#Sasaran Witch Hat Atelier

[iukasylvie]

Unpopular opinion about Witch Hat Atelier

Chapter 49 of Witch Hat Atelier is the most pointless chapter I've ever read in manga. It contradicts not only the rest of the series but also itself just to present the message about the harm of sexual abuse in an extremely shallow manner.

For starters, the whole chapter is devoted to the Knights Moralis pursuing a peeping tom and it's on the very last page that the glyph on Dagda's body—the only thing from this chapter that has a real impact on the story—is revealed. The way Shirahama handled it shocked me given how she previously explored the psyches of Agott, Tartah, Richeh, and Eunie. By contrast, it's impossible to erase the Kamoshida arc of Persona 5 because it, along with the prologue, firmly establishes the core theme of the game—corrupt adults who abuse youth—and inspires the main characters to team up with each other as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

Throughout this chapter, Easthies shows kindness and understanding to Luluci as a victim of sexual abuse, even going on and on about the plight of the victim—both in her backstory and when they pursue the peeping tom. He punished her teacher on the spot for taking the side of the nobleman who abused her and her fellow apprentice, Ellien, and turning her in to the Knights Moralis to erase her memories just so he could silence her. He refuses to listen to the excuses the peeping tom makes, including the latter's appeal to their "natural urges as men".

However, Easthies never bothered to pursue the nobleman who started the whole mess in the first place. Ellien was mysteriously absent when her teacher turned Luluci in after Luluci attempted to defend her from the nobleman. It's noteworthy that Luluci used offensive magic—which is forbidden by law—against the nobleman to do so, destroying a non-negligible portion of the castle where their teacher had sent them to work. Luluci stands out in the entire series for being disproportionately privileged by the Knights Moralis; not even Agott enjoys their mercy and understanding even though she hails from the prestigious house of Arkrome.

Throughout the series, the Knights Moralis are infamous for ruthlessly enforcing the law of magic and jumping to conclusions just so they could find someone to punish:

Qifrey refuses to turn Coco in after she unknowingly uses a forbidden spell that turns her house into stone along with her mother. Later chapters validate his reasoning that the Knights Moralis would just erase her memories.

During the river incident, Easthies aggressively accuses Coco and Agott of intentionally altering the landscape and threatens to erase their memories instead of listening to them. Not only is it impossible for Coco to do such a stunt without the intervention of the Brimmed Cap Iguin as she's only recently begun studying magic, but also Agott has done nothing but send the mirage of a bird flying in the sky to call the adults for help.

During the second test, Qifrey asserts that not even victims of forbidden magic are spared from the wrath of the Knights Moralis, hence Agott's anger at the Brimmed Cap Sasaran when he nearly carves a glyph on her body while restraining her and Eunie's decision to hide with Alaira after Sasaran turns him into a scaled wolf against his will.

In Qifrey's backstory, the Knights Moralis considered erasing his memories even though the Brimmed Caps had already done it to cover up their crimes after they kidnapped him, took his eye, experimented on him, and buried him alive.

Galga brands Dagda as a Brimmed Cap for the glyph on his body even though Dagda has no idea what it is, later doing the same to Coco and Tartah when the kids try to defend him.

All of this is just a symptom of the cruel rigidity prevalent throughout witch society:

Agott treats Coco with disdain for being an outsider and therefore without the basic knowledge of magic and witch society. Agott tricks Coco into taking a difficult test against the wishes of their teacher in hopes that she would give up and fail.

It's revealed that Agott's prestigious family cast her out of home because she didn't live up to their high standards, explaining where her behavior came from.

Tartah has been told from a young age that he can never be a full-fledged witch because of his color blindness. Qifrey empathizes with his situation, saying that "refusal to accommodate differences is not an admirable quality of witch society." This foreshadows the reveal that Qifrey lost an eye as a child and he's losing the sight of his remaining eye nowadays, which he keeps a secret even from his best friend and apprentices due to the mistreatment he faced in the past.

Richeh and Riliphin's previous teacher punished her for her creativity so much that she came to hate the idea of growing up.

Eunie suffers not only from social and performance anxiety but also from verbal abuse at the hands of his teacher, Kukrow, eroding his self-confidence. Kukrow has the audacity to even ask Qifrey if he could exchange Eunie for Agott when Eunie is right there.

Those who took Qifrey in refused to give him a space appropriate for a child who had been traumatized to the point of near death—they sent him to a room empty of furniture and made him live under the ocean despite his trauma-induced fear of water—and to investigate his past and the Brimmed Caps who victimized him. Even his own teacher, Beldaruit, views him as dangerous due to contact with forbidden magic—one that was inflicted on him instead of something he committed out of his own will—and a subsequent desire to pursue the Brimmed Caps without considering how their neglect caused him to distrust them and refuse to seek help from anyone in the first place.

