Little Witch Academia is an original series of 25 episodes. It first started with a short film, followed by a second longer film. Watching the films beforehand is not required given that the anime retells the origin story and changes up a few things. This is more like a retelling or reboot. It follows Akko, who saw a magic show by Chariot, a witch, when she was young. Akko was inspired by the amazingness of magic and admired Chariot so much that she wanted to be a witch when she grows up and spread the same magic of magic to the world. She attends Luna Nova Magical Academy, and we see her journey to become a witch.
We quickly learn the history of magic and how it is perceived in this world. Magic used to be a strong and powerful thing in the past, but it seemed like with each passing day, the world is moving on from it. There are many doubters, and witches are not held in as high a regard as they once were. In fact, magic is well in decline, which is further emphasized with the poor financial state of the academy.
In other aspects, there are students where they come from a family of witches. However, Akko is not one of them and it shows in her magical ability. Her magical ability is limited, and you might expect that given that she’s the protagonist, she might be naturally gifted or would suddenly awaken to her power. The anime likes to tease this time and time again only for reality to hit. The only thing special about Akko is that she managed to obtain the Shiny Rod, the wand that Chariot used to use.
Akko’s goal is to meet Chariot, who had disappeared. Despite how much Akko had idolized Chariot, she is considered a joke amongst the witches, which can feel harsh. The beginning of the anime is a bit of a slow burn as it is a slice of life taking place at the magical academy. Akko gets into all sorts of trouble despite her limited magical ability. At least she manages to make friends quickly, as she is joined by Lotte, a nice girl, and Sucy, someone who is obsessed with poisons. Akko also promptly meets her rival, Diana, a much more gifted witch from a line of prestigious witches.
The season is mostly episodic as it focuses on Akko struggling to fit in at the academy. It’s not that she cannot make friends, but her weak magical abilities are causing issues. It doesn’t help that Akko’s personality is one of impatience and while it can be endearing, a lot of her actions are that of a petulant child. It feels like Akko wants a shortcut and the anime is about her learning that there are no shortcuts in life if you want to achieve your dream. It’s an interesting choice for a main character, but there are snippets here and there where the underlying plot of Chariot and her Shiny Rod comes into play.
All the hints about Chariot and her background come together by the middle of the season. However, since the hints were so obvious, the revelation will not surprise you. You would have figured most of it out, if not all of it. Obviously, it will involve Chariot, and the Shiny Rod, given their focus and obsession by Akko. Despite that, the rest of the season continues to feel episodic with the plots for each episode being shallow. They continue to highlight how Akko is not a loveable character. There’s nothing about her that you’d hate but she has too many flaws that crosses the line from being cute and adorable to being outright negative to a fault.
The anime lacks a villain for most of the season but when one arrives, they’re still constantly regulated to the background in favor of that episode’s plot of the week. That’s unfortunate since some direction would have allowed the anime to focus and shine. When Akko is getting into trouble due to her sticky beak nature for the twentieth time, it is hard to stay engaged. We rarely see Akko’s other friends except for a spotlight episode here and there.
What this means is that the anime has uneven pacing. Akko will progress several steps towards her goal in consecutive episodes only to stop all progress for the next several episodes. As suspected, the final few episodes of the season have an overload of plot to dump onto the viewer. Some of it is good and might surprise you in an otherwise predictable anime, and some of it is stuff you’ve already known. Was the payoff worth it? Not really. There is a lot of action in the final few episodes, much more than the rest of the season combined.
While the finale was explosive and visually spectacular, it left a lot of things untouched. It felt like the anime teased so much potential for several of the side characters, yet never did much with any of them. From Akko’s two best friends to her rivals Diana and Andrew, it’s like it was trying to play your expectations but instead of doing something clever with it, it just dropped them instead.
Overall, Little Witch Academia is an average anime. The studio’s past works are great, which might lead to some heightened expectations, but the slice of life aspect is too bland and boring here. Akko is not a likeable character, she has too many flaws with little else to help counterbalance it. She doesn’t seem to develop much as a character, since despite all that she’s gone through, her personality is pretty much the same as how she was in the beginning. In fact, there are several moments where Akko’s actions are completely stupid and unjustifiable.
---------------------------------------------
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
