Little Witch Academia

Official television series poster

Name
Japanese:	Romanized:
リトルウィッチアカデミア	Ritoru Witchi Akademia

Information

Air date:

January 8, 2017 (Japan)^[1]
January 9, 2017 (Netflix Japan)
April, 2017 (France)^[2]
June 30, 2017 (Netflix Season 1)^[3]
August 15, 2017 (Netflix Season 2)^[4]

Direction:

Yō Yoshinari (overall)
Daisuke Okumura (photography)
Naoki Yorozu (photography)
Jun Watanabe (sound)^[5]

Production:

Yoshihiro Furusawa (executive)^[6]
Yoshiki Usa^[7]
Kimitaka Suzuki^[8]
Shūhei Handa (main char. design)
Yukiko Kakita (color design)
Kentaro Tsubone (editing)^[5]

Script:

Michiru Shimada (series composition)^[5]

Animator(s):

Takafumi Hori (main)
Yusuke Yoshigaki (design works)^[5]

Music:

Michiru Ōshima
Kiyotaka Kawada (sound effects)^[5]

Studio:

Trigger

Original network:

Tokyo MX, BS11, KTV (Japan)

Episodes:

25 (see list)

Length:

22 minutes approximately each episode

Little Witch Academia (リトルウィッチアカデミア, Ritoru Witchi Akademia^?) is an anime adaptation^[9] to the original eponymous film and its sequel, The Enchanted Parade. It began broadcasting on January 8, 2017, in Japan^[1] on TV at 01:55 AM ^[10] and January 9, 2017, in the Netflix streaming site. The series ran for 25 episodes for one season split into two cours and released across nine Blu-ray Disc/DVD volumes in Japan.^[11]

The first cour, labeled as "Season 1" by Netflix, was released worldwide on June 30, 2017, while the second cour, labeled as "Season 2", was released on the same platform on August 15, 2017, both by Netflix.

In late 2017, Little Witch Academia won the award from Comicbook.com for Best Non-Shonen Series.^[12]

In April 7, 2020, a new season for the series has been planned, but was up put into a hold for a time being due to unknown circumstances. ^[13] The actual reason of the hiatus however, was Michiru Shimada's unfortunate passing in December 2017. It didn't help by Studio Trigger can only work on proper new installments under approval from Anime Production Committee as well as dealing with Netflix which co-founded it where the contract will expire approximately in 2027-2028.^[14]

Production[]

Masahiko Ōtsuka, the writer of the anime series and previous films, stated as an update to The Enchanted Parade's Kickstarter, that if the sequel performs well, they may potentially look into producing a TV series or a full-length film.^[15] According to Tatsuru Tatemoto, it was Ōtsuka who intended the would be anime TV series of the franchise to be lighthearted despite Yoshinari's original pitch in which the show being as dark as Puella Magi Madoka Magica.^[16] Indeed, despite the series' second cour notably had darker tone than its first cour, it nonetheless much tamer in comparison.

Later, it was shown the official announcement of the series on June 24, 2016, following the final episode of Space Patrol Luluco.^[17]

The series began airing in Japan from January 9, 2017, in the Netflix streaming platform.^[18]^[19]^[20] All the episodes would be released through nine volumes in BD and DVD format, from April 19, 2017.^[21]

In an event where the first three episodes of the series were premiered, it was confirmed that the anime series would contain 25 episodes and an international premiere on Netflix coming soon.^[22]

On March 25, 2017, the official website of the series announced that the second part of the first season would be released in April 2017, with the introduction of a new antagonist character, Croix Meridies.^[23] As confirmed in the interview with the producer, the second part has the focus on Akko's growth, more serious storyline, and foreshadowing of a secret character in 11th episode which later confirmed to be Croix herself.^[24]^[25]

During an interview with the now-defunct site Fighting For Nippon on November 26, 2017, Yō Yoshinari and Naoko Tsutsumi mentioned that Netflix became involved in the series after the success of The Enchanted Parade by providing funding. Additionally, Tattun mentioned on 4chan on March 18, 2017, that Netflix would be responsible for dubbing the anime TV series.^[26] It was also shared on 4chan that the Café Proprietor character was intentionally modeled after Pawn Stars cast member, Austin “Chumlee” Russell, as a tribute to him and his Japanese dub actor, Akihiro Matsushima.^[27] While he acknowledged the production of each episode of the anime TV series to be worthwhile, Yoshinari nevertheless lamented the studio's tighter schedule compared to when working on short films.^[28]

