Spells and Potions: Exploring the Magic System in Little Witch Academia

Peruse little witch academia is a Japanese anime television series created by Studio Trigger. It follows the story of a young girl named Atsuko Kagari, also known as Akko, who enrolls in a prestigious witch academy called Luna Nova Academy. Despite not having any magical background or abilities, Akko is determined to become a witch because of her admiration for a famous witch named Shiny Chariot. The main idea of Little Witch Academia is the importance of pursuing one's dreams and believing in oneself. Throughout the series, Akko faces many challenges and obstacles, but she never gives up on her dream of becoming a witch. She is often criticized and looked down upon by her classmates and teachers for her lack of magical talent, but she relies on her determination and hard work to prove herself.

Akko studies hard for her exams, but still struggles to get decent grades despite Ursula's tutorage. After getting into a fight with Hannah and Barbara, Akko is threatened with expulsion from Luna Nova should she fail her final exam, which requires an understanding of fish language. While attempting to bribe the fish philosophy teacher, Pisces, Akko accidentally drops her down a drain into the school's sewage system. Transforming into a merman to search for her, Akko comes across a sad fish and chooses to use her emergency magic reserve to free its family and Professor Pisces from a poacher's trap. When Akko is once again faced with expulsion for her actions, Pisces gives her an A in her exam (the theme of which was "Altruism and Magic") for helping the fish family, while Ursula vouches that, despite the gap between her and her classmates, Akko's magic has improved considerably since her enrollment. After the fish Akko rescued are revealed to be an endangered species, her expulsion is cancelled and she is given a less severe punishment instead.

Arriving at the location of the fountain, Akko and Andrew are chased by and with the unseen aid of Ursula evade its guardian, a giant polar bear named Arcas. After rushing to find the original and attempting to wake her up by feeding her antidotes via mouth-to-mouth, Akko wakes up from what was apparently her own dream.

She is often criticized and looked down upon by her classmates and teachers for her lack of magical talent, but she relies on her determination and hard work to prove herself. The series also highlights the value of friendship and teamwork. Akko forms a tight-knit group of friends who support and encourage each other in their journey to become witches.

Episode list

Having been inspired by the illusory magic of the performing witch, Shiny Chariot, Atsuko "Akko" Kagari decides to enrol at Luna Nova Magical Academy, where Shiny Chariot studied. On her way to the school, she gets teased by the other students, who mock her non-magical bloodline. Unable to fly on a broom through a leyline leading to Luna Nova, Akko manages to get a lift from another new student, Lotte Yanson. However, because of some salty pickled plums Akko was carrying, she and Lotte, along with another witch named Sucy Manbavaran, end up falling out of the leyline into the forbidden Arcturus Forest. Put in a tough situation after Sucy lures out a giant poisonous rooster, Akko comes across Shiny Chariot's wand, the Shiny Rod, before leading the rooster into a trap so they can all escape. As the rooster continues to pursue the girls, one of Luna Nova's teachers, Ursula, gives Akko the magic words needed to use the Shiny Rod, allowing the girls to escape through a portal leading straight to Luna Nova. Making it just in time for the opening ceremony and avoiding expulsion, Akko, Lotte, and Sucy learn that they will be roommates for the next three years.

Akko begins her first day of lessons at Luna Nova, but the classes do not turn out to be as glamorous as she thought they would be. In addition, she has her first clash with the school's top student, Diana Cavendish, over their diverging views towards Shiny Chariot. While Akko later ponders over Chariot's unexplained disappearance ten years ago, Diana attempts to revive the academy's Jennifer Memorial Tree, which has been declining due to lack of nutrients, but instead her restoration spell reveals apparently parasitic growths feeding off its roots. From the Shiny Chariot trading cards she had collected in her childhood, Akko recognizes these growths as the chrysalises of the Pappiliodya, an extremely rare species of magical butterflies, and manages to stop Diana before she can obliterate the cocoons. Using a spell listed in her trading card and some pronunciation help from Diana, Akko manages to use the Shiny Rod to successfully hatch the Pappiliodya, although the teachers assume Diana is the one responsible.

