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theskyexists · 7 years

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my thoughts on lwa

ok so my problem with Little Witch Academia is small but it’s also big.

Was it a great anime? ABSOLUTELY. With extremely memorable characters and interesting worldbuilding? YES. With an exciting overarching plot and great character-based episodes, amazing animation? yes yes and YES.

The problem I had with Little Witch Academia is simply....the relationship they focused the most on was Akko’s with Chariot/Ursula-sensei. And even that, was kind of...like how was that really resolved? I mean, they built in a betrayal, but Akko decided it didn’t actually matter because she was given something even more precious? I GUESS? i’m just putting it into words NOW. because by some accounts Akko just hardcore ignored the issue. Ok so that’s ok and it was good. But they spent so much time on it. And even in their relationship it was ESSENTIAL that Chariot had become like - a diminished version of herself

.....Chariot was...she had a double persona. But even from the beginning Chariot was majorly insecure about her magic - and as Ursula-sensei she has LOST her dream. She lost a lot of things. The one responsible for that insecurity, and for her losing so much was in many ways Croix, or at least, Croix was inexorably tied to her losses and her insecurity.

(BECAUSE WHAT? WHY DID THE LAST WORD NOT SHOW UP FOR CHARIOT THOUGH??? THIS IS NEVER EXPLAINED)

And then Croix comes back and beats her up, tries to make her feel worthless and destroy her, her dream, her protegee, kill her! at one point.

and.....then she saves Croix from the monster Croix has created anyway because she holds her dear still and doesn’t want to also lose her. But? there is no moment when their emotion comes to a climax and they get to talk about how Croix betrayed her. CROIX BETRAYED HER MULTIPLE TIMES.

And Croix herself, with her obsession with being the greatest witch of her time, with bringing magic back to the world. Her dissapointment at not being chosen, at the Triskelion being - flimsy nonsense magic, her disbelief at the Triskelion’s real power in Akko’s hands. The way she feels as though Professor Woodward (how the fuck was she a professor???) betrayed her, the Shiny Rod betrayed her, Chariot betrayed her, and her own creation betrayed her. Like, none of that is addressed. What did all of that mean for her? Why was she like this? (and what did it mean to her that Chariot ‘would never abandon her’! after having done such terrible things to her)

They built in so many motivations and flaws into Chariot and Croix, but they never get a scene where it all comes to a head? Where Croix APOLOGISES to Chariot. Where Chariot is truly reassured that she is not a worthless and destructive witch because she is allowed to acknowledge that she had been WRONGED?

I have the same problem with Akko and Diana in a lesser capacity. Diana and Akko share a connection, true. It’s Chariot and their dreams, and it’s in how they complement and clash in attitude. And they had some MAJORLY good episodes, wherein they came to understand each other, believe in each other.

But....it didn’t seem to all come together at the right pace in the sense that - didn’t Diana kind of dangle along for the final fight? The significance of them being the ones to TOGETHER do the Shiny Arc move is - why? i thought Akko was the Wielder of the Rod. so Diana was included just purely because she also wanted to be liek Chariot? i mean - cool, but shouldn’t it say something MORE?

BECAUSE Chariot and Croix’ psyches - relationship is never truly unearthed, shattered and reforged - the historical parallel to Diana and Akko never really lands. and BECAUSE it never becomes clear why Chariot never managed to get to the power of the Triskelion, I have no clue why Akko did? If it had something to do with Diana (plus the rest?) as a parallel to how Croix failed to support Chariot (maybe) then that would have made total sense in a thematic sense - it would have tied everything together - but they should have made that EXPLICIT. now im just guessing. instead, it’s about how Chariot supported Akko (and the rest?) Then why is Diana even there...? why is there a 2 -2 parallel going on with Diana and Akko and Croix and Chariot? like. It’s not satisfactory. The pieces were all there, but they weren’t actually aligned by the narrative? Don’t set the parallel up but then don’t follow through.

Like, the amazing thing about the story COULD be, that Chariot and Croix both had a part in SETTING UP the two things necessary for bringing magic back into the world. Chariot brought joy and wonder for magic into Akko’s and Diana’s hearts, while Croix set up the confrontation between magic fueled by negative emotions and positive belief PLUS the science to broadcast it.

Which - the coming together of the modern and traditional - I thought it was a major theme that bound the generational parallel between C+C and D+A but i guess not? it never explicitly returned.

Instead they just leave Chariot and Croix’ runs and dynamic like a failure and a mess and Chariot sacrificed herself for Croix and the next episode they’re just like buddy buddy. no regrets or nothing HUH!?!?

i would love to talk about it with people who have different or similar thoughts

#lwa #little witch academia #my stuff #personal #halp me

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