Crunchyroll recently released the first trailer for an upcoming fantasy series called Witch Hat Atelier at Anime Expo, which some anime fans are calling the next big fantasy anime after Delicious in Dungeon. The high praise it has been garnering isn’t just based on the fact that it is the latest non-isekai anime adaptation on the horizon; it also features music from veteran FromSoftware composer Yuka Kitamura, who worked on Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and other projects.
Witch Hat Atelier, created by Kamome Shirahama, follows a young girl named Coco who dreams of becoming a witch. Her lofty dream proves to be virtually impossible due to magic being kept from commoners like herself. That is until she discovers her she can conjure spells by drawing symbols onto the pages of her childhood picture. Unfortunately, Coco’s experimentations lead to her accidentally turning her mother and home into stone using forbidden magic. The rest of the story sees her pursue magic under the tutelage of a powerful witch named Qifrey to save her mother.
🪶‧⁺ ⊹˚.┈┈┈┈
ANIME #WitchHatAtelier
ON AIR 2025
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✦STAFF
Original Work：Kamome Shirahama
Director：Ayumu Watanabe
Character Design：Kairi Unabara
Music：Yuka Kitamura
Animation Production：BUG FILMS pic.twitter.com/G2GAJy4Wnc
— TVアニメ「とんがり帽子のアトリエ」公式 (@tongari_anime) July 5, 2024
Witch Hat Atelier is being adapted by Bug Films, the animation studio behind Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, and it has the distinction of being composed by the aforementioned Kitamura. Kitamura’s involvement in Witch Hat Atelier is the first major project Kitamura has been a part of since she left FromSoftware last year to pursue freelance work.
“I am pleased to announce that I will be composing the music of anime Witch Hat Atelier,” Kitamura wrote on her official X/Twitter account. “I am grateful and happy to be able to color the beautiful world of this animation with my music. Please look forward to more updates in the future!”
A major part of why fans are so hyped for Witch Hat Atelier is that it’s the latest project in the genre that isn’t just another run-of-the-mill isekai—a subgenre that’s quickly become the defacto storytelling framework for the genre. Isekai typically follows a Mad Libs storyline where a character from the modern age is whisked away into a fantasy setting.
With the exception of shows like Konosuba, The Eminence in Shadow, Re: Zero, and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation—which use the narrative device to either tell sidesplitting comedies or gritty dramas—the subgenre has become an oversaturated aspect of every passing anime season. A case in point is each isekai’s title being a full sentence unto itself that essentially spells out the show’s gimmick.
The added cherry on top of Witch Hat Atelier’s already top-heavy cake is the show’s spin on the hot white-haired mentor character trope (à la Kakashi Hatake and Satoru Gojo in Naruto and Jujutsu Kaisen respectively) in Qifrey. All in all, It’s safe to say anime fans’ current fantasy renaissance shows no signs of ceasing.
the holy trinity of fantasy manga adaptations is finally coming to life <33 pic.twitter.com/I63GQFWTXz
— 🍉🌿 (@shinkanes) July 5, 2024
Witch Hat Atelier, on the other hand, promises to be an exciting departure from the anime fantasy trend. In fact, anime fans are so sure of this that they’ve already categorized the anime as a member of the fantasy anime big three alongside recently released shows like Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and Delicious in Dungeon.
The buzz for Witch Hat Atelier is evident when you compare its social media engagement with other established show reveals on Crunchyroll’s X/Twitter account. As of the time of writing, Witch Hat Atelier’s official trailer post has amassed 17 thousand likes, eclipsing the social media engagement posts for the second season of Trigun Stampede, One Piece day, and the final film trilogy announcement for Demon Slayer. Elsewhere, Witch Hat Atelier official trailer post on the r/Anime subreddit was one of the most upvoted discussion threads over Anime Expo weekend, edging out season 2 announcement fervor for both Solo Leveling Hero and The Apothhacary Diaries with over 2.6 thousand upvotes.
Witch Hat Atelier is slated to release sometime in 2025 on Crunchyroll.
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.
