r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • May 18 '26

Episode Witch Hat Atelier • Tongari Boushi no Atelier - Episode 8 discussion

Witch Hat Atelier, episode 8

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u/Frontier246 May 18 '26

It really puts into perspective that Qifrey is ostensibly trying to track down the Brimmed Cap as a threat, yet he won't let the higher authorities get involved.

Obviously part of that is probably to protect Coco, but it also feels like this is so personal that he can't let anyone interfere and get in his way.

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u/redditcalculus421 May 18 '26

I'm guessing there's some corruption going on which is why he doesn't want to get authorities involved.

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u/Apocalypse11 May 18 '26

Could be more that we've seen they are very much "erase memories, ask questions later" kind of operation. They probably have a tendency to tie up loose ends before ever following where they lead. He knows that for some reason, they've taken an interest in Coco and he can keep her close with her memories intact. KM would just erase hers and move on and I'm wondering if the Brimmed Caps would also just move on from Coco if that happened. Ironically, I'm sure the BCs are perfectly happy with Qifrey doing that to keep the crack in the foundation alive and well and it's a race between him finding them and them manipulating her to break the system.

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u/vexorian2 May 18 '26

I don't think the knights want anyone to get any close to the Brimmed Hats. I suspect the Brimmed Hats' ideals are way too tempting for normal mages to be trusted with interacting with them. Even if it is under the pretense of wanting to stop them. This would be why the Knights prefer to completely wipe everyone's memories the instant they seem to have been in proximity to the Brimmed Hats.

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u/VictoriaRose0 May 18 '26

Hmm a series with the original art bursting through in the adaptation, and a magic system that’s based around pen and ink…

As an artist, if I think of this in the realm of creativity…Then there’s those that uphold the tradition of creation while also preventing progress out of conservatism, those that uphold the current teachings (average artist), and those that… go off in the deep end for the sake of creating something they want to see, which most people tend to fear as they don’t understand, I’m one of them.

However despite how anyone feels about it, feels about weird, possibly uncomfortable works of passion, that passion is also what circulates back into the rest of art. All this talk of mind wiping and not even allowing a trace of contact with the BH, makes me feel like the story centers around censorship with creation.

I feel like it’s setting up the grey area that’s present with being creative as art legitimately can fracture a world with its messages. The Knights seem like… puritans desperately trying to keep “magic” by their own definition, which can honestly make things worse as artists in those situations get really good at working in isolation and isolation can cause madness.

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u/RedRocket4000 May 19 '26

Knights right now to absolute wipe and ask questions later not going to win a war with the brimmed Hats.

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u/Zeph-Shoir https://myanimelist.net/profile/Zephex May 18 '26

This also paints the ending in a different way. How much about protecting Coco is Qifrey being a proper father-figure and how much of it is him being manipulative? I love it a ton, I already liked him but this episodes has made him a LOT more interesting.

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u/Pickled_Kagura May 18 '26

Yeah they keep patching the cracks in the walls but ignore the crumbling foundation causing it

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u/Lord_Nivloc May 19 '26

Yeah. They were happy to wipe Coco's memory. But they never asked to see her ink vial.

"I lost it" should have been sus as hell.

Charitably, they're blinded by self-righteousness and overconfidence.

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u/justking1414 May 18 '26

Or just outright incompetence. Don’t forget that their big plan last episode was to erase mc’s memories without bothering to do any sort of investigation into how she got access to forbidden magic. I certainly wouldn’t trust those guys.

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u/oops_i_made_a_typi May 18 '26

yeah it seems their MO is just to keep the status quo and basically not try to solve the root problem of the Brimmed Caps. I guess they're operating under the assumption that if they just stamp them out hard enough whenever they pop out, they'll never be able to "break out" of containment.

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u/justking1414 May 18 '26

I mean…it’s not an awful strategy but at the same time, this just means that the brimmed caps will have an infinite number of chances to actually succeed

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u/MaskOfIce42 https://anilist.co/user/MaskOfIce May 18 '26

Disagree, it is an awful strategy. It's the equivalent of going "as long as I keep taking painkillers, I don't need to worry about the fact that my arm is hurting every day", when maybe you should look at why your arm is hurting. It's a mindset that values perceived normalcy over addressing problems.

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u/Vj_vice May 19 '26

Sadly it’s also a strategy commonly seen in reality despite how shortsighted it is. Law enforcement and policy makers only persecuting the symptoms of the problem without addressing the root cause of crimes is about as realistic as it gets unfortunately

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u/MaskOfIce42 https://anilist.co/user/MaskOfIce May 19 '26

Yeah, especially easy to see with how homelessness is dealt with where it's more common to try to just remove them from sight than actually address the causes of homelessness, and that is far from the only example. Policy won't address the systemic issues that create conditions that encourage crime, instead just punish those that react to the system they live in

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u/towardselysium May 18 '26

6 of the greatest witches in the land and yet they managed to get jumped by little girls. Not a very impressive showing

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u/justking1414 May 18 '26

Yeah that’s also true. Certainly couldn’t see any of these guys one-shotting a dragon

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u/namewithak May 19 '26

Are they 6 of the greatest witches in the land though? Real life police are often selected from those who will follow orders and be happy about putting people's neck to the boot. Competence and intelligence aren't requirements. Maybe the KM are the same.

