The Most TERRIFYING Depiction of Magic in Manga

Have you ever experienced the paradox where you started to doubt the dreams you were chasing? A cruel realization that you almost wish that it just stayed a dream? Well, this manga is kind of like that.

[Music] Witch Hat Italier presents this paradox in a very discreet way. I often hear and see people talk about how wholesome and cute this story is, which isn't wrong. It can be very wholesome and cute.

But there's an unsettling side to the story that made me start questioning this reality. What started off as me saying, you know, that's low-key [ __ ] up. an average of some numeric value that I don't have per chapter started to just become um no this is actually [ __ ] up.

So I think the best way to grasp where this paradoxical idea of mine comes from is by first telling you about another story involving a Greek piece of [ __ ] who goes by the name of Tantalus. Tantalus was a king among mortals born from the gods and because of this he was welcomed at the table of Olympus to dine with them. He enjoyed listening to them share their divine secrets and knowledge.

But eventually he grew a lust to know more from them. And so King Tanthalus' hubris led him to plan an act of deception by killing his own son and serving him as a meal to the gods in an attempt to test their omniscience. But the gods, they weren't fooled.

They quickly became aware of the gruesome act and banished King Tantalus to Tartarus. There he was in perpetual thirst and hunger while being constantly surrounded by water that would recede as he bends down to quench his thirst and lowhanging fruit on a branch that would pull away when he tried to alleviate his hunger. Tantalus is the reason the word tantalize exists, which means to give someone hope only to disappoint them by not giving what you appeared to offer.

Which now leads us to the question of how does this present itself in what I call the witch had a tellier paradox. The story follows Koko, an ordinary little girl who absolutely adores magic because of a sketchy witch who sold a supposed wand, a picture book about magic and a dream to her. A dream to one day become a witch herself.

But for her entire life, she was told and even understood that she would never be able to use magic. Because in this world, you can't just become a witch. You have to be born that way.

One day, while helping her mother at their shop, Koko meets a witch named Kefrey, who ends up offering to fix a carriage that broke. But instead of being able to see him work his wonders, Kefrey asks Koko to do an important job for him while he fixes the carriage, and it's to make sure that nobody tries to catch a glimpse of him casting the spell. Koko said, "Fuck that.

I'm catching the peak. " And what she saw wasn't a man casting magic with words, but drawing it. This entirely rewrites the world that Koko thought she understood, and she begins to use the pen from the sketchy witch to draw magic of her own.

Eventually, she spammed enough spells to get a basic idea, but wanted to draw them much neater. And so, she started to trace the magic in the picture book she got from the sketchy witch. The spell that Koko drew turned her mother to stone and jeopardized her memories being erased by Kefree as it's the one great rule for witches to hide the fact that anyone can use magic.

But as a secret exception to help save her mother, Kefrey lets Koko keep her memories so she can study magic and live out her dream of being a witch. [Music] Next to those giant fireb breathing aerial lizards that we call dragons, magic is probably the world's most universally understood fantasy. I mean in every mythology, folklore and fantasybased story, magic exists in some way to aid an individual or community.

In which had aatellier, magic is taught to be a tool that innovates life and creates joy. And unironically, the magic system that Kam Shurahama creates for the story is probably one of the most innovative concepts that is so well thought out that you, yes you, every single one of you beautiful human beings excluding Dylan can literally identify what a magic circle will do. based on its three building blocks.

The middle sign is called a sigil and determines the element of the magic. The arrangement of signs around it determine how the magic will be expelled. And closing the circle that surrounds all of that will activate the magic.

But that's just the basics. Let me tell you how deep this [ __ ] really goes. With advanced spells, you can use a connecting line between magic circles to link them and change the potency as many times as you want, or completing the circle on a separate object so you can toggle the magic on and off, or creating smaller magic circles within a big one to combine their effects.

And to think that this is just the surface of what people were able to identify in the series thus far is actual insanity. Holy [ __ ] [ __ ] Do not let me draw ever again. This magic system is very different from others.

I mean, you quite literally have the ability to understand what it must feel like to craft your own magic. Obviously, you're just going to get a piece of paper with some [ __ ] doodles on them if you try to. But that doesn't stop you from having an idea of what the magic circle you drew might do.

You're straight up handed the ability to grasp its endless possibilities and understand what this story means when they say that magic exists to innovate life and spread kindness. Except endless possibilities also mean the opposition of what we're told exists. And out of everybody, Koko is one of the few people who understands that most.

