Little Witch Academia

For young witches everywhere, the world-renowned witch Shiny Chariot reigns as the most revered and celebrated role model. But as the girls age, so do their opinions of her—now just the mention of Chariot would get a witch labeled a child. However, undeterred in her blind admiration for Chariot, ordinary girl Atsuko Kagari enrolls into Luna Nova Magical Academy, hoping to someday become just as mesmerizing as her idol.

However, the witch academy isn't all the fun and games Atsuko thought it would be: boring lectures, strict teachers, and students who mock Chariot plague the campus. Coupled with her own ineptness in magic, she's seen as little more than a rebel student. But when a chance finally presents itself to prove herself to her peers and teachers, she takes it, and now it's up to her to stop a rampaging dragon before it flattens the entire academy.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kagari, Atsuko Main

Han, Megumi Japanese

Manbavaran, Sucy Main

Murase, Michiyo Japanese

Cavendish, Diana Main

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Jansson, Lotte Main

Orikasa, Fumiko Japanese

Callistis, Ursula Supporting

Hidaka, Noriko Japanese

du Nord, Chariot Supporting

Hidaka, Noriko Japanese

England, Hannah Supporting

Nakao, Eri Japanese

Parker, Barbara Supporting

Akasaki, Chinatsu Japanese

Avery Supporting

Minotaur Supporting

Nomura, Kenji Japanese

Tsutsumi, Naoko Producer

Yoshinari, You Director, Key Animation, Character Design, Animation Director, Original Creator

Imaishi, Hiroyuki Script

Ootsuka, Masahiko Script

Reviews

May 10, 2013

smileyboyrocks

Recommended

Much like the creator of this little gold nugget, I'll be keeping this review short, but sweet.

Aside from Ryo, which I can't seem to find anywhere (if you happen to know a site, a link would be very helpful), I've seen all of the Anime Mirai 2013 films. All 4 are about half-an-hour long, so they're pretty concise with their story. Death Billiards is pretty good, but it feels a bit pretentious, shoving a little philosophical question down your throat but not really making you think that much. Arve Rezzle feels like the pilot to a full series, and as such offers very little closure, ... but it has some nice ideas, even if those are undermined slightly by some rather half-baked characterisation and poorly executed exposition.

I'm giving my little mini reviews to the other episodes simply to give my review of Little Witch Academia some context. As someone with a rather cold demeanour, and who typically enjoys a dark thriller or gore-heavy action series, it may come across as somewhat surprising when I say that LWA is my favourite of the three. It's almost Disney-esque, with genuinely loveable and quirky characters, a strong and functional, if not particularly complex, story and a completely uplifting tone. The humour is solid and hits you enough to make even the most stoic individual smile a bit. The animation is brilliant, with the art differing just enough from the conventions of the Japanese style to make me completely fall in love with it. Voice-acting is probably my primary gripe, but it's not so bad that it distracts from the episode. It's fun, and reminds me of why I need to be less tolerant of those angsty action-thrillers like Arve Rezzle that seem to make up the meat of today's anime industry.

LWA is like Shrek. Far from being childish, this little gem is fun for everyone (though it doesn't share Shrek's gleeful love for sexual innuendo). Even if, like me, you've grown into an emotionally-jaded, highly critical badass, you may just find that Little Witch Academia has enough substance and upbeat tone to penetrate your doughy cynicism and really cheer you up.

I would genuinely rather they made a full series of this than Arve Rezzle.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Apr 2, 2016

Angry_Anime_Nerd

Mixed Feelings

This is the first Trigger anime I watched. I heard of it before, but I was worried to watch it because it had a kid protagonist and usually, kid protagonists are bratty, overly silly, precocious and stereotypical. I thought that Akko was going to be one of the annoying characters but she actually wasn't that annoying, and she carried the story well.

Though, the characters don't bring that much new to the table. Akko is an aloof fourteen-year-old girl who has an attitude, and too childish. Don't be like "Oh, it's for a younger audience. I don't care if it's cliched!" I'd like something original and ... not just something we've seen a thousand times before.

The art was alright, and so was the decent voice acting. The art doesn't deviate too much from other anime.

Though, due to the anime being so short, it was a little confusing to watch, I think if it had more development instead of being rushed and showing a cliched ending where all the girls were flying, it would've been more enjoyable.

All in all, this is a cute story, though people over the age of 10 might find this too silly but isn't unwatchable.

Rating: 6.7

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Mar 14, 2021

Ciaran_Zagami

Not Recommended

I mean,
it looks good.
Like really good.

But the characters are flat and annoying, the plot barren, the world is derivative and uninspired

I managed to stay awake through it all, somehow. But thats not really praise. It feels like a pilot for an actual show (which it basically is) but if this pilot was shown to me I can't honestly say I'd green light it.

Sure there is quite a few cute scenes and the characters clearly have some decent dynamics worked out, maybe the comedy is lost in translation.

Then again everyone else likes it so maybe I'm just a weird outlier? I really don't have a lot ... to say.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Little Witch Academia Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) bippo - Mar 29, 2013	278 replies	by Softhenic03 »» Jul 23, 12:24 PM
	LITTLE WITCH ACADEMIA TV SERIES CONFIRMED DatRandomDude - Jun 24, 2016	12 replies	by alshu »» Jul 11, 2022 7:05 AM
	Should I watch the movies? Chrngb - Oct 16, 2019	3 replies	by Kursan »» Nov 23, 2021 3:10 PM
	Poll: Who's the best witch? n0000ne - May 8, 2013	14 replies	by OfficialEimee »» Mar 28, 2021 1:18 AM
	The "Other" section Steph - May 25, 2020	2 replies	by gappasaurus »» Jul 5, 2020 1:06 PM

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