A Witch’s Tale
(This review contains
spoilers!)
If anything, this episode proved that
we don’t need last week’s high-speed broom races and crazy action every single
episode. Little Witch Academia showed
us that it can create an episode with little to no magic or action and still
create something on par with everything they’ve done before.
My biggest gripe with the show thus
far has been that while Lotte and Sucy are still excellent characters, they
haven’t really been given too much to do aside from help out Akko. This week,
the roles have been shifted, giving Lotte the starring role and making Akko a
supporting character. This, plus the fact that the episode takes place mostly
outside Luna Nova, creates a very unique episode that is both entertaining and
captivating to watch.
Lotte’s favourite author is visiting
the city, but she’s stuck in detention so she can’t visit. Thanks to her
friends she escapes Luna Nova and easily wins a trivia contest about the books,
but as a result the author deems her the next person in line to write for the
series, giving her a magical fountain pen passed down for generations.
It’s nice to have an episode focused
entirely on Lotte, as she’s definitely the main character we’ve seen the least
of in this series thus far. I love how her calm nature contrasts with Akko’s
always-on personality, as well as her creative ability to communicate with
faeries. She’s not a third wheel to Akko and Sucy as you might guess from first
glance. She’s her own developed character, and this episode was perfect in
demonstrating that.
The other way Lotte contrasts well
with Akko is her reaction to meeting her idol. Instead of wanting to be just
like her, Lotte wants to support the author by being a fan of her work, and
this is integral into returning the pen. When she meets up with the author
again, she explains how big a fan she is of the books and how she’s still
enjoying them, even when the author is taking them into a bit of a weird turn.
In fact, the entire episode feels like
a love-letter to book fans. Lotte’s reason for being such a huge fan of the
author was that the stories helped her cope with being bullied when she was
younger, something I’m sure many Harry
Potter fans can relate to. Similarly, the event the girls attend is filled
with cosplayers, many of them playing hilariously obscure characters. The
animators and showrunners perfectly captured the atmosphere of a convention or
a midnight book release, down to the way all the fans interact with each other.
If I had one gripe about the episode,
though, it would have to be the beginning. Lotte is initially told she cannot
go to the event because she worked with Akko and Sucy to steal a tart from the
school kitchens. Despite this, she goes anyways just a few minutes later. Why
have that initial roadblock at all when the characters get over it almost immediately?
It would’ve made sense to use that time to cut that subplot and give the
mystery of the author and how to return the pen a bit more time instead. The
other thing is that while Lotte has gotten some much needed development, Sucy
is still more or less just comic relief. I imagine we’ll be getting an episode
focused on her sooner rather than later, but I wish she was more involved with
the stories going on.
Still, this was another excellent
installment of Little Witch Academia.
This anime is proving to be one of my favourites in a long time, and it’s
showing no signs of slowing down. If anything, this week proved that the
characters don’t need magical insanity happening every week to still be
engaging. As someone who relates to Lotte and her love of books, this episode
was a complete delight to watch.
FINAL SCORE
9/10
Amazing
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