Akko Little Witch Academy is a Japanese anime series that follows the story of a young girl named Atsuko "Akko" Kagari, who dreams of becoming a witch. The series is set in a world where magic exists but has become a rare skill. The show revolves around Akko's journey as she enrolls in Luna Nova Magical Academy, a prestigious school for witches, and faces various challenges to prove herself as a witch. Despite lacking magical abilities, Akko is determined and perseveres to follow her dreams, bringing her infectious enthusiasm to the academy. The main idea of Akko Little Witch Academy is the importance of pursuing one's dreams and the power of belief in oneself. Akko's unwavering determination drives her to overcome all obstacles and become a witch, regardless of her initial lack of magical skills.
“Believing in yourself…that is your magic!”- Shiny Chariot’s famous words, imbibed by a young Atsuko Kagari
It is the power of belief and hope, mixed with an uncompromising commitment to see it through, along with an understanding of being flawed, and human that made Akko the worthy wielder of the powerful magical artifact. Between some excellent character development, countless important moments in which she squarely found herself in, and an adorableness that was far more endearing than annoying, it was hard to not notice the Japanese girl with a great dream.
Akko's unwavering determination drives her to overcome all obstacles and become a witch, regardless of her initial lack of magical skills. Through her journey, the series emphasizes the idea that anyone can achieve their dreams if they have the courage to pursue them and never give up. The show also highlights the values of friendship, teamwork, and acceptance.
Characters / Little Witch Academia - Atsuko "Akko" Kagari
The protagonist of the franchise. Akko is a bubbly young girl from Japan who aspires to become a witch after watching one of Shiny Chariot's performances. She's generally reckless and willing to take risks and has no experience with, nor knowledge of magic, which, combined with her hot-blooded and lazy nature, makes her a rather unpopular student amongst her peers and her teachers.
In spite of these flaws and setbacks, however, she is a kind and passionate girl who cares deeply about her friends and is determined to make her dreams come true, not willing to let anyone or anything stop her.
open/close all folders- A-Cup Angst: One slightly subtle example as she shows up at the Cavendish family to try to talk Diana in coming back to Luna Nova. Diana gets her maid to put Akko in a fancy dress that she received from her mother when she was 11, noting how it's a bit too small for her now. When Akko puts the dress on, she notices that it fits her perfectly and is slightly annoyed by the connotations here.
- Accidental Pervert: Gender inverted. She accidentally grabs Andrew by the pants when they're in danger of falling, and is so embarrassed that she accuses him of thinking that she's a pervert when he makes it clear he doesn't.
- Acquired Poison Immunity: Downplayed. For Akko, getting repeatedly poisoned by Sucy finally pays off when it allows her to briefly resist the bites of a couple of venomous snakes controlled by Lady Daryl Cavendish, but she soon collapses and requires urgent medical attention.
- Actually Pretty Funny: She was initially at a loss when she saw the old-timey parody of her during a movie inside Sucy's mindscape. Eventually, though, she joined the Sucies in laughing.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In the series, Akko is far more depressed about her lack of skill in magic. While it was present in the short films, it was more of an annoyance, while also heavily implied to be due to her impatience. In the series, it's a plot point and something Akko works extremely hard at trying to overcome (once she realizes she's not in a Legacy of the Chosen story and won't just become an Instant Expert through sheer belief). Furthermore, in the films, Shiny Chariot is an always out-of-reach ideal that Akko strives for, while in the series, she does eventually learn she's Professor Ursula. Unfortunately, this revelation comes together with the knowledge that Chariot (unintentionally) using her shows to gather Dream Energy is part of the reason why she can't use magic well . She takes this about as well as can be expected.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed. While Akko can still be insensitive in the TV series, it's considerably more toned down from how she was in the short films.
- Adaptational Wimp: In the short films, Akko quickly develops her magical abilities while battling monsters. In the series, the writers are allowed to slow down the pacing. As a result, Akko's even more of a Loser Protagonist; her talents developing bit by bit, provided that she doesn't catch Aesop Amnesia. Her lack of ability is actually a major plot point.
- Aesop Amnesia: Downplayed. While most of the morals she's taught over the course of the series tend to stick, when it comes to learning the value of patience, Akko seems to forget it by the end of the episode, probably requiring more time to stick than others due to her Determinator nature.
