Blytonbury's Undead Travelogue (ブライトンベリーアンデッド紀行, Buraitonberī Andeddo Kikō?) is the 9th episode of the Little Witch Academia anime series.
On Netflix, the episode is titled "Undead Travelogue".[4]
Overview[]
On a trip off school grounds, Akko breaks the no-magic rule and raises a skeleton from the dead. When it runs off, she and her friends must chase it.
Summary[]
The episode began with the students receiving a lecture about rules that must be adhered to outside academy grounds from Finnelan prior to getting interrupted by Holbrooke, who showcased a big, pointy boot large enough to be worn as a hat. Upon the strict professor's annoyance over such antics, Holbrooke chided Finnelan for being unnecessarily strict before underlining her previous point by having Ursula try one of the said boots. Putting such an argument aside, Finnelan inquired about the students' choices as their amulets. It took Akko to be informed by Holbrooke about what amulets were (an object with emotional value one left behind at their residence/home as a charm to return safely) that the Japanese witch-in-training left behind hers — one of her Chariot Cards (the one with Shiny Chariot holding Shiny Rod) — among others' possessions before departing along with others.
En route to Blytonbury, the red team found themselves in the town's cemetery because Sucy was looking for some Grave Mushrooms, much to Akko's bemusement. The cemetery's unsettling atmosphere left Lotte wondering whether a ghost would appear just as the surrounding flock of ravens flying out of the blue, startling the Japanese witch-in-training to the point of tackle-hugging the former in fear. Unfortunately, that caused the two to crash into two nearby tombstones, much to their horror because of the implication of getting cursed from the accident. Despite Lotte's worries, Akko decided to fix both tombstones with the aid of Mending Magic Powder at her disposal. In her attempt to do so, however, Akko knocked Sucy's Grave Mushroom off the latter's grip by mistake, resulting in both it and the Powder getting mixed and bursting into green gas, which soon seeped into one of the broken graves, resurrecting a buried corpse beneath. The reanimated corpse soon grabbed Akko by the ankle from within his grave, scaring the daylight out of her and Lotte. Lotte's attempt to save Akko would only aid the revived corpse to emerge from his grave, worsening their predicament. To their astonishment, however, rather than behaving like some mindless zombie, the resurrected corpse called out some coward he loathed in a bombastic manner before thanking the young witches for giving him a second chance at life. Unfortunately for the reanimated corpse, he couldn't remember who he was in life mid-introduction, though he quickly put the issue aside as he examined his now undead form and made his leave, all while retrieving his tricorn hat and slicing his own tombstone in half to underline his current undeath quest. Stunned by such an unexpected turn of events, it took Sucy reminding Akko and Lotte of the escaped undead that they eventually gave chase. Sucy joined her roommates soon after, albeit at a slower pace.
Chasing the resurrected corpse, Lotte deduced the accidental mixing of Akko's spilled Mending Magic Powder and Sucy's Grave Mushroom to be the cause of the former's revival before bewitching nearby vines to capture him. However, she ran out of magic before the vines could reach the surprisingly fast undead. Sucy told the group that it wasn't an entirely big deal since the necromantic effect of the accidental mixture should last until sundown, though the prospect of being punished for (accidental) necromancy forced the girls to continue the chase regardless. Entering the town, the three friends arrived in time to see the resurrected corpse screaming at random pedestrians at the market one by one. Managing to stop the resurrected corpse from doing the same to a 3-year-old boy with Lotte's help, Akko pleaded to him to return to the afterlife, but he refused due to his unfinished business in life that couldn't be ignored. Their argument was soon interrupted by Lotte, who told them that they had attracted unwanted attention from the crowd, prompting Akko to improvise by claiming that the whole fiasco was part of a miraculous, once-in-a-millennium street performance about a vengeful reanimated knight and a witch who sought to break his curse. To Lotte's surprise, this worked so well that they earned lots of money from their audience, which Sucy gathered.
