The Fountain of Polaris (ポラリスの泉, Porarisu no Izumi?) is the 6th episode of the Little Witch Academia anime series.
On Netflix, the episode is titled just "The Fountain".[4]
Overview[]
Unable to master even basic transformation magic, Akko is relegated to her room and must miss the welcome party for a VIP and his handsome son.
Summary[]
The episode began with Samantha Badcock's class, where her students practiced the basic form of Metamorphosis Magic, Transformation Spell. Whereas most students performed the spell with decent success, Diana and Akko stood out from others; the former flawlessly turned a rat into a majestic-looking horse while Akko ended up giving herself donkey ears and tail, leading to Badcock forbade her from joining the oncoming welcoming party for the Earl of Hanbridge among other punishments.
Later that night, Luna Nova's preparation for Earl of Hanbridge's arrival had been completed. The academy's staff and students welcomed their guest, accompanied by his bodyguard, his son Andrew, and Andrew's classmate Frank. Unlike every other student present who fawned over Andrew's handsome look, Diana was rather unamused, to say the least. As Lotte and Sucy were enjoying their banquet, Ursula inquired about the two of Akko's whereabouts, to which they informed her of their roommate's detention. Meanwhile, Akko attempted to practice her Metamorphosis Magic to no avail, giving herself animal traits, this time, rabbit ears and nose.
Back at the party, Paul was unimpressed by the dullness of Luna Nova's ancient dance performed by the students, but kept it to himself to not offend the Headmistress. Frank told Andrew that he caught an interest in Diana, whose beauty stood out from the rest, only to be dismayed by the young Hanbridge's indifference. Seeing his son grow weary from the dance, Paul suggested Holbrooke give Andrew a tour, prompting the headmistress to appoint Diana as the guide. It was then that Frank learned that Andrew and Diana were childhood acquaintances.
After another attempt to practice Metamorphosis Magic to no avail, even with the Shiny Rod, Akko eventually gave up. Hopeless because of this shortcoming, Akko wondered how she could use Shiny Rod twice and whether she indeed had magic potential to begin with. It was when she recalled the Fountain of Polaris that she consulted one of her books and the Chariot card featuring it, confirming that the Fountain endowed a witch with inner radiance, the magic of stars, as well as its whereabouts. Believing it would solve her problem, Akko made haste for such a place.
As Diana took Andrew and Frank on a tour around Luna Nova, Frank expressed his surprise that his classmate and Diana had known each other since childhood, though Diana denied the assumption that they were actual friends. Andrew brought up how mundane kids around their age back then distanced themselves from Diana because of her magical studies, at which the Cavendish responded bybstating how Andrew was too distracted by having same girls surrounding him to notice the significance of the studies in question, revealing their long-time argument about the significance of magic in the present day. To Frank's chagrin, Andrew insisted that magic no longer had its place in the world by that point. Unknown to the group, Andrew got left behind due to noticing Akko sneaking about in the courtyard's darkened corners, leading to an awkward encounter where he grabbed the Japanese witch-in-training twice, comically hurting her. Unamused by Andrew's low opinion about magic, Akko tried to prove him wrong with a demonstration of Metamorphosis magic on a nearby squirrel, only to unintentionally (or rather comically) give the young man donkey ears and tail. Eluding Frank and Diana, Andrew reluctantly tagged along with Akko in her search for the Fountain of Polaris somewhere in the north building of Luna Nova so they could undo the spell once the Japanese witch-in-training got her hands on the star magic.
Meanwhile, Ursula, worried about Akko's progress, decided to check on her student's well-being in her dorm room. To her surprise, Akko had already left, but not without leaving an article about the Fountain of Polaris and a Chariot Card pertaining to the legendary location for her to examine.
Entering the northern building, Akko and Andrew stumbled upon a large, worn-out wooden door with a written warning in Latin: "Waken not the sleeping Arcas. As the protector of Polaris, Arcas will attack all those who approach the Fountain." Deciphering the warning, Andrew suggested against carelessly entering the building just as Akko broke through the door, much to his chagrin. Sure enough, Akko soon came across Arcas himself, an angry, towering polar bear-like beast with a yellow four-pointed, star-like crest on its snout. Fleeing from the furious creature, Andrew sarcastically remarked how "fantastic" Luna Nova Academy was before the two stumbled upon a broken staircase with a ladder that Akko hastily climbed. Because Arcas smashed the ladder into pieces before he could do the same, Andrew was forced to improvise by jumping over the bear with Arcas' snout as a footing, displaying a remarkable acrobatic feat in doing so. The chase continued on the upper floors; the floor underneath Akko, Andrew, and Arcas' feet collapsed under their combined weight. Hanging for their dear lives, Andrew held onto the ledge while Akko did the same with the former's pants instead, threatening to pull it off under her own weight. Realizing what had happened, the embarrassed Akko cried out that she didn't mean to do that, which certainly didn't help their situation, as Andrew knew it — the angry Arcas lunged toward them in the middle of their argument, unwittingly causing them to plummet to the ground far below. Fortunately, Ursula appeared and magically conjured bubbles of magic energy around them to slow their descent. Puzzled by what just transpired, Arcas looked up and recognized Ursula thanks to her changing her hair back to its original color (red).
