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「ルーナノヴァと白い龍」 (Rūnanova to Shiroi Ryū)
“Luna Nova and the White Dragon”
I thought Little Witch Academia was trying to set up some sort of overarching plot this episode, what with the school being in danger because of its crippling debt. Raise money! Save the school! Sounds solid. It’s even been set up already; the only reason Luna Nova is taking in students Muggle-born like the laterally gifted Akko is because they couldn’t drum up enough enrolment to keep the school going. And then Akko’s pure passion can inspire others to come! She’ll finally be useful! Everything solved!
Shows what I know. Instead, the plot line is resolved in a single episode via Diana-ex-machina and the crippling debt vanishes completely. Rather than the financial troubles of the school, the highlight of the episode was dragonslaying. And, you know what? I’m completely fine with that. Because who isn’t? It’s bloody awesome. Fighting against mecha-dragons is an unexpected angle, and also ridiculous, but (most of) the cast get their chance to shine and really get the action on. In particular, somehow Constanze has become my favourite character in just a single episode. I just love a background character who is just hilariously badass for no good reason. Akko should be able to do the magitech too, though, right? Constanze seems to be able to fly with minimum magic, and that’s what Akko has, minimum magic. You have a future, girl! Any sufficiently analysed magic is indistinguishable from science!
No fight against the real dragon, though, which I suppose is a shame because you’d think a ‘Fafnir’ would have made one heck of a final boss, but at the same time that may have been too serious business for LWA. Instead, he’s a bit of a sad old thing, and I’m almost sorry for it. Sure, he’s the closest thing LWA has come to a major antagonist thus far, but he morphs from wronged businessman to wretched fraudster awfully quickly. It reminds me somewhat of Merchant of Venice. Doesn’t Shylock get something of a raw deal? Sure, he’s awfully malicious about everything, but everyone does gloss over the fact that technically he is owed money. And while Fafnir has even less of a claim, it does mean that many years ago he lent Luna Nova money out of nothing but the goodness of his heart (because, y’know, no interest). And now he looks like little more than a (very well-off) scoundrel. But eh, Jews, dragons. Everybody’s fine with them being villains.
Where does LWA go from here, now that Luna Nova’s financial troubles have been resolved? Sure, they’re still poor, but at least not insolvent. Is that going to continue being a plot point? I suppose in the meantime we’ll still be following Akko, and her chasing her dream of inspiring more to love magic. Is that really going to be that hard, though? Magic’s already plenty awesome, right? I mean, even when limited to the proximity of a shiny rock, magic can be used to fly, and do maths, and reverse time. Reverse time! Surely, there are kids out there who would like to learn how to do that. Failing that, I’m sure some witch should have figured out how to make money off of it by now.
I love this episode.
Reminds me a bit of FF8, when they give a visit into the basement of their flying school building. i remember to have a fight there
Well this reverse time was only alive in this Bubble, for example she just turned back time of this Pot reaction. imagine an big bubble where inside time can be manipulated. small things, not real time travel
Still, pretty amazing, right? I can’t imagine kids wanting to learn how to do calculus rather than learn how to do that.
as the anime here show it to us. Magic is only possible around the magic Stone. As if you are forced to learn an death language,that you never ever will use it outside the school yards again
the ones here, that really learn for “life” are these that do not relay to much only on Magic. but then we extract the fun of this anime. so ignore this
For someone who got absolutely no line, Constanze easily steal the show. She has been such a badass ever since the Enchanted Parade Movie.
Simply because Deutschland uber alles.
Amanda is your American cowgirl, Jasminka is your Russian babushka, Constanze is your German tech whiz…
more Steampunk tech.. but yeah, her broom could fly without any steam
Huh. We have two animes this season with a dragon named Fafnir! :O I imagine in the dub they give him kind of a Yiddish accent.
Despite the prospect of a bigger problem engulfing the school being a total letdown (how the hell did Diana even KNOW about Fafnir before all this!?), it did admit that the school is old-fashioned (ya think??) in the way it runs its board and its policies. I was hoping it would mention that. I mean, every school faculty member we seen so far is an old crony and they practice magic that would fit well in the 18th Century but we know this show takes place in modern times. There’s history to this place, and I hope we get to see more of this history as time goes on and how it affects the characters. Will Akko help raise funds for the school?? Fafnir states how he hasn’t seen that spark in Akko’s eyes in a long time, implying he met someone like that before! I’d love to know more about that.
