Samhain Magic (サムハインの魔法, Samuhain no Mahō?) is the 13th episode of the Little Witch Academiaanime series.
It also serves as the second part of a two-parter first cour finale (first season on Netflix) of the series.
On Netflix, the episode is titled "Samhain Magic Festival".[4]
As the festival draws nearer, Akko has a novel idea for spicing up the sacrificial ceremony. But she'll need a lot of help to pull it off.
Summary[]
Picking up from the previous episode, Akko, alongside Lotte and Sucy, reviewed Vajarois' background. Whereas Lotte was terrified by the prospect of getting eaten, unlike Sucy, who reacted otherwise, Akko, wanting to follow Chariot's example and seeing the ghost had been in her sorrowful state for far too long, decided to appease her by entertaining her with Metamorphosis Magic instead, as an alternate solution. However, her roommates were skeptical of such an idea, as it was already part of a tradition that must never be violated, and they didn't want to be a part of her plan. Rather than being disheartened by their indifference, this only steeled Akko's resolve to improve her Metamorphosis Magic for that goal.
Consulting the matter with Ursula on the next day, Akko also revealed a new spell she found at the Fountain of Polaris, Arae Aryrha, which Ursula recognized as the Third Word (though she opted not to reveal the spell's true nature yet). To her delight, Ursula expressed her utmost support in Akko's plan and encouraged her student to carry it out as she set out to investigate the cause of Vajarois' eternal sorrow.
Stepping out of Ursula's office, Akko found herself confronted by Hannah and Barbara, who were angry about her prank the other day. The two chose to pull their punches due to the red team's oncoming sacrifice task, all while ridiculing Lotte and Sucy (they remarked the former being "invisible" and the latter "the creepy one"). As much as it hurt the red team's feelings (since both bullies were barely aware of Lotte and Sucy's presence), it didn't do enough to break the brunette's resolve to improve her Metamorphosis Magic for Vajarois' sake that very night. Hilariously, the brunette worked so hard that she fell asleep in class the next morning, still mumbling the spell while dozing off.
As the festival's preparations got underway, Ursula discovered that Vajarois' restless state had something to do with a certain curse, as recorded in the library — the same records that revealed the existence of the princess's vestige kept in the academy's archives.
Later that night, Lotte and Sucy discussed Akko's progress in her Metamorphosis Magic training, remarking that the brunette had yet to make significant progress despite three days having passed. Whereas Sucy thought of the brunette to be an idiot for not knowing when to quit, Lotte couldn't help but be awed by their friend's determination, regardless of her odds. Just then, a pile of books beside Lotte fell apart, revealing Akko's trick-or-treat plan. Meanwhile, Akko had reached her breaking point in her training, beginning to lose hope until Lotte and Sucy showed up. Having changed their minds, the two decided to lend the brunette at hand and make it all worthwhile. Lotte added that she could relate to Akko's love for magic since she felt the same way back when talking to old object faeries for the first time. Crying with tears of joy, Akko hugged her roommates tightly, all while promising to do her best on her own part.
The day where Samhain Festival is held has finally arrived. As Luna Nova alumnae from all over the world arrived at the academy, Ursula began her search for the vestige of Vajarois, which turned out to be placed among hundreds of relics in the archive. Marjolaine, Ural, and Dorlin were honored to be the judges for the festival along with Badcock, Finnelan, and Headmistress Holbrooke, whereas Diana assumed the role of the festival's executive committee. With that, the Cavendish marked the beginning of the festival broom aerial show, where participants formed Luna Nova's insignia in the air with smoke, followed by fireworks. As the festival commenced that afternoon, Akko steeled her resolve to improve her metamorphosis magic a bit more.
The first few performances (including Amanda's team) appeared to be dull, leaving everyone mixed. Marjolaine couldn't help but remark them no better than in previous years. Her colleagues agreed with this statement; whereas Dorlin commented that it was the reason for magic's decline, Ural suspected the festival's dullness was Holbrooke's fault. Meanwhile, Lotte and Sucy awaited Akko's return as the blue team confronted them for their friend's disappearance prior to their own turn. Diana mistook the brunette's departure as an act of cowardice, only for Lotte fiercely defended Akko, revealing that she came up late due to last-minute preparation and that she won't give up that easily, much to the Cavendish and her roommates' shock. True to this, Akko had made significant progress as they spoke.
Soon after, it's the blue team's turn for their summoning magic performance, the main event of the festival. Introducing a summoning spell that had been passed down since ancient times, Diana, Hannah, and Barbara successfully summoned a unicorn that emerged from a conjured great volume of water, which briefly flooded the whole stage. The performance proved to be an outstanding one, as the audience and judges expected. As this happened, Akko finally showed up, and with that, the red team was more than ready for their performance.
