Things are about to get magical, now that the highly anticipated anime adaptation of Witch Hat Atelier has been set for an April 2026 premiere window. The announcement comes by way of a new teaser trailer introducing the two main characters: Coco and her magician mentor Qifrey (welcome back, Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen), voiced by Rena Motomura (Kyoka Kitahara in Maebashi Witches) and Natsuki Hanae (Tanjiro Kamado in Kimestu no Yaiba: Demon Slayer), respectively.
Opening with scenes of Coco performing day-to-day chores in a rural setting, it follows her discovery of magic, otherwise referred to as “the absolute secret that must never be known”. After witnessing Qifrey’s casting of it by drawing a sigil, she attempts to perform the same action, only to trigger the magical energy in her home and ends up being saved by the travelling witch, setting the stage for her becoming his apprentice — alluded to in the final shot, where Coco receives her very own witch hat.
Ayumu Watanabe (Summer Time Rendering) serves as director on the project, which features character designs by Kairi Unabara (Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn) and a musical score by Elden Ring composer Yuka Kitamura. New key visuals for both characters were also revealed:
Originally scheduled to air in 2025, Witch Hat Atelier announced a delay in September, with studio Bug Films citing the reason “to present the charm of the project at an even higher quality.” The anime is based on Kamome Shirahama’s manga, which has sold more than seven million copies to date and offers the following synopsis:
“In a world where everyone takes wonders like magic spells and dragons for granted, Coco is a girl with a simple dream: she wants to be a witch. But everybody knows magicians are born, not made, and Coco was not born with a gift for magic. Resigned to her un-magical life, Coco is about to give up on her dream to become a witch … until the day she meets Qifrey, a mysterious, travelling magician. After secretly seeing Qifrey perform magic in a way she’s never seen before, Coco soon learns what everybody “knows” might not be the truth, and discovers that her magical dream may not be as far away as it may seem…“
Witch Hat Atelier casts its spell sometime next April.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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