Though, I’m not betting in it. Is the size of the faculty small? We see around 10 old witches who are professors, but nothing more than that aside from ogres and elves who work as maintenance. We have a giant talking dragon day-trader with an office scaled to his size surrounded by high-tech computers, and the show never bothers to explain how something like that exists. It’s by far the most out-there creature this show has introduced so far. By the time Diana explained how the cost of the Stone was invalid, I realized this show might not be trying to build a cohesive world, and half the time it seems like the writers are just flying by the seat of their pants for either comedy or a quick way to end a conflict. If that’s how this show is going to be, I’ll accept it. It worked for Kill La Kill, but that was wacky and hyper to begin with. This show is supposed to be more low-key and grounded.
Amanda continues to be my Best Girl. She is so cooooool. That fist-bump motion she did!
I mean, they fought mecha-dragons with magical bazookas this week. I definitely think LWA at least wants to be hyper. Tight world building seems at most a secondary concern.
Diana changed from Draco Malfoy (snobbish little bitch) to Harry Potter in half an episode (just like Tom Brady yesterday after half time :p), and it’s way too farfetched that NO ONE of the older witches (Headmistress included) knew ancient draconian and she does. That’s way too plot armor, Trigger. I expect this to not be a repeated issue.
Eh, it’s likely that Diana got some extra “love” this episode for the sole purpose of setting up the “We Hate Diana!” club with Akko and Amanda as founding members. They’re both a bit self-absorbed and they already have their own circles of friends, so giving them a common enemy is one of the faster ways to get them to buddy up. As such, the frequency Diana getting shown in a more antagonistic light may end up corresponding to how often the plot requires that Akko and Amanda aim to misbehave.
Remember: not only did Diana know a dead language that even the language professor did, she was also apparent fluent in it by the age of 12. Yeah.
Diana’s change was more like Draco -> Hermione.
I never got Draco vibes from Diana in the first place and never have understood the comparison. She’s reminded me of Hermione from the start.
What I like from Diana is the twist that she puts on the “racist/snobish rival” thing.
Usually it is a stupid heavy handed aproach like Harry Potter where the rival never amounts to win anything and is humiliated evry time because he is eeeevil and shit.
Now, not only the rival is scarily competent and able to win stuff she actually aproaches the concept of superiority in a different manner.
Not “I am from a noble family/race so I am better.”
Instead it is “I am from a noble family/race so I have a DUTY to be better.”
It seems to me that not only does she hold herself to a high standard, she also expects everyone else to be as serious as she is about magic.
Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice! Sorry, wrong show. ROFL
> “I’m sure some witch should have figured out how to make money off of it by now.”
*cough*Chariot*cough*
Well the teachers couldn’t tell the difference between a pie and a tart so I’m not surprised ancient Draconian was out of their league.
I do hope Akko gets some development soon. While the gun-ho underdog mentality can be endearing, it can borderline on obnoxious if she stays the same for too long. Obviously in the OVAs the process was sped up for time’s sake and she put in effort to her work; so hopefully the show gets into that soon. Stop letting the side characters steal the light Akko!
https://randomc.net/image/Little%20Witch%20Academia/Little%20Witch%20Academia%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
“Sugar, spice and everything nice… These are the ingredients needed to make the perfect girl.
https://randomc.net/image/Little%20Witch%20Academia/Little%20Witch%20Academia%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2023.jpg
I must say… Amanda and Constanze are lovable as well and the hell… Where did she get that RPG from?
But really, this is one of the most entertaining episodes thus far. Epic lines from the episode…
“What’s wrong with a dragon making money? Money doesn’t discriminate between dragons and humans.”
“So the reason what the Sorcerer’s Stone was repossed was because Luna Nova defaulted on payment?”
Constanze gave lots of ammo (literally) for the SJWs to rally for the episode, and maybe the entire series to be banned from broadcasting in the west for good. Another reason for Netflix folks to rejoice, as it has picked LWA’s rights in advance.
I must have missed the problem, what happened exactly that would make the series bannable in the west?
Constanze using shotguns and RPGs. That’s what happened.
Even Pokémon had an episode banned because it had a guy who pointed a gun at Ash and gave some warning shots on Team Rocket, and thus western audiences did not see how Ash got his 30 Tauros in the Safari Zone, almost 20 years ago, when audiences were much less “sensitive”.
