Tongari Boushi no Atelier

This is my first review :3

As a newbie in the anime/manga world, I can say that I loved this piece of art so much!

It's been a while since I've read something that brought me to a distant place and made me wanderlust. Such beautiful work of art and amazing character designs and scenarios.

~There might be small spoilers in this review~

Tongari Boushi no Atelier tells the story of a young girl, Coco, who lives in a small village and helps her mom on their family business. In this world, there are magicians/witches, they became people who help unknows (unmagic people) with their problems and natural damages. It's known that witch's magic comes only in birth. Coco loves magic and dream of becoming a witch, but people who don't know how to use magic since birth are unable to become magicians.

Coco accidentally saw a magician, that was visiting her village, casting a spell and discovered an important secret. From here on, there would be spoilers, but I rather not to jeopardize your experience with this manga.

What else can I say... if you enjoy wandering through pages looking for details on the background or even losing yourself in the details of the clothing and hair of the characters with a really cool storyline, you should give this manga a chance! As you read, the story only gets better and more catchy.

May contain some spoilers

Tongari Boushi no Atelier sets a fairy-tale esque world in a beautiful way with a dark theme in the background.

Story-8/10

The main protagonist Coco is an eccentric girl who wants to be a witch but only those who are born as witches can be it.Well there is a twist in it which i won't spoil.Ina series of actions Coco gets a chance to become one.The story sets a mystery theme since the beginning.It flows in a lucid manner which is easy to understand.

Art-9/10

The art style is fluid and pretty artistic in a way.It is done well.Might not be the best in the manga history but it still pretty good.

Characters-9/10

The characters are done in a realistic way as much as possible.They show their strengths,weaknesses and other negative emotions like jealousy,hatred and even pure surprise in down to earth manner.

Coco shows amazement at everything magic related but she shows character depth in adverse circumstances.No character in this show is one dimensional and remain stagnant.

Enjoyment-9/10

I think this mystery/magic manga will surely make you feel interested.This is pretty good and you won't be able to stop as you read.Try it.

I'll keep the review spoiler free so no worries there, but TL;DR: it's absolutely fantastic. Anyone can enjoy this sort of story, but especially those that find interest in the medieval fantasy setting. I seriously cannot put into words how amazing this manga is, please give the first chapter a try.

Story - Simple yet told in great delivery and execution. It never feels like it dwells too long on subjects and arcs, while still staying at a mild pace in order to not leave readers feeling rushed. One major thing I feel like is how the magic system is delivered and told, as it's explained in such a simple yet sensible way, making every interaction with magic feel absolutely special. Everything gets explained to the reader, sure, but this is absolutely excusible because of the protagonist's position.

Art - This is where the mangaka truly shines. Oh my gods, I cannot tell you what this manga does to not only the art, but the paneling, to make you feel immersed and enchanted as you read through each and every page. Seriously, words alone cannot do the visuals justice. Every page-turn is a masterpiece!

Character - All of the characters are unique, most get developed within the story arcs they participate in and overall you want to root for them. All of them are charming and relatable in some way or manner, especially if you're a creative thinker. The main character is such a joy to experience with and I feel is almost a outlet for the author to express their love for art.

Overall Enjoyement - It was an absolute blast reading this manga and catching up to it. By sheer chance I discovered the name of the manga on twitter, by sheer luck I found interest in it and my gods am I glad I found interest in it. Please, do give it a try as you will not regret having your eyes tour around each and every page.

Are athletes, athletes from the moment they're born?
What about astronauts or idols? These things aren't decided at birth

So then what about witches?

Story starts off :

In a world run by the magic that flows through it, there are humans known as witches. Such individuals are male or female because the title of witch applies to both genders. Using a special type of ink, magic is drawn rather than being cast with voice or song. Different patterns represent different spells and they are often cast in secrecy. Why? To prevent the misuse of magic in the hands of the naive. If magic is used in such hands, the consequences are detrimental, enough to take away the lives of others or cause great harm to many. Magic is a power that requires the responsibility that comes with it.

Realizing her love for magic, Coco bought a magic book and a pen with the ink that can be used to cast spells from the mysterious witch. And thus she enjoyed watching magic ever since, yet just seeing it didn't satisfy her curiosity. What exactly is magic then? And more importantly, how could it be used?

When a flying chariot comes by her house and breaks down with the meddling of two boys, she gains a chance. Flying chariots cannot fly on their own and require a spell to be fixed if they are broken. Once of the individuals who visited her house for cloth was a male witch known as Qifrey. Witches are known by the pointed hats they wear and he carries one with him.

He casts a spell within her house and by coincidence or perhaps by fate, she realizes how magic is cast. Using ink and patterns, spells become real. Ignoring his warnings to not look inside, Coco has the necessary knowledge to cast. Realizing that she had the tools to draw magic for years, she copies the shapes in her book with her wand with the tip of a pen.

However, the consequences of her actions cost her greatly, at the cost of a life dear to her.

Introduced as the very beginning, he enters the shop of Coco's mother to buy smoke-colored cloth. Perhaps it is for another uniform or for something else, it is never clarified.

With just how busy the shop is, with noblewoman from the flying chariot looking at the hanging lace, the tidy trim, the Harian knitted lace and more, Coco takes his measurements for him. Gazing at the cloth with a practiced eye after setting it on a table, she smooths it out and making a hole, cuts a straight line across, in a completely accurate fashion, showcasing her concentration and skill.

