Coco goes to the pool to wash clothes in Witch Hat Atelier episode 1. The deer stares at the girl. She apologizes to him for polluting the water. She comforts him that it will restore to original condition soon. Because the spring water was enchanted. The deer drinks the spring water. Coco looks at the pool. She thinks it’s very beautiful, and magic is really powerful.
The Magic That Started Everything
Coco walks in the woods. She says that magic is everywhere in the world. It’s the convenient miracle that is indispensable. But nobody knows the principle behind it. The only one who can use magic is mage. Ordinary people can only accept help from magic. They cannot become mages.
Coco is on the roof. She’s envy of the people who were born to be mages. She grabs the sheets. She asks them to turn into flying capes. The sheets begin to fly. She chases one of the sheets. She manages to catch it. She sees someone driving a flying carriage. She’s excited to come down from the roof. She tells her mother that there’s a flying carriage outside. She opens the door. She sees the guest Qifrey. Qifrey is a man who wears glasses. Coco apologizes to him for not noticing him. He smiles. He thinks he should apologize. Because he blocked the doorway.
Coco sees the guests talking about the clothes in the room. She figures it out that those ladies took the flying carriage to come. The lady asks Coco’s mother for the lace clothing. Coco’s mother sees Coco. She thinks she should help her since she’s at home. She asks Qifrey what he wants to buy. He wants a gray fabric. But it’s fine if she’s very busy. Coco volunteers to measure Qifrey. Coco’s mother tells the guy that her daughter is very skilled. Coco tells her mother that she wants to go to see the flying carriage after she does the job. But Coco’s mother goes against it. She thinks Coco shouldn’t touch the guest’s stuff. Coco comforts her mother that she just wants to take a look at it. She comforts her that she won’t say that she wants to be a mage. Coco’s mother agrees.
Coco asks Qifrey about the size he wants to get. He hands over a paper to her. She takes off a fabric from the shelf. She measures the fabric. She cuts it. He takes the fabric. He’s surprised that there’s a top tailor in the village. He thinks it’s like magic. But she denies it. She thinks magic should be more spectacular. She covers her face with her hands. She regrets for saying it. He learns that she likes magic very much. He wants to know the reason. Coco was taken to the city to attend a ceremony when she was a child. She ran into a masked mage.
It flashes back. Coco walks into a building. Masked Mage asks her if she wants to buy magic picture books. Coco doesn’t know what is magic, although she likes picture books. He tells her that magic is the miracle that add a splash of color for the world. He points at the glowing cobblestone path under her feet. She’s excited after she saw the magic. She expresses that she likes magic when she steps on it. Masked Mage gives a wand to Coco after the little girl got the magic picture book.
Coco meets her mother at the ceremony. Coco’s mother learns that Coco bought a picture book. She mentions what she said that she wanted to eat roasted strawberries. Coco tells her mother that she ran into a person who wore a magic hat. She is overjoyed to dance after she got the magic picture book and the wand. She wants to be the mage who adorns the world. Coco’s mother tells Coco that it’s impossible. Because she wasn’t born with magical powers. But the floor glows when Coco steps on it. She’s happy to run into her mother’s arms. Coco’s mother tells Coco that she can use magic if the floor can light up until they go home. But the floor doesn’t light up. Coco feels very down.
At present, Coco cries to tell Qifrey that she didn’t want to give up. He asks her to explain in more detail about what happened at that time. But they hear the sound coming from outside. Coco runs out of her house. The carriage is broken. She asks the two boys what happened. The boy claims that he did nothing. But another boy reports to Coco that the boy Tanaru crawled under the carriage. His head hit the carriage so that the carriage overturned.
The three ladies show up. They’re surprised after they saw the broken carriage. Coco’s mother takes the two boys to apologize to the ladies. She thinks the kids in the village aren’t being good. The lady thinks it doesn’t work even if Coco’s mother apologizes. They cannot go home without the carriage.
Qifrey touches the carriage. He volunteers to fix it. He tells the people that the damage isn’t that bad. The lady asks him who he is. She doesn’t trust the stranger. He takes out his magic hat. He wears it. He says that he’s a mage. He can fix the carriage. He just needs to cast a spell on the carriage floor. But it’s not convenient to do it outside. Coco begs the guy to use the studio in her shop. She convinces her mother. Because Qifrey is a real mage. She believes that she will witness the moment that he casts a spell.
