REVIEW: ‘Witch Hat Atelier’ Episode 13 – “Forbidden Magic”

In the dynamic finale, Witch Hat Atelier Episode 13 circles back to one critical point: this is a story continually threatened by the oppressive force of darkness. We see it first when Coco’s (Rena Motomura) mom is turned to stone. And it appears later, in Episode 5, when she, Agott (Hibiku Yamamura), Richeh(Hika Tsukishiro), and Tetia (Kurumi Haruki) face down an enormous dragon in a pocket realm labyrinth. That encroaching darkness is evident in the brief, looming appearances by the Brimmed Caps, and Qifrey’s (Natsuki Hanae) clear secrecy, and the sense of rigid order by the Knights Moralis and the ableism Tartah faces by the magic community. 

In “Forbidden Magic,” that sense of an inevitable standoff comes to fruition with a beautiful display of decadent artistry and subtle character acting. Because while there are certainly cozy and cute moments of the girls practicing their magic at Qifrey’s atelier, the more pressing theme has always been how magic manifests, for whom, and the laws that witches must follow, lest they step off the formed path carved for them to traverse by a history of trial and error and broken human connections. 

The threats they face break off into two camps. There’s Agott, Richeh, and Euini (Hiiro Ishibashi), having to run from the genuinely terrifying Brimmed Cap, Sasaran (Ryūsei Nakao), and then Qifrey, Coco, and Tetia, who are attacked by a Golem the moment Qifrey turns back towards the cave, alarmed by the arrival of Alaira’s hat, a beacon of clear distress. 

Ryūsei Nakao delivers a chilling performance as the Brimmed Cap without a body. 

Witch Hat Atelier Episode 13 generates a palpable sense of fear in the first portion, aided immensely by Nakao’s unsettling performance. The story picks up with effective immediacy as Agott, Richeh, and Euini tear through the Serpent Path in a desperate race. It even allows for small, but necessary, character moments, such as Euini catching himself when he starts to say “I can’t” before trying to find a solution. 

Push comes to shove, and the three apprentices show what they’re capable of. Euini using his cloak to cover the three of them is proof of his ability to improve, no matter what his master told him. Agott truly demonstrates her adaptability, though, when she realizes she can use Alaira’s spell to transform the path into ice, bypassing the rule that they can’t fly by using a sled Richeh makes to steer, using the overpowered sylph shoes from Coco to gain momentum. There’s even the very childlike response from Agott when she tells Euini, “she doesn’t want to talk” about why her shoes are so fast. 

But it all comes to a head when Agott, somewhat foolhardy, tries to lie to Sasaran. She realizes that it is Coco who is the linking figure, the reason they’re all getting attacked, and tells them that she is no longer with the atelier. Of course, Sasaran sees through the lie and threatens more directly, telling Agott that she’ll be used as bait and a means to force Coco’s hand into using forbidden magic. It’s a chilling sequence that demonstrates how green these students are not just in the ways of magic, but also in knowing the capacity for human cruelty. 

Witch Hat Atelier Episode 13 pushes the characters to the brink of their abilities. 

All three have faced their own neglect, abuse, or dismissal. They know what it’s like to have to protect or stand up for themselves (or, in Euini’s case, find somewhere to be alone), and still, the Brimmed Caps make it clear the lengths they’re willing to go to force the hands of young witches into using forbidden magic. Sasaran alone preys on their fears and insecurities, promising each of them the ability to be “their ideal self.” While none of them succumb to the taunting, the writing makes it clear why they’d go after children still stuck in the throes of apprenticeship, especially ones who have something to prove. 

And it’s through this standoff that we see the true limitations of Richeh. She saves Agott with her quick thinking and Euini’s help, but even as they fled via the ice, she had to admit to Euini that she didn’t know a lot of spells. And, once Euini is captured and transformed, she has to reckon with Agott’s harsh but honest words: Richeh isn’t as adaptable, having tailored her learning to spells she likes, rather than ones that are widespread and flexible. She’s hit the limits of what she can do on her own. 

It’s a realization that comes at a devastating moment and one that speaks, again, to the heightened stakes they’re up against. Witch Hat Atelier Episode 13 is, on the whole, stunning and haunting, with its use of light and shadows and the thrumming energy of Yuka Kitamura’s score. But it’s during Euini’s forced transformation where the finale truly strikes its (first) most impactful chord.