All of Chapter 49 raises as many questions as the official story of Pink Diamond's assassination did to Defense Zircon in "The Trial" from Steven Universe.

Defense Zircon: Ugh! Who am I kidding? This is pointless! We've all heard the rumors about the demise of Pink Diamond, but I can't believe these files- scrolls through the floating panels Shattered by one of her own soldiers- Ugh! In front of her entire entourage!?

Defense Zircon: Now, as the records show, Pink Diamond was shattered just outside a palanquin much like this. steps onto the palanquin Witnesses say Pink had just stepped out and had only taken a few steps forward when Rose attacked her from the front! [...] Defense Zircon: But the question no one seems to be asking is, "how"? Blue Diamond: I've been asking that question. Defense Zircon: A-A-A-And right you are to ask, my Diamond! B-Because at that time that Pink was shattered, Rose Quartz had been a recognized threat for several hundred years. There were no Rose Quartz soldiers in her entourage and none in her guard. So how did a Rose Quartz, with no business being anywhere near Pink Diamond, get so close in the first place? Where were Pink Diamond's attendants? Her Agates, Her Sapphires? And where was her Pearl? Yellow Diamond: They were with her, of course! They saw the whole thing! Defense Zircon: But none of them saw Rose Quartz approach? Wouldn't her Sapphires have seen Rose Quartz coming? Wouldn't her Agates have tried to fight her off? [...] Yellow Diamond: She must have slipped past them! Defense Zircon: Even if she did, wouldn't her Pearl have cried out an alarm, "Watch out, My Diamond!"

If Easthies could somehow tell Luluci was in genuine distress, why does he refuse to consider that it's logically impossible for Coco, who's only recently become an apprentice, to cast a forbidden spell as great as altering the landscape during the river incident? Why does Luluci receive so much kindness and understanding from the Knights Moralis? Why was Luluci's teacher punished even though the other abusive adult figures listed above have gotten away with mistreating youth like he did? Where was Ellien when her teacher turned Luluci in? Why did Easthies not punish the nobleman too even though he's supposed to hate sexual abuse? Why is Qifrey the one who has been working the hardest to investigate the Brimmed Caps, not the Knights Moralis even though they are supposed to enforce the law of magic?

Speaking of authority figures, I absolutely adore Atelia from Tweeny Witches. Despite her intimidating first impression and strict adherence to tradition and order as one of the highest authorities in the Witch Realm, this obscure anime goes out of its way to show glimpses of her humanity at multiple points even before the warlocks begins invading and her tragic past is revealed. The series is one of the most consistent pieces of media I've ever seen in general alongside the Moribito series and The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi and Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa.

#Witch Hat Atelier #Tongari Boushi no Atelier #Kamome Shirahama #Coco Witch Hat Atelier #Easthies #Luluci #Agott Arkrome #Tartah #Richeh #Eunie Witch Hat Atelier #Eunie WHA #Ellien Witch Hat Atelier #Ellien WHA #Qifrey #Coco WHA #Sasaran Witch Hat Atelier #Sasaran WHA #Dagda Witch Hat Atelier #Alaira #Galga Witch Hat Atelier #Galga WHA #Dagda WHA #Olruggio #Riliphin #Kukrow #Beldaruit #Persona 5 #Joker Persona 5 #Akira Kurusu #Ren Amamiya

[shrowdly]

do you think about how he had to draw every single one of those spells

#rotten art #witch hat atelier #witch hat sasaran #sasaran #im bad at understanding symbols so i just stuck some random stuff on that spell and called it a day #anyway sorry for getting obsessed with this horrible soaking wet cat man. as if its my fault #also he doesnt canonically have a tail but that makes me sad so i gave him one. i based it off the tail the cat thing he was fused with has

[merchantarthurn]

Witch Hat Atelier Volume 5 Special Edition Card Game

quest cards & card backs (2/3) - witches and brimhats

from everything i’ve found so far, this might be the most we have for confirmed colour schemes of Sasaran. I thought I’d include the backs of the cards since they’re animals from the world (winged horse, dragon, scalewolf). 

there’s still the “magic cards” to share - these are the main game cards, which is based on a really fun little card game called love letter!

For those who don’t know - I’m currently putting together an artwork archive for Witch Hat Atelier (link to a tweet containing Drive address, please use this tweet link if sharing this archive on tumblr). I’m still categorising everything I have, but please let me know if you’re interested in contributing - especially translation of otherwise untranslated text! (credits of any desired format will be given). Similarly, if you see a translation of yours in the archive that you don’t want up, let me know - I’ve been trying to use original images but some may have slipped through from my original collection.

