History YMMV / LittleWitchAcademia

** Due to most magic users shown being female and most of the male characters being muggles, on top of the franchise taking place in an all-girls boarding school, there tends to be a frequent misassumption amongst fans that ''all'' magic users are female, which is not the case. Although they're nowhere near as prominent as the female magic users, male magic users do exist in the setting as at least one is shown [[spoiler:arresting Croix]] at the end of the series (the Wild Hunters from the series are also implied to be male). ''The Midnight Crown'' also features a prominent male magic user via Yuuto, as well as a SpearCounterpart to Luna Nova.

** There are some theories on what male magic users are like other than the fact that they exist. The only three appearances of magical males are Yuuto from the 2015 shoujo manga which is in a separate universe from everything else, the Hunters who might not even be proper wizards, and the few that appear in the SeriesFinale. So far, the most common fan theory is that the Hunters are an all-male counterpart to the witches given that no female Hunter was seen.

** While the show's Queer and Yuri fandom aren't that interested in exploring the functionings of the all-male Appleton Academy, the vocal part of the fandom that ships Andrew/Akko, Frank/Lotte and the very rare Louis/Amanda fans likes to explore the dynamics of the school. Commonly, Frank is shown as an outlier for liking magic, Andrew is respected but is on the fence for just finding magic "boring", while Louis tends to lead the anti-magic faction before turning a new leaf thanks to Amanda. This practically became AscendedFanon thanks to the Keisuke Satō manga showing what Andrew was doing in Appleton before visiting Luna Nova, revealing the dynamics of the boys to be akin to this fanon.

** Likewise, politicians and [[BlueBlood aristocrats]] are more often than not depicted as being stuffy, greedy and selfish people who look highly upon themselves, are more trigger-happy than not, and treat those who are different from them socially with dismissal, if not outright contempt. Even the more likable aristocrats such as Diana and Andrew, are still shown to be haughty and stuffy jerks early on before their CharacterDevelopment.

** Akko and [[WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse Luz]] would get along swimmingly as they both desire to become powerful witches while Amity and Diana would get along due to their shared role of being prideful witches with a heritage of being from powerful families and who start become nicer thanks to the protagonist's influence.

** [[AppealToTradition Traditionalists]] are a constant target from the franchise, with them consistently being depicted as stuffy, distant, {{Jerkass}}es who are out of touch with modern society and have no empathy or sympathy for anyone who doesn't fall in line with tradition.
** Likewise, politicians and [[BlueBlood aristocrats]] are more often then not depicted as being stuffy, greedy and selfish people who look highly upon themselves, are more trigger-happy than not and treat those who are different from them socially with dismissal, if not outright contempt. Even the more likable aristocrats such as Diana and Andrew, are still shown to be haughty and stuffy jerks early on prior to their CharacterDevelopment.

* BrokenBase: Is Akko x Chariot a good MentorShip, or is it inappropriate given the age difference between the two? The series addition of Croix has also lead to some ShipToShipCombat which took attention away from Akko x Chariot in favor of Chariot x Croix.

** In the short films, Diana is often described as being prejudiced towards Akko for being a muggle. However, while Diana is prejudiced towards Akko in the short films, it has nothing to do with her being from a non-witch family. Rather, she's prejudiced towards her for her idolization of Shiny Chariot (and that being the reason why she began attending Luna Nova) and her views on tradition and magic.

** Akko and [[WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse Luz]] would getting along swimmingly as they both desire to become powerful witches while Amity and Diana would get along with their similarities of their heritage of being from powerful families (but actually being nicer after meeting up with Luz/Akko).

** Amanda, whose first appearance to date was ''The Enchanted Parade'' short film, is one of the more popular side characters and was the most well liked from the aforementioned film. It's likely the reason she gets several [[ADayInTheLimelight spotlight episodes]] in the series proper.

** The team composing of Avery, Mary and Blair are amongst the most popular background witches in the fandom and it's incredibly common for them to appear in fanworks.