Despite struggling to fly a broom properly, Akko becomes eager to enter the school's traditional broom relay event after learning Chariot was one of the winners. Later, Akko goes with Lotte to a magic item cafe where they come across a legendary broom known as the Shooting Star that has been sealed off for being too temperamental. Interested in the relay's prize offerings, Lotte and Sucy decide to help train Akko to ride her broom. On the day of the relay, Sucy uses her concoctions to give her team an early start and Akko an alternate means of using her broom. Meanwhile, Amanda O'Neill steals the Shooting Star to use for herself, only for it to break loose and run wild, soon running into Akko. After being dragged around the world and shaken off, Akko manages to take hold of the Shooting Star and catch up to Diana, only to fall off again when it breaks its seal and flies away, leading her team to finish in second place.

Lotte is a fan of a series of books called Nightfall, and so, she wants to go to a convention that is going to take place in Saturday.

While being forced to clean the academy's tower following an argument in class, Akko and Amanda witness a horde of dragons carrying off the Sorcerer's Stone, leaving Luna Nova without any magical power. Strangely, the academy staff does not react to this theft, instead accidentally revealing that this is part of an anticipated prophecy involving a dragon. After hearing a legend about a white dragon who resides in the nearby Ruins of Rastaban, Akko, Amanda, and their friends head there to retrieve the stone themselves. There, they discover the culprit to be a loan shark dragon named Fafnir, who has repossessed the Sorcerer's Stone from Luna Nova after their failure to keep up repayments on a loan he gave them. Luckily, Diana is able to decipher Fafnir's promissory note, written in dragon language, revealing that it does not actually mention paying back interest, meaning Fafnir has been tricking the school into paying back more than they actually owed. Caught in his deception, Fafnir is forced into nullifying the contract and returning the Sorcerer's Stone to Luna Nova.

Luna Nova hosts a welcoming party for the Earl of Hanbridge and his son, Andrew, who is an old acquaintance of Diana's. Meanwhile, as Akko is stuck having to practice her metamorphosis magic after giving herself animal ears, she decides to go and search for the Fountain of Polaris, which she believes can grant her great power. During her search, Akko comes across Andrew, who expresses a strong disinterest in magic, and she inadvertently gives him animal ears and a tail. Arriving at the location of the fountain, Akko and Andrew are chased by and (with the unseen aid of Ursula) evade its guardian, a giant polar bear named Arcas. Upon approaching the fountain, Akko is shown a vision of a young Chariot, who was unable to receive the fountain's power until she proved herself to be a capable witch through her own effort. Helping Akko to realize that acknowledgement is something that must be earned, Ursula encourages Akko to become stronger and restores Andrew, who promises to keep their encounter a secret.

Akko studies hard for her exams, but still struggles to get decent grades despite Ursula's tutorage. After getting into a fight with Hannah and Barbara, Akko is threatened with expulsion from Luna Nova should she fail her final exam, which requires an understanding of fish language. While attempting to bribe the fish philosophy teacher, Pisces, Akko accidentally drops her down a drain into the school's sewage system. Transforming into a merman to search for her, Akko comes across a sad fish and chooses to use her emergency magic reserve to free its family and Professor Pisces from a poacher's trap. When Akko is once again faced with expulsion for her actions, Pisces gives her an A in her exam (the theme of which was "Altruism and Magic") for helping the fish family, while Ursula vouches that, despite the gap between her and her classmates, Akko's magic has improved considerably since her enrollment. After the fish Akko rescued are revealed to be an endangered species, her expulsion is cancelled and she is given a less severe punishment instead.

After drinking her own ominous energy drink formula, Sucy winds up in a deep sleep with mushrooms growing around her body. Unable to ask for a teacher's help out of fear of expulsion, Akko has Lotte send her into Sucy's dreams so she can find out how to cure her. Enlisting the help of small angel and devil versions of Sucy, Akko encounters several different personality aspects of Sucy in her search for the original, only to get caught up in a judicial purge of Sucy's unneeded emotions. After stopping the execution, Akko rescues a smaller kind-looking Sucy and soon comes across a drive-in cinema showcasing Sucy's memories. Just then, the Sucys that Akko rescued merge together into a bloodythirsty monster that threatens to overtake Sucy's original personality. After rushing to find the original and attempting to wake her up by feeding her antidotes via mouth-to-mouth, Akko wakes up from what was apparently her own dream.

