YMMV / Little Witch Academia (2017)

• For the 2013 short film, go here.
• For the franchise in general, go here.

---

• Accidental Aesop:
  • Series-wide: Don't withhold important information from others that need to know until it's too late, lest it causes disastrous consequences. If Ursula told the other professors or Holbrooke about Croix's true intentions instead of withholding it, Croix's Evil Plan likely wouldn't have gone anywhere near as far as it did. Furthermore, her attempts at withholding the truth from Akko as long as possible only causes Akko to become increasingly distrustful and doubtful of Ursula, to the point that she willingly disobeys her in episode 21.
  • "Samhain Festival": You won't always get rewarded for doing what is right. In fact, you might likely get punished for it instead if the right thing comes in conflict with the rules. While Akko, Lotte and Sucy did do the right thing in freeing Vajarois, they were still punished for it by getting disqualified from the festival since their actions went against the festival's traditions.
  • "Cavendish": Don't make assumptions about people you don't know, because those assumptions might be wrong. Even people you assume are better off than you will often have their own personal struggles that you might not be aware of. Akko learns this the hard way after she learns about the death of Diana's parents from Anna and the fact that Diana struggled with magic when she was young from Andrew, which breaks her misconceived notions about Diana (who she assumes was a mere snob who had nothing but luck and fortune) and would cause her to feel guilty for her past behavior.
  • "Charging at the Edge of the World": A Heel–Face Turn isn't a get out of jail free card. Even if you redeemed yourself and realized how wrong you were, that doesn’t mean you're free from the consequences of those actions and you will most likely face them anyway, including punishment. Even though Croix did have a Heel Realization and had a Heel–Face Turn at the end, she was still ultimately sent to prison for her various crimes.
  • Series-wide: Don't let jealousy and envy towards someone consume you, because being a Green-Eyed Monster will have terrible consequences for both yourself and those around you. While Akko and Diana have learned to get over their Mutual Envy and ultimately come to respect each other for their individual strengths, Croix instead lets her envy towards Chariot consume her to the point of her becoming evil and doing several terrible actions across the series because of it, which ultimately culminates in her nearly indirectly destroying the world thanks to her creation going rogue and her getting arrested and sent to prison by the end.
• Adaptation Displacement: The TV series has quickly overshadowed and has become far more well known than the two original short films that preceded it, to where there are fans who aren't aware that TRIGGER made films before the TV series.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Andrew being intimate with his troubles to Frank alongside being an Indifferent Beauty since childhood, ignoring all the girls around him, have caused some fans to theorize that he's asexual or gay, providing fuel for shipping him with Frank, especially if said fans prefer all the witches to be in lesbian pairings with each other.
  • Was Croix being honest when she said she'd accept Chariot being The Chosen One and support her, only turning on her when she didn't handle her responsibilities the way Croix would've wanted or was she secretly always jealous and power-hungry, planning to undermine Chariot from the start? Further complicating the matter is that despite just after tricking Chariot into a morally questionable act and cutting ties with her, Croix still tries to cover for her when Chariot loses control in her last show. And then a decade later, Croix herself claims to be now messing with Chariot's pupil simply out of spite, yet at the same time, she gets visibly distressed when she thinks Chariot is actually about to die. And despite all that abusiveness, Chariot herself still sees Croix as a friend who she needs to make amends to for "stealing" her dream, even if she knows she also has to stop her. So is Croix a selfish Manipulative Bastard, or a conflicted Big Bad Friend who isn't fully committed to her own cause? Or a Psycho Ex-Girlfriend, if you take the shipper's angle.
  • Why didn't Ursula go after Akko or even tell Diana that Croix was the more immediate threat? Did she think she had failed Akko as a teacher and that Diana was the better choice for comforting her, or does it look like she's going after Croix alone as atonement knowing she's at a disadvantage? Furthermore, her words before leaving "Please take care of (Akko) for me" almost sound like she's saying her goodbyes.
  • There's the matter on Woodward's questionable personality:
    • Since Chariot has been shown to be an unintentional Unreliable Narrator, it's possible that Woodward is only a good teacher in her eyes because she did not have a basis to compare with as all the other teachers, sans Holbrooke, were antagonistic towards her. Given the look Chariot gave when Woodward abandoned her, she might have now realized how awful of a teacher she is.
    • Woodward reappears before Chariot and Croix and shows a very disappointed look. Woodward could only be showing this to Croix but since she left with the Grand Triskellion and didn't bother to free Chariot, she might be upset at both of them.
  • Episode 8 brought a metric ton of this for Sucy. Most notably, the little Sucy with the mismatched bangs and a bouquet of lilies seems to have a lot of theories associated with her - the most popular ones being that she either represents Sucy's repressed romantic feelings for Akko, or, on a darker note, equally repressed homicidal urges. Amusingly enough, it's the bouquet of lillies that a lot of fans bring up the most often whenever proposing any theories on the matter.
  • One alternate interpretation of Shiny Chariot in the TV series is that she is a stand-in for Studio Gainax (one of the first studios to embrace the motto of making anime for the joy of it along with Chariot's similarities to Noriko Takaya, the protagonist of Gainax's first solo anime), Akko as a stand-in for Studio Trigger (Akko's love of magic stemming from her admiration of Chariot is much like how much of Studio Trigger was inspired by the studios themselves came from, especially Gainax). This makes Akko's line in episode 24 "Chariot is Chariot and I'm me" line take on a whole new meaning: Studio Trigger may feel like Gainax but they are their own entity and they do the best they can without comparing themselves to another.