** Chloe has become yet another popular background witch amongst fans after ''Chamber of Time'', due to her position as being a rival to Diana that is less significant than her (to where Diana [[UnknownRival doesn't notice her]]) despite supposedly sharing her social status and intellect. This has led to numerous fics that play off the supposed rivalry between them, with many of them upgrading Chloe from random background witch to being Diana's arch rival.

** Thanks to the events of the anime, it is all but impossible for you to go through the full list of ''LWA'' fanworks in any sites ''without'' running into at least one fanwork that has "Diana x Akko" in it.

** It is common to see fanworks that crosses ''LWA'' with ''Franchise/MyHeroAcademia'' due to the similar premise the two works have (a {{Muggle|s}} is inspired by an idol with special powers, and enrolls into a prestigious school for people with special powers; said Muggle is picked on by an elitist blonde rival who he eventually comes to terms with and befriends).

** For some reason, Diana is often depicted as swearing in the name of her ancestor, Beatrix, even in [=AUs=] where everyone are Muggles and magic doesn't exist.
** Many Diana/Akko fics will often have Diana act as an tutor to Akko on magic, with the two often getting closer and falling in love over the course of the classes.

** There are some theories on what male magic users are like other than the fact that they exist. The only three appearances of magical males are Yuuto from the 2015 shoujo manga which is in a separate universe from everything else, the Hunters who might not even be proper Wizards, and the few that appear in the SeriesFinale. So far, the most common fan theory is that the Hunters are an all-male counterpart to the witches given that no female Hunter was seen.

** While the show's Queer and Yuri fandom aren't that interested in exploring the functionings of the all-male Appleton Academy, the vocal part of the fandom that ships Andrew/Akko, Frank/Lotte and the very rare Louis/Amanda fans likes to explore the dynamics of the school. Commonly, Frank is shown as an outlier for liking magic, Andrew is respected but is on the fence for just finding magic "boring", while Louis tends to lead the anti-magic faction before turning a new leaf thanks to Amanda. This practically became AscendedFanon thanks to the Keisuke Satō manga showing what Andrew was doing in Appleton before visiting Luna Nova, revealing the dynamic of the boys to be akin to this fanon.

** Switching up the main teams is a reasonably popular AU idea and has been the subject of a couple of AU fics. Most commonly, the idea of Akko, Diana and Amanda being in the same team.
** One very common plotline in Diana/Akko fanworks is the "Akko takes care of Diana" plot, in which Akko comes across an overworked and exhausted Diana and often attempts to get her to take a break and rest, on top of helping and/or taking care of her. Whether or not Hannah and Barbara and/or Akko's friends are involved tends to vary from fic to fic, but whatever the case, it is usually always Akko that does the heavy lifting and Diana is often portrayed as being reluctant but ultimately grateful for Akko's help.

** Fans will often identify the trios that Luna Nova students are grouped into as "[Color] Team", based off the [[ColourCodedForYourConvenience sashes and hat-ribbons]] present on their uniforms:

*** Even the somewhat popular background trio of Avery, Blair, and Mary get identified as "Purple Team".
** Some fans will sometimes omit the "Academia" out of the franchise's title and call the franchise ''"Little Witch"'' instead. Likely for the sake of ease.
** Due to her hair looking like strands of cabbage, Diana has been humorously nicknamed Diana "Cabbagedish" by some fans. Likewise, the hair itself is often nicknamed "cabbage hair". Some fans also like to call her "Diana Banana", due to jokes comparing her to [[{{Pun}} Cavendish]] bananas.

** With ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' ever since series creator Rebecca Sugar and Ian Jones-Quartey had cameos in ''The Echanted Parade'', those two having another cameo in the SeriesFinale. Trigger's staff has fans of the show who have provided guest work in ''Steven Universe''.

** Fans of this anime tend to get along well with fans of ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService'', due to both being lighthearted coming of age stories starring young witches that both use magic as a metaphor for art. Albeit in different ways. Unsurprisingly, there is a ton of crossover art featuring Akko and Kiki getting along.
** Fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' likewise are pretty chummy with this series due to a lot of similarities between the two (A world full of magic, a muggle protagonist WOC who struggles to learn the ins and out of it, a eccentric mentor with a checkered past, a snooty rival who becomes a friend, there's a whole separate page worth to this comparison).