The story reaches its visual peak during Euini’s painful transformation. 

Directed by Masamitsu Abe and Shun Shinohara, and storyboarded by series director Ayumu Watanabe, the scene transforms the frame as darkness encloses Euini, the shadows of his cloak taking hold of him. With Sasaran’s forbidden magic, Euini is transformed into a scalewolf. The sequence elicits a sense of pressing, visceral horror, the moment channeling a nauseating, stomach-churning dread as Sasaran uses Euini’s solace against him. Now, instead of being able to hide in his shadow cloak, he’s transformed into a beacon of magical residue, physically transformed into a form Euini will want to hide from the world. 

The sequence, as he claws himself into frame, seeming to drag the shadow form behind him as his body slowly contorts, is executed with a shocking amount of restraint. Rather than lose itself in dizzying spectacle, the direction instead lends itself to poise and precision to amplify the agony. All of which builds to a crescendo, where the scene’s lights go out, plunging us and the characters into a veil of darkness as Euini’s transformation is complete, the spiraling white lines highlighting the enormity of what just transpired. 

Witch Hat Atelier Episode 13 achieves even a greater sense of frustration in the face of Euini’s fate with Richeh’s reaction. The character acting as her face warps into furious horror, and Hika Tsukishiro’s tremendous performance lends the scene a sense of fear buzzing in the air. And this is especially true once she’s left behind by Agott. Agott will go to save Euini, while Richeh will guide the myrphons to the end of the cave to get help. 

With “Forbidden Magic,” Witch Hat Atelier finds a perfect place to hit pause. 

It’s a fantastic place for Season 1 to leave the three on, all having to prove to themselves and others that they’re capable of growth. Meanwhile, Qifrey, Coco, and Tetia have a different, equally pressing matter to confront. While they don’t get as much screentime in Witch Hat Atelier Episode 13, their moments are punctuated by a sense of unease that is both similar to and distinct from the main plot. Because part of that unease lies close to the chest of Qifrey, whose ongoing secrecy becomes clear in the finale. 

Having been struck in the back by falling debris while trying to guide his students to safety, he’s knocked unconscious. And while there’s an inescapable sweetness to the clear evidence that he tried to keep his students safe, even as they were in freefall, it doesn’t change his reaction when Coco, trying to wake him, moves to resettle his glasses, the grey lens cracked. He startles awake, grabbing her arm, before moving to hold her close, as if to keep her from harm’s way. 

But the animation from Bug Films makes it clear that this wasn’t an offensive move, but a defensive one. He doesn’t want her to touch his face, and Natsuki Hanae’s gasp of surprise sells it. And it makes the incoming moment all the more wrapped in inescapable tension as they’re approached by the people or Romonon who were turned to gold by witches in the days when they ruled freely. People who, rightfully, hold a great deal of resentment towards witches. 

Qifrey’s secrets take a back seat to his need to protect his students in Witch Hat Atelier Episode 13. 

It’s the second-most haunting sequence in the finale as the golden, statuesque people clamber into frame, at odds with human physicality yet bearing their features. It’s a startling bit of work deliberately discordant with the rest of its surroundings. Qifrey isn’t at his best, bloody and battle-torn, his cloak unable to shield him. And the anime does a good job at selling the raw nerves post the brief interaction with Coco. And despite it all, despite the secrets and withholding, we believe he’ll protect Coco and Tetia with everything he has, as he stands up to face the growing forces of the Romonon people on his own, back to his students to keep them hidden. 

The direction once again uses a flash of black-and-white animation, with overly textured linework and a swoosh of flowing movement, as if Qifrey’s spell were transforming the world around them. The tactility of his hair and cloak, billowing with power, is effective. In just a brief moment, the series demonstrates its clear ambition with a sweeping cliffhanger that ends the season. 

Witch Hat Atelier Episode 13 is a stunning, exemplary finale that beautifully positions the characters as they’re forced onto new, divergent paths. Possessing some truly remarkable sequences and emotional moments of creeping despair, “Forbidden Magic” suggests even greater wonders to come while drumming up thrilling anticipation as we wait to see how these characters will triumph over their adversaries. 

Witch Hat Atelier Episode 13 is available now on Crunchyroll. 

Previous Episode