#whanalysis

Crazy how early the panelling/framing/bending of the fourth wall starts, wow. Literally the first 2-page illustration of the entire manga and it's this

Coco have I mentioned I love you.

And this is the start of that throughline of magic, flight, and freedom that follows all the way up to Custas' arc and the wings Coco makes for Silver Eve! This is the first expression of Coco's yearning for magic that we see, and it's something she eventually gets to make real for herself (with the first test), for her friends, and for others to experience. Which makes it all the more impactful when that little girl at the festival asks if she can become a witch - obviously that girl is meant to parallel baby Coco, but the fact that it's brought on by a piece of magic Coco made to fulfill a wish of her own is... really rough

Anyway hi Qifrey. Probably normal that their first panel together is Coco looking for her mother. I love when he's microscopic <3

And MAN the amount of detail that goes into Coco cutting the fabric!! It's very accurate to the process (what I would give to let this girl have a rotary cutter, I think she would enjoy it), and it's such a nice way of showing that this is something she's confident in doing. This story does some really fun things with the line that gets drawn between art (magic) and craft (textiles, carving, etc) and the respect they each receive, and Qifrey stepping over that line to treat Coco's craft as the art it is, is so good

This is the first time we see this phrasing, but it will not be the last :)

(Can't believe they took her fucking strawberry money to sell her a book full of illegal magic.) Also interesting - Coco knew that the magic wand was a pen, at least initially. That's the kind of thing that's easy to forget when you're like, five, and easy for your mom to overlook if she thinks you got scammed out of your strawberry money (seriously Iguin what the fuck), but this does almost suggest that they were expecting a return on investment a little sooner... Maybe if Coco's mom hadn't dampened her dreams a bit, we would have seen little baby Coco doodling with her new wand.

And even just two pages after that first exchange with Iguin, we see that Coco has latched on to the word "vibrant" in relation to magic! They did a very good job of planting that seed of interest in magic, and this ambition to become a witch.

Hello ominous Qifrey. Having thoughts about things, are we?

First sighting of the cap as a crucial (but crucially removable) marker of being a witch! Gee, Qifrey, I wonder why you don't walk around advertising your position of power all the time.

Classic managing children trick: frame the specific action you want as a favor to you, which they are doing for you. Very effective, very revealing of the fact that this guy is used to working with kids

And now - compare the first sequence of Coco descending to look at the carriage, versus now. This is something the anime really emphasizes, but there's some fun parallels here, too! More focus on her coming down the ladder, taking her time compared to the rush earlier.

Then the sigil itself! All those wind and push symbols, just like we see on the bottom of the sylph shoes! Again, the anime shows a better full view of it, but man. What a magic system

Awww and now she's nervous <3 And Qifrey, despite his curiosity about the book, doesn't push! Of course all the Dead Mom Flags are getting planted here, but I really do love how sweet Coco is. She's such a good kid. Time for her to do forbidden magic!

And the first spell she casts is light, just like Olly's glowstones

Ominous, ominous page, my god. Qifrey coming out of the shadows to grab her around the shoulders, but we don't know for sure that it's him yet.

And this bit!! The motion of it all!! Once again I adore how the anime does this sequence, because there's this frantic, panicked scramble Qifrey does over the rooftop that is just SO good. And he grisps Coco very securely also

Qifrey kind of threatening to wipe her memory here is really interesting to me. Like, would he actually have done it, had she not brought up the picture book? Part of me says no, because it's obvious something awful has happened here and Coco would be left without any clue what happened, and I can't see Qifrey doing that to a child - let alone a full-on Knights Moralis-style magic wipe. But he is quite good with tailoring memory spells. Could he erase only her memories of seeing him cast and then casting herself? Leave the crystal spell as some freak accident?

Then again, he seems eager to help fix this, just unsure how to proceed. But we don't know how much of that is him wanting to help Coco, and how much is him wanting to know what seal exactly she drew - and where (who) she learned it from.

It's fun that the anime has him drop her here, and then scoop her up again from almost touching her mom. I think that's a good change, and it adds to the more overtly traumatizing angle the anime takes on this whole scene. It gives her a bit more room to freak out.

And then, of course, we get to a page I have already said some thoughts on but do not fear, I have more thoughts. He asks her the first few questions while her face is still hidden in his shoulder, but he looks her in the eye, puts them on-level, puts her a bit higher, to take the final step.

Compare this, also, to the way he holds and speaks to her just a little earlier. Same grasp on her, but she's lower, he's looking down at her as he is being the Responsible Witch who follows the rules and might well memory-wipe the traumatized 12 year old. And Qifrey often makes a point of getting down and meeting kids on their level, not speaking down to them both literally and figuratively. But he doesn't do that until he's come around a bit more to the idea that Coco could be a lead.

And it is that realization - "She's the only lead I have" - that changes things. Not entirely, because again, I don't think Qifrey was ever going to entirely leave Coco in the lurch. But now she's someone he needs to keep a direct eye on, because she has information he needs. And so: the offer. And the page of Coco, held aloft in the sunrise, vulnerable but full of determination.

