終末(しゅうまつ)のイゼッタ(Izetta the Last),^A) also known as ‘Izetta, Die Letzte Hexe’^B) and ‘Izetta: The Last Witch’ in English is an anime about the last Witch in the entire world fighting on the side of a small country that had been invaded by a faux-Germany.
The story here is simple and, in fact, pretty standard…though it does have a few elements that make it stand out.

Izetta is an okay series, on the verge of being great…but it kinda…well…
Basically, the series starts with a small country, Eylstadt, that is desperately fighting back against Germany.^C) Luckily for them a witch appears out of nowhere and decides, of her own free will, to help the little country fight back. This fighting back is extremely effective and the little country starts associating her with a legendary figure. It’s here that I think Izetta has its biggest missed opportunity.
The devotion that Eylstadt develops for Izetta gets pretty crazy, though this is all in the background and not focused on too much…but it still kinda sets up a situation where the entire state gets obsessed with her. Izetta is the only reason the country remains un-invaded at the end of the series and she’s a one-woman army protecting it throughout the whole anime. Plus the series shows us that Eylstadt is getting pretty…well, I said it before, but obsessed. But for some reason this isn’t…like it isn’t focused on at all? From how the series is structured, it really implies that a cult (or cult of personality…so a cult) would form around Izetta and that that would be the focus of the series.
Instead, it goes for the trope that is irritatingly common in Japanese media: ‘Japanese Kumbaya’. The idea that if we all just set aside our differences, we would live in perfect peace and harmony. Although unlike most instances of this cliché, this series actually admits that war has not come to an end forever and, inevitably, it would return. Just that…compared to the Cult of Izetta, it’s pretty disappointing that they went with something that Ao no 6-Gō and LASTEXILE also did (poorly). Plus there are more that I just can’t think of right now, but isekai is full of that kind of nonsense.
I should note that I was also thinking that a potential future installment could go down the ‘Cult of Izetta’ direction but…that seems unlikely considering the series ended pretty conclusively.
All my notes note at this point is that the music feels awkwardly inserted at times and that, besides my gripes, it appeals to me, subjectively, almost perfectly because:

• It has an early-to-mid 20th Century setting.^D)
• Supernatural elements.
• WAR.
• Cute girls.

I noticed this and now I must share it. Izetta and Little Witch Academia share a number of weird similarities, but come to opposite conclusions.
So, to start with where there are similarities:

• Both have magic that relies on ley-lines. Using magic outside of ley-lines isn’t possible.^E)
• The magic users are all primarily women.^F)
• Both have the ‘decline of magic’ as a major theme.
• Both came out around the same time. Izetta in 2016 and LWA’s anime in 2017.

It’s noteworthy though that magic in Izetta is limited to just manipulation of objects (include oneself). In Little Witch Academia, magic is far more versatile.
Now let’s get to the weird parallels, because I think this is where it gets interesting.
Izetta depicts a world that had rejected witches and magic, whilst Little Witch Academia shows us a world where witches and magic had been accepted. Atsuko is a regular student while Izetta is being hunted down for research. Though both worlds have people who cling to the opposite viewpoint: there are those in Izetta who don’t want to reject Witches and LWA has people who do reject them.
Little Witch Academia ends with the restoration of magic…basically undoing the decline for centuries or millennia to come. Izetta ends with magic being destroyed, with Izetta as the last witch. LWA shows us that magic still has a place in the modern day, while Izetta argues the two are fundamentally incompatible. Izetta then believes that the only solution is to get rid of magic to allow modernity to keep chugging along.
These similarities and parallels are kinda interesting, though I don’t know what this really says about anything. You can interpret it however you wish, I guess. ‘Magic’ represents traditionalism, perhaps. Though I do not much recognize that type of analysis.

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