Cavendish challenge
(This review contains
spoilers!)
Continuing directly from last week,
Diana is still working to become the leader of her family, while Akko is trying
to convince her to return to Luna Nova.
It’s the Venus Eclipse, meaning that
tonight is the only night for years where the planet Venus is hidden behind the
moon. As part of the Cavendish family tradition, tonight is the only night
where the heir to the family throne may visit a secret shrine and become
officially crowned as the new leader of the family.
This is definitely one of the better
animated episodes recently, even more so than Episode 18. The animators definitely
had a lot of fun with this one, using a lot of over exaggerated faces and
movements on Akko. I especially liked that she was the only character in this
episode to really be wildly animated like that, adding contrast to the more
stoic Cavendish estate characters.
This is especially put to good use in
an early scene where Diana is captured by her aunt’s snakes and Akko
shapeshifts into various animal forms to try and rescue her. It’s very
entertaining to watch her solve the problem by turning into an elephant or a
tortoise among others.
Another highlight of the episode is
Diana getting more much-deserved character building. She and Akko share many
nice scenes working together, and for the first time in Little Witch as a franchise Diana truly lets her guard down and
allows Akko to help her.
While Akko and Diana work
exceptionally well as rivals (Episode 14 is a clear example as to how), I also
really like when they’re able to work as a pair. Their scene in Enchanted Parade where Diana indirectly
motivates Akko to finish the project is one of the best in the movie, and even
in the original short having Diana be the one to save Akko from falling at the
end as opposed to Ursula made for a fantastic ending. The two of them make a
great pair that I’d really like to see more of.
This leads to the discovery of the
fifth word, allowing the Shiny Rod to transform into Chariot’s broom and
leading the two of them on a madcap chase to the shrine as a last-minute secret
entrance appears.
Of course, in the end time runs out
thanks to the aunt and Diana decides to return to school with Akko in tow. The
two have a nice final scene where Diana thanks her for allowing her to return
to school, and the two seem to be building a stronger bond. Diana will surely
play a major role in these last five episodes as Croix’s master plan begins to
unravel, and I’m sure her newfound friendship with Akko will be tested.
This episode is a great conclusion to
what started last week. The animation is better, and Diana getting more character
development is always welcome. I still do wish Akko had a stronger motive for
all this though. Andrew asks her why she’s doing this, and she doesn’t really
give an answer. But overall, a weak reason for why we got this small arc is
better than not getting it at all.
FINAL SCORE
8/10
Great
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