While trying to fix some tombstones that she knocked over while at a graveyard, Akko accidentally mixes a repair spell she was using with one of Sucy's mushrooms, which ends up bringing a deceased soldier back from the dead. The girls find themselves chasing the soldier across town as he seeks revenge on a coward despite having no memory of who he is. After visiting the magical cafe, they discover the coward the soldier is searching for was a bellringer who allegedly broke a promise to his witch daughter, Miranda Holbrooke. Upon visiting the town's bell, which is missing its chime, the soldier remembers that he is in fact the bellringer, who gave Miranda a staff made from the bell's tongue before he died. Realising that the Miranda in question is actually Luna Nova's principal, Akko uses the repair spell on the bell to rush everyone back to Luna Nova and reunite Miranda with her father, allowing them to spend some time together before the resurrection spell wears off and the soldier returns to the afterlife.

Hearing about a party at Andrew's mansion that Diana is attending, Akko, Lotte and Sucy don magical Cinderella dresses and sneak into the party. Just as Andrew notices them and prepares to send them out, Sucy, ever in the mood for a little mischief, sets loose a LoveLove Bee that causes whoever it stings to fall in love with the first person they see. While searching for the bee in order to stop the spell, Akko overhears a conversation between Andrew and his father, who wants him to quit the piano and chase all witches out of the country. After receiving encouragement from Akko to keep chasing his dreams, Andrew uses his piano playing to distract the other guests so that Akko can finally swat the bee, undoing its magic.

Akko comes to Ursula late at night to ask her about Chariot's disappearance, but doesn't get much help from her. Meanwhile, Diana looks into the history behind an old witch who was sealed centuries ago. Recalling a legend about an all-knowing spirit who only appears on the night of a blue moon, Akko takes the Shiny Rod with her to a place known as the Blue Moon Abyss. Reaching the center of the abyss, Akko confronts the spirit, who offers to grant her dream of being a great magician like Chariot in exchange for her past memories. Refusing to erase the past efforts she has made and determined to see her dream come true through her own strength, Akko awakens a new power in the Shiny Rod to force the spirit away. After Akko passes out, Ursula, who is revealed to be Chariot herself, speaks with the spirit's true form, Woodward, about the role Akko will play in restoring magic to the world.

As Luna Nova prepares for their annual Samhain Festival, during which the most exemplary student is crowned the Moonlit Witch, Diana is put in charge of the committee while Akko's group is stuck playing symbolic sacrifices for an ever-sorrowful ghost. Determined to become the Moonlit Witch like Chariot was, despite everyone's low expectations of her, Akko gets pranked by a mischievous magic mirror, which turns her into an exact likeness of Diana. While initially eager to pull pranks while in this form, Akko quickly becomes aware of the responsibilities and talent Diana has, becoming dejected by the time the real Diana appears and turns her back to normal. Encouraged by Ursula to focus on what she can do instead of comparing herself to others, Akko is once again called to the Fountain of Polaris, which shows her a vision of Chariot through the perspective of one of her friends. Realising that Chariot cared more about simply bringing joy to others with her magic rather than striving to be the Moonlit Witch, Akko ends up learning a new spell.

Wanting to follow Chariot's example, Akko proposes putting on a metamorphosis show to make Vajarois smile, which prompts Ursula to look into what caused Vajarois' sorrow in the first place. Initially unwilling to get on board with Akko's plan, Lotte and Sucy notice how hard Akko is working to make magic fun and decide to help her in her act. On the day of the festival, as Akko transforms into various shapes to try and entertain Vajarois, Ursula finds an item called Vajarois' Vestige, learning that Vajarois was a princess who had swallowed a seed of sorrow to remember her lost friends, causing her to experience eternal sorrow. Upon receiving this information, Akko and the others go inside of Vajarois and uses the Shiny Rod's third spell to pull the seed of sorrow out of her, allowing her true form to rest in peace. As Akko celebrates her success, despite being disqualified from the running for Moonlit Witch (which a reluctant Diana wins), another figure makes an appearance.

