On Sunday, October 20th, magic was in the air at Kodansha House, Kodansha USA’s New York City pop-up. The attention to detail and atmosphere at the pop-up was an immaculate treat for manga fans right from the entrance itself, which was meant to look like giant-sized spines several volumes of Kodansha’s most popular titles shelved together, going so far as to recreate the front covers of Blue Lock and Flowers of Evil and the back covers of Flowers of Evil and Attack on Titan, right down to the exact copy on the back of those books! Once inside, Kodansha House welcome manga fans with displays spotlighting various iconic Kodansha series, a replica of the Akira bike and the walled city from Attack on Titan that you could take pictures with, a library room with shelves stacked full of Kodansha manga, a mini-bar with complimentary drinks, and volumes of select Kodansha manga and exclusive merch available to purchase. And all of that was just on the first floor of the building!
On its upstairs floor, Kodansha House hosted the many events they put on during the month, including film screenings, book clubs, and most exciting of all, Q&A’s and autograph sessions with beloved Kodansha manga artists. And today, fans were eagerly gathered for the fourth and final guest to be welcomed at Kodansha House, the beloved creator of Witch Hat Atelier, Kamome Shirahama.
The upstairs area of Kodansha House, which could very fittingly for this occasion be considered an atelier, was a small and cozy space that could only accommodate seating for about fifty fans at a time, with limited standing room for staff and select invitees. As such, admittance to the Q&A and autograph sessions for each of Kodansha House’s invited guests were decided by a randomized lottery a couple weeks prior to the installation’s opening. I’d been lucky enough to have won a ticket to Makoto Yukimura’s Q&A and autograph session two days prior, but sadly not Shirahama’s. However, the Q&A sessions were able to be watched live on TVs on the downstairs floor, though space was tight and noisy and there was a risk of the space being capped if it got too crowded. Even so, to see Shirahama, I was content to make do with watching the Q&A and live-drawing session as best I could from the tvs downstairs.
Fortunately, and very generously, I and my fellow Manga Mavericks contributors were invited to watch her Q&A session upstairs. We were only permitted to stand at the very back of the floor and needed to depart before the autograph session started. During Shirahama’s Q&A session, there was a lot of noise being made by attendees around the Akira bike in particular, which was pretty distracting for people like myself who were watching the panel from the very back. Even so, I was incredibly grateful and delighted at the opportunity to see Shirahama-sensei live-drawing in-person once again and report on her Q&A. We were able to come upstairs about fifteen minutes before start-time, so only a few of the lottery-winning fans had arrived and been seated. Much like Shirahama’s appearances at convention panels, photos, videos, and audio recordings of her and the event were strictly prohibited. Knowing this, I took the opportunity before the event started to take some pictures of the stage, including Shirahama’s live-drawing set-up and the shishikis that would be gifted to the lottery-winning fans during the autograph session.
As we waited for Shirahama to make her appearance, we chatted with a few Kodansha employees about the successes of Kodansha House. The installation was incredibly popular and successful for them, with attendance increasing week after week. However, there are currently no plans to open it again in NYC in the near future. Instead, they’re considering trying it out in a different location next time, perhaps in Los Angeles around Anime Expo. Though unfortunately for San Diego Comic Con fans, an installation in San Diego is unlikely considering how expensive it is to reserve a space there during the con.
Shirahama’s Q&A session was introduced by Ajani Oloye, who served as the editor of Witch Hat Atelier for its first five volumes. When I chatted with Ajani at the Makoto Yukimura event a few days prior, he mentioned to me that he’d be moderating Shirahama’s Q&A and was nervous about it. Of course, Ajani is an eloquent writer and speaker, and I’ve really enjoyed hearing his thoughts when we’ve paneled together on Shamika Mitchell’s Seinen and Josei manga panels, and his introduction to Shirahama was wonderfully put. He noted and praised Witch Hat Atelier diverse cast of beloved characters and classic fairytale feeling. He reflected on how he knew Witch Hat Atelier would be a very special series from the moment he started working on it, admiring its art, creativity, and exploration of the creative process. He beamed that it brings him so much joy to see how much Shirahama’s work has resonated with readers. Ajani closed his introduction by noting and celebrating that Shirahama’s appearance today would be the fourth and final Q&A session at Kodansha House, and welcoming the event’s moderator, Joe Pescullo, to the stage.
