Little Witch Academia has taken such a sharp turn into a more serious storyline that I feel like it’s like watching a whole other show. Gone are the days when it was all about wacky and out of control adventures and now there are stakes and lives are on the line. I’m not saying I don’t like this show, I really love it…it’s just I think I like the first half better than this second half.
Which is probably why another episode to join the ranks of my all time favs is a call back to those “simpler times.” Sure we had Croix sneaking in her magical nanobots to stir up trouble while she sips noodles (as is her apparent norm when she isn’t teaching). But the fact of the matter is we got to see the silent but bad ass Tech Witch Constance build a floating magical battleship…that could turn into TENGAN TOPPAN GURREN LAGANN!!!! Holy freaking crap what an amazing fight that was, complete with Akko sporting Kamina’s arms folded command pose at the head of the ship to the ship possessing a drill that could pierce the Kaiju sized monster opponent it faced, it was a wild and fun callback to the project that brought most of Studio Trigger’s staff together at Gainax before they broke off to do their own thing. Also Giant Robots infused with magic is freaking awesome if I haven’t made that clear.
And it looks like that really is the last of the classic, first half stand alone style episodes of Little Witch Academia. The other three episodes focused on more serious matters: Diana attending to an important family matter and Akko’s continued quest to meet Chariot (even if it kills her at this point). The Diana two parter was an essential tale for Akko and Diana, a chance to finally put the two of them on more friendly ground. As ive said before, Diana can act snobbish but she’s always seemed to have a soft spot for Akko, even if she doesn’t show it. And she’s been trying to figure out the magic shortage problem on her own time, not to steal any spotlight, but to help Luna Nova. Akko’s even grown to respect Diana in her own way and her heartfelt plea to the beautiful star student was great. They’re still bickering like rivals but now in a way that shows they both care about one another and wouldn’t want Luna Nova missing either of them. Thanks to Akko, with a little help from Andrew, Diana managed to get her family house in order and show she is a far better potential head of the family than her twisted Aunt. I’m looking forward to Diana also bringing out her Shiny Chariot card to show Akko at some point, probably at during a time of dire need…and trust me I think we’re gonna get to that.
I’ve spoken a few times about Akko’s Chariot obsession and now it’s starting to get a bit…dangerous. Even without Croix whispering false promises in her ear, Akko was willing to climb a potentially deadly tree just because “Chariot did it.” There’s a difference between wanting to emulate your idols and just being plain stubborn. Didn’t Akko recently learn a lesson about being patient? Well whenever Chariot comes up or the prospect of meeting her, Akko throws logic to the wind and seems intent on getting killed if it means meeting the woman who inspired her to become a witch. That’s where Ursula/Chariot comes in. Why the hell hasn’t she told Akko the truth yet? She’s had ample chances and with Croix around, it would feel even more imperative to let her true identity be known so Akko would stop throwing herself at death just to meet her. For some reason, Chariot doesn’t want to tell Akko she’s her guidance counselor and whatever it is, it’s going to be a pretty big bombshell. As for Croix, she hasn’t been doing much besides posing and slurping noodles while concocting secret schemes while sporting the cape of Kamina from Gurren Lagann. We did see in a flashback that Chariot obtained the Shiny Rod instead of her, which could point to jealousy as her main motivation for wanting to raise hell for her former bestie. But then we saw that Chariot felt bad and that the rod should have gone to Croix. Again, we’re missing an important puzzle piece and I guess we’re gonna find out what that is in the final episodes.
As things stand now, Akko continues to luck her way into the words needed to fully unlock the Shiny Rod, with luck to spare cause she isn’t getting killed in the process. Oh and a war between two nations is brewing over a game of soccer…sounds nonsensical but we’ll see how that eventually pans out. Oh and Croix’s discrete torture of Akko and Chariot has just been for kicks since she is building her own Shiny Rod to obtain the Grand Triskelion…petty much? I feel like Little Witch Academia is packing on a little too much baggage with a main villain and a forthcoming war when trying to restore magic to the world was more then enough of a main driving force for this series. I guess we’ll see how this all pays off on Friday when we arrive at the series finale of Little Witch Academia.
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