** The franchise is more popular in America than it is in its native Japan. [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-08-12/little-witch-academia-tokyo-event-cancelled-due-to-low-ticket-sales In reverse of this article]], the American Kickstarter for ''The Enchanted Parade'' reached its goal of $150,000 ''in less than five hours'', completely confusing everyone involved, who thought they'd be lucky to achieve their goal in a month. The TV series did make the franchise more popular in Japan, but it remains much more popular in the west. Its popularity in America is most likely due to the franchise's massive western influence.

* JerkassWoobie: Diana is by no means the kindest character and can be a haughty, cold and stuck up {{Jerkass}} at her worst. However, it’s understandable to see why to an extent, considering she [[spoiler:lost her parents when she was young]], grew up with an abusive EvilAunt and pair of cousins whose squandering her family’s legacy, was bullied by others for her love of magic according to Andrew, and was all but forced to grow up to meet everyone’s high expectations of her. This is on top of [[spoiler:losing her magic like Akko and having to spend years working it back up]].

** "It's anime ''Franchise/HarryPotter''!" [[labelnote:Explanation]]A common salespitch for the franchise. Some might add "But not written by a transphobe"[[/labelnote]]

** While Akko does have self-esteem issues in canon, they aren't a major facet of her character and she only gets down a few times across the franchise and is pretty much a GenkiGirl otherwise. In fanworks on the other hand, Akko's self-esteem issues are often exaggerated to where she's sometimes a StepfordSmiler. Particularly in DarkFic[=s=] and/or HurtComfortFic[=s=].

** The Chilean Spanish dub, ''very big time'': Listing what went wrong with this dubbed version would need ''a full page'', and that includes the [[BlindIdiotTranslation translation]], [[TooLongDidntDub out-of-place Japanese words in a series that takes place in the UK]], [[OohMeAccentsSlipping the voice actresses' Chilean accents slipping at the worst of times]], uneven acting, etc. This is especialy egregious considering the studio who did the dub, DINT, did excellent dubs anywhere else, including stuff like ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' and its [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra sequel]]. Even more egregious with the dub of the TV series, since DINT had a fairly amount of time to fix the flaws from the dubs of the films, and not only they didn't bother to improve the quality of the dub in the TV series, the dub of the show was [[FromBadToWorse even worse]], at least in the first half, through the dub improved in the second one, not that helped much at the end.

* OneTruePairing: In spite of WordOfGod stating that it won't become canon, Diana/Akko has become the most popular ship amongst the fandom thanks to their dynamic and their development in the TV series and it easily outranks every other ''LWA'' ship in terms of fan-works and fan support. In fact, shipping Akko and Diana with anyone but each other can be borderline FandomHeresy in certain spaces of the fandom. Some of the animators and Akko's Japanese voice actress, Creator/MegumiHan, are also allegedly [[ShipperOnDeck supportive of the ship]].

* RonTheDeathEater: Finnelan is undeniably a traditionalist who is strict to a fault and can sometimes be prejudiced, but the way fans take her in fanon can be quite wild at times, with many fanworks spinning her into a irredeemable and bigoted {{Jerkass}} who dislikes Akko simply due to her background, often ignoring that she does have [[JerkassHasAPoint legitimate reasons to dislike Akko, given her consistently bad behavior in and out of class (even if she takes it too far)]]. This is on top of being a JerkWithAHeartOfGold who attempts to save Chariot from Croix in the TV series, which some fans also tend to gloss over in fanworks.

** Of ''Anime/TweenyWitches'', since the premise of both series is basically the same: a young GenkiGirl human loving magic so much she wants to become a witch herself, to the point she ends up living with actual witches who at first distrust her because she goes against tradition.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Several fans have noted that the beginning part of Shiny Chariot's theme sounds a bit similar to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHDycUXzNs0 the main theme]] of ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. Given the franchise's (and by extension, Trigger's) known tendency to reference existing western works, even making an direct reference to the film through the title of episode 15 of the series (as it's called "Amanda O'Neill and the Holy Grail"), the similarity could likely be intentional.