Once they were on the stage, the red team unexpectedly went off their role's intended script as Akko performed amusing magic tricks to appease Vajarois, much to Finnelan and Babcock's shock and irritation. As soon as Vajarois crawled out of her ornate jar, Lotte and Sucy kept their distance with their brooms as their friend magically turned into her mouse form to elude the giant ghost's maw. As the judges levitated away for a safe distance when Vajarois crushed the stage under her weight, Marjolaine and her cohorts couldn't help but be delighted by this turn of events, with Dorlin remarking that it was different than the previous year. Flying out of dust clouds with her winged elephant form, Akko had Lotte conjure balloons for keeping her said form afloat as Sucy grew several gigantic, colorful mushrooms around Vajarois with one of her concoctions. The red team then continued their efforts with the following tricks, which amused everyone present except Finnelan and Badcock:
Turning root-like appendages on Vajarois' head into a small canopy of trees,
Conjuring colorful fireworks,
Akko transforms into one cartoonish animal form after another, with each form more comical than the rest.
Unfortunately, despite everything, it only made things worse for some reasons, much to Akko's dismay.
Meanwhile, Ursula, having rediscovered the long-lost vestige of Vajarois the Wailing, called forth its inhabiting faery for answers. To the bespectacled professor's shock, the faery revealed how Vajarois consumed the Seed of Sorrow so she wouldn't forget her deceased friends at the cost of her soul being anchored to the land of the living by her sadness. Relaying this crucial information to the red team through Alcor just as they got blasted to the air by the ghost's sneeze, Ursula advised them to use Shiny Rod's magic to remove the seed from the inside. With that, Akko, Lotte, and Sucy allowed themselves to be devoured for such a perilous task.
Entering the cavity of Vajarois' ghost form, Akko, Lotte, and Sucy found the Seed of Sorrow, which had grown into a monstrous size. Using the spell she learned from the Fountain of Polaris, Akko begged for Vajarois to remember the happy moments she had with her friends as she, Lotte, and Sucy turned Shiny Rod into its magic rope form to tear the seed off. A fierce struggle ensued as the seed's dark influence completely took over Vajarois to crush the three friends in an effort to protect itself. But in the end, they managed to remove the seed from Vajarois' ghost form with a mighty tug, purifying her in a pillar-like explosion of light. As the blast receded, Vajarois' purified spirit curtsied before the red team in her gratitude before moving on to the afterlife once and for all.
In the light of their success, everyone (except Finnelan and Badcock) applauded the red team for their performance. After telling her seniors that the sacrifice won't be part of Samhain Festival anymore, Ursula congratulated her beloved student as the Japanese witch-in-training tearfully thanked Lotte and Sucy for their support. While Diana was also as happy as everyone else (albeit not fully comprehending what she felt at the moment), the Cavendish was dismayed that her place as this year's Moonlit Witch had been guaranteed regardless, since Akko and her roommates had broken the Festival's regulations in their effort to purify Vajarois' soul.
Unknown to everyone present, someone observed the whole event through the use of cube-like devices...
It is interesting to note that Sucy was called "Creepy Sucy". An American television series called The Oblongs, which took place in a town afflicted by a chemical spill, featured a character with a similar name, Creepy Susie. As Creepy Susie shares very similar characteristics to Sucy. This was more than likely a reference to the show.
In the Netflix worldwide release, the episode name is changed to Samhain Magic Festival[5].
The festival and this episode take place at the end of October, as stated in the chronicles book.[6][7]
The singers of all of the opening and ending themes of the Little Witch Academia anime, YURiKA and Yuiko Ōhara, lend their voices as Luna Nova students.[8]
Comparison between decoration and Luna Nova insignia over one of the academy's observatories with Balamb Garden's halo.
During the opening ceremony of Samhain Festival which involved a group of students forming a pattern resembling Luna Nova insignia out of trail of smoke, the way it positioned over one of the academy's observatories which decorated for such occasion from Akko's perspective subtly reminiscent to Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy VIII, more so as the smoke pattern and aforementioned decorations evoked the imagery of latter building's halo.
This episode, alongside "New Age Magic", shed light on shades of gray in Luna Nova. In this episode, while the school is responsible for keeping Vajarois' restless spirit appeased through sacrifices, they gradually forget her origin and subsequently fail to recognize her as the tormented ghost of an ancient princess, subsequently treating her nothing more than an instrument for a then pointless tradition. Not surprisingly, it became the reason why Akko, Lotte, and Sucy, with the help of Ursula's guidance and Shiny Rod, eventually put an end to her spirit and allowed her to pass on once and for all
One of the clips of Samhain Magic's BD Release endings that confirmed Diana as the latest Moonlit Witch.
Because the episode ends with the conclusion of Akko and her roommates freeing Vajarois' spirit at the cost of getting disqualified from Samhain Festival, many viewers and fans alike were left uncertain whether Diana was indeed coronated as the year's Moonlit Witch, which was further exacerbated by her later brief drop out from Luna Nova in "Cavendish".This was eventually rectified in BD release's ending of the episode, which shows Diana with a Moonlit Witch hat and cape, confirming her coronation prior to "New Age Magic".