Starting with this LOVELY page that does such fun things with the paneling!! The dragon breaking out of the boxes, stepping over what should be panel barriers, to get closer to the girls. What an effective way to convey how big and scary this thing is. And the rendering of it, too - so detailed in contrast to the very blank, Escher-esque buildings.

Fun detail about Coco - her first response to something terrifying like this is to deny that it's real. We see it here, but she also did it back in chapter 1 after her mom transformed. Magic still isn't something real to her yet, it's still a fantastical Other world that doesn't effect the Real one.

Agott uses fire to deter the dragon - sword and shield, protective and destructive. Despite being trained by a water witch, she jumps to fire as her first line of defense. Might just be a logistical thing (water is a little trickier to weaponize without Qifrey levels of scale or the forethought for, say, ice weapons, and Agott is Twelve and has probably not ever had to use magic offensively before), might be a bit of that association with Olly. Either way, that description we get of fire magic back in chapter 4 remains true throughout the story.

The tiny and cutes.......... She handflaps a lot and it's so charming to me

Hey Tetia what's up with that being your first priority. Setup for later when she has her chat with Coco about the cloud spell, sure, but also: girl we need your backstory YESTERDAY.

And oh, this moment is rough. They're all scared and young and not quite friends with Coco and it's a really, really bad situation. And Coco is so, so guilty. :(

(tangent: the sign for dancing puppets is so cute oh my god. o< but specifically with a skirt-like flair)

I think part of Coco's behavior here stems from the same mentality as the denial - magic isn't Real, and obviously her actions have consequences but they're not quite the same as Real Consequences. This is because she is Twelve and still processing the horrifying trauma of what happened to her mother, and she's also trying to handle the conflicting situation of feeling like that's her fault versus Qifrey telling her that it wasn't. There's a lot of complicated emotions and perspective changes happening in her brain, and she's learning a whole new way of existing as a person. Which does not excuse interrupting Agott like that, because it is genuinely unsafe to disturb a drawing witch and they are in a very high-stakes situation, but she deserves a little patience.

Though Agott, of course, is giving her zero grace for this, because she is also twelve and she has her own set of problems happening. Coco's (very real) impulsivity and (perceived) incompetence has gotten them into yet another mess, and the one solution Agott had has now been ruined, and she is in charge of a group project where the outcome is literally life or death and someone is not only not helping, but actively making it harder. Is she right to lash out? No, but like. I get it man. Twelve year olds are not great at seeing the world from another person's perspective, or at emotional regulation under stress. And it may take her a while, but she does apologize. She knows what she did here was wrong, it just takes her a bit to have the emotional maturity to admit to it.

But also. Ouch. This is more cutting than the way they do it in the anime (though I do love that they have Agott undercut her own insult by over-explaining it, which she also does here on the next page but it's way more obvious there. She is, I cannot stress this enough, so very twelve years old.)

Anyway let's compare this brimcap group shot to their little meeting after Silver Eve... Obviously we have Iguin front and center, then in the back of the post-plan group huddle, but other than that it seems to be a totally different set. Interesting! Maybe this was a trial run for more designs?

Height differential!! Or a lack thereof. Iguin was sitting down to seem less intimidating, huh. Fucker.

I wonder why they bothered making this whole, quite massive-looking city, and then... set it up to loop the girls back through the same few areas. Probably to force them to confront the dragon, not just run away and hide.

She hands Tetia her cloak, but Coco's still the one wearing the most important symbol of being a witch. Each of them has one piece of the whole outfit. Almost like you can't be a witch alone, it requires the support of your peers.

I know I've said this a bunch of times but GOD I LOVE TETIA SHE'S SO GOOD. It is... a little concerning, perhaps, that she's basing so much of her worth as a witch on her ability to help others. But there's so much care and kindness in her, the same kind that there is in Coco. I'm so excited to get her focus arc.

Also, her dream of napping on a cloud is arguably another bit of that flight/freedom/fulfilled dreams theme - and just like Coco's wings that she shares, Tetia wants to make this something everyone can have.

What species are they? Sorry I stacked them

We saw some of this iconic Coco mindset in the first test, but it's really coming out here. She's the living embodiment of 'if at first you don't succeed, try, try again'. And for Agott who hinges so much of her self-worth on getting things right the first time, proving her competence without doubt, who has so little tolerance for embarrassment because she has been hurt by it before... no wonder she struggles to understand this for so long. You can see such a difference in the way these two were raised.

PANELING. MY GOD. The dragon as this perpetually looming figure, threaded through their planning process. And Agott, isolated now from Coco and Tetia who have bonded.

I am so serious look at her she's just a baby

GET HIS ASS RICHEH. This is the first time Easthies loses to a child and it will not be the last <3

If sweet little Tetia called me mean to my face I think I'd cry, genuinely. Also oh god these kids love putting themselves in harm's way to protect each other. Literally shielding them. Also, the timing here - that the girls got there first, but roughly at the same time - suggests that both Qifrey and Olly headed off after the signal at the same time, but somehow Richeh and Tetia outpaced them. Maybe Qifrey and Olly slowed down when they saw the Knights, and the girls simply did not.

