I read Witch Hat Atelier, a manga by Shirahama Kamome.

It’s a fantasy story about a young witch named Coco and her introduction to the magical world. Her friends and fellow witches and teacher play a crucial role her journey.

The story uses a hard magic system where drawing symbols in specific ways enables casting spells. A major challenge throughout the story so far is that the knowledge of how to cast magic is to be kept a secret from non-witches.

Drawing as magic is very fitting for manga as a medium. Figuratively the author is casting magic with the story as well.

I have to praise the art. It is very beautiful and detailed, particularly the characters, clothing and surprisingly the water spells.

The story is still ongoing. At this point 15 volumes have been released.

Coco solves her problems with a childlike ingenuity that is very endearing to watch.

The overall manga is filled with uplifting characters and messages. It is a very wholesome story – for the most part. It can get serious in bursts, but even then at least one character always seems to stay hopeful.

Recommendation: Yes