Joe is a librarian at the New York Public Library’s 53rd street branch, who specializes in curating and recommending manga to library patrons. Joe has worked alongside other manga-specializing librarians, critics, and manga publisher representatives on manga panels and programming for librarians and the public at the NYPL and conventions, including New York Comic Con, and had also previously moderated Makoto Yukimura’s Q&A session at Kodansha House two days prior. Joe began his introduction to Shirahama and Witch Hat Atelier by reflecting on how the first volume came out in English in the Spring of 2019, when he was on the committee that was working on the NYPL’s Best Books for Teens list. Joe remarked that as soon as he read Witch Hat Atelier, he knew it would make the list, and it did. At that time, he had made annotated notes pitching the book to readers, but the Chairwoman of his committee told him to take out his comparison of WHA to Harry Potter. Reflecting on that decision now, he believes it was the right call, because WHA doesn’t need to be compared to anything else to recommend it. Witch Hat Atelier stands on its own, with a story and characters that are unique and wonderful.
Kamome Shirahama was then welcomed on stage to much cheers and applause, but I was almost stunned silent, because unlike her convention appearances, she was completely unmasked! I wasn’t expecting her to appear without the Brimmed Cap mask she’d worn at Anime Expo and the previous day at NYCC, since she seemed to be a very private and protective person about her appearance for obvious and understandable reasons, but it was nice to see that she felt comfortable enough in this setting and with this audience to be seen unmasked. I’m happy to be among just a few American fans of her to be able to put a face to her name, though truthfully I’m always going to envision her in her Brimmed Cap mask whenever I think about her – it’s just such an iconic look! But Shirahama wasn’t completely without Witch Hat apparel on this occasion, as she wore an apprentice cap much like the one Quifrey’s students wear in the manga and that Kodansha marketing director Ivan Salazar wore while moderating Shirahama’s NYCC panel the previous day.
Joe’s interview with Shirahama started, with her interpretation provided by Kodansha editor Misaki Kido, who also interpreted for Shirahama at her NYCC panel and for Makoto Yukimura at his Kodansha House appearance. She also began her live-drawing of Coco as the interview proceeded. Overall, it took her about 40 minutes to complete the drawing, finishing it around the same time as wrapping up the Q&A. Shirahama’s process for drawing Coco was done in the following steps:
- She started with a pencil sketch and outline of the illustration
- She then began inking, starting with Coco’s hat
- Hair
- Eyes, starting with her eyebrows first
- Neck collar
- Upper shirt
- Shirt sleeves
- Coco’s left hand, which is holding her pen
- The inner part of the eyes
- The back of her cape
- Her right hand
- The buttons on her sleeves
- The lower part of her cape
- Her lower body
- Then she started shading various features of Coco’s clothes, like the buttons on her coat and the ribbon on her cap
- She then did the crosshatching detail on her clothes and hair
- Finishing the illustration, she signed it with her name and the date
Thank you for coming💓#Δ帽子#WitchHatAtelier #とんがり帽子のアトリエ#KodanshaHouse pic.twitter.com/NjKNOYsvAK
— 【13巻発売中！＆アニメ化】とんがり帽子のアトリエ (@tongariofficial) October 21, 2024
A few of the initial questions Joe asked of Shirahama at the beginning of the Q&A were similar to the ones that were asked at her NYCC panel on the previous day. Shirahama said she was having a blast in NYC, once again mentioning this was her 5th time in the city. When asked why she became a mangaka, she replied that she’d worked as an illustrator before, but felt that manga was a better medium for the stories that she wanted to tell. Regarding her art, Shirahama admitted she’s never had trouble differentiating art styles between projects. Her style lends more towards illustration, and just naturally developed in this way. Shirahama has always liked looking at western styles of art like etching and children’s books. She felt that if a manga in such a style doesn’t exist, that she should be the one to do it. Though, she slightly regrets committing to that now, since she didn’t realize how much work and how difficult it would be to continuously draw in so much detail.
