A heartwarming story with heartwarming characters

I didn't know what to expect from Little Witch Academia and I'm not upset with what I got. With a wonderful main character which manages to make a trope I generally dislike amusing and likeable; an "I have a dream, and I won't give up on it no matter what" character generally rubs me up the wrong way.

Along with Akko, we have the Hermione Granger of this world, Diana, and she plays the perfect balances between being a good friend and a good witch. When she was first introduced, I was expecting her to be the stereotypical rival the main character would never be able to beat until the end, and she wasn't. Akko never surpassed Diana, and in the end Diana came to try and make Akko better, which I thought was a really nice touch.

Along with the characters the subtle recurring plot points, such as the runaway broom in newspaper articles, showed a great amount of attention to detail, which could have quite easily been ignored or forgotten.

English Name:

Little Witch Academia

Japanese Name:

リトルウィッチアカデミア

Studio:

Trigger

Episodes Watched:

25/25

Posted on:

04/Mar/2019 at 14:01

Just look at the excitement and joy in young Akko's eyes!

From the very first episode we understand what made Akko want to become a witch, who she sees a role model, and what her end goal is.

Then we cut to her on her way to school, and see that she can't use magic, and is kind of useless. A stark contrast of what she wants to become, but she is unfazed by her lack of magic, and instead wants to learn, no matter the cost.

As the series continues, we see she starts to get a hang of the basics, but only just. Even in the last few episodes, she's only really able to perform transformation magic, and not even able to fly a broom until the last episode. 

This isn't to say she's a bad character, but she is a bad witch. Everyone knows she sucks, and she shouldn't be in the school. However, Akko doesn't let that get her down, and instead goes on to save the school, and the world... as well as the professor she threw into the river.

She isn't a perfect character, and she isn't a terrible character. There's very little that can be said about her without something coming up which is a negative, but she is probably the only character which stays true to herself at all times, and is always herself.

Along with Akko other characters leave their own charm.

We have the Sucy, who always seems to follow Akko along reluctantly, though never shows any sort of hatred towards her. Based on what I had seen of LWA before watching it, I was expecting her to be the most funny character, and the one I'd come to like the most. But, as with Akko, she was the complete opposite. She was funny, sure, but I could never really come to like her, maybe due to little screen time, or maybe due to her being a quite dull character.

Lotte, on the otherhand, when I first saw her was expecting very little in terms of character out of her. However, she managed to be a very well developed, and another character quite true to herself. When given the opportunity to be her idol, she turned it down on the basis she looks up to them, doesn't want to be them. Which continues the great dynamic she has with Akko, as they both have similar goals, but wildly different end goals. 

The sound and visuals of all magic in Little Witch Academia is great. You can feel a magical aura from anything magical, and you can quite clearly tell what is, and what is not, magical/of magical creation. 

The poofs and bangs of the spells are also very satisfying. They don't stand out, and make themselves known, but they are loud enough that you can hear the sound of a spell being cast, and make you aware the change was because of the spell being cast.

My only real complaint with Little Witch Academia is the spells themselves. Not many were used, and those that were always seemed to have a casting chant which didn't really match what it was doing "Tia Freyre" will make your broom hover, yet "Lyonne" is a powerful healing spell. 

Along with this, the whole goal of the series is for Akko to revive 7 words. I understand that the words had to be revived in a certain place, at a certain time, under certain conditions... but it all just seems a little far fetched.

With that, we draw to a close. Little Witch Academia was extremely fun to watch, as it was both hilarious and emotional. With a great balance of everything.

It's definitely worthy of being the first anime to not stick to the old rigid layout used for reviews. Next up will probably be Tamako Market, but until then じゃね!see ya