I'm so used to seeing these really, for lack of a better word, edgy shows from Gainax and Trigger. The depressing Evangelion, the innuendo-heavy FLCL, the nudity-heavy Kill La Kill. That's not a bad thing, Trigger is one of my favorite anime studios in the business and they've definitely carved out their own niche, but I can't say I wasn't surprised to find that Little Witch Academia is uncharacteristically really wholesome and uplifting.
Little Witch Academia is an anime about a girl named Akko who gets to attend a prestigious magic school called Luna Nova, but she's also an absolute novice who struggles to learn magic. She spends much of the series trying to become a wizard like her idol Chariot, who has disguised herself as teacher at Luna Nova named Ursula. For me, the heart of Little Witch Academia is the mentorship between Akko and Ursula, the one teacher who treats Akko with kindness and actively tries to help her learn in her own way. The whole cast is great though. Akko's friends Lotte and Sucy are lovable, the bully character Diana is pretty interesting, and the whole school is filled with colorful and charming individuals. The first half of the series simply focuses on Akko struggling to learn magic, and is otherwise very lighthearted and episodic. While not every episode is great here, I found it to be a really wholesome and heartwarming batch of episodes that does a good job of establishing the characters and their relationships with one another.
The second half of the series is far more interesting for me, however, as it introduces an antagonist named Croix, who wants to bring out negative emotions to create a new energy source, even if it could lead to the destruction of the world in the process. While I liked the more slice of life first half, it was really cool to get an overarching conflict, and a really well-told one at that. As much as I love Kill La Kill, its pacing and story can be a bit messy, and I thought the Croix arc did a much stronger job of balancing a slowly-developing myth arc with the episodic storylines from the first half of the season. Croix's relationship with Chariot was fascinating, and their parallels from Akko and Diana are great. I do have a few gripes with the storyline, like the fact that Ursula keeps her true identity a secret from Akko for too long, Lotte and Sucy getting the short end of the stick, and the fact that I'm not entirely sure what side the show is taking on its core theme of tradition vs technology, but overall, the second half of Little Witch Academia was a ton of fun and ends on a killer final batch of episodes that were emotional and action-packed.
In terms of production, I mean it's a Trigger show. Little Witch Academia looks absolutely outstanding from start to finish. The character designs are varied and expressive, the movement is consistently fluid with smear frames all over the place, the action scenes are filled with stunning sakuga moments, and everything is just super colorful and energetic. The voice acting is also really good across the board, with the highlights being Sucy's incredibly distinct and recognizable voice, as well as Akko's hilariously over-the-top screams. The background music was also really good. I'm a sucker for a good orchestral score (Super Mario Galaxy is my favorite video game soundtrack after all), and I think it fits Little Witch Academia pretty much perfectly. The music is beautiful, calming, and as hopeful as the rest of the show.
This show had a lot of strong episodes, especially in the second half:
Orange Submariner: This episode really tackles Akko's struggle to learn magic, and it can be a bit hard to watch at times. However, it's all worth it for the ending where Ursula defends Akko to Mrs Finnelan, an incredibly satisfying moment that solidifed her as my favorite character of the anime.
Samhain Magic Festival: This was a pretty heartwarming ending to the first half of the season. Akko manages to learn how to use metamorphosis, Diana starts to warm up to Akko, and we get our first hint at Croix. And this episode is even more important in hindsight as we learn Akko learned one of the Seven Words here.
New Age Magic: Croix's first episode was a ton of fun! It was pretty obvious that she was a bad guy, but I like how her introduction puts Akko at odds with the school. But what really made the episode was the incredibly creative fairy strike storyline, especially once Akko joined in.
Stanship Take Off: I just had a big dumb grin on my face for this whole episode. It wasn't enough that we got an entire episode focused on Constanze, it wasn't enough that this happened to be the funniest episode in the show to date, we also had to get a goddamn Gurren Lagann reference, and it was glorious. The dramatic poses, Akko's hilariously Kamina-esque speech, the finishing drill move, this was a true love letter to Trigger's past and I adored it.
Things We Said Today: It took some time, but it finally happened. Akko now knows that Ursula and Chariot, and as it turns out, that's just the tip of the iceberg. This episode also reveals Croix's plan, as well as the twist that Chariot's magic shows stole magic power from everyone in the audience, which includes Akko. Talk about a broken pedestal.
Yesterday: Continuing from the previous episode, Yesterday gives the full history of Chariot and Croix, revealing that the former is a bit more sympathetic that she's made out to be in Things We Said Today. But while it was great to learn more about those two characters once and for all, my favorite part of Yesterday was Akko's friends all looking for her, culminating in a heartwarming diner talk between Akko and Diana.
Changing At The Edge Of The World: Just like with Kill La Kill, I like that Little Witch Academia ends on a mostly really happy note, especially considering how many anime tend to have very bittersweet endings. The final chase with the missile boasts some of the best animation in the series, and I like how pretty much every character shows up at one point. It's a great balance between Trigger's bombastic action and Little Witch Academia's hopeful tone, easily one of my favorite endings in an anime.
Overall, Little Witch Academia is just plain adorable. The characters are likable, the animation is colorful, and even when the series gets dark in its second half, it still remains optimistic and heartwarming. While I think I still slightly prefer Kill La Kill despite its messiness, but Little Witch Academia was an absolute joy to watch and an impressive evolution of Trigger's story-telling skills.
"Season" 1: 3/5 Stars
"Season" 2: 5/5 Stars
4/5 Stars
Favorite Episode: Yesterday
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