Outside the studio, Coco remember Qifrey asked her to watch outside, not letting anyone peek. She shouldn’t let anyone in no matter what happens. She complains that life isn’t easy. But she wonders why she cannot look at it. There’re many spells in the world. But she doesn’t know how to spell. Only mage knows it.
Coco notices that the two boys are trying to peek from the roof. She joins them. But they fail because the curtain blocks their view. The boys are unhappy to leave. Coco comes down from the roof to pick up her picture book. She peeks at Qifrey. She sees him drawing. She learns that magic is drawn by a pen.
The carriage flies away after Qifrey fixed it. Coco’s mother says goodbye to the ladies. She feels relieved. She mistook that Coco would go with the mage since she loved magic so much. She brings up that Coco was gone after he was sick. She worries that Coco will leave as well. Coco claims that she won’t leave her mother all alone. Coco’s mother hugs Coco. She thinks she’s a thoughtful child.
In the evening, Coco and her mother have dinner together at home. She says good night to her after the dinner. Coco returns to her room. She remembers her mother worried that she would go with the mage. She opens the wand. She discovers that the wand is a pen. She realizes that the wand wasn’t just a free gift. She apologizes to her mother. She wants to give it a try.
Coco draws a drawing. She creates a magic. She’s excited. She worries that she will bring trouble. But she draws another spell.
Qifrey sleeps in the forest. He minds the picture book. He realizes something. He gets up from the ground. In Coco’s room, Coco creates fire magic. She’s anxious to put out the fire. She figures it out that her magic will be powerful as long as she draws neatly. She puts the picture book under the paper. She follows the picture in the book. She creates the spell. But Qifrey carries Coco out of the house. They fly in the sky. He asks her what magic she drew. She doesn’t know. Because she just followed the picture book. They notice that the house is beginning to freeze.
Coco realizes that her mother is still in the house. She worries about her mother. Coco’s mother walks out of the house. She calls Coco. Coco sees the ice reaching her mother. She yells at her mother. She asks her to flee. But it’s too late. Her mother is frozen by the ice. Qifrey recognizes the magic. It’s Forbidden Magic. Coco slaps him. She wants to go to save her mother. He tells her that her mother cannot be saved. Because the magic is evil. He takes her to fly away. She wipes off her tears. She says that she knew nothing. He thinks it’s reasonable that she didn’t know it. Because it was concealed for preventing it. Special ink and special magic circle. Anyone can use magic as long as he has it. It’s the top secret among mages. He must erase her memory since she has known it. She shakes her head. She doesn’t want to accept it. She knows she cannot save her mother if her memory is erased. But he doesn’t feel sorry for her. He asks her to take care of herself. She tells him that she remembers the pictures of the picture book. He realizes that she can help him catch those guys. He tells her that she can save her mother as long as she knows which magic circle she drew. She promises him that she will do anything for him as long as he can save her mother. She will keep the secret. But he asks her to learn magic. She needs to be the side who owns the secret if she doesn’t want to be erased the truth she has known. She has no choice. She’s mage from now on.
Everyone makes mistakes. Coco is different. She’s an innocent girl who wants to learn magic. She happened to come across a magic picture book. But she doesn’t know how to use it until Qifrey visits the village. It’s a good thing that she doesn’t know the secret of magic. So she would live her mother all her life in the village. But she touches the forbidden magic. She kills her mother. She doesn’t know it would kill her mother. She thinks it’s just a game she plays.
Coco gets the ending because she lacks reverence to magic. She doesn’t stop even if she creates magics many times. She knows her mother doesn’t want her to touch magic, and her mother doesn’t want to lose her. But she ignores it all. She only has magic in her mind. The person Coco cares for leaves the world. Coco deeply regrets it. But the damage has already been done. Her mother cannot come back to life. Fortunately, Qifrey gives her hope.
Qifrey is diligent and responsible as a mage. He knows the risk of magic. So he disallows Coco to peek. But he underestimates her thirst for knowledge. He comes back to save Coco after she cast the Forbidden Magic. But he fails to save her mother. He does what he can do. The problem is the girl.