Little Witch Academia TV Series

[Kazu-kun]

What an anticlimactic resolution. Diana is the worst character. She really kills any sort of fun.

[Xeiros]

I hate what they're doing with Diana's character. She's may not be a Mary Sue, but she's much closer to it than any other known character in the series.

All her fellow students and even veteran witches are fooled, but not Diana! You have a school full of witches of all talents and it has to come down to one student character being better than everyone else with knowledge no one else has to save the day. It's so much more interesting and worthwhile when the solution to a problem comes as a result of many characters pooling their talents, knowledge, and skills. Everyone gets to matter in their own way. Nothing feels like a waste of time or padding.

It sucks watching and knowing most of it was a whole lot of nothing until Diana comes in to basically lecture the entire cast on how much better she is than them. Meanwhile Akko in series gimmick is the school dunce. Akko's your main character folks! Aint she great! Doesn't it feel like she get to play a key role in how each episode's conflict is resolved? Who here thought a bit prior to this that Akko and Diana might have a rival dynamic going on? ... Yeeeeahhh.

The scene transitions sucked. Could you tell this one was outsourced? The writing is all over the place. I feel little sense of episode to episode progress in terms of character growth. They also have so little to do with one another that outside of the constant callbacks to how incompetent Akko is at everything witch related, you could watch them in any order to you wanted and not miss a beat after the first episode.

[Kazu-kun]

I think this is the first episode they outsourced.

And yeah, Diana is so ridiculously overpowered there's no way to make a proper rivalry with Akko work now. They don't even have the chemistry they had in the OVA, where their bickering had more spark and Diana was more tsundere. TV Diana is just obnoxious and almost perfect. It makes everything boring and anticlimactic.

[Jimmy C]

Something in this series isn't adding up. If the Stone is the source of magic to the point where magic is non-existent by the time you get into the town, what's the point of magic anymore?

[BBOvenGuy]

Originally Posted by Jimmy C

If the Stone is the source of magic to the point where magic is non-existent by the time you get into the town, what's the point of magic anymore?

The stone isn't the only source of magic. The super-broom, for example, is able to work without the stone's influence. Presumably there are other such objects in the world.

[quigonkenny]

Keep up the overblown criticism of Diana's character, guys. With the delay as I wait for an opportunity to watch each episode, and her "Mary Sueishness" inevitably being nowhere near as bad as certain people are claiming it is, it allows me to enjoy the character much more without starting down the same path in my own mind.

[Xeiros]

They've really dug themselves into a nice deep hole with Akko's character. We are repeatedly told that not only is she terrible at magic, but is also one of if not the worst witches ever. So right away any conflict that has anything to do with the magic world is completely out of her depth.

She doesn't do anything remotely good or likeable. She just yells at people, fights, and causes problems. Her and the gang don't even accomplish anything in the end. Where's the part where she actually becomes a rootable protagonist? Why are we supposed to be on her side at all this episode or want her to succeed?

Thanks to these two major factors we have a main character who in no way has any agency or understanding of the things going on around her and on the rare cases she does (magic trading cards) lacks the ability to do anything about it on her own. It's going to be a hoot when the writers decide to start throwing her a bone and begin the transition from worst witch of all time to maybe possibly is sometimes on the level of her fellow students.

It's the exact opposite issue for Diana. By writing her as this hyper competent with knowledge even the teachers don't have plot device she can be conventionality used as the quick fix solution to a conflict. This is especially harmful for when they want to later try and make her character fallible. To try and show that no no she isn't perfect, she can be useless and human too we promise! Even though we've established her as better than everyone else she still has room to grow by going from the best witch in the school to the Witch Queen Ruler of all Magic!

[Alhazred]

Originally Posted by Jimmy C

Something in this series isn't adding up. If the Stone is the source of magic to the point where magic is non-existent by the time you get into the town, what's the point of magic anymore?

It may not have always been that way. We don't know much about the history of this world, though we do know that the "golden age" of magic is long past. Fafnir also raises the question of, "What is the point of magic anymore?" and the answer he comes up with is, "There is no point." Akko disagrees, and declares that she'll prove him wrong; cue obilgatory "Ah, youth!" moment of nostalgia.

