The Child of Hope: Coco’s Dark Turn in Witch Hat Atelier
- animefocusnetwork
- 22 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Published on June 3, 2026
Witch Hat Atelier is filled with the magical fantasy aspect, and deep lore that puts many other anime to shame, but in correlation to that and everything else, there is always a dark side. Without which there can’t be a story, or at least one with actual progression.
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Coco has always been this bubbly girl with lots of hope and dreams. From a young age of always wanting to use magic, she finally gets her chance, but the cost was too great. Was this path predetermined by the Brimmed Caps or was it all coincidental? Why do they want Coco "the Child of Hope" by their side? Could it be something deeper?
The Brimmed Caps' Intentions
The Brimmed Hats' intentions in the story is a complicated situation. During the Day of the Pact, unrestricted magic in all its forms which includes offensive magic, body altering magic, and powerful healing was banned outright. This pact was made by the Pointed Hats who believed that forbidden magic would end the world and change it completely. For example, in the Dah-Dah Range where Coco was forced to do her test, the environment was completely changed before the pact was made.
The Brimmed Hats see this pact as oppressive and built on lies, and it holds back the true potential of magic. So are they bad? No, they are not bad intentionally, but more often than not they do bad things. Their methods are more on the extreme end, for example, giving Coco strong ink that increases her magic substantially. This could have easily gone wrong and injured people.
However, deep down they genuinely feel that the Pointed Hats’ customs are bad and believe they are fighting for a better world, more like a resistance faction against an overlord’s power. As we see in the series, both sides have darkness, but they also both want a safer world however their visions for getting to that future differ a completely.
The Brimmed Caps See Coco as Their Saviour
The Brimmed Caps see Coco as their saviour and often refer to her as "The Child of Hope" because she represents the perfect key to reviving forbidden magic from before the Pact was made. Iguin, who was the one who gave the picture book to Coco after seeing her fascination with magic, planted a seed of sorts.
Only later, when she used the forbidden magic, did things really start rolling. This created the perfect scenario for an innocent, kind hearted girl with a pure heart to break the taboo of forbidden magic. The Brimmed Caps believe that if someone as kind-hearted as this little girl used forbidden magic for a good cause, it would prove to the Pointed Caps and everyone else that the restrictions on magic are wrong and are an outdated concept.
This would lead to the Pointed Caps’ system being torn down, and true magical freedom could be restored to the world and ultimately returning magic to the same state it was in before the Pact was formed.
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Does Coco Turn Evil
Ultimately Coco does not turn evil, not in the slightest. She remains the bubbly full of hope girl since the start however now she is more aware of the world she is in. She learns all the rules of the pointed hat witches and the tempting power of the brimmed hats forbidden magic.
However she is slowly shifting to a gray area because she questions certain systems the pointed hats formed. Although she is portrayed as the child of hope for the brimmed hats, she doesn't become the villain or lose her core image as most of us come to love. I mean, this would go against the core or roots of the story right? and even her prophecy name being of "innocence."
Editor's Thoughts
Ultimately Coco does not become evil or at least not yet however given the popularity of the "dark coco" topic, it's very likely that the manga creator could add that in a newer arc later on or possibly even change direction of the story (unlikely but there is a chance). We could see a similiar arc to My Hero Academia with dark Deku, this would honestly be a standout but only if it's for a limited time and does not change her permanantly.
My personal take on it is I'd like to see her use forbidden magic but for the right reasons. Although she is traveling a very grayed line in this world she has the heart and the ingenuity to know right from wrong and I have no doubt she will end up being one of the top mages who use both forbidden and normal magic, as long as it's to help people. — Dean
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