Remember the name Studio Trigger, because you’re going to be hearing it a lot. Probably right after phrases like “wildly successful” and “the award goes to…”
What They Say:
Akko fell in love with magic ever since her childhood days. Aspiring to become a witch like the one she saw at a magic show, Akko enrolls in Luna Nova – a prestigious witch academy. Contrary to Akko’s expectations, the class is unexpectedly boring. Then one fateful day, something unthinkable happens. The academy faces a huge crisis and is at the brink of destruction. Now it is up to Akko and her friends to save the day!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Little Witch Academia is BEAUTIFUL. On top of having fantastic artwork, the entire thing was produced at an unusually high framerate, resulting in exceptionally smooth animation that makes it all look as good as the fight scenes in Gurren Lagann. Even more impressive, its animators were actually still in training. The project was Studio Trigger’s entry into the Anime Mirai 2013 festival, a large annual project designed by the Japanese government to fund and train the industry’s new blood. Trigger was started by several Studio Gainax veterans, including Yoh Yoshinari and Masahiko Otsuka, the respective director and writer of Little Witch Academia who each had a hand in FLCL, Gurren Lagann, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Those in-training animators were lucky enough to have some of the best mentors in the business.
Apart from its superb visuals, Little Witch Academia’s strongest feature is probably its cast of characters. Akko is immediately lovable as the determined but somewhat klutzy and bullheaded protagonist. Lotte is her knowledgeable, straight-edged foil, and Sucy is just hilarious. A sarcastic prankster who’s obsessed with lethal potions, Sucy is probably the most classically “witchy” of the bunch. It’s a lot of fun just to watch the characters’ personalities play off of each other. The plot centers on their peaceful daily lives as students in a school for witches, though there may or may not be an incident involving the accidental release of a dragon.
Little Witch Academia even conjures up some of the childlike imagination and wonder that have made Studio Ghibli films so famous. Its one main song is nearly on par with Joe Hisaishi’s music, though there’s precious little else to be heard throughout the 26 minutes. And it’s equally tasteful—there are no panty shots, despite the numerous opportunities afforded by witches in short robes flying around on broomsticks. Gainax is no stranger to fanservice, but the directors seem to have known how out of place and inappropriate it would have been here. Little Witch Academia isn’t as good as the legendary Ghibli’s productions, but it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath.
Many viewers will also notice a few striking similarities to Harry Potter. While there’s definitely some overlap between the two, it’s not as though either one invented the concepts of witchcraft or magical high schools. Rowling’s series could also cite a variety of fictional tales and themes in Western cultural mythology as sources of inspiration. Harry Potter will only stand out to a modern audience because it’s the most popular and recent example of a story about school-aged teenagers in a magical world.
That said, I’ll go ahead and say what everyone who sees this will be thinking: Akko is Harry, Lotte is Hermione, and Sucy is Ron. It’s not an exact fit, but they have basically the same dynamic. There’s also a labyrinth hidden beneath the school, a large room full of junk with one historical treasure mixed in, and the magical source of power for all witches is literally called the “Sorcerer’s Stone” (though I’m pretty sure that last one was a joke). Other playful references include an aptitude test that closely resembles dungeon-crawler RPGs (which Sucy herself points out) and treasures such as “mithril mail” and a “silmarillion ring.”
In Summary:
Little Witch Academia is a joy to watch. Something this visually impressive really didn’t need to be so charming. Studio Trigger and its freshly trained animators have put themselves on the map in a big way and I can’t wait to see what they’ll be working on next. Hopefully more episodes of this. Please let it be more episodes of this.
Grade: A+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Insignia 1080p TV, PS3 with Crunchyroll App; Occasionally 17” Toshiba Satellite Laptop, 2.13 GHz Core i3, 4GB RAM, Windows 7
Oh yeah, I guess this is a good place to say: Little Witch Academia 2 confirmed.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1311401276/little-witch-academia-2
The funding goal was reached in about 6 hours.