  • Some fans interpret Akko as having ADHD, due to her traits being similar to ADHD symptoms, as she's hyperactive, impulsive, is prone to emotional outbursts and has difficulty focusing on things for very long.
  • Diana has garnered plenty of this. Is she a snobby and callous Academic Alpha Bitch who is simply being a Jerkass towards Akko akin to the films or is she a Compassionate Critic who is being harsh towards Akko out of a genuine desire to see her do better. Furthermore, in light of episode 23, how much of her initial dislike and attitude towards Akko comes from frustration and annoyance towards Akko's childish mindset and her troublemaking antics, and how much of it comes from envy and resentment towards how the carefree Akko reminds her of the child she used to and can no longer be.
  • There's also this official artwork released post-episode 20, which has Diana blushing from being hugged by Akko. Is Diana simply blushing due to being flustered by Akko's advances (akin to the ending of the 2013 film)? Or is it for a different reason…
  • Looking back at Croix's reaction to what the world-altering magic was, it's heavily implied Croix thought the Grand Triskellion could literally change reality and all the heinous actions she committed were under a twisted belief that she could restore them back to normal. If that's true, was Croix's Villainous Breakdown more than just selfishness but total horror that she sullied her hands.
• Anti-Climax Boss: Many fans consider the fight against Croix and the Noir Rod this. Croix gets beaten and abused pretty quickly by Chariot and Woodward and the Noir Rod's dragon form consumed with negative emotion gets one shot by Akko with the seven words of the Shiny Rod. This is justified as the ending reveals the True Final Boss being an ICBM made out of Croix's Magitek which most certainly isn't this.
• Applicability: Many fans interpret Akko as being an allegory for students with disabilities, as Akko is shown to struggle far more with magic compared to the rest of her peers, no matter how hard she works, leading her to become looked down upon by her professors and causing her to have self-esteem issues about it as a result. Needless to say, this has led many fans with disabilities to relate strongly with Akko due to how her experiences resonated with their own struggles in school. The later reveal that Akko's Inept Mage status is the result of her magic getting stolen by an unknowing Chariot when she was young, handicapping her as a result, has only fueled this.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Akko either makes or breaks the TV series for quite a few fans. While she isn't as callous and oblivious as her Enchanted Parade appearance, many a complaint lobbied her way talks about how dense she seems and how obnoxious she is, and dislike how she seems to take large roles in other characters' focus episodes, on top of criticizing her lack of true growth. Others, however, absolutely adore her, finding her to be an endearing, hilarious and relatable underdog and praising her more subtle, but notable Character Development.
  • The show's portrayal of Diana is divisive amongst fans, since it tones down her Academic Alpha Bitch qualities from the films to make her a generally more pleasant person. Some view the show's depiction as a massive improvement over how she was originally portrayed and find her to be a much more likable and less stereotypical character compared to the films. However, others disagree, arguing that her Alpha Bitch and snobbish traits helped balance out her status as The Ace and that by toning those traits down, she become too perfect compared to her film counterpart. Her increased prominence in the second cour has also divided fans. On one hand, you'll find many who enjoy her presence, liking the Character Development she receives in the second cour and her developing friendship with Akko. On the other hand, there are many others who hated how she took away focus from Akko's friends, and found her development and the bond she develops with Akko to be rushed and unsatisfying since it happened near the ending.
  • Hannah and Barbara; several fans were fond of the clever Shout-Out Theme Naming and enjoyed the Character Development they got in later episodes, on top of finding them to be amongst the most hilarious characters in the series due to their expressive nature and being prone to being on the receiving end of Akko and co's antics. Others, however, see them as nothing more than a couple of flat, underdeveloped and annoying bullies who lack their team leader's more endearing traits.
  • Lotte. As the Token Good Teammate to Akko and Sucy who's very upfront about her lack of standout traits, fans either find her likable or boring for the same reason; she's the only sane witch in a school of eccentric girls and teachers. Her reactions are very subdued and she tends to be dragged along with her friends' schemes. This either makes her an uninspired goodie-goodie that lacks personality or a pleasant, sweet girl who prefers to let her friends stay in the spotlight. Interestingly, her dullness is lampshaded in episode 13 by Barbara, who calls Lotte "the girl with a presence as invisible as air." This seems to bother her quite a bit.
  • Andrew. Many fans utterly despise him, finding him to be a boring, unnecessary and underdeveloped Diana clone who has little to make him really stand out from Diana personality wise, on top of taking away screen-time that could have been focused on further developing her and/or the other witches instead. He does have plenty of fans though, who enjoy his Character Development, his snarky personality and his dynamic with Akko and Diana, with some wishing he had more screen time than he did. His Ship Tease with Akko, in a series with a very dominant Yuri following, hasn't helped his case (in spite of No Hugging, No Kissing being strictly enforced in canon).
  • Professor Woodward. Some fans like her due to how effective she is as a Trickster Mentor, while others dislike her due to her callous treatment on Croix, Chariot and Akko.