- All-Loving Hero: She is loyal to her friends, doing whatever she can to ensure their safety and/or happiness. In fact, Akko's love for magic stems from a personal belief that she can make people happy with it.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Downplayed. While Akko has friendships in the form of Lotte, Sucy, Amanda, Jasminka, and Constanze, she is often ridiculed by Hannah and Barbara because of her lack of magic as well as being the laughingstock occasionally for her magical mishaps. And except for Ursula and Holbrooke, many of the teachers (especially Finneran) think of her as an incompetent student.
- Ambiguously Bi: While she does have Ship Tease with Andrew and is implied to have feelings for him, she also has some moments with Diana as well that can be interpreted as subtext, such as her reaction to her love confession under the influence of the Lovelove Bee in "Bee Affection" being near identical to her reaction to Andrew's confession and becoming openly huggy and affectionate towards her once they become friends, on top of holding hands with her in both the second opening and the finale. She also almost kisses Sucy in "Akko's Adventure in Sucyworld" in order to give her the medicine needed to wake her up, showing no qualms about kissing another girl (instead being concerned about taking Sucy's first kiss). Yoshinari would also later state in Little Witch Academia Chronicle that Akko isn't interested in guys, which combined with the above, gives credence to the possibility that Akko is at the very least, not straight. However, Akko's sexuality has not been confirmed in canon. invoked
- Amusing Injuries: It's a wonder Akko hasn't had a serious concussion by now: getting her head rammed into something hard is nearly a Once an Episode event.
- Animal Motifs: The same as her favorite animal to transform into � the mouse.
- Animorphism: By "Samhain Magic Festival", and as shown in the second OP and ED songs, transforming into animals (albeit cartoonish ones that are considered "crappy" in contrast to other witches' more realistic transformations) has become Akko's specialization.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Akko gives one to Diana on where her loyalties lie.
- Ascended Fangirl: Having grown up watching and idolizing Shiny Chariot, she now attends Luna Nova to become like her idol. There's also the fact that her main teacher and (in the TV series) personal mentor, Professor Ursula, is actually Shiny Chariot herself.
- Ash Face: She causes a big-ass explosion during her fundamental alchemy exam, destroying a window, a part of the wall around the window, and giving her an unwanted makeover.
- Attention Deficit. Ooh, Shiny!: She has a habit of not really paying attention when others talk. This also presents itself in an It's All About Me fashion as unless it's about how she can learn some magic spell or Shiny Chariot, she probably already stopped listening to a while ago. Even then, she will probably only pay attention for a short time.
- Audience Surrogate: She's from a muggle lineage and often has to have magical concepts explained to her (just as they're being explained to the audience).
- Badass Adorable: Cute design? check! Badass Witch? Check! Powerful weapons? Check!
- Batman Can Breathe in Space: She gets a Golden Super Mode in the final battle that allows her to breathe in space with Diana by her side who has the same Super Mode similar to Ryuko in "Past The Infinite Darkness".
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Subverted. She's got some scrapes to show from her rampant clumsiness as a little child.
- Berserk Button: She gets angry and argues back to the point of being irrational whenever somebody talks negatively about her idol, Shiny Chariot.
- Blithe Spirit: A muggle who changes the lives of multiple witches by attending a magic academy.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The brunette to Sucy's blonde and Lotte's redhead.
- Book Dumb: While she finds the Luna Nova classes boring and often falls asleep in them, she's proven to be quite clever, innovative, and creative.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Downplayed. Akko isn't completely bratty and is a genuinely Nice Girl most of the time, but she can be short-tempered, lazy, rude, childish and self-entitled at times and is frequently seen as an immature and irresponsible troublemaker by several characters early on (especially by Sucy and Diana). She slowly grows out of this and becomes a bit more mature over the course of the series.
- Break the Cutie: "Things We Said Today" is a huge one for her after learning Chariot took away her magic during the time she was at her show.
- Break the Haughty: Downplayed. While Akko was never haughty per se, she did have a tendency to be cocky and overestimate her actual abilities and didn't put much hard work into her studies early on, thinking she didn't need to. However, after learning that there are no shortcuts to becoming good in "The Fountain" and her failed attempt to cheat had nearly led to her getting expelled in "Orange Submariner", this attitude of hers quickly changes, and by the end of the first cour, Akko is much more hard-working and better aware of her weaknesses then she was early on.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Akko tends to frequently sleep in class and generally prefers to do anything other than actually sitting down and study, but when she puts her mind to it, she can be bright, creative, clever and quick thinking, which has saved her and/or her friends quite a number of times. She begins to slowly step out of this territory in later episodes as she starts to take her studies more seriously, even if she remains a bit of a slacker.
