Witch Hat Atelier: The Importance of Representation

hi i just want to say that you have a beautiful voice

the amount of both invisible AND visible disability rep I've seen in WHA genuinely feels like it heals a part of me that rarely ever truly got recognized by media without the 'fix-it' troupe applied to it.

my only problem is why is this a seinen jfc why cant some things be josei?? whyy

❤ the gay witch couple and the lesbian doctors are so cool! ❤

tetia being a trans girl... MY EYES ARE NOW OPENED

Thanks for the spoiler warning at the beginning, that was the fastest "NOPE" in my life

This was very interesting to watch, i really enjoyed this! Thanks for your amazing work!

I also want to point out that in the world of WHA itself, there doesn’t seem to really be a specific culture of homophobia and classism as we know it. No one bats an eye at Galga and Atwort, and I’m sure sure Agott won’t hate herself for liking Coco specifically because she’s a girl, if we ever get to that, there are tons of poc witches and they don’t get treated any differently purely because of their skin
Despite that, wha still manages to accurately portray the problems minorities face in real life and i think that’s amazing

When I first read the part where Atwert was told he basically is no one to Galga and as such has no right to take him in, it broke my heart, it reminded me that living as an lgbt couple with my partner in the very lbgt un-friendly country that we currently are, in the eyes of the law we are no one to each other and probably never will be, this scene hit way too close to home

Damn this really is the owl house on steroids

I also really like how Qifreys queerness is written. It’s not made out to be anything special of explicit like Galga and Atwet and that’s what makes it so special to me. Because it’s not outed or isolated, it’s just there and natural and even though people will try to deny it it’s still undeniable

trying to do the math of how many chapters were available when this video came out compared with where i'm at in the show

I was listening to this while trying to fall to sleep and I immediately froze up in fear when you mentioned that agott and coco don't have a chance together.
Thankfully I saw the correction on screen. My arcko heart is relieved and delighted. Can't wait to hear more of your inputs when the new chapters are published!

Love the video! Another thing not mentioned here that I noticed while reading the story up to the latest chapters out now (spoiler alert)



Is that the Silverwood infection that Qifrey and Custas experiences seems to me like a metaphorical representation of childhood trauma, specifically repression. Just like how the traumatized mind represses the painful memories to protect itself in the short term, the silverwood seed heals the physical trauma for temporary protection. However, in both cases, the fix is only delaying the inevitable storm.

A repressed trauma will eventually resurface later in life when the mind feels safe and comfortable, threatening to consume the victim completely unless the source of the trauma is addressed and processed. Just as the Silverwood tree consumes its victims body when they find their true comfort and sanctuary.

Both conditions deny their victims peace of mind, encouraging them to fill their lives with distractions and stress to occupy the mind.

i also love the diversity of family structures shown in witch hat! olruggio & qifrey’s atelier as a family, custas & dagda as an adopted family, etc etc. it also regularly shows men in nurturing and parental roles, which i love

As someone figuring out their neurodivergence at 18 after a childhood of emotional struggles and pain, reading Witch Hat Atelier genuinely healed a part of my soul.
I'm so glad you recognized Cocos ADHD cause she is just like me fr and it means so much to have a protagonist like her. Adhd confirmed and planed or not, just her having so much of it and being so loved makes me cry happy tears like damn people can like me!
Utowin......20 chapters about him by tomorrow or I'm blowing myself up. I took a screenshot of every panel it just HIT me like a truck. The authors understanding of him not being a stubborn brat but a unwilling hyperactive adhd kid who can't get himself to care or do the school work.....MAN I WISH I HAD THAT UNDERSTANDING WOULD THAT HAVE BEEN NICE!!!! I'm type inattentive so I can't fully relate to the adhd type hyperactive boy experience but oh I also can. I can. Thank you Shirahama, from the bottom of my heart.
Richeh all though autistic, the overlap of neurodivergent individuality awoke so many memories of my childhood. Even when facing rejection sensitivity dysphoria at the end of the day I still refused to do and follow the neurotypical ways. It felt like everyone was crazy and trying to shape me into something that isn't me and even if I had to be lonely so be it. Her unmovable will at such a young, her being accepted by others and not told to completely change but to adapt in her own way is so encouraging to see it had my heart twisting. Also her meat obsession and lack of emoting and monotone voice is also relatable to me and everyone else not commenting about and taking it as just her being her oh I'm ill.
Eiuni might not be considered neurodivergent but his social anxiety is enough to be classified as a disorder to me and even if not its still mentally debilitating. I had gone through it in my life and not enough or to that extent yet seeing him and Richeh bounce of each other and grow together? It felt like watching my neurodivergent stubborn individuality and my social anxiety from RSD fighting and accepting each other and this arc will stay my personal favorite for a long time coming I fear.(not)
Even characters with physical disabilities like Custas rage at the world not being made for him and having solutions but refusing to apply them cause unless they are in his situation nobody truly understands the severity of it or cares enough. Like ok, yeah. Go nuts kid you deserve the crash out I'm his nr1 defender and proud what about it?!
Also Qifrey and spoilers for manga rn but his literally a chronic illness and him even before knowing he actually has it still feeling like something is different about himself form the rest. Isolating and chosing loneliness to protect himself from the rest who look at him like he is an evil alien. Putting on a tuff "I was only using you leave me alone" persona to hide his actual yearning for relationships. Finding out his condition and wishing to cut his friend off cause of the realization of how much it hinders and jabs at their relationship. Like ok bro just stab me 1729 times who cares atp.
Also Luluci.

