Table of Contents
Little Witch Academia
This article has been marked for a re-write.
リトルウィッチアカデミア(Little Witch Academia) is an anime series following a girl, named Kagari Atsuko, who wants to be a witch despite her magical ineptitude, focused around the Academy for little witches.
As is now usual for this wiki, LWA is one of my personal favorites. I started watching this after watching an analysis video that mentioned it, though I don’t remember which video it was. But, since I have…well…favorites.
Re-write progress:
- Writing Pass
- Formatting Pass
- Image Pass
Reviews
Little Witch Academia (2017)
I watched this anime before I watched the OVA and The Enchanted Parade, though it doesn’t matter, since this is in a separate continuity from those. This anime is also likely to become the primary continuity from now on…unless they do something like with Patlabor.
Since I re-watched LWA recently, I’ve got a little more to say this time. Rather than working off of memory + notes.
Previously, I stated that I think LWA is an unambiguous masterpiece. I’ve changed my mind slightly. I think that the plot and the characters don’t really have issues on their own, but there are a handful of problems.
The biggest problem is probably the way the entire series was stuck together. There’s an over-arching plotline, but with a few disconnected episodes. The order of those episodes is probably a bit of an issue, though I’d have to think long and hard about how I’d do it better, if I even could.
The secondary issue is the character of Jasminka. Jasminka barely has much of a character, which means it’s odd for her to then appear as one of the central characters responsible for saving the world. She stands out due to having little there. Hannah and Barbara both have more to them than Jasminka does. And this isn’t an insurmountable problem, because she was introduced in Enchanted Parade. It’s just odd.
There’s a minor issue that occasionally crops up too, where there is a lack of background noise in situations where it would be appropriate. I think the big example is the wasp/bee episode, where there are moments in a packed party where nobody is making any noise whatsoever. I find that to be really odd.
I don’t think there’s anything else that’s really off besides this. I previously included the star-shaped crater on the Moon as a problem, but I’ve changed my mind. The crater having been created by Chariot is actually a pretty good twist. Especially since I initially thought it was a stylistic choice. One possible hint towards this is that Akko looks at the Moon anytime she thinks about Chariot.
Little Witch Academia (OVA) & The Enchanted Parade
After some thinking, I decided to merge the two together into a single review. They’re the same continuity, which is separate from the 2017 anime, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t.
Obviously, this is where it started, so it’s natural for it to be a little rougher than the later anime. Which it is.
First, let’s get into Akko.
Akko’s personality is actually quite different from the TV anime. She’s quicker to anger, more impulsive, a little dumber and…she has more trouble listening to the people around her.
Character-wise, I can see why they toned her down a bit in the TV anime, as it makes her a little less annoying to watch in action. In Enchanted Parade especially, you can find yourself irritated by Akko’s actions.
Also, while she’s dumber, she’s actually more competent in magic. I don’t think this combination really works though.
The second more important character her is Diana. Unlike in the TV anime, Diana is way more outwardly antagonistic towards Akko. Thruout most of the series, Diana actually doesn’t really interact with Akko, doesn’t really insult her or degrade her and so on. Here, though, she actively tells Akko what a disappointment she is to witches as a whole.
Diana is also more overtly tsundere-ish, having trouble expressing her feelings. In the Diana Ojou-sama-Tsundere spectrum, she leans far more towards Tsundere. Actually, I’d say that Diana here is very close to the ideal of the cool-Tsundere Ojou-sama character of…Malfoid. I will not say more.
While I prefer TV Akko, I’m wondering if I prefer this continuity’s Diana. I think that a balance could have been reached, but it would have required Diana and Akko to have more negative reactions earlier in the TV anime.A;B) But I wouldn’t say this Diana is perfect either, because her attitude is probably…too Tsundere at times. Hard to explain.
I remembered just now (so I almost forgot), but the third character who is significantly different is Amanda.
In the TV anime, Amanda and Akko have something of a rivalry, and they don’t really get along at first. But they end up becoming friends…who, nevertheless, still fight occasionally.
In Enchanted Parade, though, Amanda and Akko get along basically no problem from the start. Amanda is actually the most on-board with Akko’s parade plan.
This is really odd too, because I don’t think that her personality is that different as compared to the TV anime.
Character-wise, everyone else is mostly the same. I don’t think the other characters are any different.
The city near Luna Nova is also quite different. I’d compare the cityscape more to…well, it reminds me of Italy, rather than Britain. That might just be a me thing. The TV anime’s cityscape looks more British/English.
Enchanted Parade also has this odd issue where there is often a complete lack of background music, or noise. There was a similar issue in LWA, sometimes, but it was much rarer. In fact, I forgot about it until just now. It makes some scenes feel really weird.
I consider these two a fun side-story, though after re-watching them both…I would actually hesitate to put these on the same level as LWA. They’re still fun to watch, but I wouldn’t call them “necessary viewing”.
Speculah & Analysis
Celtic Mythology
Something I really should have noticed earlier are all the references to Celtic Mythology. Obviously the series has Celtic aesthetics, but I didn’t realize that they also borrowed from Myth.
For example, the ‘Shiny Rod’ is the Claíomh Solais, which is a mythical…sword from Irish Myth.
That’s all I’m noting for now.
Comparison to Shūmatsu no Izetta
You can read the comparison on the Shūmatsu no Izetta article.
Comparison to Harry Potter
Little Witch Academia has a few similarities with Harry Potter. In fact, when I noticed, I couldn’t un-notice.
What do I mean? Well…
Little Witch Academia/Harry Potter follows an outsider to the magical world entering a school for magic. This outsider has unbridled and innocent wonder towards magic, whilst their attitude towards taking actual lessons in magic is not quite as enthusiastic.
This outsider looks up to a teacher/professor within the school who takes them under their wing and guides them. This teacher/professor is aware of the fact this outsider is a member of a magical prophecy, and knows considerably more than they tell them.
The outsider also has two close friends who they stick to within the school at nearly all times. They have a rival with their own two friends, though those two are not nearly as important. That rival is a magical world insider, from a posh and rich family of magical users.
The outsider is largely associated with the color red, while the rival is associated with the color green.
The similarities are uncanny, aren’t they? I’m going to stop here, but there are probably more similarities than I’ve noticed.
Trivilinks
- Those links are for the 2017 anime, but you can access the rest via the power of clicking.