He admires her skill and then the flying chariot breaks down. Revealing his identity as a witch, he enters Coco's house to recast the spell on the chariot. Using a pen with the magic imbued ink, he draws runes which will then activate the magic spell.

After all, anyone who holds the magic ink and has the knowledge of the magic glyphs can use magic. These are the greatest secrets of a witch.

He admires her skill and then the flying chariot breaks down. Revealing his identity as a witch, he enters Coco's house to recast the spell on the chariot. Using a pen with the magic imbued ink, he draws runes which will then activate the magic spell.

After all, anyone who holds the magic ink and has the knowledge of the magic glyphs can use magic. These are the greatest secrets of a witch.

Towards the Future

This one chapter ends with a few open ends. Who did the book belong to that caused all of the damage? Which glyph caused the tragedy? How exactly will Coco become a witch? And will Coco's mother return to her former state?

Taking from the same mixed concept between LWA and Ran to Haiiro Sekai with some of an urban fantasy twist. At first, you could take a close glimpse how visualizing and stunning the art express more aesthetic tone and the story within it's chapter focuses over more subpar witchcraft elements. Twice as simple where it granted to be a lot philosophic theme about witches. However, more than the basic story, what enraptured me was the artwork itself. Every panel, every composition and transition seems like a true work of art, a piece that one would hang up on the wall. Not of the traditional style of shounen or shoujo, but like that of a painting.

Magic express which invoke the inner aspects more than saving peoples lives other than gaining a miracle. Genuine thoughts beyond witches may once receive unholy divine blessing by gathering so much blessings through crafting. Telling where once who born as witches may soon be the most choosen one of all.

Granting a tale which can sums up from a picture book, where every color pallets are not only black and white by not only you can think of thoughts about viewing our new beginning through your new chapter once it ends as it tells that magic is the miracle that colors the world.

A path of witchcraft can depicts by soaring through the amidst in the beacon of light, from the light on the pavestones down to your feet.

Not giving this a 10 simply because it's still on going but if the manga keep up this level of quality i'll happy change this to a 10! This is a good manga!

Story-9
Starting off as pretty generic as Coco,our female protagonist, puts a curse on her mother by accident turning,her into stone and now she learns to become a witch,a being able to use magical powers by drawing magic circles, to save her mother. Pretty generic start right? Of courses the story gets way better from this initial start but where this manga truly shines in is it's amazingly crafted hard magic system,where the rules of magic are firmly lade out and explained to us,thus every fight/encounter/test's solution makes sense and it's super satisfying. In addition, this manga has some great world building and which makes sense for the environment they live in.

Art-10
The first thing to grab peoples attention is probably the art style. It's more unique compared to your traditional manga and I love it for it being so. This is also shown within the paneling of the manga,where its sometimes it's framed more so like a picture book.

Characters-8
If you have seen a magical girl anime,you would get a picture of what our main characters are like. Not saying that's bad in anyway (quite the opposite) but it's not a new dynamic. Coco is our positive,outgoing type who is new to the world,Riche is the on that's the most out cast at first,Agete is bossy one and Tetia is the cheery one of the group. This is not bad and as the manga goes on the character undergo their development which makes them above your typical magical girl group. Also a big mention to Qifrey,the girls teacher and a character who,though is kind to our protagonists,is clearly hiding something and he provides most of the mystery around the manga and is such a fun character to read about.

Enjoyment/Overall-9
Though I sound negative,I swear this manga is well with your time especially if you love a hard magic system with a beautiful world to read about. The characters are charming and fun to read.I'll recommend this to everyone!

I loved it. This manga is exactly my sort of thing. It's so whimsical and cute with an amazing plot, and it's honestly one of my favorites.

I kinda wish Coco joined the brim hats. While both groups are shady, I don't like how hypocritical and restricting the pointy hats high ranking officials are, like they don’t even bother to listen, and just jump straight to threatening to erasing your memory or doing so right off the bat;
I don’t like the brim hat’s methods, but I can sympathize with them more, and understand them. I think there should be less restrictions on magic.

This could have been the best fantasy manga out there, but plenteous plot holes are displayed too blatantly. There were some characters who needed some background development. Lastly, the concept switch is just too much, which is not my personal taste at all, it's hard to bind overwhelming fluff with the dark atmosphere in a single manga, and this proves it. Although, needless to say, the magic system in this manga is executed astronomically, it inspired me to pursue my knowledge about witchcraft knowing there are many types of magic out there. Although, needless to say, the magic system in this manga is executed astronomically, it inspired me to pursue my knowledge about witchcraft knowing there are many types of magic out there.

I don't know how to start. Maybe I should say that this manga is awesome.
I really love it, and I think that is one of the best manga in history. Don't understand why it doesn't have an upper score.

It is obvious that Shirahama Kamome is like an sponge: she have absorbed a huge amount of painting, literature and many other art's knowledge. She is the Johann Sebastian Bach of manga. I have enjoyed each picture of her work.

Really, if you have not read yet, you should do it. You will discover a new world full of beauty and passion.

Also, you should see this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDQrr9OkimQ

This is an explanation of Shirahama-sensei's art focused on panelling which is wonderful.

Enjoy Atelier of Witch Hat :), it does not let down.