* ClicheStorm: If you're at all familiar with CuteWitch archetypes, [[WizardingSchool magi schools]], or high school comedies, it's not going to surprise you. However, the stunning visuals, lighthearted atmosphere, and entertaining script [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools make it work]].

** Likewise, politicians and [[BlueBlood aristocrats]] are more often then not depicted as being stuffy, greedy and selfish people who look highly upon themselves and treat those who are different from them socially with dismissal, if not outright contempt. Even the more likable aristocrats such as Diana and Andrew, are still shown to be haughty and stuffy jerks early on prior to their CharacterDevelopment.

** Likewise, [[BlueBlood Aristocrats]] are more often then not depicted as being stuffy, greedy and selfish people who look highly upon themselves and treat those who are different from them with dismissel, if not outright contempt. Even the more likable aristocrats such as Diana and Andrew, are still shown to be haughty and stuffy jerks early on prior to their CharacterDevelopment.

** Traditionalists are a constant target from the franchise, with them consistently being depicted as stuffy, distant, {{Jerkass}}es who are out of touch with modern society and have no regard or compassion for anyone who doesn't fall in line with tradition.

** Traditionalists are a constant target from the franchise, with them consistently being depicted as stuffy, distant, folks who are out of touch with modern society and have no regard or compassion for anyone who doesn't fall in line with tradition.

** Given the insanely similar premises, characters and dynamics between them, ''Little Witch Academia'' is practically an anime adaptation of ''Literature/TheWorstWitch''. Coincidentally enough, an adaptation of that series premiered on Netflix at almost the same time as ''Little Witch Academia''. Yoshinari would later admit during Trigger Night Vol. 12 that ''Little Witch Academia'' was inspired by the 1998 series, explaining the similarities.

** Given the insanely similar premises, characters and dynamics between them, ''Little Witch Academia'' is practically an anime adaptation of ''Literature/TheWorstWitch''. Coincidentally enough, an adaptation of that series premiered on Netflix at almost the same time as ''Little Witch Academia''. Yoshinari would later admit during Trigger Night Vol. 11 that ''Little Witch Academia'' was inspired by the 1998 series, explaining the similarities.

** ''LWA'' is practically an anime adaptation of ''Literature/TheWorstWitch'', as they basically shared the same exact premise (a young GenkiGirl from a muggle family decides to enroll into an all girls WizardingSchool to become a witch, only to struggle and get looked down upon by her peers and professors due to being an naive IneptMage) and the two having a very similar SliceOfLife, but adventurous tone, as well as very similar characters and dynamics. Coincidentally enough, an adaptation of ''The Worst Witch'' premiered on Netflix at [[DuelingWorks almost the same time]] as ''Little Witch Academia''. Yoshinari would later admit during Trigger Night Vol. 11 that ''Little Witch Academia'' was inspired by the 1998 series, explaining the similarities.

** ''LWA'' is practically an anime adaptation of ''Literature/TheWorstWitch'', as they basically shared the same exact premise (a young GenkiGirl from a muggle family decides to enroll into a all girls WizardingSchool to become witches, only to struggle and get looked down upon by her peers and professors due to being an naive IneptMage) and the two having very similar characters and dynamics. Coincidentally enough, an adaptation of that series premiered on Netflix at almost the same time as ''Little Witch Academia''. Yoshinari would later admit during Trigger Night Vol. 11 that ''Little Witch Academia'' was inspired by the 1998 series, explaining the similarities.

** While many compare it to ''Harry Potter'', it has a lot more in common with ''Literature/TheWorstWitch'' and is effectively the closest thing to an anime adaptation of the books. Both star good-hearted {{Naive Newcomer}}s who are clumsy and [[IneptMage bad at magic]] and her two best friends, a sweet-natured nerdy girl and a mischievous troublemaker as they get into all sorts mischief at an British all girls witch academy, all while antagonized by an AcademicAlphaBitch who looks down on the protagonist, but has a more noble side deep down. Coincidentally enough, an adaptation of that series premiered on Netflix at almost the same time as ''Little Witch Academia''. Yoshinari would later admit during Trigger Night Vol. 11 that ''Little Witch Academia'' was inspired by the 1998 series, explaining the similarities.