  • Croix is one of the biggest reasons why the second half is so divisive amongst fans. Some find her to be an engaging and cool villain due to her cool design, her use of Magitek and her relationship with Chariot. Others however, found her to be a bland, poorly developed and one-note villain who doesn’t gel well with the series’ lighthearted and laidback tone prior. Her Heel Realization and subsequent Heel–Face Turn in the last two episodes is also divisive, with some not minding it and even feeling it makes sense given her backstory and the franchise’s White-and-Grey Morality setting, and others finding it to be sloppy and too out of left field given her actions prior, with some wishing she had simply remained the Big Bad to the very end instead.
  • While Amanda and Constanze are well-loved by fans, the third member of their trio, Jasminka, leans more towards this reception. On one hand, many find Jasminka to be one of the weakest characters in the series, due to not being much more than a Big Eater Nice Girl, lacking the Hidden Depths her roommates have and being largely underdeveloped. On the other hand, there are plenty who like Jasminka, finding her to be a harmless and very pleasant character whose nice demeanor acts as a good contrast to her abrasive roommates.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • Episode 10: Despite having trouble with the Metamorphie Faciesse spell in the episodes surrounding it, Akko manages to perfectly cast it and turn a tiny squirrel into a towering 100-foot version of itself. Despite the fact that the squirrel is ostensibly rampaging around the Hanbridge estate, it's never seen or mentioned again.
  • Episode 16 has a part where Akko is pestering a yeti to forge an ingredient for a magic potion, which is already weird in itself. However, at one point, the yeti is seen using his cellphone and receiving insulting messages. Then Akko takes the phone, throws it away and manages to convince the yeti not to pay attention to trolls, upon which he feels good again and makes a perfect ingredient. The whole scene is most likely another metaphor for the animator's job (Akko even asks the yeti for "a retake") and whoever has to deal with online trolls, but it adds nothing to an already cluttered plot and feels out of place even in what almost was a Bizarro Episode of sorts.
  • In episode 18, when Constanze wants to eject Akko from her secret underground lab, she pulls a gun. Not her wand, or a sci-fi shotgun like she had in episode 5, but a straight-up, realistically depicted submachine gun—in a country where they are illegal to own, no less—and walks Akko to the lift at gunpoint. The gun then disappears between frames and neither it nor the fact that she threatened to riddle her classmate with bullets is spoken of or acknowledged again.
  • The final episode shows several places all over the world. When it's Japan's turn, the first thing that is seen is a street with a huge billboard featuring two gay men on it. Not an image you'd expect for a show notorious with yuri fans, but it's hardly brought up.
• Broken Base:
  • Just like with Studio TRIGGER's earlier work Kill la Kill, fans are divided on whether the first half or the second half of the series better suits the setting and characters. Some argue that the episodic slice-of-life nature of the early episodes is more charming and apt for something that is reminiscent of a Saturday-Morning Cartoon, with "cute witches doing cute things"; others say that early plotless episodes were a waste of time and it would have been better to introduce earlier Professor Croix's character and put more emphasis on the Seven Words subplot, because high stakes action and flashy battles are what Trigger does best.
  • The series being a Continuity Reboot from the two short films, along with some Characterization Marches On for characters like Akko, Sucy, and Diana. One camp dislikes the reset and wished the old continuity would have remained, while the other felt starting from scratch gave it a better flowing narrative and allowed for better Character Development and worldbuilding.
  • The revelations in episodes 22 and 23 Shiny Chariot drained her shows' audiences of their magic potential to refuel her own magic power, on Croix's suggestion are similarly dividing. Some are disappointed that Trigger took the easy way out and didn't make Chariot a more complex and morally gray character, while others are happy that Chariot stayed pure at heart and only acted that way because she trusted her Big Bad Friend above everyone.
  • Who are considered the "Nine New Witches". While some fans consider Chariot and Croix to be the last members (along with Akko, Sucy, Lotte, Amanda, Constanze, Jasminka and Diana), many feel like it should rather be Hannah and Barbara, who are not only the same age as the others, but also members of Diana's team. However, Hannah and Barbara not being present for the final showdown puts a hole in the theory.
• Catharsis Factor: After 13 episodes of Diana being almost nothing but an aloof and condescending jerk towards Akko, seeing her get rightfully called out by Akko for once and seeing her cold demeanor become briefly broken in "New Age of Magic" can be immensely satisfying.
• Common Knowledge: Amanda is often assumed to be crossdressing and disguising herself as a male student to sneak into Appleton Academy in episode 17. While this isn't entirely incorrect, that's not exactly what happens. In fact, she actually takes it one step further than that, as she physically transforms herself into a man using metamorphosis magic.
• Draco in Leather Pants:
  • While she is canonically just as much of a snobbish Jerkass as Hannah is, due to being a Closet Geek who hides her interest in Night Fall in fear of being rejected, Barbara is often treated in a sympathetic light by fans in fanworks, with many fanworks often making her the better half of the duo and an Innocent Beta Bitch compared to Hannah. Some also do it for more practical reasons, as making Barbara nicer compared to Hannah helps to better distinguish the two personality wise, since they are mostly treated as The Dividual in canon.
