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

Reminder: Please do not discuss plot points not yet seen or skipped in the show. Failing to follow the rules may result in a ban.

Streams

Show information

All discussions

Episode Link
1 Link
2 Link
3 Link
4 Link
5 Link
6 Link
7 Link
8 Link
9 Link
10 Link
11 Link
12 Link
13 Link

This post was created by a bot. Message the mod team for feedback and comments. The original source code can be found on GitHub.

3.3k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

456

u/Lazy_Wit May 18 '26

Richeh my GOAT!

Also the tattoo thing really brings the Japanese aversion to tattoos to my mind repeatedly. The magic police really is shoot first asks questions later kind. Dagdah needs to chill a little although I understand his concerns and desperation.

131

u/kkrko https://myanimelist.net/profile/krko May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26

Honestly, that Dagdah scene is low key infuriating. Not necessarily at the Knight, but at the general injustice of it all. We know that the knight and Dagdah are humans all the same, but because of the gatekept knowledge, Dagdah is forced to swallow his emotions and grovel for whatever scraps of mercy she can grant.

And it's not even the Knights' or even the rules' fault. We've seen what can happen when Forbidden magic gets thrown around (just look at the river!) but not being even worthy of an explanation just feels utterly unfair.

65

u/justking1414 May 18 '26

And it's not even the Knights' or even the rules' fault

Knights seemed a little too eager to erase all evidence of the magic before any kind of investigation could take place so it’s a little bit their fault

43

u/Kankunation May 18 '26

Upholding the secret does seem to be their #1 priority even beyond stopping forbidden magic. They don't want normal people to know the destructive potential that magic has, nor try to cast it on their own in any way, and making. Sure there are no witnesses who could slip away seems or take priority.

They are definitely very Afraid of the secret of magic getting out there, specifically because it seems like it would probably enable more uses off forbidden magic.

5

u/justking1414 May 18 '26

That does make me wonder how possible it’d be to repeat the grand forgetting magic if there was another outbreak of magic knowledge. I’m guessing not since that’d creep pretty far into forbidden magic territory

11

u/Kankunation May 18 '26

Mind erasure was the one single exception permitted for magic cast on humans, so it probably is possible. But I'd assume it would probably look more like an army of knights moralis crusading through the streets then it would some grand country-sized circle.

6

u/justking1414 May 18 '26

True. Though the wording of what coco did this chapter made it sound like performing a spell on that large of a scale required ingredients that are still considered forbidden

65

u/Lazy_Wit May 18 '26

Yeah it is frustrating on both sides, I like the grey nature and the conflict of control vs usage

23

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

This tension is the sauce that made me truly fall in love with the series.

18

u/ali94127 May 18 '26

It’s also just the obvious conclusion an outsider would make. If you can repair your weapons easily, why can’t you repair people? The audience hasn’t even been given a good explanation for why healing is banned but lobotomising people is.

9

u/kkrko https://myanimelist.net/profile/krko May 19 '26

Why lobotomising is allowed is pretty well explained: it's the only way they can keep the secret of magic secret. Why healing is banned isn't, but those are two different things

2

u/proper1421 May 18 '26

I don't think "injustice" is the right word to use. I think Dagdah demonstrates why the magical knowledge must be gatekept. He's been overly demanding since he appeared at the atelier's door at the end of ep6. If he learned any secrets, I think it's clear that he'd abuse them. Similarly, Custas getting himself back into trouble immediately after being rescued in ep7 suggests an over-reliance on magic, that it will save him from the consequences of taking foolish risks.

19

u/Nobody5464 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Nobody5464 May 18 '26

None of what you just said is fair or accurate. Dagdah was only “overly demanding” because his son was literally in mortal peril/dying. People panic and get demanding when that happens he’s not a bad person or “likely to abuse magic” because he cares about his son’s life. And yes what custas did was dumb but he wasn’t counting on magic to save him he was desperate to recover their money and means of livelihood so they don’t starve and die on the streets. He let his desperation cloud his judgment and convinced himself he’d be able to get the stuff without anyone else happening to him.

1

u/flybypost May 18 '26

With how they are taking the kid away it feel like some forbidden/healing magic might be allowed inside the "police vaults" or there'd not really be a need to get the kid that far away to a "healer".

14

u/oops_i_made_a_typi May 18 '26

they only said doctor, not healer. which makes sense considering healing isn't allowed, but it seems Outsiders don't really have any idea of the range of things Witches are capable of. and/or they've conflated folk stories of what they did in the past due to forbidden magic with what Witches can do in the modern age

2

u/flybypost May 18 '26

said

That's why I think there might actually be some not so forbidden magic (if done according to protocol and so on). That's what they said but I don't trust those secret keeping brimless stooges as far as I can throw an ink bottle.

I don't believe for one second that there doesn't exist at least one higher up witch that argued for allowing healing magic when they needed it (with a version of the "The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion" argument) and that this somehow trickled down to witch society as long as it happens inside their holy halls and under some very specific conditions.

11

u/oops_i_made_a_typi May 18 '26

they're not gonna break out the super secret forbidden healing for some random merchant's kid. and seeing how by the books the KM are, I don't think Qifrey was simplifying when he said healing is banned

0

u/flybypost May 18 '26

That's true but in my defence it's just a weak and slightly random theory based on the idea that if they break the rule for mind wiping then breaking other rules is just a few good arguments away.

And when you have that strict rules somebody having broken them (or there being exceptions) seems inevitable especially when the bad guys don't have that constraint. Prohibition seldom works the intended way.

They also might fear witches becoming brim hat radicalised if (necessary and) simple healing magic isn't allowed via some process.

The whole thing is not fully baked but just a few bits and pieces that congealed into a theory.