** While many compare it to ''Harry Potter'', it has a lot more in common with ''Literature/TheWorstWitch'' and is effectively an anime adaptation. Both star good-hearted {{Naive Newcomer}}s who are clumsy and [[IneptMagic bad at magic]] and her two best friends, a sweet-natured nerdy girl and a mischievous troublemaker as they get into all sorts mischief at an British all girls witch academy, all while antagonized by an AcademicAlphaBitch who is a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Coincidentally enough, an adaptation of that series premiered on Netflix at almost the same time as ''Little Witch Academia''. Yoshinari would later admit during Trigger Night Vol. 11 that ''Little Witch Academia'' was inspired by the 1998 series, explaining the similarities.

** Though it's likely unintentional, it's practically an anime adaptation of ''Literature/TheWorstWitch''. Coincidentally enough, an adaptation of that series premiered on Netflix at almost the same time as ''Little Witch Academia''.

* [[YMMV/LittleWitchAcademia2013'' The 2013 short film]]

* ''YMMV/LittleWitchAcademia2013'' - The short film.

* ''YMMV/LittleWitchAcademia2017'' - The anime series

* SpiritualAdaptation: Though it's likely unintentional, it's practically an anime adaptation of ''Literature/TheWorstWitch''. Coincidentally enough, an adaptation of that series premiered on Netflix at almost the same time as ''Little Witch Academia''.
* SpiritualSuccessor: Of ''Anime/TweenyWitches'', since the premise of both series is basically the same: a young GenkiGirl human loving magic so much she wants to become a witch herself, to the point she ends up living with actual witches who at first distrust her because she goes against tradition.

* SoOkayItsAverage: The English dubs of the films and the TV series are regarded to be this. They're perfectly passable, the casting choices work well enough and it is mostly faithful to the Japanese version, but many feel the performances leave a lot to be desired, feeling they are a bit dry and lacking the energy and emotion of the Japanese voices.

* SoOkayItsAverage: The English dubs of the films and the TV series are regarded to be this. It's a perfectly passable dub, the casting choices work well enough and it is mostly faithful to the Japanese version, but many feel the performances leave a lot to be desired, feeling they are a bit dry and lacking the energy and emotion of the Japanese voices.

* OneTruePairing: In spite of WordOfGod stating that it won't become canon in the franchise, Diana/Akko has become the most popular ship amongst the fandom thanks to their dynamic and their development in the TV series and it easily outranks every other ''LWA'' ship in terms of fan-works and fan support. In fact, shipping Akko and Diana with anyone but each other can be borderline FandomHeresy in certain spaces of the fandom. Some of the animators and Akko's Japanese voice actress, Creator/MegumiHan, are also allegedly [[ShipperOnDeck supportive of the ship]].[[note]]Though TRIGGER themselves have remained firmly distant from the pair and when asked if they approve of the ship during a AMA on Website/FourChan, they replied with a BluntNo (though in that same answer, they also made it clear that they're okay with fans shipping them)[[/note]]

* OneTruePairing: In spite of WordOfGod stating that it won't become canon in the franchise, Diana/Akko has become the most popular ship amongst the fandom thanks to their dynamic and their development in the TV series and it easily outranks every other ''LWA'' ship in terms of fan-works and fan support. In fact, shipping Akko and Diana with anyone but each other can be borderline FandomHeresy in certain spaces of the fandom. Some of the animators and Akko's Japanese voice actress, Creator/MegumiHan, are also allegedly [[ShipperOnDeck supportive of the ship]].[[note]]Though TRIGGER themselves have remained firmly distant from it and have replied with a BluntNo when asked if they approve of the ship during a AMA on Website/FourChan[[/note]]

* OneTruePairing: In spite of WordOfGod stating that it won't become canon, thanks to their dynamic and their development in the TV series, Diana/Akko become the dominant pairing amongst the fandom and there are more fanfics and fan art shipping them than there are for every other ship in the fandom. Even some of the animators and Akko's Japanese voice actress, Creator/MegumiHan, are allegedly [[ShipperOnDeck supportive of the ship]].