Shortly afterwards, Akko regained her consciousness and was startled upon realizing she had landed above Andrew, who just opened his eyes — an incident not unlike that of Sucy back in Arcturus Forest. Finding themselves standing in front of the Fountain's entrance (a large arch made of vines adorned with seven stars arranged in a formation resembling a big dipper), they climbed a staircase leading to a fountain in the middle of an outer space-like dimension. Recognizing it as the Fountain of Polaris, Akko pleaded to it to grant her magic of stars. However, the Fountain instead showed her something that provided her a new perspective about her idol; as it turned out, Shiny Chariot was neither a prodigy nor born perfect, for she faced her own share of shortcomings because her passion woefully exceeded her skills back then. She even visited the Fountain like Akko in the present, only to receive nothing but silence, though its apparent rejection made Chariot realize she had to work hard to become the accomplished witch as Akko knew it. She took her studies more seriously than ever, managed to win the Luna Nova Cup, was able to perform an astonishing magic show which foreshadowed her future career as Shiny Chariot, and finally attained the magic of stars from the Fountain of Polaris along with Arcas as a familiar. The series of visions concluded with Chariot utilizing the newly acquired magic of stars to turn into a massive crow wreathed in flames in fashion not unlike a phoenix, and before long, Akko and Andrew found themselves returned to the area within Luna Nova's Northern Campus, where they found the entrance toward the Fountain of Polaris, though it had since become dormant.
Just then, Ursula showed up and told Akko what actually happened; the Fountain did appear, but it disappeared if an immature and/or unworthy witch attempted to reach it for the magic of stars within. Disheartened, Akko confessed that deep down, she already knew about the importance of hard work in order to become an accomplished witch acknowledged by everyone, a fact Ursula agreed on. The tearing up of Akko steeled her resolve to become a better witch than she was in the present, for it was a feasible way to achieve her dreams. Returning Shiny Rod to Akko, Ursula then offered to fix Akko and Andrew's Metamorphosis Magic problem, awkwardly implored that they ought to keep the fiasco a secret. Andrew agreed with such a plea now that he learned a worthwhile thing or two.
The episode ends with Andrew and his father having a conversation over their visit, in which the latter sighs over their seemingly pointless visit, other than to confirm that witches and magic indeed no longer have their place in the modern era. Andrew asked his father why they kept visiting Luna Nova regardless, to which Paul explained that they did so in order to maintain the debt between them and Luna Nova...
Order of appearances[]
| Characters | Tools | Spells | Creatures |
|---|---|---|---|
Trivia[]
- As Ursula explains to Akko how she can't expect to become a great witch star without hard work, Chariot's leitmotif plays.
- Ursula's hair transformation is vastly different from the first short film, being smoother and instant instead of turning flame-like.
- In Netflix's worldwide release, the episode title was changed to The Fountain[5].
- This episode takes place in June, along with "Night Fall" and "Luna Nova and the White Dragon", as stated in the chronicles book.[6][7]
- Though likely a coincidence, some of Akko's expressions in this episode are drawn in a manner not unlike Neru from Makeruna! Aku no Gundan! on separate occasions.[8]
Errors/Goofs[]
External Links[]
Reviews[]
- The Con Artists
- Rolling Review – Little Witch Academia (06) by CONARTISTSCOTT February 14, 2017
Gallery[]
| The Fountain of Polaris (episode) 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 2.60 2.61 2.62 2.63 2.64 2.65 2.66 2.67 2.68 Little Witch Academia Chronicles, Chapter 2, page 31
- ↑
- ↑ https://www.netflix.com/title/80156387
- ↑ https://www.netflix.com/title/80156387
- ↑ Little Witch Academia Chronicles, Chapter 4, page 116
- ↑
- ↑ @raispada 11:10 PM UTC+7 Jun 22, 2017: Neru from " Makeruna! Aku no Gundan " reminded me of Akko except she's an angry police idol. #LittleWitchAcademia #リトルウィッチアカデミア #LWA_jp
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