Artwork: Shirahama Kamome

Scan and edits done myself

#tongari boushi no atelier #witch hat atelier #tbna #alaira #iguin #sasaran #nolnoa #easthies #wha official art #tbna official art #tbna archive #wha archive

[toadlettuces]

#witch hat atelier #tongari boushi no atelier #tbna #quifrey #coco #tetia #tartah #sasaran

[superdarkfuntimes]

Pangur-lookin beast

#witch hat atelier #sasaran #superdrawtimes

[missy-the-dragon]

Anatasama

O, you, you will destroy the encumbering human race

#witch hat atelier #wha #sasaran #witch hat fanart #witch hat tag #tbna

[thunderingblacksteel]

#Witch Hat Atelier #Kamome Shirahama #manga #mangacap #Brimmed Cap #Sasaran

[kustas]

Sorry for the incoming long rant.

I just rediscovered your blog, and I always enjoyed your thoughts on WHA and wanted to rant a little bit. I found a post of yours talking about how WHA is getting less nuanced and I feel the same way. I feel like in an effort to make every character feel like a person, the manga treats everyone’s issues as if they’re on the same level. I’m not sure if that entirely makes sense, but it feels like the manga is trying to make you sympathize with everyone to some extent, even though that doesn’t really work. For example, there is a chapter that pissed me off so much that I had to put the manga on pause. It’s the chapter where Coco shows off a spell that can clean water, and the townspeople are uninterested because they don’t need it. And the moral of the chapter is that Coco should make her spell for everyone. No. No no no. These people need to learn some damn compassion and realize that they need to help end what suffering that they are able to. The moral of the chapter should’ve been that these people need to stop thinking of only themselves. Everything else was aimed at them, so Coco’s spell didn’t need to be for them. It shouldn’t have been for them. There is also the situation with the knights. You went into this already but who gives a shit if they are offended by a grieving husband taking out his anger in them when they are a part of the system that caused his grief. The manga wants you to sympathize with everyone, and while I don’t think these people should be one dimensional their issues should not be treated on the same level as others. Anyway, sorry for the weird long rant, it’s just everyone treats this manga like it is The Most Flawlessly Progressive Manga Ever and your one of the few I’ve found who acknowledges is flaws without devaluing its strengths

Thank you for your ask! I agree with what you're saying and think you worded it very well. It's a bit of a shame it's so rare to find people openly critiquing the series in the community, while it's nothing serious (and minimized by being a bit of a hermit, lol) I've seen some animosity for doing it, I assume because many assume critiquing art means you don't like it or are opposed to what it's trying to do! Which isn't true. Granted Witch Hat Atelier contains many an obvious fantasy metaphor for real life social issues it should be under more scrutiny than normal if you ask me, because those are serious topics that affect people's real lives. I do have faith in the author's serious handling of touchy topics, but in the execution there are things I'd do differently for sure...

The manga wants you to sympathize with everyone, and while I don’t think these people should be one dimensional their issues should not be treated on the same level as others.

WHA has in its writing strong expectations from the reader regarding how you think of its cast I find hard to read through a lot - the latest arc in particular, comparatively, has much of its character based moments revolve around if they're good or bad in a way that implies it'll change how you think of a character and it disturbs me. Qifrey and Sasaran are two early examples of characters that do *not* play into that - Qifrey's beginning arcs simultaneously show him as a shady manipulator and genuinely good teacher who betters the life of his students, and it participates so much to the dramatic tension. Sasaran is a villain of the week who while shown to be a huge cunt, has a backstory that implies his original motives were not nefarious ones, and his life was not easy.

Compare this to a character like Dean who, as much as I'm a fan of his concept, falls rather flat because he's, depending on the chapter, pushed as good/bad to the reader, regarding his moral alignment. Characters who are just meant to be despicable don't have the same level of attention placed to their writing which is a similar issue. It feels insecure, like if the story was saying: we have those important characters, their role is to bring up difficult situations, please don't hate them, like them, see, they're nice too! And giving them chosen positive traits. People don't work like that and it feels cheap. Fandom's obsession with villains should show well a character being despicable doesn't make them unlikeable, and I'd like WHA's characters to be less "good"/"likeable" myself to make them a bit more human. This would detonate a fandom nuke given I still regularly see passionate debates about how mean and terrible characters like Agott or Custas are but hey

As for priorities in the depicted suffering of characters in universe - yeah, it's true some scenes feel a bit off in that department...the water cleaning scene you mention did not rub me the wrong way too hard, because it's centered around Coco, who's our main character, the story bending to give her a central role makes sense, and her unique position in witch society and how it relates to helping others are, with the responsibilities of witches, very important to the story. The apprentice backstories are an earlier example I had trouble taking too seriously because while they're all terrible, tiny silly Riche and her brother's experience with physical child abuse felt drawn with the same intensity as Agott being pushed to mental disarray by her rich fancy perfectionist family. It's all hard to complain about and might sting less if the writing was a bit less dramatic and preachy, but that might just be a me issue, I've seen many fans praise WHA's writing wholeheartedly, so...