Hilariously, it's not just Akko who had to improvise to further prevent unwanted attention from the resurrected corpse's antics that day. As soon as Akko concluded her "show", the reanimated corpse proceeded to rummage through a random dumpster nearby, prompting Lotte to concoct a somewhat convincing story to calm down two police officers who were attracted by his antics (claiming the corpse to be her grandfather who wanted to relive his past experience as a legendary pirate through searching every dumpster he could find as if they were treasure chests). The resurrected corpse soon eluded the girls again, with Sucy apparently already chasing him. Just then, Akko and Lotte caught sight of two random men running out of a nearby pub with faces full of blood-colored ketchup, prompting them to check on the establishment in fear of the worst... only to see the resurrected corpse and Sucy having fun with the patrons. While Sucy reassured the two that she had discreetly mixed everyone's beverages with Memory Altering Potion to ensure none of them would remember recent events in two hours, the resurrected corpse was still frustrated by his inability to remember anything before running off, inadvertently (and literally) leaving his arm in Akko's grasp from her attempt to stop him. It took Akko being nearly hit by a passing truck for the corpse briefly let go of his single-minded obsession for revenge, pushing the brunette out of the way at the last moment and severely injuring her in her stead.
Despite apparent damage from the ordeal, the resurrected corpse managed to put himself back together like a doll, with Akko helping to place his head back on his neck. In his gratitude, he lectured on how much witches in general were a symbol of wisdom and pride of humanity — a hint of the era he used to live in. The resurrected corpse then headed toward Caliban Road with the red team behind him, stating that the man he sought was in a house situated there. However, the supposed house had since replaced with a new building long after their arrival. Luckily for the three friends and the desperate resurrected corpse, a nearby pedestrian suggested that they visit Last Wednesday Society, as the shop's owner had salvaged everything in the aforementioned house a long time ago. Consulting with the shop's proprietor, the resurrected corpse was confirmed to be from the Golden Age of Magic, as he found the painting of the man he was looking for, but such a discovery wasn't enough for him to remember anything. Just then, the three friends noticed a letter plastered behind the painting from which they learned that the baby in the painting was Miranda, a student from Luna Nova during that era. The resurrected corpse then revealed the man in the painting to be Miranda's father and that he held a grudge against him for breaking his vow to raise her as a proper witch following his wife's passing at childbirth by leaving her. Hearing the sound from the town's clock tower, something clicked in the resurrected corpse that he ran off with the red team behind him once again, all while adding that Miranda's father might be the town's bell ringer.
Meanwhile, at Luna Nova, Holbrooke and Ursula were placing the students' amulets into a chest when they stumbled upon Akko's Shiny Rod Chariot Card. It's revealed that the Headmistress had no hard feelings toward Shiny Chariot, unlike the proud and narrow-minded professors in Luna Nova, remarking that the card brought back good memories. Ursula smiled at the sentiment before inquiring about the latter's amulet, in which she only wondered whether they still existed. Afterward, Ursula suggested that they take a stroll around the town.
Arriving at the top of the clock tower, Akko and Sucy took their time enjoying the scenery. Examining the tower's old bell, Akko noticed the clapper was missing for some reason before accidentally knocking her head against it. The sound from the tower's old bell, because of such a mishap, returned the resurrected corpse's memories along with some twists:
- Mr. Holbrooke, the man whom the resurrected corpse hunted down, was none other than himself — he died not long after sending his beloved daughter to Luna Nova, a fact that greatly distressed him.
- Miranda and the current Luna Nova's Headmistress were the same person through the symbol on her staff that matched the one on the tower's old bell.
Having put all the pieces together, Akko decided to bring Mr. Holbrooke to Luna Nova so they could reunite him with his daughter. With the group only having little time left before sundown, the Japanese witch-in-training improvised by using Mending Magic Powder on the clock tower's bell, causing it to detach and fly toward its missing clapper that had since fashioned into a magic staff for Miranda long ago. Riding the detached giant bell, Akko, Lotte, Sucy, and Mr. Holbrooke held their grip over it as it brought them to Ursula and Headmistress Holbrooke just as they exited Glastonbury Tor's Ley Line Terminal. This prompted Holbrooke to soften their landing with a conjured giant pillow mere moments before her staff reunited with its bell as it stopped near Mrs. Holbrooke's grave.