After Joe inquired about her work illustrating covers for DC and Marvel comics, Shirahama remarked that because she grew up with the X-Men and Justice League cartoons of the 90s and 2000s, she always longed to be in the world of American superheroes, and as a fan has been happy to having had the chance to work on them. Shirahama is also a huge fan of Star Wars and expressed her love of the canon. Wanting to work on the series a lot, she started approaching Marvel editors about working on a Star Wars when the Rebels animated series was coming out, pleading with them “please, let me work on Star Wars!” Eventually, she worked on a starship that appeared just once in the series and exploded, and thought to herself “Wow, this is what it means to work on Star Wars!” There have been many influences on Witch Hat Atelier, but the biggest one would have to be The Lord of the Rings, which she watched when she was little.
Joe told Shirahama that his library committee loved Coco, and complemented her as an amazing protagonist. Shirahama was pleased to hear that, noting that she had envisioned Coco as someone who anyone would like to be friends with. She wanted her to be someone who, if you feel like you’re struggling, would be there for you. In that respect, she feels like she’s kinda mass-producing characters like Agott in the world of the series to interact with her. As far as who her favorite character is, she joked that the Brush Buddy is the easiest for her to draw and do action with without much effort, and she’s fond of it because of that. But she really loves all of her characters.
Shirahama designed the magic system in the series to be simple and practical in a way a child could easily use. She incorporated components of grammar and the meaning behind different orders of words. She thought having the characters recite spells would be embarrassing for them to say out loud. As such, she thought of a way her system could show magic very quietly instead.
Shirahama is excited for the anime to come out so more people will become aware of and discover the series. She didn’t expect Witch Hat’s intentional popularity, though she did have overseas fans in mind while developing the series, and she’s been pleasantly surprised at the reaction to the manga. She shouted-out Lys Blakeslee, who was there in the room, for winning the Best Manga Award for Letting for her work on Witch Hat Atelier in the inaugural American Manga Awards, exclaiming “Arigato Gozaimasu!” For his final question, Joe asked how long she planned for Witch Hat to run and if she had any ideas for what she wanted to do next. Shirahama noted that she’ll still be working on the series for quite a while, while contributing to other projects with character design and illustrations, which she hopes will come out and be enjoyed alongside Witch Hat Atelier.
The floor was then opened to questions from the audience. Many of the initial questions were about her art and artistic influences. While she lamented the audience may not know them, she was very inspired and influenced by 80s shojo fantasy manga like Knights of Alfhem by Seika Nakayama and Yuho Ashibe’s Kingdom of the Crystal Dragon. She noted that the Dadah Range appearing in the sky in one of the earlier chapters of the series was one of her favorite scenes to draw.
When asked whether she intentionally designed the clothing to be so complicated by a cosplayer who joked about how it took her forever to make hers, Shirahama admitted that while the clothing is hard to make, she’s happy to see that a lot of cosplayers have liked taking on the challenge of making difficult costumes. She really wanted to develop clothes that were cute to draw and look at, and looks that would fit in with ones that show up in children’s books. When asked what kind of caps she’d have her own apprentices adorn, Shirahama replied that they would wear a shorter cap with tassel on top and mesh on the back, which she joked would probably just be like a normal hat.
In the final set of questions, Shirahama was asked about her thoughts on incorporating diverse characters in her series. Shirahama emphasized that just feels normal to her. She grew up watching western media featuring diverse casts of characters, and felt it would be strange to not see that in her own work. She reflected about how the word “normal” has been defined and evolved and changed for newer generations naturally over time. She also tried to be mindful not to lean into one culture and society, experiencing various cultures and featuring clothing from multiple cultures rather than from just one.
With that, the Q&A session ended, and Shirahama took a brief break before beginning the autograph session for the lottery-winning fans. As a final act before leaving the stage, she wrote a message on the shishiki she live-drew on – “Thank you, NY!” But I know it was the fans who were most thankful to spend two hours hearing from and being able to directly interact with their favorite artist, one whose magic extended off the pages of her manga into the energy of the very room.
Much thanks again to Tomo Tran, the Kodansha USA team, and Kodansha House staff for allowing us to cover the event (and being patient with us as we took our time wrapping up conversations while we were leaving before Shirahama’s autograph session started!), and a special shout-out to Miles Thomas Atherton and Evan Minto for the good company and good conversation while attending the event and going out for drinks at a local bar afterward (and double special thanks to Miles for generously treating us!).
