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To merely call Little Witch Academia a "Japanese Harry Potter", I believe, is a great disservice. While true, the settings are similar; a school teaching magic arts - that is where the similarities end. The Little Witch Academia TV series is a result of incredible dedication and talent from everyone involved. I love everything about the short film, movie, and series all together, but for this review, I must retain it only to the TV series. Little Witch Academia (now on referred as LWA) has the charms of an absolutely banger original story, despite anything the creators may or may not have taken inspiration from, purposefullyor otherwise. From the beginning of the first episode, I was entranced by a wondrous fantastical world, brimming with lore and everything beyond imagination. Every episode feels like its own unique chapter in a greater overall story, and they absolutely are. Now, granted, I've came across a patch of free time to allow me to do this, but LWA is the only anime I've felt compelled to binge-watch over the course of two days, despite me knowing it'd be much better to separate my watching into more sessions. The story and the characters were all just too gripping.
Artistically, the LWA TV series is above par, but for understandable budget and time restraints, the original LWA short film is still far superior. But this really isn't to trash the TV series' art. From the unique design of every individual character, to the very talented animation of complex scenery (not to forget all things silly as well), the LWA TV series is a modern, moving Mona Lisa.
The music should almost be included in the art category because of its quality. I believe in anime, quality of music cannot always be judged by the raw, upfront quality of the music, but also by how well it suits any given scene, and how often that music is recycled. LWA's music feels like a suit custom-made by some fancy yuppie tailor in 1980 Paris who charges more than you make in a year for one suit. There are some cases of recycled tracks, but not nearly as many as most anime, and it's only briefly used, so the overall charm of the music is never lost.
On the category of characters; this is a tricky one. The topic of character writing in regards to LWA is something I feel is deserving of an in-depth analysis many pages long written by someone far more talented than I. Though I'll try to put my emotion and beliefs into words the best I can here.
Overall, I must say, the character writing is LWA's strongest feature. As mentioned previously, every character feels unique in their own ways, from their appearance, down to their emotions, actions, and motivations.
Kagari Atsuko, the main character, is written in such a way to be relatable to many viewers, specifically younger adults and teenagers who might find themselves lost in the modern society that constantly tells them what to do, resulting in an individual unable to pursue their true passion for a fear of failure or embarrassment. The role of Atsuko is to assure those viewers that anything they desire is possible as long as you truly want something. Sometimes you fall down, sometimes you fall down a hundred times, perhaps you even feel like you ONLY fall down, but as long as you keep picking yourself up, you still have a chance to make your dreams a reality.
With the gushy gushy aside, the character writing in LWA does have its downfalls (mostly due to time/budget restraints, which are understandable for such an expansive story, even a well-funded one). Particularly with introduced characters who don't get much of a spotlight, even though they clearly had effort into their development at one point. Specifically with Frank and Jasminka. I do not wish to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't watched the show yet, but for those who have, I urge you to consider how much screentime they got and what that screentime was for.
Overall, Little Witch Academia was an emotional roller coaster that never slowed down at any one point, and genuinely touched me passionately. From the lessons we can learn from some of the characters, to the immense amount of dedication put behind the creation of this story - short film, movie, and all - there are a lot of good lessons even older adults can still learn from Little Witch Academia. I give a heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to the inception of such a gem.
Remember, a believing heart is magic :)