  • Hannah is also prone to this, with many fics often making her slightly more amicable and sympathetic compared to canon, especially in Amanda/Hannah fics, but its rarer, as fans like to keep some of her bitchiness intact as a way to make her the Token Evil Teammate of the Blue Team (similar to Sucy and Amanda for the Red and Green teams respectively).
• Diagnosed by the Audience:
  • It's never stated in the series, but Akko shows a lot of classic signs of ADHD. She is hyperactive, has difficulty focusing on something for very long, is Innocently Insensitive, impulsive, and is prone to emotional outbursts. Even if she doesn't have ADHD, a lot of her story can be read as a metaphor for being neuroatypical in a society that doesn't accommodate such people. Ursula specifically points out that Finnelan is unfairly judging Akko by the standards of her neurotypical classmates.
  • Even putting aside her being mute, Constanze is shown to have terrible communication skills and is obsessed with her work and Magitek over everything else. Because of this, this has led to some fans to diagnose her as having some form of autism.
• Die for Our Ship:
  • Andrew got this reaction from Diana/Akko shippers before he was even introduced and was just a guy in the OP, after his introduction, he was hit hard for having the bare minimum of Ship Tease with Akko, and even less with Diana, with many seeing him as an obstacle to the Diana/Akko ship. This did die down after Word of God clarified that Andrew and Akko's relationship is entirely platonic and that no romance is happening in the series, but Andrew continues to remain a sore spot for Yuri fans.
  • While Frank hasn't been hit as severely as Andrew has due to being a less prominent character, his Ship Tease with Lotte in episode 10 has led to him getting hit by this from fans who prefer to ship Lotte with Akko, Sucy or Barbara.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Annabel Crème quickly became popular and well-loved by fans due to her cute design as well as her genuinely relatable struggles. Her popularity is likely the reason why she received a chapter dedicated to herself in the Keisuke Satō manga.
  • Constanze cemented herself as an unsung fan favorite with her Magitek in episode 5, which solved every single physical problem.
  • The Expy of Chumlee from Pawn Stars from episode 3 widely amused fans of the latter. Including Chumlee himself.
  • Out of the side witches introduced in the series, Wangari quicky endeared herself to much of the fandom and became a fan favorite after her debut in episode 3 due to her unique design, energetic and fun personality and Large Ham tendencies.
  • Professor Pisces had quickly become a major fan favorite amongst fans simply just for the absurd concept of her being a realistic fish teacher alone. It also helps that she's shown to be one of the few reasonable professors towards Akko.
• Fan Nickname:
  • The Magic Shop Proprietor is never referred to as "Chumlee" and has No Name Given in the series proper. However, his resemblance to the eponymous star from Pawn Stars has led many fans to refer to him as such.
  • Fans have referred to Akko's mouse form as "Rakko", a portmanteau between "Akko" and "Rat".
• Fandom-Specific Plot:
  • Many post-series fanfics tend to go more in-depth on how the revival of magic in Episode 25 impacts the setting and cast and the consequences and side effects that could entail from magic coming back, both positive and negative. The most common side effects of its revival is usually the de-extinction of once-extinct magical beings and/or weakened beings gaining back their former strength as a result of its revival, including those who are more evil and malicious in nature, in which Akko and co often have to face and defeat.
  • Hannah and Barbara taking Chariot and Croix’s places as the eighth and ninth members of the "Nine New Witches" is also common in post-series fics. Especially thanks to the end of Episode 25 showing them as being on better terms and hanging out with the others.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • What are the consequences and side-effects of magic's revival in episode 25 and how does its revival impact the cast and setting?
  • What kind of adventures did Chariot and Croix have back as students in Luna Nova? And how did Chariot find the six words?
• Fanon:
  • While it's not confirmed in the series proper, due to the Ho Yay they have, many fans interpret Chariot and Croix as being a couple back when they were students until they fell apart.
  • While not common, Akko is sometimes depicted as having a large scar on her back coming from Diana's accidental magic attack in episode 2, which she is not confirmed to have in canon.
  • Whenever Pisces is humanized in fanworks, she's usually always depicted as being a younger-looking professor, somewhere close to Ursula's age. She's also sometimes portrayed as being a mermaid in order to retain the aquatic theming of her character. Ironically, this is despite Pisces having two feathers on her, which according to Yoshinari, indicates a senior teacher (like Finnelan and Lukić).
• Fan-Preferred Cut Content: Yoshinari originally planned to have episodes that would have delved into Sucy, Amanda, Constanze, and Jasminka's backstories, which were scrapped due to time constraints and to keep the story focused on Akko. Many fans, however, wished these episodes became a reality, as one of the biggest criticisms of the series was how underdeveloped the main supporting cast are. Some of these ideas did become realized in Keisuke Satō's manga adaptation.
• Foe Yay Shipping: Some fans ended up shipping Amanda and Louis together after "Amanda O'Neil and the Holy Grail" aired, due to perceiving some tension between the two.
• Growing the Beard:
  • Episode 6 is seen by some as being a turning point for the series, as it’s where Akko begins to undergo her Character Development and many of the franchise’s core themes begin to take center stage after the previous five episodes were largely just episodic antics.
