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The Witch Hat Atelier manga has been going strong since 2016 and sold more than 5.5 million copies in that time, so fans have been wondering exactly when they could expect to see Koko and friends in anime form. The wait is nearly over as the magical, whimsical story is finally coming to Crunchyroll in 2025.

It wasn’t just the release window that the staff from Bug Films shared at the Anime Expo 2024 panel. They also gave us a first look at what the Witch Hat Atelier will look like and the answer is absolutely gorgeous. Watching the trailer doesn’t give much away about the plot – there isn’t a single bit of dialogue spoken in it, but it is really just here to sell the visuals of the anime. There are beautiful sequences here that look like they could have come from a high-budget film from the likes of Studio Ghibli rather than a television anime series.

The members of staff at the panel confirmed that the footage shown in the promotional video wasn’t made specifically for the panel and would appear in the Witch Hat Atelier anime series when it debuts in 2025. The visuals they shared set a high standard for the series, something that fans of Bug Films’ previous work have been quick to point out as a concern after they went over budget and over schedule on Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead in September 2023. As a result, the last three episodes of the series didn’t air until several months after their expected release date.

Whether Bug Films has learned from this mistake and can deliver that kind of quality on schedule with the Witch Hat Atelier anime remains to be seen. Crunchyroll have already announced that they will be streaming the series when it airs in 2025.

Here's our guide to every anime coming to Crunchyroll, Netflix and other streaming platforms during the Summer 2024 anime season.