The faeries of Luna Nova go on strike, abandoning their duties and preventing the witches from using magic until they get a fairer share of energy from the Sorceror's Stone. While Ursula is sent to retrieve some excess energy they can use, a new teacher named Croix Meridies arrives at Luna Nova to teach modern magic, much to the dismay of the more traditionally-minded teachers. Initially aiming to put an end to the strike, Akko ends up sympathizing with the faeries and joins their cause instead. As the fairy union tries to work out terms with the teachers, Croix proposes using her new techno-magical Sorcery Solution System to create new energy out of the wasted energy emitted from the Sorceror's Stone, but this is met with refusal from the teachers. The strike worsens when a flame fairy is attacked while helping Hannah and Barbara take a shower, leading the other faeries to blame the witches. As Akko and the others try to free up the Sorceror's Stone in accordance with their demands, only to get attacked by a mechanical fairy, Croix appears and uses her modern magic to absorb the negative energy from the faeries, heal the flame fairy, and solve the energy crisis. With the Sorcery Solution System being installed into the school as a result, Ursula, upon returning from her errand, is shocked to see Akko getting along with Croix.

Upon hearing that Croix and Chariot were classmates, Akko goes to Croix, who asks her to bring the Shiny Rod to her laboratory in the New Moon Tower for analysis. When Akko shows up, Croix knocks her unconscious and begins analyzing the data in her memories in order to find out how she is able to control the Rod. Fearing for Akko's safety, Ursula heads to the New Moon Tower and fights her way through Croix's defenses before confronting her. Urusula correctly deduces that Croix intends to claim the world's reconstruction magic for her own agenda, but Croix merely takes her leave, claiming how she did not gain any new information from Akko's memories anyway. After bringing Akko back to safety, Ursula explains to her about the ancient power called Grand Triskelion that is sealed away in the Arcturus Forest, and how it has the power to restore the flow of magic to the world. She reveals that the key to breaking this seal is to unlock the seven magic words hidden in the Shiny Rod, three of which Akko has already learned. Remaining unaware that Ursula and Chariot are one and the same, Akko becomes determined to find the remaining four words in the hope of meeting Chariot again.

After learning from Ursula and the Shiny Rod that she needs to find something she is lacking in order to unlock the fourth word, Akko joins Lotte and Sucy as they visit Lotte's home in a remote Finnish village. The next morning, however, they discover that Lotte's parents and their neighbor have become infected with the rare Greenman Disease, which will gradually turn them into moss until they wither away. Needing five particular ingredients to make an antidote, the girls set off in search for them, but Akko's lack of patience proves to be an issue. When Lotte and Sucy also succumb to the disease, only Akko is left to get the remaining ingredients and is forced to learn patience in order to deal with a spooked reindeer and a yeti artisan who is lacking in self-confidence. Realizing the importance of being patient, Akko manages to unlock the Shiny Rod's fourth word and finish the antidote, restoring everyone to normal.

Learning from Ursula that history and tradition are the clues needed to unlock the Shiny Rod's fifth word, Akko and Amanda sneak into Andrew's school, Appleton Academy, where a relic known as the Holy Grail is being kept. As Amanda and Akko disguise themselves as a student and a rat respectively, Amanda has a heated run-in with the chairman's son, Louis Blackwell, before they both come across Andrew. Although Akko manages to find the Holy Grail, both she and Amanda end up captured by Louis, who intends to torture them and break the grail. Objecting to this cruel punishment, Andrew proposes that Louis and Amanda instead settle their dispute in a sword duel in which, despite Louis' attempts to cheat, Amanda proves victorious. As Louis smashes the grail out of spite, techno-magic placed there by Croix possesses a suit of armor, which forces itself on Louis and takes control of him. With help from Akko and Andrew, Amanda manages to regain control of her magic and defeat the armor, freeing Louis in the process. Louis takes responsibility for the incident, and Akko and Amanda return to Luna Nova, unaware of Croix's involvement.