  • Some see the second cour as being a turning point as well, due to less focus on episodic adventures like the first cour and more focus on the overarching Myth Arc, as well as the added Character Development for Akko, Chariot and Diana. That said, this is largely up to debate.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Ursula's reaction when learning Akko attended one of her shows is confirmed to be a My God, What Have I Done? moment and all this time, she has made it her mission to help the girl regain back what she has lost.
  • Episode 4 shares some details about the Night Fall novels, mostly weird plot twists, like the MC catching a nuke with her bare hands. Episode 24 ends with a Magitek nuke, the result of an ICBM being possessed by Croix's Noir Fuel Spirit.
  • Akko accusing Diana of being a spoiled aristocrat who's never known what hard work is rings a lot harsher when it's revealed that Diana was orphaned from a young age with her living relatives actively ruining her family, that she had to work harder than any normal witch would because of her magic being stolen, and that she in general, had the exact opposite of an easy childhood.
  • Lotte is described by Diana's cronies as "the girl with a presence as invisible as air". Come the second half of the series, and she pretty much becomes a background character, having mostly nothing to do, even in her own spotlight episode.
  • Akko's difficulties with magic and her inability to fly a broom were sometimes played for laughs. They are not so funny anymore after the revelations of episode 22 that indicate Akko's magic abilities were crippled by her idol Shiny Chariot.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight:
  • Every witch, including her best friend, believes that Chariot and her shows will fail and be forgotten and all her fans would never become a witch. A decade later, cue Akko, who is not only inspired by Shiny Chariot, she even defended her when the former idol gets criticized. Imagine the reaction Chariot/Ursula had when she saw this, must have been touched that her efforts were never in vain. In Episode 25, Chariot must have been the proudest witch in existence.
  • Both Erica Mendez and Laura Post reprising their roles as Akko and Diana in the television series. Considering that in a previous anime they work together on, they played the estranged mother and daughter. Now, it's just Diana, the mother looking out for Akko, the daughter.
  • When she was younger, Akko threw herself off a cliff several times in various attempts to fly, which is also one of her biggest wishes throughout the anime. Now here's one of Bagon's Pokédex entries:
    Bagon has a dream of one day soaring in the sky. In doomed efforts to fly, this Pokémon hurls itself off cliffs. As a result of its dives, its head has grown tough and as hard as tempered steel.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • At one point, Ursula is seen wearing a red tracksuit. This makes her look like another teacher from an anime airing around the same time as Little Witch Academia: Sakie Satou from Interviews with Monster Girls. They are both shy, nervous, bespectacled twenty-something teachers with a supernatural side (Satou is a succubus), who for different reasons stay usually alone and isolated from others.
  • In the Chilean Spanish dub of the series, many fans wanted Jhonny Torres, the Venezuelan voice actor who voiced Chumlee, to voice his Expy in TV series, since his Japanese voice actor did the same. Not only he was unable to do it, Torres ended up voicing Genos in the Mexican Spanish dub of One-Punch Man instead, which also debuted with the TV series at the same day in the Netflix's Latin American feed.^note If you are wondering why Torres did ended working in Mexico, it was due of the severe economic and social crisis Venezuela is enduring at the time of writing this (2017). It also could overlap with the below trope, taking into account how the Chilean dub of the TV series (and the whole franchise) was negatively compared with the Mexican dub of One-Punch Man.
  • Akko and Andrew end up transforming into human/animal hybrids in Episode 6 as a result of the former's bad magic. Three years later, Yoshinari would go on to create BNA: Brand New Animal, a series that directly stars anthropomorphic animals known as Beastmen that are able to shift from human to animal. Akko even cameos twice as a beastman while Andrew himself appears as an agent arresting a beastmen, reflecting their opposing views on magic.
  • The second ending had Akko sprout out wings in place of her arms at one point, which is exactly what Michiru ends up doing as well as part of her animal-themed powers in BNA: Brand New Animal.
  • The many shout-outs to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann in episode 18 have become funny in light of Super Robot Wars X-Ω, which featured a crossover event with Little Witch Academia several months after the TV series ended and had it's cast directly interact with and fight alongside Gurren Lagann's cast.
  • The shoutouts to Star Wars across the series have become undeniably hilarious in light of the news that Studio TRIGGER would be amongst the studios participating in Star Wars: Visions.
• I Knew It!:
  • Akko and Diana becoming friends was a common prediction by fans before "Intellect and Sensibility" made it official.
  • Given it's become a bit of a trend in Trigger's past works, a good number of fans have predicted that the final episode would take place in space, which it did.
• Just Here for Godzilla: There are a number of fans (especially Yuri fans) who'll openly admit that much of their interest in the anime comes from the Akko and Diana relationship and their development in the later episodes.
• LGBT Fanbase: Thanks to her romantic subtext and Ship Tease with Andrew, Diana and Sucy, Akko has gained a following amongst bisexual/pansexual fans, who view her as such.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Yay^Explanation Akko often used yay as a Verbal Tic in the early episodes to express her happiness and excitement (in the Japanese dub anyway), which has led to many memes that use the term yay in relation to Akko or other characters, often to express sheer happiness.
