Crunchyroll Out, Shudder In

 

With both Frieren and Witch Hat Atelier coming to an end on Crunchyroll, I've take the - financially-motivated - decision to 'rest' my subscription to that anime channel (via Prime Video) and restart my lapsed Shudder subscription.

As spooky season and Halloween draws ever nearer, I just think I will be better served by Shudder's horror-centric fare... at least until my two favourite anime series return to Crunchyroll.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End season three isn't expected until October 2027 and Witch Hat Atelier season two has no release date yet. Talking of sublime fantasy anime I'm also waiting for Delicious in Dungeon season two, but that's a Netflix show. That, also, isn't expected to drop until October 2027 as well.

I have to confess that both streamers are a nightmare to navigate unless you have a specific title you want to watch; if you're just browsing for a particular style, flavour, or genre of show or movie then it's often pot luck. 

I do find this frustrating, more so, admittedly with Crunchyroll as my knowledge of anime serials is minimal. A lot of time was wasted clicking on random titles with bonkers names, reading their - usually vague - promo text, deciding it's not for me, going out of that listing, finding another, clicking on that and so on.

At least with horror movies I have a better grasp from the get-go of whether a film or show is likely to appeal to my tastes (rural, cosmic and/or religious horror, monsters, period settings etc)

Witch Hat Atelier Season Two Now In Production

With the first season having finished the other week, it has been officially announced that the second season of the gorgeous Witch Hat Atelier fantasy anime is in production, and will come to Crunchyroll in due course.

MUSICAL MONDAY: Tada Utsukushii Noroi (Nakamura Hak)

MUSICAL MONDAY: Kaze no Anthem (Eve feat. Suis of Yorushika)

Well, That Didn't Take Long

Just last week I was mourning the loss (for around 18 months) of fresh episodes of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

Not that I'm short of shows - and movies - to watch, both new and old, but I turned to Crunchyroll to see if there were any fantasy animes that could help fill the Frieren-shaped hole in my heart.

I watched a couple, but they didn't really get their hooks into me.

Then I realised that Witch Hat Atelier had just begun, literally a couple of weeks ago. This was another manga that had been on my godson's Christmas list... and this one I actually got him the first volume of.

So, I was inspired to check out this new anime (to date, now, there have been three episodes released).

And it didn't take long for me, once again, to fall in love. This is a simply gorgeous anime, incredibly Ghibli-esque in its design.

It turns out that Witch Hat Atelier is the third pillar of current "fantasy big three" for manga and anime, along with my other favourites: Frieren and Delicious in Dungeon. So, I really should have been all over this before it even began on Crunchyroll.

So far, this is a brief my understanding of what's going on in Witch Hat Atelier:

In an exquisite fantasy world where only witches can cast magical spells, and must be unseen while doing so, young dressmaker Coco discovers she has this gift... as a result of a tragic accident. She is taken under the wing of visiting witch Qifrey, who seems to believe his new apprentice has a grander role to play in the future of their world.

The story hasn't yet quite gripped me in the same way Frieren did straight off the bat, but there is an elegance and beauty in Witch Hat Atelier that is incredibly mesmerising.

Additionally, as a bonus to ignoramuses such as I, Crunchyroll has released all the episodes dubbed, so far.

To be honest, I don't mind subtitles, but I find sometimes when I'm reading the subs I'm miss something happening elsewhere on the screen. 

There was also a massive issue with the release of the later Frieren episodes from season two where the episode would drop (with Japanese dialogue) on a Friday afternoon, but then the English subtitles would randomly appear some time later... sometimes immediately, sometimes two or three days later!

For those, like me, that instantly didn't grok the name of this new show: "witch hat" is because witches wear stylish conical hats as a sign of their status, and "atelier" is a French word for a workshop or studio. In this case, it refers to Coco's new home, the small training facility that Qifrey runs for handful of other aspiring witches.