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Little Witch Academia
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ăȘăă«ăŠăŁăăăąă«ăăăą(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 donât remember which video it was. But, since I haveâŠwellâŠfavorites.
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Reviews
Little Witch Academia (2017)
I watched this anime before I watched the OVA and The Enchanted Parade, though it doesnât matter, since this is in a separate continuity from those. This anime is also likely to become the primary continuity from now onâŠunless they do something like with Patlabor.
Since I re-watched LWA recently, Iâve 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. Iâve changed my mind slightly. I think that the plot and the characters donât 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. Thereâs an over-arching plotline, but with a few disconnected episodes. The order of those episodes is probably a bit of an issue, though Iâd have to think long and hard about how Iâd do it better, if I even could.
The secondary issue is the character of Jasminka. Jasminka barely has much of a character, which means itâs 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 isnât an insurmountable problem, because she was introduced in Enchanted Parade. Itâs just odd.
I donât think thereâs anything else thatâs really off besides this. I previously included the star-shaped crater on the Moon as a problem, but Iâve 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. Theyâre the same continuity, which is separate from the 2017 anime, so I donât see why I shouldnât.
Obviously, this is where it started, so itâs natural for it to be a little rougher than the later anime. Which it is.
First, letâs get into Akko.
Akkoâs personality is actually quite different from the TV anime. Sheâs quicker to anger, more impulsive, a little dumber andâŠshe 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 Akkoâs actions.
Also, while sheâs dumber, sheâs actually more competent in magic. I donât 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 doesnât really interact with Akko, doesnât 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, Iâd say that Diana here is very close to the ideal of the cool-Tsundere Ojou-sama character ofâŠMalfoid. I will not say more.
While I prefer TV Akko, Iâm wondering if I prefer this continuityâs 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 wouldnât say this Diana is perfect either, because her attitude is probablyâŠtoo 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 donât really get along at first. But they end up becoming friendsâŠwho, 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 Akkoâs parade plan.
This is really odd too, because I donât think that her personality is that different as compared to the TV anime.
Character-wise, everyone else is mostly the same. I donât think the other characters are any different.
The city near Luna Nova is also quite different. Iâd compare the cityscape more toâŠwell, it reminds me of Italy, rather than Britain. That might just be a me thing. The TV animeâs 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 bothâŠI would actually hesitate to put these on the same level as LWA. Theyâre still fun to watch, but I wouldnât call them ânecessary viewingâ.
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 didnât realize that they also borrowed from Myth.
For example, the âShiny Rodâ is the ClaĂomh Solais, which is a mythicalâŠsword from Irish Myth.
Thatâs all Iâm noting for now.
Comparison to Shƫmatsu no Izetta
You can read the comparison on the Shƫmatsu no Izetta article.
Comparison to Harry Potter
Since Iâve recently re-watched the Harry Potter films, and started reading the books, and Iâve re-watched all of LWA, I guess Iâll re-write this section. Soon, not right now.
Little Witch Academia has a few similarities with Harry Potter. In fact, when I noticed, I couldnât un-notice.
What do I mean? WellâŠ
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 learning that magic is not as enthusiastic.
They look up to a teacher/professor within the school who takes them under their wing and guides them. Plus theyâre a part of a magical prophecy, which this teacher/professor knows the details of.
They also have two friends who stick with themâŠand a rival with their own two friends, though they arenât as important. That rival is also associated with the color green, while the outsider is associated with the color red.
Itâs weird, isnât it? Iâm gonna stop there, but you can probably compare the two further.
Of course, letâs make something clearâŠLittle Witch Academia is much better than Harry Potter, though the comparison isnât fully fair, since itâs not like theyâre trying to do the same thing. I might make a more in-depth comparison in the futureâŠif I ever re-read Harry Potter.
Trivilinks
- Those links are for the 2017 anime, but you can access the rest via the power of clicking.