the world of Witch Hat Atelier is honestly depressing. I wanna see where the story's going, but it's hard to have any fun while I'm in there. (personally I don't think the following is spoilers, but maybe it is, idk)

but the "Good Guys" are so terrified of anything ever going wrong or even god forbid changing slightly that they've become oppressive tyrants, unwilling to bend even when that would be of greater benefit to everyone

and the Bad Guys are so irresponsible they might as well be toddlers with worldshattering capabilities

so it's like. the main characters are magic students, children still full of possibility and potential and wonder...
and nearly all of the adults are trying to ruin that somehow.

and most of the children in the story are beaten down by the system (the Good Guys) and have had their wonder snuffed out.

I guess the story is partly about rediscovering wonder, maybe?

but it's the gloomiest story of hope I've ever read, and I'm including the ones that have actually made me cry tears.

it's also the sort of story where you don't feel like you can rely on anything turning out ok in the end, so you experience very little hope while reading.

it's like, the bad guys are awful, I don't want them to win. but the good guys are also awful, so fuck them. and the potential forces for change feel too small and weak, I can't put any faith in them.

am I just too depressed for this kind of story? is it supposed to actually be fun??

like objectively I think worse fates occur in the Ancient Magus' Bride... but that world feels fun. there's joy in existing, and you feel like things will probably be more ok than not by the end.

in Witch Hat Atelier every happy ending is both muted and a surprise.

maybe that's fun for other people... idk, it's not that I want Guaranteed Happy Endings, it's just that I want to see the possibility for one while I'm reading through the rough points.

like "I don't know how they're gonna turn this around... maybe they won't, maybe this'll be a loss for our heroes! I've gotta see how they pull this off (or if maybe they don't!)" is fun

"oh, they didn't all bad end? huh. didn't see that coming... oh, and now things have started going wrong again, of course they have" is stressful at best

it's too much like real life

like I'm glad the library finally got a copy of volume 3 so I could see how that cliffhanger was resolved, but also I'm glad I only checked out three more volumes... idk if I'll read more after these either.

reality sucks bad enough, I don't want my escapism to also suck.

I like my escapism sucking right now because there's catharsis in it, but you definitely have to sign up beforehand for a world like that

you gotta go into it knowing that yeah the protagonists aren't going to get help and are gonna go Through It

and if it's not working for you, absolutely quit lol

don't be like me and stick with bleach for four years after you start hating it

if you decide not to keep going and are in need of a new manga to read from the library, drop me a link to your library's catalog and receive me throwing custom picks at you for an insufferable amount of time absolutely FREE

sometimes it's the wrong time for even a good series and that's ok. i haven't read witch hat myself because i know the premise starts with one of my icks (petrification), so all i know is "darker than it looks, really well-thought magic system, and gorgeous art"