I enjoyed this episode, though it was a bit of a bait and switch. It seems like it was intended mostly to facilitate bonding moments between Akko and Amanda with some light world building on the side, so folks expecting exciting moments of heroism on Akko's part when dragons came into the picture (perhaps remembering how it went in the OAV) may be disappointed. It was also a bit odd that none of the teachers at the school would know draconic, especially if some of their loan contracts are written in it, but i suspect that was mostly to double down on the development of the "We hate Diana!" club that Akko and Amanda are forming.

[Endscape]

This episode seemed to draw a lot on the OVA's, what with the plot of a dragon stealing the Sorcerer's Stone and Akko, Amanda and their groups getting into some elaborate plan because Diana was condescending to them, but even though they twisted it around, there wasn't much of a point to doing that anyway if it was going to end like that.

As for Diana, the problem to me this episode was not so much that she was a Mary Sue, (though she kind of was), but that everyone else was way too incompetent, especially the teachers.

[Kazu-kun]

If the writing quality is already this bad, I don't have much hopes for this show.

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler for ep5:

Maybe the school should kinda just make Diana the head? She's clearly better than every person in the school, be it knowledge, athletics (magic-related), and ability in general. I didn't really think of Mary Sue, though she is too perfect as of now. Not too much of a problem for me, but it is noticeable.

Anyways,
Sensei is all disillusioned now because she couldn't earn enough doing a magic show? She clearly met with Fafnir in the past and he knows, or at least has a good idea, of what happened to her. The whole decline of magic, magic vs. science thing might be a center focus of drama later?
The fact that potatos are all that are served and them letting in people like Ako comes from the financial woes?

I don't really recall ever hearing that mechanic girl ever speaking or making a line, so her "Ahhh..." is actually really rare?

[BBOvenGuy]

Great googly-moogly, you people are awfully quick to bail and turn against a story that you feel has let you down. Remind me never to let you read anything of mine.

First of all, for crying out loud, quit trying to make comparisons to the OVA's. I'm losing count of the number of threads on this board that I've seen devolve into people griping about how the anime isn't as good as the original or doesn't do things the same way as the original or something like that. The original is the original, and the anime adaptation is the anime adaptation, and there's no rule that says the people doing the anime adaptation have to stick to the original story. Not even if they're the same people who did the original story.

Second, every series is allowed to have an episode come along that's a dud. It happens. Nobody is perfect. Sometimes the plot isn't working but you've got a deadline to meet, so you just take your best shot. That said, I didn't think this episode was so bad. It wasn't as madcap as the first four, but that's okay. It was still clever and I liked getting to see some more of the side characters, especially the engineer witch. And I like that Fafnir is an e-trading tycoon. Even in the 21st century, dragons are still hoarders of wealth.

And lastly, don't be so hard on Diana. She's only doing her job. One of the big themes of this show is the triumph of sincerity and earnestness (as seen in Akko) over pedigree and technical skill (as seen in Diana). I'm reminded of Maya and Ayumi in Glass Mask, only this show pushes the dichotomy to ridiculous lengths. If Akko is going to be a completely earnest dunce, then Diana must be correspondingly skilled. If you hate her for it, good. You're supposed to at this stage of the game.

Was this episode relatively flat? Yeah, sure. But that's no reason to bring out the torches and pitchforks.

[Darthtabby]

It does seem a bit odd that they portrayed Diana as fallible and less hostile than she was in the OVA early on, then went and had her act stuck up and hostile and show up everyone else here. But it does kind of makes sense if they're wanting to give Akko and Amber reason to want to show her up.

I do have to admit this was a bit of a weak episode, but it did have some fun moments. Let's not give up hope on the series just yet.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by BBOvenGuy

Great googly-moogly, you people are awfully quick to bail and turn against a story that you feel has let you down. Remind me never to let you read anything of mine.