An annual ghost hunting event, known as the Wild Hunt, is coming to Blytonbury for its final stage. After accidentally breaking one of her robots, Akko offers to help silent tech genius Constanze, who is participating in the hunt by invitation from Professor Croix. Constanze is reluctant to let Akko help her as she prefers to work alone, but Akko soon manages to prove herself useful by helping Constanze gather the materials needed for the battleship she intends to use for the event. On the day of the Hunt, Croix calls normal occult fanatics to the event and uses her techno-magic to materialize the ghosts into bird monsters, which begin to cause havoc. Having incorporating one of Akko's own suggestions, Constanze transforms her ship into a mecha and, with the magical support of the Hunters, manages to defeat the monsters. Afterwards, Ursula confronts Croix with the knowledge that she caused the panic to gather "fuel spirit" from the normal people's emotional energy, but Croix confidently dares Ursula to try and stop her.

Akko learns that Diana is leaving Luna Nova to become the head of the Cavendish family. Refusing to accept Diana simply leaving despite their past differences, Akko decides to head straight to the Cavendish estate herself to try to change Diana's mind. During her travel, she comes across Andrew and his father, who have been invited to the Cavendish mansion, and once there, Diana's maid Anna explains to Akko that Diana must become the family head to keep the Cavendish family from falling into ruin under her aunt, Daryl. At a dinner party that night, Daryl attempts to sell off Cavendish heirlooms to the Hanbridges, including a tapestry of Diana's ancestor and one of the Nine Olde Witches, Beatrix the Affectionate, which formerly belonged to Diana's late mother. Angered at Daryl's sacrilege against her family's history and traditions, Diana states her clear intention to go through with her ascension and protect the family heritage from Daryl's greed.

As Diana prepares for her ascension ritual, which can only take place once every few years during a Venusian eclipse, she is ambushed and encoiled by Daryl's pet snakes. Akko, still believing that Diana doesn't really want to leave Luna Nova midway, hears from Andrew about how Diana once lost her magical abilities until something rekindled her determination. Right afterwards they overhear Daryl talking about her scheme to stop Diana from performing the ritual in time, and Akko decides to head into the Cavendish shrine to rescue her, but gets poisoned in the process. Despite being free to carry on the ceremony, Diana instead takes Akko away for treatment and tells her about her determination to continue the legacy of Beatrix and her late mother as benefactors to humanity. By firmly believing that Diana can still become the family head and return to school as well, Akko manages to awaken the fifth word, transforming the Shiny Rod into Chariot's broom, the Shiny Volley, which Diana and Akko use to reach the ritual shrine. Daryl and her daughters attempt to stop her, but are affected by a curse that falls upon those who would disturb the ritual. Choosing to save them from being turned into trees, Diana ends up missing the ascension, but in turn receives a vision of Beatrix for her compassion. Determined to protect the estate until the next ritual, Anna encourages Diana to pursue her true dreams and return with Akko to Luna Nova.

Looking into the meaning behind the Shiny Rod's sixth word, Lyonne, Akko hears from Croix about how Chariot climbed the legendary Wagandea tree to learn it. However, Ursula urges against Akkoi doing the same as the tree is due to release a dangerous pollen that causes witches to lose their magic and flight abilities. Despite this, Croix takes Akko to the tree anyway, claiming that Ursula had lied about when the pollen would be released. While Akko begins climbing the tree, Ursula rushes to save her but is ambushed by Croix, who reveals she wants to destroy Akko as revenge against Chariot for being granted possession of the Shiny Rod instead of her. Ursula attempts to stop Akko from climbing the tree any further before the pollen is released, but is met with distrust from her over what Croix had told her. After Croix surprisingly prevents her from falling to her death, Ursula rushes to save Akko just as the pollen is released. Realising just how much Ursula has watched over for, Akko expresses her deepest apology and gratitude to her, which turns out to be the true meaning of "Lyonne" that unlocks the sixth word. However, Croix is revealed to have been working on her own, dark version of the Shiny Rod to claim the Triskelion's power for herself.

