Nakamura Hak: Who Is the Enigmatic Artist Behind the Ending Themes of ‘Witch Hat Atelier’?
Categoria: Musica
'Witch Hat Atelier' and the enigmatic singer-songwriter Nakamura Hakhave together become one of the season's most talked-about pairings.
Por Billboard | 24/06/2026
Among the standout titles of what critics are already calling a bumper spring 2026 anime season, one series and its musical collaborator have commanded attention in equal measure. Witch Hat Atelier , a fantasy following Coco, a girl who dreams of becoming a witch, and the enigmatic singer-songwriter Nakamura Hak, who contributes its ending themes “Tada Utsukushii Noroi” (simply beautiful curse), “Yoru ni Ukabu” (floating in the night) and “Hikari” (light) have together become one of the season’s most talked-about pairings. “If a simply beautiful curse were to innocently tear apart even the light” The series is adapted from Kamome Shirahama’s popular manga, which earned a nomination for the 2018 Kodansha Manga Award and topped the general category of the nationwide booksellers’ recommendation poll. The series has also earned significant international recognition, including the Eisner Award for Best Asian Work in the U.S., with additional honors across France, South Korea, and Spain. When the anime adaptation premiered in April, it quickly captured the global fanbase’s imagination not only through the sheer beauty of the animation, but also through its grounded setting and startling storytelling. Beneath the seemingly lighthearted premise of apprentice witches finding their footing lies a series unafraid to confront its heroine’s innocent yet catastrophic mistake, and the sobering reality that magic powerful enough to save can just as easily destroy. The ending themes by Nakamura Hak have been just as celebrated for the uncanny resonance they share with the story and its characters, and for an atmosphere and vocal expressiveness that aches. Nakamura Hak is a debut singer-songwriter who emerged this spring with several tracks recorded with just her voice accompanied by acoustic guitar. All her releases are completely unmodified and unedited. Her artist bio reads simply: “Her music exists just before the ending.” That concept alone signals someone out of the ordinary, but nothing could have prepared listeners for the impact of hearing “Tada Utsukushii Noroi” for the first time as it played over the anime’s closing credits. (Note: Because of her one-take, no-edit approach, the anime edit isn’t clipped from the full track but recorded fresh as a standalone version.) “If a simply beautiful curse were to innocently tear apart even the light/ If a simply beloved curse were to steal and strip away everything in an instant/ I never want to see despair seeping into you, not for a single second, not for eternity.” These lines mirror the devastating scene in which Coco’s own innocence turns her beloved mother into stone. Voiced against nothing but acoustic guitar, crying out from within the dark, her voice seemed to expose the love and despair dormant within Nakamura Hak herself — and the aftershock didn’t fade for the rest of the night. “Plu