Ah, of course. I don’t know if LWA would be considered a show that caters to the same demographic as Pokémon, but that makes sense.
Shotguns… RPGs…
Stares at Jormungand and other shows that have more guns and explosions…
“So the reason what the Sorcerer’s Stone was repossed was because Luna Nova defaulted on payment?”
That’s what the dragon claimed, though the dragon was lying and they weren’t in default.
Anyone else notice Ursula not around this episode?
I enjoyed potato chip eating witch more than Constanze. Is she to LWA as Potato Girl was to AoT?!!!
Day trading dragon. works for the new world
In many anime about magic schools, there is a near-perfect hero who is opposed by various jealous, misguided, cheating or stupid rivals, whose schemes inevitably fail.
Little Witch Academia turns this formula around, by making the incompetent jealous and villainous rivals the protagonists.
Yep. Know it should be trope but could not find it. The hard working noble who is both talented and works extremely hard can be very hard to deal with for those with less skill and position. You want to hate them but they actually being noble and earning the title only making your flaws more obvious to you. And even worse they are not stuck up, if they have a low opinion of you, you deserved it. Yep I love this rare twist in character relationships and how it boils the blood of the lessor protagonist. This almost always ends up in being friends once the protagonist shapes up.
magic school?
Aehm..
Naruto vs Sasuke.. or more “Rock lee vs Sasuke”
So it is not only Magic Schools. it is an “cliche”
Hard work beats an genius, is here the line you seek (come from Rock lee)
But seems like Diana is not an “asshole” like him here:
https://randomc.net/image/Sidonia%20no%20Kishi/Sidonia%20no%20Kishi%20Daikyuu%20Wakusei%20Seneki%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
For me this was the weakest episode so far. Entertaining enough I guess, but not all that funny which matters with this show. Comedy is subjective so maybe it worked better for others.
Still have the same issues as before. Akko STILL can’t fly a broom because…? To me compared to the OVA, the TV series is exaggerating her bumbling magic noob character excessively. It’s a matter of degree. NOT suggesting she become good or even above average in magic, but yeesh, can she do anything more without Shiny Rod besides turn a wand into a flashlight? There needs to be SOME progression with her character in terms of magic ability beyond “can use Shiny Rod”. Some, and that worked fine for the OVA so I do not see how it would detrimentally affect the show.
At this point HOW did Akko even get into the school and don’t tell it’s because they accepted anyone because this is MAGIC. PLENTY of HS age kids would want to learn that. Compared to both OVAs, so far this is a worse version of Akko who was perfectly fine as the genki, baka, somewhat bumbling comedy character.
On the other side of the spectrum we get an even more hyper competent Diana. Sorry, but HAHAHA she learned a dead language (that NONE of the professors knew) at age 12!? Diana ex machina. I’m starting wonder whether the LWA staff really wants Diana to be the protagonist here, but they already made Akko that before so can’t go 100% in on it.
To me, like Akko, Diana is different from the OVA (first one for sure), but this time her character is less flawed rather than more so. As described in this episode, she’s practically perfect. Not really haughty anymore and while hubris was her undoing in the first OVA, now she’s always right. EVERYONE is useless except Diana in this episode, again, school staff included. Diana ex machina. Even with Shiny Rod, Akko needs help. So like Akko, I think Diana’s character lacks some balance in the TV anime.
I like Amanda, but meh, she’s kind of just there this episode. Constanze was fine – perhaps a bit better than the second OVA (still like Amanda better), but always eating girl was so very, very true to her name. Utterly pointless “comedy” character who’s sole existence for a tired joke (if it was ever funny) is tired. DO SOMETHING with that character beyond always eating!
Lastly, with this episode, I AM starting to wonder about this show a little. It’s still fun enough so far, but if this is SOP (including what I see with characters), how will this play out over TWO cours? Nothing but episodic comedy hi-jinks may work well enough for one cour, but two? Need something more here LWA writers.
This episode was a bit enjoyable for me to watch though I was expecting Akko to save the rest of the group from the dragon grandpa not Diana with a simple fact that she learned the language lol. Overall though it was fun to watch. I watch this show as to relax lol.
ANyone else notice that that scroll is written in Dinotopian?