With Croix having openly revealed her hand, Ursula calls Akko over to tell her the final word, whose meaning, however, she has not discovered. Notified by Diana about a message from Andrew, Akko leaves to meet with him, while a feud between nations about a controversial soccer verdict threatens to erupt into an international conflict. Noticing some techno-magic hovering around the protesters, Akko chases after one of the cubes and comes across Croix, and discovers that Croix has been manipulating everyone's emotions in order to convert it into magical energy. Just as Akko is attacked by Croix, she is saved by Ursula, whose identity as Chariot is finally revealed. Croix further reveals that, during her magic show ten years ago, Chariot herself drained her spectators' power of dreaming to effect her magic, thereby also depriving Akko (and Diana) of her natural magical talents, and when Ursula denies none of this, Akko is left devastated.

In a flashback, the story of Chariot's rise to a witch performer is revealed, with the aim of finding and unlocking the final Word of the Grand Triskelion by using her magic to bring happiness to the people. However, when her magic failed to maintain the audience's interest, Croix - jealous of Chariot gaining the Shiny Rod instead of her - tricked her into using her newly developed Dream Fuel Spirit magic at the show Akko visited, heedless of the consequences to the spectators, which eventually drove Chariot into retirement and sundered their friendship forever. In the present, Diana is asked for help by Lotte and Sucy, as Akko has not returned from the city. When Diana seeks out Ursula and reveals that she has found out her true identity, Chariot confesses about what happened, but burdened by her guilt finds herself reluctant to get involved with Akko anymore. Searching along with Akko's friends, Diana finally finds her totally desolate, and reveals that she too has admired Chariot and was also present at that fateful show. While she lost her magical abilities that time, but eventually regained them with determination, hard work, and her belief in Chariot, Diana admits that she and Akko are kindred spirits and Akko has the talent to actually live up to Chariot's ideals; and with that revelation and the support of her friends, Akko's spirits are rekindled. In the meantime, Chariot decides to confront and stop Croix, who is about to initiate the final stage of her sinister plan.

THE CHARACTERS:

They learn to work together and overcome their differences for the greater good. Additionally, Little Witch Academia explores themes of self-discovery and finding one's own path in life. Akko constantly struggles with her own identity and purpose, as she is constantly compared to Shiny Chariot and faces pressure to live up to her idol's legacy. However, she eventually learns to embrace her own unique strengths and talents. The series is known for its vibrant animation, charming characters, and heartfelt storytelling. It contains elements of comedy, adventure, and drama, appealing to a wide range of audiences. Overall, Little Witch Academia is a delightful and inspiring series that encourages viewers to chase their dreams, believe in themselves, and embrace their true selves. It reminds us that with determination, hard work, and the support of friends, anything is possible..

Reviews for "The Cultural References and Influences in Little Witch Academia"

1. John - 1/5 stars - I found "Peruse Little Witch Academia" to be extremely dull and uninteresting. The plot was disjointed and confusing, making it difficult for me to become invested in the story or characters. Additionally, the animation style felt uninspired and lackluster, failing to captivate my attention. Overall, I was thoroughly disappointed and wouldn't recommend this film to others.

2. Emily - 2/5 stars - Despite the hype surrounding "Peruse Little Witch Academia," I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed by the film. The pacing was slow, and the story lacked depth and originality. The characters were one-dimensional and failed to evoke any emotional connection. The film seemed to rely heavily on cliches and predictable tropes, making it a forgettable experience. While the animation was visually appealing, it wasn't enough to salvage the overall lackluster nature of the film.

3. Alex - 2/5 stars - "Peruse Little Witch Academia" failed to live up to my expectations. The plot felt rushed and poorly developed, leaving me confused and disengaged throughout the entire film. The dialogue was simplistic and lacked any meaningful depth. The humor fell flat, and the attempts at creating emotional moments felt forced and contrived. Despite boasting impressive animation, the film failed to deliver in terms of storytelling and character development. I left the theater feeling unsatisfied and disappointed.

Little Witch Academia: The Anime Phenomenon that Took the World by Storm