It's almost time for Richeh's arc! So we get a glimpse into her worldview (based and correct as fuck, and also arguably a central thesis to this whole story) to establish that there might be Something Going On there.

You know, I talk big game about Arkco, but Tetia is making a good showing for herself. Two little rays of sunshine and sweetness, truly

And here we get the Knights Moralis' foundational philosophy laid out clearly: the world and its contents are black or white, permitted or forbidden, and if you stray from the path there is no kind correction available. Because people cannot be trusted to handle nuance, absolutes are the only safe way to proceed. Maintenance of the power structures and existing rules is more important than anything else, including individual or collective wellbeing and agency. Also, scale imagery - not just tipped, but with its foundations broken. And damn if Easthies' pennant doesn't look a bit like a scythe here. In conclusion: ominous fucker.

You can see so clearly that these two have history, and that Easthies is being set up as a direct foil to Qifrey. They're both proteges of the Wise Ones, both used to using memory magic, and... that's it. Literally everything else about them is about as opposite as it can get. But it's hard to even say this is an order and chaos dichotomy, because it's really just like. Order and Common Fucking Sense. And the absolute lack of respect on both sides is really funny.

Hello little bitty lore drop!

I am simply going to point at chapter 40 and say nothing here. Because the hypocrisy and irony is just. Agonizing.

Easthies asking whether the brimcaps could have taught Coco something while he wasn't looking really strikes a chord in Qifrey - he was already concerned about what might have happened while she was missing in the dragon maze, and the idea of Iguin doing something to Coco that led to this isn't a new one for him. He doesn't even have a rebuttal here. It's a good thing Olly breaks in when he does, being the very good witch that he is.

This is something Qifrey does in Romonon as well, letting his stubborn desire to argue with Easthies/chase after the brimcaps override the more important priority at hand - and it's the exact same thing we saw Agott doing, so fixated on proving herself that she overlooked the reality of the situation. Having those outside reminders that there are more important things at stake than their own ambitions is very necessary to both of them. Agott is a lot like Olly, but she sure does take after her master.

Hey Luluci it's fucked up that you're using his kid's life and access to medical care as leverage here. Surely these three won't be interacting again later.

This time, Coco's drawing with a different pen (one of Qifrey's, perhaps?) but more importantly, a different ink. We know hers got left behind somewhere in the sandbank when she lost her cap, and it's a damn good thing it did.

United front of 'back off from interrogating our students'. See, this is why I don't think Olly would have gone through with turning Coco in to the Knights. He can't hide his own dislike for them, either.

Hello Sasaran foreshadowing! Also. Height differential as a power dynamic once again. He's not even trying not to scare her, and every time he's been close to Coco, he has been towering over her, keeping her below him.

And then once things calm down, Qifrey apologizes for leaving the girls alone!! Which he's right to do, he shouldn't have left them unsupervised in this situation, even if it seemed calm. Easthies stiffly refuses to even entertain the idea that he might have been wrong to accuse a child of forbidden magic, and Qifrey openly apologizes to his students the second he has the chance. Because one of them is a good teacher and a reasonable person. I am, frankly, terrified to see what Easthies' new, shitty apprentice will turn into under that man's tutelage.

And when Qifrey talks to them, it's not an aimless scolding, it's a very clear explanation of the consequences (something which he himself has thought about for a long time) - not just for the girls, but for the other people around them. They're smart kids, they just lack that experience and understanding of the real-world consequences of their actions, and Qifrey is trying his best to impart that here. He treats them like they can be trusted to be responsible. Like they're people, not things (thank you, Richeh!)

And part of that responsibility comes with extra privileges, too - like Agott taking the second test! Look at her little face, she's so excited!

We've had multiple instances over the past few chapters of Agott being separate from the others, whether by physicality or by framing. But now she's right in the middle of them, after working side by side with Coco to fix a problem and then defending Coco to the Knights Moralis. Yeah, I think she'll be just fine for a bit. (Also I would kill for a speech-bubble-free version of that leftmost panel. The two of them side by side with the girls in the background is something that can be so personal)

Hey man so are you familiar with the concept of ecological restoration. I think it might be an important thing to integrate into your approach to life. Not every consequence is unchangeably dire actually.

Oh, Qifrey. And you were doing so well, not doing stupid things to chase after the brimcaps.

Hello again, Iguin! Fun little inversion of that initial phrasing they gave to Coco. Not just the Pointed Caps as a source of lies, but magic itself. I wonder how grand their plan for Coco truly is - if they want to dismantle something even larger than witch society as it currently exists. And of course, using their blood as an additive to the ink to make it much more volatile. Ink is already made from a kind of blood, so I wonder what kind of reaction is happening there to alter its properties. Can we get a magical chemistry spinoff as well as Kitchen?