Just another reason why Witch Hat Atelier is perfect ❤

I happened upon this video post becoming obsessed with the new anime coming out and also getting a few volumes of the manga. I'm so excited to see all these themes and ideas play out in the anime, and I am planning on catching up with the manga. Especially seeing how the themes of disability and abilism will play out interests me because, as you said, most fantasy stories make magic a "fix" instead of something far more interesting and impactful.

Inspiring video! Just started watching WHA because I read the main character was probably gay and the show was under homophobia, didn't know the representation was so deep into the show. I'm colorblind and can't wait to see the colorblind character too. Your video enhanced the show's experience for me a lot, thank you!

I can't wait to watch this, but it has spoilerssssssssssssss aaaaaa

I think bleach should get even more credit

Imma save this for later.

The thing about Witch Hat Atelier is: It is made for everyone.
Whether a child is reading or an adult, you find your place in the story. When you are a child, you might look up to the creativity and how to treat those around you. Unlike most manga, it is kindness that is rewarded here. Sometimes it fails, but the kindness is all around the main cast and they solve every problem through it. Not with it, but through it (as in how they escaped the dragon by offering a bed. Not making it sleep, but offering it to sleep).
And despite the systemic unjustices, the adults are patient with every single child they encounter. To individualize everyone's teaching and making sure that they can improve themselves AND everyone.

I never thought of tetia as trans and now that the idea of her being trans is like known to me i really enjoy it

''the impoortance of representation''

Bro can i vote dislike more than once? is that a fucking option?

This whole push for people having this incessant need of needing to be like ''OMFG LITERALLY ME'' is merely some of the most egocentric shit around lmao.

This was a very fun episode to listen to while cooking. Thank you for making it!

Love this so much of Witch Hat Atelier

I really appreciate the perspective this manga takes, seeing characters as whole people instead of collections of tropes, and having them interact as such- it’s really refreshing.

Natural representation is an integral part of this story. It is accepted as part of Coco’s world. I’m a savage critic of forced representation, but Witch Hat impressed me because of good character design and ‘real’ characters. I’ve read the manga past chapter 90 so can comment. However, most anime and manga would be RUINED by forced representation!

i like the Parrales they draw with the gay couple to real life because the biggest issue with the absence of gay marriage is medical issues because in such situations their significant other is no better than a stranger to the system. Which is ALSO why a lot of gay couples in japan started adopting each other to be considered family as a kind of loophole in the same way galagha became atwerts apprentice

Omg I'm not reading the manga and the anime is only at 6 episodes so far, definitely saving this to watch later on!!

I just started watching the anime recently, thanks to react channels on this platform, because I don't have the money for manga, it is actually because of the anime that I found your channel at all. I have now subscribed, and will be watching more of your content. I know this video is a year old or older, but I needed to hear this.

Witch Hat is fundamentally a story about class differences and oppression, but also about changing the world for the better with the utlity and beauty of magic, a quite obvious metaphor for the arts. When I consider that, I'm not at all surprised at Shirahama's depth and focus on good representation haha! There is also has a plus size character (Queen Zayamaia) who although is a very minor character, is treated with so much respect by not only her family and husband (who adores her btw) and her fatness is never acknowledged! Its just how she is which I feel is so important because fat people are so often ridiculed or made to feel different simply for their bodies.

Nice essay video, a bit eh on Custas being stated as matter of-factly inspired of ainu/romani, if you can cite source of Shirahama officially admit she took inspo from these people, that'd be great! Otherwise I dont think putting a hc in an essay vid is a wise idea. If anything, it was the old lady that taught Dagda about music that might be inspired from romanian, but for Dagda and Custas themselves are still debatable since they just happen to inherit the minstrel arts from the nomadic tribe in order to survive poverty.

WHA is one of the few works I can get behind with "representation", mainly because it intertwine the rl issues translated into fantasy setting so seamlessly and respectfully. Which is rare for medias nowadays bcs they just slap queerness to boost sales/viewership even if it feels forced to the plot itself (in other words, just put it there to shut people up). If I may add, racism and xenophobia in WHA is near to non-existent due to how the world-building works, the black and brown people are seen blending without issue as 'already' part of the people, which I appreciate from Shirahama since it's what an ideal world should be like (The classism, ableism and poverty is profoundly shown tho)

i disagree.

Coming back to this video just to give it the love it deserves now the anime adaptation is out!!

YWNBAW flag got

I love Witch Hat!!! I only just got into it recently, but there’s so many things that the creator does so well and I am so inspired by their story, and their inclusivity. I aspire for my stories that I work on to be as creative and inclusive to others :3

Eh... Nah, after seeing a lot of fuss in fandoms like with Gachiakuta and even an unrelated specific interview and people's reaction to that it makes more evident that representation doesn't matter, especially in fiction, it's simply a choice of the author, but not something that has to be done in all manga/anime even so because there's characters that are not even necessarily human plus created with many different levels of stylization, you can create a diverse cast without realistic representation.

I don't know where it came from that anime or manga somehow "needs" to "represent" anything or anyone, authors should do what they like in their own way without any media pressure on such things, and tbh most manga artists could care less about representation because it's simply not the point of the work, it's not even out of disrespect for different races or anything it simply has nothing to do with it, in the case of Atelier since it's a fantasy anime with a medieval type setting technically creating characters with more realistic faces can help in terms of displaying different human like races in the work but, it's not a rule at all, actual representation is something that matters in real life, and some people have made great representation including in some movies yet there's also a lot of bad representation one that just failed a lot of potential great outcomes in the West.