instead of winding down to the end of the episode, the tension suddenly shoots back up when one of the civilians decides that it’s a great idea to get back into danger in order to retrieve some lost supplies.
It results in a second climax when Coco (voiced by Rena Motomura (JP) and Anjali Kunapaneni (EN)) resolves the issue along with Agott (voiced by Hibiku Yamamura (JP) and Madeleine Morris (EN))…only for the tension to suddenly ratchet up back again without warning. After all, no one expects the magical inquisition, or rather, magical police officers in this case. They even leave the episode on a dramatic cliffhanger tinged with a touch of magical horror at how memory erasing magic works. This kind of story structure gives viewers a roller coaster of emotions, giving a great deal of depth and complexity to the story that makes it such a thrilling ride.
Agott and Coco Relationship Development?
Speaking of Agott though, she provides even more tension through her desire to prove herself causing her to insist on being a part of a search and rescue operation. She actually has strong reasons for wanting to do so. Some deeply personal reasons, it seems, but it results in her behaving recklessly, always looking for an opportunity to show how good she is regardless of anything else. It’s only when Coco reminds her that magic is about helping people does she finally snap back into reality and help with the search and rescue. The level of character exploration and development for Agott is quite palpable, combined with the new camaraderie between her and Coco because of this emergency.
Now we just have to wait to see if the next episode of Witch Hat Atelier develops more on their relationship…and see if the magical inquisition ruins it.
Witch Hat Atelier Ep. 7 “Who Is Magic For?”: The Bad
My only complaint about Ep. 7 “Who Is Magic For?” is that it leaves off on a cliffhanger. A major cliffhanger to boot, right in the middle of a rather dramatic and horrific scene. I can only compare the experience to sitting on top of a knife’s edge, waiting for the next episode to drop next week before the blade can slice me. It’s quite the bad cliffhanger in that regard to say the least, even if you can understand why they’re doing it.
Anime Recommendations
Fortunately, we have alternatives if the wait for the cliffhanger to end becomes too unbearable. If you want some bloody action to further get your blood pumping after watching Qifrey part a whole river, then you might want to watch 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. However, if you want something more calming to relax with while waiting to see Coco’s and Agott’s fates, then you might want to chill to 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 torrential thoughts in the comments section below.
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