First of all, for crying out loud, quit trying to make comparisons to the OVA's. I'm losing count of the number of threads on this board that I've seen devolve into people griping about how the anime isn't as good as the original or doesn't do things the same way as the original or something like that. The original is the original, and the anime adaptation is the anime adaptation, and there's no rule that says the people doing the anime adaptation have to stick to the original story. Not even if they're the same people who did the original story.

Second, every series is allowed to have an episode come along that's a dud. It happens. Nobody is perfect. Sometimes the plot isn't working but you've got a deadline to meet, so you just take your best shot. That said, I didn't think this episode was so bad. It wasn't as madcap as the first four, but that's okay. It was still clever and I liked getting to see some more of the side characters, especially the engineer witch. And I like that Fafnir is an e-trading tycoon. Even in the 21st century, dragons are still hoarders of wealth.

Everyone has their own take on the show, you know? If you can't deal with it, you can just ignore the posts you don't like. But please, don't go around telling people what they should think. If you like the show, that's super cool, no one's telling you not to. But you should respect our opinions too and let it go.

I'm reminded of Maya and Ayumi in Glass Mask, only this show pushes the dichotomy to ridiculous lengths. If Akko is going to be a completely earnest dunce, then Diana must be correspondingly skilled. If you hate her for it, good. You're supposed to at this stage of the game.

The rivalry between Maya and Ayumi worked because Maya was a prodigy so there was a good balance between them. Akko, on the other hand, is a total fuck up and can't even compare to Diana. By the time the staff decides to finally let her succeed it's not gonna be believable at all. Heck, Akko can't even ride a broom yet.

[Xeiros]

That's what I was talking about. The hole they dug themselves with Akko. How in the world are they going to make the transition from can't even fly a broom to actually not a complete washout?

Akko doesn't work hard? she spent a whole episode trying just to fly period, not well, just at all, and nothing came of it. I can't wait for the mechanical explanation to her struggles when she finally succeeds at something witch/magic releated that's not meant to be challenging in the first place. Why exactly couldn't Akko do what everyone else could? Why was she the only one who couldn't? What was she doing wrong?

Like Kazu said, going from worst in the school to anything of note will be very difficult to pull off and make believable. I just don't understand why that had to be her character, not just an average witch, but literally the worst witch the school has ever seen.

What's the point of learning magic if you can't even use it outside the school? The thing Akko used in the relay race was a living creature of some kind with no need for magical energy given it flew well beyond the philosophers stone's range. In a world where magic is dying, extremely limited, and seeped in traditions that threaten to bring it to extinction, mere talent in magic alone shows exactly how worthless it is. Their entire way of life relies on something so easily stolen you'd wonder if it meant anything to them at all. They need something more, something else.

[FlareKnight]

I do agree there are some problems coming out of this one. A combination of making Diana too perfect and everyone else too incompetent. I'm sorry, how the heck does she learn an ancient language by 12 and yet the teachers themselves can't read it? Or even that they don't know any person on the freaking planet that can read it? Where and how did Diana learn it if apparently no one else knows how to read the language? Come on...

We know Diana isn't perfect since she overall screwed up in the butterfly scenario. But it's hard to handle her character when everyone else is an idiot.

I think Akko is fine at this point. Right now they are running with the idea that she's a bundle of passion and energy. It wasn't a bad thing near the end of the episode to continue working on that front. Diana resolved the situation. But that alone didn't have an impact on the dragon himself. It was Akko's passion that at least stuck in his mind.

And really looking at the situation for magic in general...Akko may be more important for the future than Diana. Having a super elite at something people are continuing to care less and less about means only so much. But having someone who can potentially move hearts, that may be a lot more valuable. Magic is battling the digital and technological age. May be more important to have someone less structured.

[s07195]

Um, aren't people being a bit too harsh on the show? Diana clearly fails - her first attempt at fixing things failed, remember? She isn't omnipotent, at the very least.

As for the dragon (I assume that we can talk without spoiler tags now), I find it a nice allusion to the classical (Tolkien?) image of the dragon in the cave coveting its pile of gold... except now it trades in stocks

I find this to be a great worldbuilding and 'setting up themes' episode, although I can't say it does much for the character development of the main cast. I do want to see Fafnir return sometime later in the series though.

