Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 1

Coco is a dressmaker's daughter who spends her days daydreaming about becoming a witch, a path everyone in her village believes is open only to those born with the gift. Then she meets Qifrey, a traveling witch, and discovers that magic is not what she was told: it is drawn with pen and ink, and anyone who learns the craft can cast it.

Her first attempt at a spell goes badly wrong, and Coco becomes Qifrey's apprentice in his atelier, where she joins fellow students Agott, Tetia and Richeh. She starts far behind her peers, and she keeps going because she needs to undo what she has done.

The first volume of Kamome Shirahama's fantasy manga, serialized in Kodansha's Morning Two from 2016, is a gentle coming-of-age story built around detailed, ornamental art. It was published in English by Kodansha USA in 2019 and won an Eisner Award in 2020.