* OneTruePairing: In spite of WordOfGod stating that it won't become canon, thanks to their dynamic and their development in the TV series, Diana/Akko has all but become this amongst the fandom and there are more fanfics and fan art featuring the pair than there are for other ships in the fandom. Even some of the staff allegedly ship the two, as well as Akko's voice actress, Creator/MegumiHan.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is Akko really as much of an IdiotHero as the franchise tends to treat her as being? While Akko isn't neccessarily on par with Diana, there are potential hints that she isn't as dumb as she appears. She is shown to be very fluent in English, which only a small percentage of Japanese citizens can speak[[note]]only 30% percent of Japanese can speak English[[/note]], let alone fluently[[note]]only 10% of Japanese can speak it fluently[[/note]], she was able to pass Pisces' class (even if it was done in an unorthodox way) with a pretty good B grade in the TV series (Pisce's class is one of the more advanced classes should we mention) and has developed the ability to understand and speak to fish because of it. Also, while her magic was lacking at the start, once she gets it drilled into her head that she needs to study, her magic quickly improves, as she was able to master metamorphosis magic by the end of the series, can use the Shiny Rod's magic at will (which is stated to be incredibly powerful) and in ''Chamber of Time'', she can use magic no problems in the dungeons. She is also very creative to boot, with most of her plans succeeding in spite of the odds against them (such as the Happy Time Project in ''Enchanted Parade'' and the Samhain Festival performance in the TV series). If anything, most of Akko's problems early on come less from her being "dumb" and more from her being a [[BrilliantButLazy lazy and troublemaking]] student who was not taking her studies seriously (which to her credit, she improves upon over time), her lacking the ability to use magic at all early on [[spoiler:(which wasn't even her fault, but Chariot and Croix's, as Chariot unwittingly drained it using Croix's Dream Fuel Spirit)]], and the fact that nobody (outside of Ursula) really wants to help Akko and/or give her a real chance to succeed because of how different she is and her tendency to go against [[AppealToTradition tradition]] (something Ursula outright calls Finnelan out on in the TV series).

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Akko really as much of an IdiotHero as the franchise tends to treat her as being? While Akko isn't neccessarily on par with Diana, there are potential hints that she isn't as dumb as she appears. She is shown to be very fluent in English, which only a small percentage of Japanese citizens can speak[[note]]only 30% percent of Japanese can speak English[[/note]], let alone fluently[[note]]only 10% of Japanese can speak it fluently[[/note]], she was able to pass Pisces' class (even if it was done in an unorthodox way) with a pretty good B grade in the TV series (Pisce's class is one of the more advanced classes should we mention) and has developed the ability to understand and speak to fish because of it. Also, while her magic was lacking at the start, once she gets it drilled into her head that she needs to study, her magic quickly improves, as she was able to master metamorphosis magic by the end of the series, can use the Shiny Rod's magic at will (which is stated to be incredibly powerful) and in ''Chamber of Time'', she can use magic no problems in the dungeons. She is also very creative to boot, with most of her plans succeeding in spite of the odds against them (such as the Happy Time Project in ''Enchanted Parade'' and the Samhain Festival performance in the TV series). If anything, most of Akko's problems early on come less from her being "dumb" and more from her being a [[BrilliantButLazy lazy and troublemaking]] student who was not taking her studies seriously (which to her credit, she improves upon over time), her lacking the ability to use magic at all early on [[spoiler:(which wasn't even her fault, but Chariot and Croix's, as Chariot unwittingly drained it using Croix's Dream Fuel Spirit)]], and the fact that nobody (outside of Ursula) really wants to help Akko and/or give her a real chance to succeed because of how different she is and her tendency to go against [[AppealToTradition tradition]] (something Ursula outright calls Finnelan out on in the TV series).