At AnimeExpo 2017 during the Trigger panel, Yoshinari revealed that the sequel series will focus more on other witches such as Amanda, Jasminka, and Sucy.^[29] In another interview, Yoshinari also planned to work on spin-offs either centered around Ursula's backstory or Night Fall — the in-universe book series Lotte happened to be a fan of — as a stand alone series.^[30]^[31]^[32] In an interview, Yoshinari also mentioned that he would likely focused more on would-be second season's animation and character design with Shūhei Handa directing it in his stead. ^[33] Shiori Miyazaki also expressed her interest for the TV series' newer installments.^[34] Nevertheless, Yoshinari, Handa, and Tsutsumi confessed in an interview during the talkshow that took place after the screenings for episode 22-25 in TOHO Cinemas in Shinjuku on June 23, 2017 that whether there will be new content of the franchise was relative to fans' support and background development sales.^[35]

Plot[]

Little Witch Academia takes place at the Luna Nova Magical Academy, a prestigious school for young girls training to become witches. Having been inspired by a witch named Shiny Chariot, a girl named Akko Kagari enrolls at Luna Nova Magical Academy to become a witch but struggles due to her non-magical background. This all changes when she discovers the Shiny Rod, a powerful magic relic left behind by Chariot. The television series follows Akko and her friends, Lotte and Sucy, as they experience many magical adventures together, and recounts everything seen in the previous films.

Episodes[]

Main article: List of TV Series episodes.

Original soundtrack[]

The series' music is composed by Michiru Ōshima.

For the first part of season 1, the opening theme is "Shiny Ray" by YURiKA while the ending theme is "Hoshi Wo Tadoreba" (星を辿れば, If You Follow the Stars^?) by Yuiko Ōhara.^[36] Both songs were released in CD format on February 22, 2017, in Japan, with a cost of ¥1,728.^[37]^[38]

For the second part of season 1, the opening theme is "Mind Conductor" by YURiKA while the ending theme is "Toumei na Tsubasa" (透明な翼, Transparent Wings^?) by Yuiko Ōhara.^[39] Both songs will be released in CD format on May 24, 2017, in Japan, with a cost of ¥1,836.^[40]^[41]

Trivia[]

As confirmed in an interview with Yō Yoshinari^[42]:
- The TV series started with Akko's journey to Luna Nova and set in its own continuity rather than picking up from where short films left off is because he find the world-building in the series' universe needs some work and implementing more ideas than in the former.
- Yoshinari also intended the new installment enjoyable for its target audience (children) as much as adult considering Studio Trigger have yet to make such approach.
- The anime TV Series' storyline is intended to balance unexpected development and the audience's expectations to contrast Gurren Lagann which followed usual pattern of super robot animes.
- Takafumi Hori was chosen as the main animator owing to his skill in animating magical creatures and making them feel real at the same time.
- He and his fellow Studio Trigger staff intended the anime TV Series to combine the feel of both a Japanese magical girl anime and the classical foreign image of a wizard (ex. Gandalf from Lord of the Rings and Merlin from Arthurian legends)
- Lastly, he hoped that he could make the characters interesting and deep in the long term.
Yuka Shibata, storyboarder who made the opening theme of TV series' first cour, admitted how happy she was in her part despite wishing to do more.^[43]^[44]
The decision to adapt Little Witch Academia into actual TV Series was well-received not just by fans, but also voice actresses involved (Megumi Han, Fumiko Orikasa, Michiyo Murase, Yōko Hikasa, Noriko Hidaka, Arisa Shida, Rie Murakawa, and Reina Ueda) as confirmed in the interview at the official site. Having worked on both original short and The Enchanted Parade prior, they are more than delighted by their eventual involvement in it.^[45]^[46]^[47]

Gallery[]

For more images related to Little Witch Academia (anime), see the file category: Category:TV Series images.

Official art[]

Background Designs[]

ED Cuts[]

Main ED Cuts[]

Special ED Cuts[]

Other art[]

Videos[]

Trailers

Little Witch Academia (2017) Trailer

Little Witch Academia (2017) Trailer 2

Openings and Endings

Little Witch Academia - Full Openings & Endings

Little Witch Academia-Full Ending 2

Miscellaneous

祝！アニメ放送完結＆ゲーム化決定！豪華ゲストで贈るリトルウィッチWEB放送局

2017 02 19【WF2017冬】「リトルウィッチアカデミア」ステージ【潘めぐみ村瀬迪与村川梨衣】

References[]

External links[]

Official Little Witch Academia Trigger TV site (in Japanese)

Little Witch Academia NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES

Little Witch Academia

@LWA_jp (in Japanese)

Little Witch Academia Wiki

Little Witch Academia

Contents

Production[]

Plot[]

Episodes[]

Original soundtrack[]

Trivia[]

Gallery[]

Official art[]

Background Designs[]

ED Cuts[]

Main ED Cuts[]

Special ED Cuts[]

Other art[]

Videos[]

References[]

External links[]

Reviews[]

Essays[]

News[]

Interviews[]

Podcasts[]

Fan Feed