Originally Posted by Jimmy C

Something in this series isn't adding up. If the Stone is the source of magic to the point where magic is non-existent by the time you get into the town, what's the point of magic anymore?

Here's some stuff from the Witchpedia page on the official TV anime website.
http://tv.littlewitchacademia.jp/witchpedia/

Witches-
現在魔法は科学技術の発達により実用的な技術とはみなされず、伝統芸能に近いものになっている 。 魔法の悪用は厳しく禁じられており、違反者に対しては残酷な制裁が行われていた。

"With the advent of scientific technology magic has lost its practicality and become something similar to a traditional art. Misuse of magic is severely prohibited and any wrongdoers are subjected to horrific punishments."

Sorcerer's Stone-
新月の塔の最上階にある魔力を帯びた石。希薄になり衰えた魔力を集め、ルーナノヴァでの魔法使用を可能とし ている。効果範囲はルーナノヴァのみと限定的。
"A stone on the top floor of Crescent Moon Tower(?) that stores magic. It gathers the slowly fading magic and makes it possible to use magic. It's area of effect only stretches across Luna Nova."

What we can see from this is that well, first of all, magic and witches... are outdated. Even dragons, flagbearers of fantasy worlds, have embraced modern technology and say that magic is done for. I think Constance will be a crucial character to this theme considering her specialty.

However, in fact, magic itself is fading. Science and technology, while practical, is quite emotionless and in contrast magic is traditional and outdated, but obviously capable of spectacular things.
It's quite a classic, romantic, idealistic theme when you think about it.

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

I do agree there are some problems coming out of this one. A combination of making Diana too perfect and everyone else too incompetent. I'm sorry, how the heck does she learn an ancient language by 12 and yet the teachers themselves can't read it? Or even that they don't know any person on the freaking planet that can read it? Where and how did Diana learn it if apparently no one else knows how to read the language? Come on...

We know Diana isn't perfect since she overall screwed up in the butterfly scenario. But it's hard to handle her character when everyone else is an idiot.

I think Akko is fine at this point. Right now they are running with the idea that she's a bundle of passion and energy. It wasn't a bad thing near the end of the episode to continue working on that front. Diana resolved the situation. But that alone didn't have an impact on the dragon himself. It was Akko's passion that at least stuck in his mind.

And really looking at the situation for magic in general...Akko may be more important for the future than Diana. Having a super elite at something people are continuing to care less and less about means only so much. But having someone who can potentially move hearts, that may be a lot more valuable. Magic is battling the digital and technological age. May be more important to have someone less structured.

Pretty much my thoughts, but I'd like to add that at the age of 12 potentially matches up with when Diana was into Shiny Chariot - this could be why she set her heart to learning it, though I doubt language could ever last 1,000 years without changing.

...There ARE people learning Old English even now, I mean.

[RobotCat]

The episode does feel a bit off here and there, but it was still pretty amusing.

Having magical beings be completely incompetent at anything that's not magic (including common-sense) is a pretty common trope amongst most magical school type settings, especially when geared towards kids/young adults where its common for all the adults (save a few) to be completely incompetent too. Harry Potter really exemplifies this.

I think when magic was strong and powerful and they were rich, there wasn't a need for witches to learn to do any of the things that requires them to use their focus on something that's not magic, and when their riches run out they suddenly find themselves unable to do anything. You see this all the time in real life with celebrities and athletes with a ton of money, who can focus on their sport or other areas of interest, running up a huge debt, and then losing all their money to scams/poor investments or just poor money managing in general once they retire.

It is kind of off to have the whole Akko/Amanda buildup throughout the episode only to have Diana come in last minute and resolves everything herself. I thought Trigger might have intentionally did it as some some kind of trope subversion but it wasn't that well done if it were.