What I am hoping is that the latest arc will conclude and lead to the shorter previous structure and we'll get individual attention brought to character stories, one after the other, instead of the all at once formula going on right now... We'll see!

#no real conclusion. if u wanna discuss more feel free to:) #ask #witch hat atelier #sounding like a broken record at this point but if you want a kids having variousproblems manga that im #o does characters right: read sunny

[drlany0n]

Cringetober day 2 - Self insert

unnecessary long ramble:

i tried to make a self insert for witch hat atelier based on my sona, they are supposed to be a professor (bc im a professor irl :p) that joined the brimhats (for some reason, idk, i didnt think that far) and has ink powers (can manipulate it like qifrey does with water)

They look like that because they are like sasaran and eunie

I might continue to use them as a wha oc not related to me, i would just have to change the bow so it doesn't match my sona and done :)

also here is a screenshot edit i made of them as a professor for fun:

i dont remember what was going on in that panel but they are definitely not a qifrey rip off,,,, nuh uh

#cringetober #witch hat atelier oc #witch hat atelier fanart #oc #i need to make actual wha fanart ik this doesn't count im sorry

[taffypointby]

Let's Cook Something Delicious! ✨WHA X DOROHEDORO💀

#sort of... kind of... #idk if it counts as a crossover tbh #witch hat atelier #tongari boushi no atelier #tbna #qifrey #orugio #olruggio #orufrey #(?) #kimd of... sort of... #iguin #sasaran #in a (pickle) pot #taffy's art #eye strain

[iukasylvie]

There's no way the Knights Moralis care about investigation and trials when the first thing they do in an incident is to brand anyone nearby as guilty and threaten to erase their memories.

Easthies doesn't check all of Coco's belongings to determine the cause of the forbidden spell during the river incident. He didn't check on Ellien or the nobleman in Luluci's backstory either.

They don't interrogate everyone present during the second test at Romonon for information on the Brimmed Caps after Iguin and Sasaran attack.

They considered erasing Qifrey's memories the moment they found him traumatized to near death as a child by the Brimmed Caps, who had already erased his memories to cover up their crimes.

They neglect their duty so much that Qifrey ends up finding and examining one half of the twin bottle given to Coco by Iguin on his own instead. It's no wonder he doesn't trust the authorities to help pursue the Brimmed Caps.

#Witch Hat Atelier #Tongari Boushi no Atelier #Kamome Shirahama #Knights Moralis #Easthies #Galga #Coco Witch Hat Atelier #Coco WHA #Agott Arkrome #Richeh #Tetia #Eunie Witch Hat Atelier #Eunie WHA #Qifrey #Dagda WHA #Dagda Witch Hat Atelier #Iguin #Sasaran #Ellien Witch Hat Atelier #Ellien WHA

[chellekumari]

Their outfits look comfy and cute :)

#fan art #digital art #Witch Hat Atelier #Δ帽子 #Tongari Boushi no Atelier #Iguin #Sasaran #Brimhats #Procreate app #sketch #sketch dump #grayscale #Stańczyk

[merchantarthurn]

some reqs from twitter, wanted to do some monochrome colouring >:3

anyway this is how it finally clicked that sasaran has human teeth

#witch hat atelier #tongari boushi no atelier #tbna #olruggio #agott #sasaran #ermile #arthur art

[dear-kumari]

Hrrnnngh, Sasaran, I’m trying to convince Coco to use forbidden magic, but I’m dummy thicc and the clap of my ass checks keeps alerting the Pointed Hats

#Witch Hat Atelier #Tongari Boushi no Atelier #Iguin #Sasaran #Coco #Brimhats #Say what you will abt Iguin #but man's got curves #dude's got cake #Kumari memes

[canon-wha-quotes]

Sasaran: Iguin, can we go mess with those pointy hats?

Iguin: Sasaran, we have things to do at home.

Sasaran: I HATE THIS FUCKING FAMILY!

#source: vine #witch hat atelier #tongari booshi no atorie #tongari boushi no atelier #atelier of witch hat #sasaran #iguin #incorrect quotes

[angies-aesthetics]

sasaran self-care kit & fashion-kit for anon

#kin #fiction kin #fictionkin #kin help #kin self care #kin self care kit #kin fashion kit #sasaran kin #witch hat atelier kin #wha kin