- Broken Pedestal: Her idolization of Chariot becomes shattered when she learns that Chariot stole her magic during her childhood for her own use.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: She generally doesn't dwell on many of her adventures, nor does she really seem to care about the consequences they bring. Case in point: she has a long track record of reckless behavior as pointed out by the Dean, but she talks about them casually as if those were natural occurrences.
- Butt-Monkey: Hardly an episode goes by where Akko doesn't receive an amusing injury of some kind, and that's not counting the multiple times her attempts at magic either fail, or blow up in her face.
- Catchphrase:
- In the Japanese version, Akko is quite fond of exclaiming "Yay!" in English. In the English dub, it's "Alright!"
- "Doki doki no waku waku" in most episode previews; it means "It's so thrilling and exciting!" If it's missing, the episode is extremely serious.
- At the end of the first film, her faith in Shiny Chariot allows her to defeat the dragon by using the Shiny Rod just like Chariot did in her stage shows.
- In The Enchanted Parade, after Sucy and Lotte leave the Happy Time Project, she decides to try planning out the witch parade herself, involving choreography, the float design and even doing enough research to make at least four tall stacks.
- In the TV series, her determination is the thing that seems to summon the Shiny Rod. Even with a giant cockatrice after them, having to carry Lotte and Sucy not even bothering to help, she refuses to give up in getting into Luna Nova.
- Akko is able to understand fish language (which is considered a very difficult animal language) without having to transform into a merman within the span of a day. Also, while it's easy to miss with Translation Convention in effect, the Japanese Akko must be fluent in English, and possibly other languages; She has no issue interacting with the multinational classmates of her British boarding school (or even the citizens outside of it), nor any special trouble reading and writing in English. She may have a knack for picking up languages.
- While Akko comes off as being very confident about herself, it's heavily implied in several episodes that she is more insecure than she lets on, as she constantly compares herself to more skilled witches like Diana and Chariot, lamenting about her lack of talent and/or skills in comparison. A line she states in "Bee Affection" also implies she's insecure about her looks, which is implied again after finding out that the dress she wore in "Cavendish" was one Diana wore at eleven years old.
- As mentioned above, Akko may be below average with academics and magic, but she has proven to be quick-thinking, innovative, and creative, which has saved her and her friends from many sticky situations.
- She also has a genuine talent for showmanship and entertainment, just like her idol.
- If Diana's reaction to Akko�s plum seaweed tea at the end of chapter 5 in Keisuke Satō's manga is any indication, Akko is good at making tea. Ironically, as the game later reveals, Akko doesn�t actually care much for tea.
- In the light novel, Akko notices that Stone Doras looks like a torii, which she briefly attempts to explain what it is to a confused Lotte and Sucy (that it is a traditional Japanese gate to Shinto shrines where the gods are worshipped), which only confuses them more. Although the scene is brief and largely humorous in nature, the fact that she knows what a torii is does imply that she is knowledgeable about her country's culture.
- Idiot Hero: She's a klutz and a troublemaker, and can barely use magic. But when the situation calls for it, she doesn't hesitate to put her life on the line for her friends and her determination invariably saves the day.
- Indy Ploy: Downplayed. Akko usually starts off with a foundational plan but will change things or make things up on the go if it suits the situation.
- She ends up falling behind in a flying-broom race. So to catch up, she takes advantage of a rogue high-speed broom by *ahem*firing herself at it from a cannon, and chaining herself to it so it can't escape. It was almost enough to reach second place before the broom broke apart.
- Her biggest issue with Fafnir stealing the Sorcerer's Stone initially is only that it was done while she was still in school, and therefore an inconvenience to her learning magic (even though she is called out repeatedly for not keeping up in class).
- Subverted in "New Age Magic". Akko's original intention in talking the faeries out of their strike was so she doesn't have to deal with having to study magic through massive books. However, upon hearing them out and their reasons for striking, she ends up empathizing with them and ultimately joins their cause, becoming their spokesperson.
- In The Enchanted Parade, Lotte starts giving Akko the cold shoulder for accidentally ripping her family's music sheet while trying to use it for their parade without permission. When Sucy suggests that she's been bottling up her feelings due to being pushed around by Akko all the time, Akko remarks why Lotte can't be forward with her feelings instead of acting gloomy and depressing all the time. Unfortunately, Lotte is standing right behind her when she says this, so she bluntly states that she thinks Akko's ideas for the parade will fail and that she wants no part in it, leaving Akko to desperately try to take back her words. When Lotte changes her mind and returns for a Big Damn Heroes moment to deliver a hand-made replica of the hat worn by Shiny Chariot, Akko's inspiration for the parade and becoming a witch in general, Akko gives her a big, tearful hug and apology for being such an insensitive jerk.
