Witch Hat Atelier Vol 5 by Kamome Shirahama

Agott tries to find a way to reverse the spell cast on Euini, while Richeh leads the animal charges to safety through the maze. Meanwhile, Master Qifrey fights valiantly against the reanimated Romonons, but he’s been badly injured. Coco shows her cleverness in solving the riddle of the Romonons, but then they are attacked by a Brimmed Cap. Captive Master Alaria is revealed, and Coco and Tetia work together to try to save her. Then, the apprentices come together and try an idea on Euini, all for another brimmed cap to show up and divulge some of their plan to Coco.  Richeh continues to wrestle between her need to remain her own witch and learning the spells she's supposed to learn, and we get a glimpse of her past where this issue really came to a head.  We see more Knights of Moralis and the inside of the Great Hall of Witches that we’ve only heard about before.

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This volume provides a lot more insight into the Brimmed Caps, as well as the society inside the Great Hall, but there's still plenty of mystery to keep us going.  We get great reveal between Qifrey and the Brimmed Caps that leaves me with more questions.  

I really like the way each apprentice has become her own character, especially the arc of Richeh we've had in the last two volumes and the payoff in this volume.  I also really appreciate how the apprentices are still learning even though they're not at the atelier.  Putting their heads together to solve problems reveals new types of magic that are just as exciting as the seal-drawing that began Coco's journey.  As with the rest of this series, the illustrations in this volume are absolutely beautiful with an insane amount of detail.  The apprentices, for the challenge of the second test, wear mirror scale cloaks (pictured to the right). Look details on the cloak, the rest of the her clothing, and her hair.  Every page is full of illustrations of this caliber. This really is a series to fall in love with and crave every next volume.

Sara's Rating: 10/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-12

​Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4
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Publisher: Kodansha
Publication Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 9781632369291 (Paperback)

Tags: Rating: 10/10, Suitability: Elementary School, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Manga, Fantasy, Magical Girl, Kodansha

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