Right now the relationships are fine where they are. In the first OVA we only had 40 minutes to get all the highlights, and the movie built off of that. However, with a full 24 episodes I think it makes sense for the relationships to be a lot rougher. I mean, the current Akko Diana relationship makes sense. Akko really needs to prove herself first and only in doing that would she realize where Diana's coming from.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by RobotCat

Akko really needs to prove herself first

Prove herself to whom? She already saved the tree and the magical butterflies and came in second in the broom race, but no one gave a damn. And she herself doesn't seem to mind.

and only in doing that would she realize where Diana's coming from

I doubt even Diana knows where she's coming from. She shat on Akko for acting without thinking and putting other people in danger, but that's exactly what Diana did when she tried to revive the tree without doing any proper research. She also shat on Amanda for screwing around and having no goals, but what are Diana's goals? Does she even know? I kinda doubt it.

It's not Akko who has to understand Diana. It's Diana who has to get her head out of her ass and realize the world doesn't revolve around her.

[RobotCat]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

Prove herself to whom? She already saved the tree and the magical butterflies and came in second in the broom race, but no one gave a damn. And she herself doesn't seem to mind.

She should mind. She wants to be the next greatest magician but hasn't made any real progress towards it since episode 2. Her butterfly knowledge came from memorizing those playing cards, but is she putting in the effort when its not related to Chariot? Look at what she's doing in potions class, throwing in extra ingredients just because she feels like it and screwing everything up. She still can't fly after all this time, and I feel like she really only tried to fly in episode 3 because Chariot won first place, and now that the race is over she's content to just bum rides with her friends. During the dragon fight she was unable to do anything while Jasminka drove Connie, and Suzy/Amanda could fight solo. Lotte drove her but she show that she was incapable of doing anything.

I doubt even Diana knows where she's coming from. She shat on Akko for acting without thinking and putting other people in danger, but that's exactly what Diana did when she tried to revive the tree without doing any proper research. She also shat on Amanda for screwing around and having no goals, but what are Diana's goals? Does she even know? I kinda doubt it.

Has she done anything like that since the tree incident? She didn't try to go get the stone back by herself this time did she? She could have learned her lesson. Whereas Akko still continues to fail think things through properly, and drags her friends along. The dragon incident is probably by far the most dangerous had Fafnir actually been a witch eater they'd have been in a seriously perilous situation. And after she led the group of six to retrieve the stone she basically wasn't able to contribute at all.

Akko is also pretty inconsiderate towards her friends. Only Akko and Amanda were punished but Akko dragged Lotte and Suzy along anyways. Suzy even asked why are they here when only Akko is punished but there was no followup. Yes friends should help each other in need but I'm not sure Akko even reflects on how much her friends are there to support her.

Both Akko and Diana deserved what they got from Diana. The first instance in the episode Diana only got on their case AFTER they blew up the classroom. If Diana wasn't able to timestop and put everything back with her magic, the explosion could have hurt the other students, and class would have been canceled. Just because they don't take the class seriously doesn't mean they have free reign to disrupt other students from trying to learn.

The second time Diana didn't say anything more than the truth. She probably didn't realize saying it in her usual manner just fires up Akko and Amanda even more, but everything said pretty much turned out to be what happened.

As for Amanda, she might have her own goals, but from Diana's perspective the students came here to learn magic. And so far Amanda hasn't shown herself to be interested in anything other than broom racing. So even if Amanda doesn't take the other classes seriously because its not broom racing Diana is completely right in that Amanda shouldn't disrupt and inconveniences the other students who do take those classes seriously.

We don't really know Diana's personal goals, but she makes serious effort in learning magic (even on her own) and has the results to show for it. She takes class seriously even when she probably knows more than the teachers. So whatever her goals are, its likely she's making some progress towards it. Even if her current goals are not what she really wants, she's still working hard at it.

It's not Akko who has to understand Diana. It's Diana who has to get her head out of her ass and realize the world doesn't revolve around her.

Outside of the buttefly incident, everything Diana has done is pretty much reserved (or as much as she can while still maintaining her family name and status). She doesn't go out of her way to bully Akko and the only times she is antagonistic since the buttefly incident is this episode where Akko was seriously being disruptive and foolish.

Yes, she's stuck up and abrasive, but she rarely says anything that wasn't warranted.