- After she found out about the death of her parents through Anna in "Cavendish", Akko quickly begins to regret and feel guilt over some of her past behavior towards Diana.
- Her decision in defending the Faeries' strike earned her the creatures' friendships. So much so, that she and her roommates are spared when the Faeries' rampage against the Witches.
- Her commitment to her friends and Shiny Chariot is what ultimately allowed her full access to the Grand Triskellion's real power.
Akko: "Hey I was just thinking�aren�t we kind of similar? Ever since we were little we were obsessed with just one thing! It didn�t matter what anyone else said about it, we just go straight down the paths we chose."
- In "Orange Submariner", After finding out that she might leave Luna Nova through Diana�s fortune and then once again getting mocked by Hannah and Barbara, as well as getting tripped by them intentionally afterward, Akko simply loses it and actually gets into a physical fistfight with the two bullies in a fit of rage.
- In Episode 21, Akko yells at Ursula when she sees that the latter is seemingly more interested in claiming the Grand Triskellion than her student's well-being.
- To Professor Ursula and Chariot, expressing her love and admiration for both, both before and after she learns that they're one and the same, and after she hears what Chariot unwittingly did to her. This is, of course, after some healthy dejected crying, introspection, and the encouragement of her classmates.
- To her classmates, as she understands that by attending Luna Nova, they're effectively pursuing the same dream together. She will not abide to anyone leaving while she can do anything about it.
- She is constantly the guinea pig of Sucy's experiments and doesn't handle her sarcasm well, but the two do care for each other (most evident when Akko goes through a lot of effort to save Sucy in her dreams, and it's shown Sucy cherishes her first meeting with Akko and is willing to back her up if the situation calls for it, i.e. the Samhain Festival).
- She bickers with Amanda quite a bit in the series but they nevertheless enjoy their company and consider Luna Nova boring without each other.
- Once she and Diana are able to set aside their differences and admit their respect for each others' strengths, their bickering becomes more playful.
Akko and Diana about to save the world. It wasn’t always this way.
Akko forms strong bonds with her friends, Lotte and Sucy, and they support each other through their magical education and adventures. The trio faces numerous challenges together, teaching the audience the significance of collaboration and relying on one another's strengths. Additionally, the show explores themes of acceptance and diversity, showcasing the different backgrounds and talents of its characters and promoting a message of inclusivity. Overall, Akko Little Witch Academy is a heartwarming and inspiring anime that delivers a powerful message about following dreams, believing in oneself, and the importance of friendship and acceptance. The series appeals to audiences of all ages, reminding them that with determination, anything is possible..
Reviews for "The Educational Value of Akko's Little Witch Academy: Lessons Beyond Magic"
1. John - 2 stars - I didn't enjoy "Akko Little Witch Academy" at all. The story felt childish and lacked any depth. The characters were one-dimensional and I couldn't connect with any of them. The animation was okay, but it wasn't enough to save the show for me. Overall, I found it to be a disappointing and forgettable experience.
2. Sarah - 1 star - I found "Akko Little Witch Academy" to be dull and unoriginal. The plot was predictable, and the characters were bland and uninspiring. I also found the animation to be lackluster, with nothing visually stunning or captivating. I couldn't get invested in the story or the world they were trying to build, and it failed to hold my interest. I wouldn't recommend this anime to anyone looking for a unique and engaging experience.
3. Michael - 2.5 stars - "Akko Little Witch Academy" fell short of my expectations. The pacing was incredibly slow, and I found myself losing interest in the storyline. The characters were also quite forgettable, and their development was lacking. While the animation was decent, it wasn't enough to make up for the lackluster plot and characters. Overall, I was disappointed with this anime and wouldn't consider it one of the better ones out there.
4. Emily - 2 stars - I found "Akko Little Witch Academy" to be a bit too cliché for my liking. The story followed the same tropes and plotlines I've seen in countless other magical school anime. The characters were also very stereotypical, and I couldn't find anything unique or memorable about them. The animation was decent, but it wasn't enough to make me overlook the lack of originality in the show. Overall, I was hoping for something more fresh and innovative, but unfortunately, this anime didn't deliver.
The Beloved Secondary Characters of Akko's Little Witch Academy: Adding Depth to the Story