  • Comrade Akko. ^Explanation Akko's hardcore support of the strike in episode 14 set off a wave of "Communist Akko" memes, sometimes nicknamed "Akkommunism". Ironically, this doesn't stop her two biggest ships being with Diana and Andrew
  • Ursula and Croix are Bayonetta and Jeanne.^Explanation  Due to them being main characters and their similar appearances with both wearing mostly black with glasses and The Rival having white hair and a red outfit the characters have been compared. Ursula is also quite the parental figure to Akko giving more comparisons. It reached the maximum where the episode 15 preview showed Ursula walking on walls and getting out pistols at Croix just like in the final battle of Bayonetta vs. Jeanne, and at one point, her hair looks almost identical to Bayonetta's only red instead of black. It helps that all of Croix minions looks like the angels from Bayonetta. Also, Croix ends up making a Heel–Face Turn just like Jeanne and the True Final Boss is in space.
  • Diana is a cabbage. ^Explanation  Fans have noted that the green streak made Diana's blonde hair look like a cabbage. Naturally, the jokes spun out from there. This has also led to the Fan Nickname of "Cabbagedish".
  • Akko's two moms.^Explanation  Between Ursula and Croix each acting as mentors to Akko and the large amount of Ho Yay between them, fans will often have Ursula and Croix acting as Akko's parents, particularly in AUs.
  • Wrong Door ^Explanation  This particular meme comes from Episode 8, when Akko is delivering food to Sucy. She comes to Door 493, only to find Punk Sucy on the other side and slamming the door shut in frustration. This invited millions of possibilities to replace Punk Sucy with literally anything. Some examples include Akko being shot by the Angry Video Game Nerd, walking in on Squidward in the bathtub, and being met by Big Smoke. Furthermore, the meme was included in this video along with the Rick and Morty Pringles ad from Super Bowl LIV, the "Joel Checks the Bathroom" meme, and the old Gnomed meme from 2010.
• Memetic Personality Change:
  • Croix is often depicted as having a major obsession with cup noodles in fanon, to where it's considered her Trademark Favorite Food by the fandom, even though in the TV series, she's only shown eating it a couple of times.
  • Akko's pro-labor opinions are often exaggerated to full on communism , including a deep loathing of the wealthy. Even in stories where they're together, Diana is not safe from her wrath.
• Memetic Troll: While Woodward is treated as being serious in canon, due to her Trickster Mentor role in the series, many fans love to exaggerate that aspect of her and interpret her as being a big troll who likes to screw with others for laughs in fanworks.
• Moe: All the main characters are pretty cute, but Akko is so cute and endearing that a fan is likely to cheer her on just like Professor Ursula, especially after she starts taking her studies seriously. Sad!Akko with her Puppy-Dog Eyes and quivering lips has inspired in many a fan the desire to hug her and comfort her (or bully her just to see it again).
• Narm: Episode 24 is full of either this or Narm Charm. Highlights include: the Grand Triskelion looking like the Stick of Truth and spewing streamers, confetti, stars, bubbles, and rainbows all over the place; Akko's "Chariot is Chariot and I am me" Captain Obvious statement; the appearance of Holbrooke and Finneran just to do absolutely nothing.
• Narm Charm: Unsurprisingly, given it’s by Studio TRIGGER, the show as a whole is absolutely filled to the brim with moments like this.
  • Professor Pisces being a realistic fish teacher at a magic school is quite ridiculous in concept, even for the standards of the franchise, and yet, it somehow works really well in spite of it. The concept alone is a big reason why fans love her.
  • The inclusion of a freakin mecha in a magic high school show sounds absolutely ridiculous and out of place, but of course, that didn’t stop Trigger from putting in one anyway via the Magic Knight Grand Charion, and pulling it off with flying colors, making for undeniably one of the show’s most awesome moments.
  • Diana saying "I believe in your believing heart" to a depressed Akko in episode 23 can come off as being a bit cheesy, and the line itself would not be out of place in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, but gosh darn-it, that doesn’t stop it from being a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
  • Akko’s "Chariot is Chariot and I am me" statement may have been a cheesy Captain Obvious statement, but that does not stop it at all from being one of the series' most heartwarming moments.
• No Yay: Episode 15 has Croix taking an interest in Akko and the Shiny Rod, and with her way of handling Akko, plus Ursula's reaction when she hears that Akko went with Croix can make the whole scene go very creepy. Considering it's another series from Trigger, it was compared to the purification scene from Kill la Kill.
• Older Than They Think:
  • The idea of a witch using a roomba in place of a broomstick has been done before the TV series, as one comic by BlueFunnies on DeviantArt featured the same concept back in 2011.
  • Shiny Chariot draining the magic of others is not an entirely new concept for the franchise, as Little Witch Academia: The Midnight Crown (an obscure tie-in manga released in 2015 to promote The Enchanted Parad), had a Shiny Chariot apparition deliberately drain Yuuto of his magic in the final round as part of a Secret Test of Character for Akko.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • The wizards that appear in the final episode.
  • The hunters from episode 18, who ride flying wolves, hunt ghosts, and refuel the Grand Charion with their magical energy.
  • The aforementioned Magic Knight Grand Charion in episode 18 is heavily adored by the fandom due to the mecha being essentially one big love letter to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and its scenes in the episode being considered some of the most awesome in the TV series (it even provides the page image for the TV series' awesome moments page). The Grand Charion became so popular and well-loved that it received its own game only available to those who pre-ordered Chamber of Time and also appears in Super Robot Wars X-Ω for a limited crossover event with the TV series, which is impressive for a mecha that only appears once in the entire series.
