A lot of the manga series I'm deep into right now seem to be on the slow and sleepy side. This one tries to throw in some exciting elements and offers a little progress, but so much of it just seems to be the regular cast hanging out at a festival, nattering or emoting at each other. It all looks very nice, but I'm bored and finding it harder to care about what the end game might be here. ( )

This is more of a 3-3.5 rating than a 4. The volume continues with the absolutely beautiful art (and characters) and the narrative deepens and darkens. The world-building is beautiful and fascinating, and we learn a lot about different peoples and places. I also love the emphasis on the power of practical magic.

There is also a subplot that I am of two minds about: on the one hand, it's really cool we have a canon gay couple in the story. They're very cute, and I'd love to learn more about them. On the other hand, not only do they turn into the "bury your gays trope", but it's so quickly and harshly done that it's kind of shocking. It's almost like Shirahama did the trope 2-3 times on one pairing without actually killing either of them. So while I am happy to have a queer couple, canonically, undeniably so... the use of bury your gays so harshly for them is just... not great.

All in all I still enjoy this series and want to see where it goes. I hope it gets better again and this volume is just a bump in the road. I mean I assume bad things will keep happening, but just... not bad in this particular way. ( )

Series Info/Source: This is the tenth book in the Witch Hat Atelier series. I bought a copy of this.

Thoughts: This felt a bit like a transitional novel to me. Coco and Tartah are supposed to perform in the Silver Eve Procession and are running around trying to figure out what to do as a performance. There are a few secrets revealed when they find out Dagda has a forbidden magic rune on his chest and they suspect Custas is involved.

I still really love the artwork here and the world in general. However, this volume felt unfocused to me, almost like filler. The story involving the Brimmed Caps makes a teeny bit of progress but mostly this is Coco and Tartah trying to prep for the festival.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this was a good continuation of the series. The story is progressing slowly. This felt a bit transitional to me and I was hoping for more progress. However, the artwork is still stunningly beautiful and I really enjoy the characters in this series so I plan to continue with it. I would recommend to those who enjoy fantasy manga focused on magic; this is a great one for younger readers too. ( )