To Mr. Holbrooke's relief, when he and the Headmistress eventually reunited at last, not only did the latter manage to recognize the former despite his current state of being, but also held no hard feelings toward her father. The father and daughter's reunion was even more heartwarming since Mr. Holbrooke was finally able to fulfill his promise despite the unusual circumstances surrounding it. As they visited Mrs. Holbrooke's grave together, Holbrooke cast a spell on the clock tower's bell via. magic in its modified clapper, ringing it in the air for the first time since the Golden Age of Magic. Enjoying the sight, Mr. Holbrooke noticed his undead body began to fade, thus taking his remaining time to bid everyone present farewell and wish a good future for witches. His return to the afterlife wasn't a lonely one, as leaves that had flown by the wind during such a scene revealed his spirit reunited with his late wife at last. Such a touching moment was unceremoniously ruined when Sucy coughed from unwittingly inhaling Mr. Holbrooke's dust, much to Lotte's chagrin.
Although grateful for the three friends' help in ensuring her father fulfilled the promise he made all those decades ago, Holbrooke rightfully pointed out to Akko, Lotte, and Sucy that they had committed a taboo in doing so. However, since the three were still green and therefore it was no doubt an accident, their detention would be more merciful, repairing a pile of magic brooms in Luna Nova. Akko was dismayed that they had to do so without magic, at which Lotte made it clear that magic wasn't always the best solution to all problems. Nevertheless, having learned about the Golden Age of Magic for real, Akko wished that she were born during said era, in which Sucy argued that it was the very era when witches got their hands full in solving every problem as well. On the other hand, Lotte remarked that despite advancements in science worldwide, certain problems were best solved with magic. The episode concluded with Akko and Sucy arguing over magic and mushrooms...
Order of appearances[]
| Characters | Tools | Spells | Creatures |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Trivia[]
- In this episode, the description on the Shiny Rod Chariot cards is written in English. In "Pappiliodya", when Akko receives it as a child, it is in Japanese.
- In Netflix's worldwide release, the episode name was changed to Undead Travelogue.[5]
- Although their premises are nothing alike, the motif of the episode's title was inspired by Cockneys vs Zombies, a 2012 British zombie action comedy film about the titular group led by Terry MacGuire and his younger brother Andy, who robbed a bank in a bid to save their grandfather Ray's retirement home from being demolished only, for things become complicated by a zombie outbreak.[6][7]
- According to the episode's storyboarder, Akitarō Daichi, Blytonbury's Undead Travelogue is an episode he enjoyed working with thanks to its slapsticks and intriguing scenarios, as well as its overall moving story which has humorous beginnings and more heartwarming and poignant conclusion.[2]
- This episode takes place in September, along with "Sleeping Sucy" and "Bee Commotion", as stated in the chronicles book.[8][9]
- According to Trigger Night Vol.6, the tree that grows at Mrs. Holbrooke's grave is supposedly her transformed state following her passing.[10]
- If one looks closely at the paper money Sucy gathered from Akko's improvised street show with revived Mr. Holbrooke, they bear the distinct triskelion symbol of the Flag of Isles of Man (three bent legs joined at a central point). Same paper money also evidently based on their real-life counterparts, which is appropriate considering the series' setting:
- The first basis is the Isle of Man Government variety which has been used since 1983 and issued with its own currency, the Manx pound. The difference is that it uses the portrait of Queen Elizabeth the First instead of Elizabeth II. The reason behind this artistic change is yet to be revealed.
- The second basis is the Westminster Bank variety which was issued since 1955.
External Links[]
Reviews[]
- The Con Artists
- Rolling Review – Little Witch Academia (09) by CONARTISTSUSHMA March 9, 2017
Errors & Goofs[]
Sucy's shoes are missing for some reasons
- In this ending, the three girls are given the least severe necromancy punishment, and Sucy's shoes disappear.
Gallery[]
| Blytonbury's Undead Travelogue has an associated gallery here. |
References[]
- ↑ Little Witch Academia's Netflix Release Date Announced - IGN
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 2.35 2.36 2.37 2.38 2.39 2.40 2.41 2.42 2.43 2.44 2.45 2.46 2.47 2.48 2.49 2.50 2.51 2.52 2.53 2.54 2.55 2.56 2.57 2.58 2.59 Little Witch Academia Chronicles, Chapter 2, page 37
- ↑
- ↑ https://www.netflix.com/title/80156387
- ↑ https://www.netflix.com/title/80156387
- ↑ Little Witch Academia Chronicles, Chapter 2, page 36
- ↑
- ↑ Little Witch Academia Chronicles, Chapter 4, page 116
- ↑
- ↑
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