• One True Threesome:
  • Shipping of the three women teams the little witches are grouped into is popular. The game even makes explicit mention of one such instance.
  • Some fans who don't care about the Ship-to-Ship Combat like to ship Akko with both Diana and Andrew.
  • Amandiakko (Amanda/Diana/Akko) is popular. Because why choose between Awkward Nerd/Badass Butch and Awkward Nerd/High-class Academic when you can have both?
• Recurring Fanon Character: Mirror Akko, an alternate version of Akko based on her reflection in episode 12, tends to appear a bit in fan art and fan works. Unsurprisingly, she often serves as an Mirror Self and/or an Evil Counterpart to Akko whenever she appears in fan works. There is also Mirror Diana, who is based on Diana's own reflection in the same episode and provides the same roles to Diana that Mirror Akko does to Akko.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
  • While Diana was never a "scrappy" per-se, many fans disliked her in the films due to her Alpha Bitch attitude and Jerkass behavior towards the cast, which made her hard to like to fans, even with her Hidden Depths. The series would go on to tone down her Alpha Bitch qualities, while also giving her more likable and sympathetic qualities, which on top of her Character Development in the second cour, warmed her up to many fans who disliked her in the films and made her into a fan-favorite.
  • Opinions towards Hannah and Barbara began to soften once episode 19 revealed that they do genuinely care for Diana and see her as a friend as opposed to only hanging out with her to ride on her coattails (which is what many fans assumed to have been the case prior). Opinions towards the two would soften even more after they actually thanked Akko for bringing Diana back in episode 21 and the end of episode 25 shows them as being on better terms with the others. While a fair number of fans still dislike them for being haughty bullies towards Akko and co, their actions in the later episodes have definitely gained the two their fair share of fans, including those who disliked them early on.
• Ship Mates:
  • It's safe to say those that ship Akko and Andrew also ship Frank and Lotte, provided when Those Two Guys aren't being subjected to Broken Base of course. They're also the types of people to ship Louis/Amanda in order to give the "Appleton 3" a witchy girlfriend.
  • Many fans of Akko/Diana tend to ship Chariot and Croix together and vice versa. It helps that the latter two are presented as Foils to the former two respectively and share a ton of Ho Yay themselves. Diana/Akko shippers are also likely to ship Hannah/Amanda as well, with the latter often serving as a Beta Couple to the former or vice versa depending on what ship the fic puts focus on.
  • While the show's major Yuri fandom doesn't care for ships involving males, those that instead fancy themselves as queer shippers tend to be fond of Andrew/Frank as a gay muggle compliment to the abundance of lesbian witch ships. There is surprisingly a decent section of the fandom that believes not only does shipping the two together still allow them a romantic ending while the girls are shipped with each other, but because their Bromantic Foil dynamic also compliments the number of Foil ships in the series. Frank being a cheery blond partner for his stoic Blue Blood brunette friend ironically makes the two a "hair color inverted" counterpart to Diana/Akko.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat: Although Diana x Akko is the most popular ship in the fandom, Andrew x Akko being a distant second, there is quite a bit of bickering between the two sides since Akko has a major amount of subtext with both of them even though the showrunners have denied ships becoming canon. In general, unless you are certain you are surrounded by like-minded fans, do not mention Andrew or Frank and that you ship them with the witches. It will not go well for you.
• Ships That Pass in the Night:
  • Despite the two not having any meaningful interactions in the series, Lotte x Amanda has caught on in some portions of the fandom as fans found the pairing of a shy and timid bookworm and a rebellious and boisterous tomboy to be appealing.
  • While Sucy and Constanze are briefly shown to play a game together in the epilogue, they don’t have any real interactions in the series outside of the epilogue, nevertheless, Sucy/Constanze or "Gearshrooms" has caught on in some parts of the fandom.
  • Despite Amanda and Andrew not interacting much in the series (not even in episode 17, which saw the former sneak into the latter's school), Andrew/Amanda has caught on in some parts of the fandom, if only because fans feel they look good together, or alternatively, to give Andrew a girlfriend that isn't Akko and/or Diana.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • The decision to make it a Continuity Reboot as opposed to a direct continuation from the films has upset several fans, as well as the numerous changes made to the cast and setting.
  • Not all fans were happy about Diana being less of an Alpha Bitch than the films, as several have complained of her being too "perfect" and "boring" compared to the films. Even Yoh Yoshinari has reportedly come to regret toning down her Alpha Bitch traits as much as he did.
  • The series’ shift to a more serious tone and more serialized structure in the second cour has upset several who preferred the more lighthearted and episodic approach of the short films and the first cour. Fans were also not pleased with Lotte and Sucy getting Demoted to Extra in the second cour.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Despite both being Akko's best friends and main characters themselves, Lotte and Sucy got Demoted to Extra bad in the second cour of the TV series and barely receive much screentime at all with the second cour shifting it's focus onto Akko, Diana, Chariot and Croix instead, which has disappointed many fans who enjoyed their dynamic and friendship with Akko in the short films and the first cour of the TV series. Sucy in particular gets the worse end of the stick as despite her mysterious background, her interesting design and fun personality, she only has one episode dedicated to her (episode 8) and remains little more than a side note afterwards. Even Yoshinari has acknowledged this and has expressed regret for not giving her more focus.
