Jun 7, 2017
This is my first review.
I usually don't watch shows that have "witch" in their title. I first decided to watch Little Witch Academia because of the art and color palette used in the poster! And my instinct was spot on. Little Witch Academia's strength is in its art and animation. That is not saying that the story is its weakness but it is lacking in terms of complexity of plot and characterization.
The main character, Kagari Atsuko, aspires to be a great witch like her idol Shiny Chariot. Although she is an ordinary person (as in not a witch by blood), she tries her
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hardest to achieve her dream. In these kind of stories, there is always an element of fate or destiny so you can expect a few revelations of that sort eventually. It's a simple stereotype story and its slow pacing doesn't do it any favors. The show so far is mostly episodic but with hints of its overarching plot embedded in each ep so that it won't feel disjointed. Humor is an essential part of the anime. In my opinion it almost changes the main genre from a fantasy to a comedy! The carefree nature of the main character and her silliness affects her surroundings to the point where you can't take the story too seriously and as a result, it redeems its thin and simplistic plot.
Story: 6 | Fair
Aside for the main character, character development is almost nonexistent in regards to supporting characters. However, the story isn't finished yet, not to forget that it is slow-paced so there's still hope. With hardships on the MC's path, there is bound to be growth of character. no matter how small that develoment is, it is important for the character to reach her goal. She learns that asking for solutions and answers to her problems is too easy and working hard and believing in herself is more rewarding. She also learns that it is okay to do thigns her way instead of comparing herself to others or watning to be exactly like her idol. The same with almost all anime MCs, she doesn't know how to give up; she is stubborn as hell and that's what brings the others around her.
Characters: 6 | Fair
Art and animation is what brought Kagari to life as well as the world of LWA. The art is what initially attracted me to the anime. It works so well with Kagari that I cannot imagine her character portrayed any other way. the roundish design of the characters as well as the lack of sharp lines help the audience feel at ease watching the anime. I'm never at the edge of my seat because this isn't that kind of show. It's warm,soft, silly and magical.
The setting is as good as character design. Although, the world of LWA doesn't feel original to me, it doesn't mean that it's not crafted with brilliant imagination. Couple the art with the beautiful and fluid animation and you get an animated magic spectacle. I think that's what the animators were going for. It is important to mention that the high quality of the animation is maintained in every episode unlike most titles these days especially compared to long-running series.
perhaps it's just me but I think the art and animation are very close to ghibli's style. Well, I'm no expert so i might be wrong.
Art & Animation: 9 | Great
LWA's score is exclusively orchestral which suits the fantasy genre well. There isn't a piece that sticks out but also there isn't one that attracts your attention as being out of place. The whole score meshes well with the animation and story. There might have been an instance where they used a classical piano piece in-script and it served as score for a sequence where Kagari chases after a mosquito which was cool. OP & ED also fit the story and the nature of the anime. Personally I'm not very fond of the songs but I do like the animation.
Sound: 7 | Good
Little Witch Academia was able to make me forget the real world for 20 mins every episode and show me a great spectacle of animation which I rarely see with such consistency nowadays (last one i've seen was Mod Psycho 100). It's the title's redeeming feature. Without such art and animation style, I bet LWA would have been a medioce bore.
Enjoyment: 8 | Great
Sorry for the messy structure. I was never good at writing but i can't get better without actually writing so there you have it, my first review. any ideas or feedback is appreciated. thank you for reading.
OVERALL: 7 | Good
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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