Forbidden magic are spells that exist for the intent of harm or personal gain. Teleportation spells without a vehicle or door. Spells that are explicitly used as a weapon.

And any spells used directly on the body or even written onto the body, including those that heal, are considered forbidden and are taboo in the world of witches. with the only exception being the spell to make people forget. Magic is a tool of manipulation.

As much as it's preached to be used as a tool for good by those who want to protect the stability of the world, that inherently comes with deceiving people. In fact, there's plenty of unfortunate examples of this in the real world. They don't call them magic tricks for the [ __ ] of it.

They call it that because deception is the foundation of magic. H how did you do that? Very well.

I thought it's slight of hand. To explain the tricks to you would give you one solution, but it wouldn't give you all of the solutions. In the story, when magic is used with seemingly good intent, it's usually mixed with some ulterior motive and by people you would least expect or even forget about because of how much optimism they shine on the story.

There's an incredibly impactful moment where Koko feels like she's out of options and starts to make her way to the Tower of Tones, a place that Kefrey mentioned to keep logs on every piece of knowledge that exists. And that's where Koko hopes to find a way to save her mother. Eventually, Kefir finds her, tells her everything is going to be all right, and tries bringing her back.

But that's when we learn about how conflicted Koko's become with her entire journey of magic so far. The more I learn about magic, the more uneasy it makes me. The more I study, the more things I'm told I mustn't do.

What if no matter how hard I try, my work never pays off? I worry that when my hands fail to find hope, when they end up grasping at thin air, that I just might begin reaching for things I shouldn't. What follows this is Kefree explaining how although magic is something that manifests hope, it itself is not the answer to every solution.

The avenues for hope exist in the mind of a witch. Magic only thrives when a witch is able to put pen to paper in imaginative ways. And that's what makes magic magic.

You see, I loved everything about this moment. It was wholesome, inspirational, served as a real tipping point in Koko's character, while also making me realize how almost every single thing that's said in this manga makes you really start to think, who's [Music] lying. Kefrey is an incredibly complicated fellow.

He's got drip, is chill as [ __ ] can be badass as [ __ ] and more times than not, he is the ideal mentor, but because of that, I also think he is the most unpredictably deceptive character in the series by far. From the very moment Kefir was introduced and so forth, he was shown to have a side to his character that acted independently from everyone. A side controlled by radical emotions so strong that he even distrusts his best friend.

Despite this, he actively is showcased as an incredibly good-willed person with how he carries himself, the way he mentors his apprentices, and even his judgment on morally gray situations. It's really hard to not think that he's just a good guy. Except when you pair that with his suspicious mischief behind the scenes and monologues of inner doubt, it just creates this constant unease.

Like, is he genuine? Is he selfish? Does he care?

Does he not care? Like what's this guy's deal sometimes? One moment he's the coolest [ __ ] ever and then the next he looks like he's willing to sacrifice an entire litter of soft kittens for a halfeaten cheeseburger.

But Kefrey isn't the only person in this manga that makes me feel severely conflicted. As the story further progresses, this duality in characters either develops in others or begins to present itself more blatantly. Every single character is as volatile as the magic that exists.

This story that was once filled with vibrantly magical moments that words couldn't even begin to describe are now just periodically euphoric moments that are or bound to be shackled in sorrow. It constantly keeps me on edge and I'm always caught thinking about how these characters are unaware of what's below each other's mask. But as this thought came to mind, I started thinking about this girl at work.

this this plumpy short middle-aged white lady that I'd see here and there as I day in and day out do the bare minimum of labor while my sanity is begging for my shift to be over with already. And this lady is very jolly. Like I swear that to every single person in the facility, she will give the same gleeful good morning with a slight chuckle after every sentence and response.

This of course made me start concocting a ridiculous hypothesis on if this lady has some sort of underlying hatred against the world that she wants to hide from people. Why do I think like that? What the [ __ ] But maybe she's genuinely just a happy person and I'm a piece of [ __ ] for assuming that, which is probably more accurate to be honest.

Just like how this guy can be seen as a piece of [ __ ] for assuming that this guy is associated with some objectively bad witches because of the magic circle tattooed on his chest. However, we actually know that he's a regular person who travels as a bard to make people smile. So this magic circle on his chest, he's clueless of its origins or properties, but with context that felt entirely random before the fact.