  • Some fans are disappointed about how Jasminka didn't receive any Hidden Depths or spotlight episodes compared to her friends Amanda and Constanze.
  • Episode 18 has these badass ghost-hunting wizards that ride flying wolves and help fuel the Grand Charion with their magic energy. Who are they? What are they? Nothing is really explained and, as cool as they are, they don't appear again not even in the final episode, where pretty much every other character can be seen.
  • Aside from Ursula, the rest of the faculty pretty much vanish after Croix's introduction. Finnelan might get it the worst, since her Appeal to Tradition has her be one character who is not immediately taken in by Croix's plot, but after an implication she's suspicious, she doesn't do anything until a short-lived, subverted Big Damn Heroes moment, and then sits the rest of the plot out.
  • Combined with They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot, despite both being Magitech users at a school that frowns on the practice, Constanze and Croix never interact or are even acknowledged as having similar styles of magic. While it's justified with Croix, as she is laser-focused on her Evil Plan, one has to wonder what Constanze thought of having a professor who uses the same kind of magic that she does.
  • Some fans are disappointed that, unlike Diana, her friends and roommates, Hannah and Barbara remain pretty much the same as they did in the short films and like with Jasminka, wished they and their relationship with Diana got more fleshed out and explored than they did, especially since episode 4 revealed that Barbara is secretly a fan of Nightfall like Lotte, which never really gets explored in the series proper with the only time they even acknowledge it again in the show after episode 4 being the end of episode 25, which has her reading the latest novel with Lotte.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • The ending of Episode 7 has Finnelan watch over Akko, Sucy and Lotte, which could have been an interesting subplot that could've had Finnelan be a Foil to Ursula in regards to mentoring Akko and show their different approaches to teaching. Unfortunately, this would be an Aborted Arc that never gets continued afterwards.
  • Episode 16 is a major example. Given the episode is about the trio visiting Lotte's family in Finland, the episode presents a great opportunity to flesh out Lotte's character, family and culture as well as an opportunity to further explore the Jansson's connection and history to spirits. Unfortunately, all of this potential gets shoved aside in favor of focusing on curing the Greenman Disease. Even Lotte gets shoved aside in the latter half of what could have been her A Day in the Limelight episode to focus purely on Akko trying to cure the disease instead, as well as haphazardly trying to tie it to the series' Myth Arc. Additionally, Akko is in Finland and has to interact with a yeti. Not only is the yeti not a creature from the Finnish folklore at all, but in its subplot, it has to deal with online trolls. This means that putting a mythical troll in its place would've been not only thematically appropriate, but also far more amusing... an actual troll getting upset by online trolls.
  • Since Diana and Croix are intended to be parallels to each other (given they act as both Foils to Akko and Chariot respectively, on top of being both prodigies to boot), having them interact and clash would had been interesting to see given their opposing opinions and uses of magic. Alternatively, it would have also been interesting to see what Diana thinks of Luna Nova's embracing of modern magic in general, especially given traditionalist stance on magic. Unfortunately, the two never interact once in the show and Diana's feelings towards modern magic and Croix's implementation of it in Luna Nova is never touched upon.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?:
  • It starts off as a Slice of Life series that features the girls having fun with no story in place. Even after episode 15 when Croix appears and reveals her true nature by sending her minions out at Chariot and doing Mind Rape on Akko, the series still has its kid friendly moments such as episodes 16 and 17. However, the series counts as this by episodes 19 and 20 and goes full force in episode 21 and especially episode 22. References to death appear in episodes 19 and 20, as there's a tragedy revealed for Diana. In episode 21, Croix attempts to murder Akko and is revealed to want to start a war by harvesting negative emotions which will drain the users' magic. It's then revealed that Chariot did the same thing in her shows which resulted in Akko's magical ability being crippled, including her ability to fly as Akko hits a Heroic BSoD. The series was given a TV-Y7 on Netflix.
  • Many originally questioned that it aired on Otaku O'Clock when it first started. However, it starts pulling out of the darkness in episode 23, though given it's heading toward the finale by then, it doesn't have time to fully return to the previous cheeriness.
  • The dub actually retains Amanda's swearing, yet Netflix keeps the show's rating as Y7, which sadly also means some Animation Age Ghetto is also afoot, which is strange as Netflix tends to avoid this.
• Woolseyism:
  • This video shows a couple of Akko's scenes dubbed in nine different languages back-to-back. In the scene with the jumping broom, almost every dubbing has Akko imitating a frog and making other meaningless noises, but in the Italian dub, she starts to recite a well-known nursery rhyme. Also, according to the comments, the German dubbing of the scene where Akko is going to her first lesson has her saying "I just cut my fingernails, so everything's fine" because she appears to be looking at her hand. She was saying nothing of the sort in the original Japanese and other languages.
  • On top of the many shout-outs to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann already present in episode 18, the English dub replaces the "A believing heart is our magic!" line in Akko's speech during the Stanship's transformation into Magic Knight Grand Charion in the Japanese version with "Believe in the heart that believes in magic!", a direct shout out to Kamina's catchphrase from that series.