Monday, 17 April 2017

Little Witch Academia Episode 15 Review

An episode with a significant lack of Sucy
(This review contains spoilers!)

          Little Witch has been non-stop action and excitement since the first episode, so it makes sense that as we start making our way towards the end (of hopefully just the season and not the series) we needed a break to sort out the remaining exposition. There are still four secret words for Akko to unlock, but to figure them out it kind of makes sense to tell her what she needs to do.

          Professor Croix is amazing everyone with the new technology she’s brought into the school, especially Akko. It also doesn’t take long for Akko and Diana to discover that Croix and Chariot went to Luna Nova together a decade before the series began, leading Akko to ask Croix about her idol’s whereabouts.

          Croix (who is definitely not evil) responds by inviting her to her private quarters in the New Moon Tower. But of course, instead of scanning the Shiny Rod like promised, she knocks out Akko and scans her for whatever clearly not sinister plan she has up her sleeve.

          Meanwhile, Ursula rushes to the tower to save Akko, which leads to what might be the most epic fight scene from the entire show so far. We know from stuff like Kill la Kill and Space Patrol Luluco that the folks over at Trigger always impress with their insane fights, and this episode was no different. I loved the way Ursula subtly changed back into Chariot as the fight got more and more intense, such as losing her glasses towards the end. The animation was also incredibly fluid, allowing for high-speed action while at the same time never losing track of Chariot’s position in the chaos.

          Once she managed to get past the traps, Chariot faced off with Croix herself, and we learned that Croix is searching for the power of restoration magic. I wonder what she’s be planning. Probably something fun that won’t harm the main characters in any way.

          Alright, that joke’s gone far enough.

          After changing back to Ursula and reviving Akko, it was finally time for answers…sort of. Akko still doesn’t know Ursula’s true identity, which is kind of frustrating. It’s basically a guarantee that she’ll learn before the end of the season, but I’d actually like it to happen sooner rather than later just so we can explore the two’s relationship more. While I’m sure Akko would undoubtedly be excited by meeting Chariot, we still don’t know why she retired from doing her magic shows and became a disguised teacher at Luna Nova. Considering Ursula seems to be one of the main characters for the second cour I’m excited to finally learn more about her.

          She did explain the secrets behind the hidden words, such as how they can be used to restore magic to the power it originally had. Despite this, the Nine Old Witches of Luna Nova sealed away in Arcturus Forest something called the Grand Triskelion, which has the power to restore magic to its original strength. To discover the Triskelion, one needs the seven magic words. So Croix wants the Triskelion for her secret plans, and I assume Chariot wants it to bring back magic.

          This episode definitely serves as a way to set up the arc for the rest of the season, but for an exposition dump it definitely did a better job than yesterday’s Alice to Zorokou episode. The fight scene with Chariot was awesome, Croix looks to be a great villain, and the animation is as delightful as ever. Still, I kind of wish more had happened this week to make this episode feel more important in the long run.

FINAL SCORE
7/10

Good

No comments:

Post a Comment