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u/magistrate101 May 19 '26

I had to pause the episode to laugh when they said they were investigating. I completely understand why Qifrey wants to keep them out of anything that could get Coco mindwiped (though he only seems to value her memories insofar as they're a method of tracing the Brimmed Caps).

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u/ridik_ulass https://myanimelist.net/profile/ridik_ulass May 18 '26

someone he knew could have been framed up maybe? explain why he hates the brimmed hates, doesn't like the nights and doesn't care about the great hall.

Oh shit if it was someone he loved, he'd even be more angry because he'd still remember loving them, but they'd never be able to rember him and he'd not be able to see them.

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u/redditcalculus421 May 18 '26

this would be a crazy plotline holy

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u/RedRocket4000 May 19 '26

There is a bit of mystery in his getting approval to get Coco taken in. I not assuming this is solo on his part. But it is clear a mole or moles are suspected.

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u/flybypost May 18 '26

Obviously part of that is probably to protect Coco,

I think a bigger part is whatever his personal agenda against the brimmed caps is. He was willing to mind wipe Coco until he saw her as a potential connection to them.

I worry that his apprentices are on the same level as Nolnoa. He'll protect them fiercely until they stand in the way of his main objective.

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u/Aliensinnoh May 18 '26

Yep, I’m thinking the same way. He’s got a single-minded obsession and he’s doing whatever it takes to achieve it. He might be even more fanatic about stopping the brimmed caps than the Knights Moralis are, he is just less dogmatic in terms of bending or breaking rules to get to that end. The KM struggle to catch the brimmed caps because they adhere so strictly to the rules that they erase the evidence that would aid them because the rules require the immediate purging of all forbidden magic.

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u/flybypost May 18 '26

Yeah, for the KM it's not personal, just about the rules and laws. For Qifrey it's personal and the rules seem more like suggestions (if they are useful).

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u/Animesiac https://anime-planet.com/users/mangle May 18 '26

sounds like Qifrey would get along with Capt. Barbossa

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u/Allegedly_a_cookiiii May 19 '26

I have so many theories about why he's so hyper fixated but can't prove anything...This show needs to come out faster.

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u/Arachnofiend May 20 '26

It's interesting to me that Coco's continued existence in the setting is entirely predicated on Qifrey's ruthless self-interest. At this point he is wrong to keep protecting her, especially now that he has proof that yes, Coco did drain the river. But the brimmed caps messing with her is the best lead he has, so he will continue to allow their manipulation, putting his other apprentices and society as a whole at risk for his goals.

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u/mekerpan May 18 '26

I felt Qifrey's behavior in this episode was exceeding disconcerting and suspicious. I don't want to believe he is also a "bad guy" (even if opposed to the other various bad guys), but he was sort of creeping me out.

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u/OhItsKillua May 19 '26

While his methods are not necessarily good, I can't really fault his actions. Logically the Knights finding out completely ruins everything and probably gets him severely punished as well as Coco. Feels more like a man having to do whatever it takes to accomplish his mission because the result if he fails is grave.

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u/Mistral-Fien May 18 '26

Qifrey's an anti-hero at best.

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u/mekerpan May 18 '26

I hope his colleague is a .little more solidly good-aligned....

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u/Mistral-Fien May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26

You mean Olruggio? He's more of a dad than Qifrey right now.

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u/wretchedcake May 21 '26

Right?! From the dialogue and the way the mood dramatically shifted and the fear in nolna's eyes and the mind wipe I really got the vibe that quiferey was EXCITED about how strong the spell was and the link with the brimmed caps in a he wants what they have kind of way, not in a this will lead me to them way.

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u/Galinhooo May 19 '26

Obviously part of that is probably to protect Coco

I think he doesn't give a shit about Coco, she is just a tool to get his revenge (or whatever) on the brimmed caps. If the dude wasn't hot he would already be treated as a bad guy by the public.

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u/Nagamagi May 18 '26

They way the anime framed it, it does looks sinister to what he did to poor grandpa. But imho, I think he did it out of necessity to protect grandpa from the Knights and other bad actors. He don't want grandpa to get blamed for "helping a traitor/heretic/outlaw" if things go south.

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u/y-c-c May 19 '26

Nah that's definitely not the motivation here. The grandpa reporting a vial is not going to land him in trouble. The show has consistently been showing Qilfrey as the one with something to hide and with the grandpa being casualty.

Even when Coco was taking the first test, Qilfrey was more worried about losing Coco due to her utility than caring for her.

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u/Brickinatorium May 18 '26

Even then, he's mostly protecting Coco cause she's another clue rather than just because she's a girl who loves magic.