You know that it's a regularly used spell repurposed for something unknowingly sinister. Because of this tattoo, Dogdon is in a perpetual state of refreshing the moment he dies. Over and over again, he makes new memories only for them to cease to exist.

Again and again, he's brought to good health, eventually succumbing to the same brutal wounds. And death after death, he searches for Custous just to see him cry over his dying body once more. It's really [ __ ] up.

Not his fault and was only casted on him because Custous wanted to save his life. But because he violated the witch's law, he's not questioned. He's just treated as a dangerous criminal.

I mean, this guy is not harming anybody. Not anyone innocent, at least. I mean, this knight heard some music while off duty, locked the [ __ ] in, found the source of the song, and was like, "You fi, step away from the children, and put that lucrative weapon down.

It's a [ __ ] loot, buddy. " And that's not even the worst part about this whole thing. It's the fact that this guy is gay.

No, no, being gay is not the worst part. Gay people are cool. That's why it's the worst part.

He's actually a really good guy, but we only figure that out after he gets the short end of the stick. Every single time I chose to turn to the next chapter, to the next page even, I became more and more conflicted with just the smallest of side plots. And eventually, I realized that for me, this manga didn't only manipulate its characters, it also manipulated me.

It toyed with my emotions by what I can only describe as a triple pump fake that gets fallen for every time. How is a manga able to do that? Anyways, I think the main source of every conflict in this story, both figuratively and internally, is created because of the great law among witches.

This grandiose law is meant to be the solution to an age of hurt caused by magic, when all it's really done is flare up more problems and be used as an excuse to not save people. Objectively, the restrictions that exist because of this law is dumb as [ __ ] It's basically like cleaning the floor by sweeping all the suit and dust underneath the couch, except it's been done throughout multiple generations under that same couch. In Witch Hat, it's erasing the memories of people at every minor inconvenience in order to keep the slate of people who know about magic clean.

And after generations of neglect, it's become the reason why Koko's ideiation of magic is not what she believed it to be. The law meant to protect people robbed her of her childhood and her mother. You see, magic is the temptation that Tantalus seek from the gods.

But the result of this curiosity was lowhanging fruit and water before his feet that would recede as he'd reach for them. And for Koko, the fruit and water that's all around her is magic that can save her mother. But any attempt to reach for such magic is impossible.

In the manga, Koko is still about 12 years old and is forced to be more than just a 12-year-old against some of the wisest witches. Just like how magic fuels manipulation, that wholesome outline blinds the fact that this story is really about how a kid is forced to grow up, how magic is like a wildfire, how hope feels like nothing but a means to an end, and how fate isn't defined by what life you were born into. Rather, it's defined by how you choose to embrace the circumstances and live out that very breath.

This, I think, is the true message that this manga tries to convey. Witch Hat seems far from being something that'll have a conclusion anytime soon. And as a result, everything that's happened so far has felt bittersweet.

But regardless of the awful circumstances, they still somehow end up finding peace in that. A piece completely separate and alien from the tantalizing existence of magic. Sometimes we look at things with this sparkle in our eyes, eager to one day grasp it for ourselves.

Money, fame, achievements, whatever the [ __ ] But what I think this manga tries to say and will continue to say as long as its story highlights that awe is something along the lines of, "Hey, just make sure you don't get lost on the way. It can get rough. " So sometimes it's good to acknowledge that the best things are already in front of you.

And I think that's what led me to calling this strange conclusion of mine. The witch had a tellier paradox. Heat.

Heat. [Music] [Music] Hi. Somehow you made it to the end of this video and I appreciate you for that.

I'm going to keep this shorter than I normally do and I'm sorry if I sound weird because um I just got my wisdom tooth [ __ ] yanked out of my mouth, all four of them. And I've looked relatively like this for the past 2 days that I've been finishing up this video. And if my upload schedule leads you to believe that I am dead and I hate making videos, then there's this nifty thing called a Patreon that I have that you can join and you will have access to an Patreon exclusive Discord server where I do give quite frequent updates.

I do plan to do more with the Patreon in general, especially after this video. That took me way too long for it to be a 16-minute video. And if you do, that means the world, and if you don't, that's okay.

You're only just dead to me. And I promise there won't be as big of a gap for the next upload because I have actually been working on three projects as I've been working on this video. So, expect them sometime within this year.

I don't know. Also, might be good to mention that you could possibly recommend me a manga and be a part of the next video if you can uh understand what the next video might be. Anyways, no quick whips this time.

Uh my mouth is sore. I'm going to go. I hope you have a great day.