Little Witch Academia S2

Little Witch Academia S2

Little Witch Academia Season 2 anime poster featuring Akko Kagari and other characters
Little Witch Academia Season 2 Poster

Overview

I finally got around to finishing the second season of Little Witch Academia yesterday and the first thing I need to say is that I realize it wasn’t actually a second season, just a second cour. However, since Netflix broadcasts it in the U.S. and they decided to call it a second season, I’ll be referring to it as both a season and a cour.

The major difference between seasons one and two is the plot. While we started to get some actual main plot at the end of season one, for the most part, that season was episodic. Once season two starts, however, this changes.

Akko now has a goal to accomplish throughout the remaining episodes: find the seven words that unlock the Grand Triskellion with the Shiny Rod. She decides to work towards this goal after learning that her hero, Shiny Chariot, once attempted to do the same thing.

The other main difference from the first season is the introduction of a new character.

New Character(s)

Professor Croix joins the academy as the teacher for a new class on modern witchcraft. Since modern witchcraft is her specialty, her magic is more focused on technology similar to the student Constanze.

As it turns out, Professor Croix was the friend and rival of Chariot du Nord, later known as Shiny Chariot, when they were students at the academy themselves. Because of this, Akko is immediately interested in Professor Croix.

Although not really a new character, the second season also sees more of an emphasis on Shiny Chariot. While from very near the start of the show it should have been obvious that Professor Ursula was Shiny Chariot, she still tended to keep her identity a secret.

However, in this season, or cour, Professor Ursula more frequently appears as Chariot rather than just having her hair change color when she rescues Akko or something along those lines.

Finally, although again not necessarily a new character, we have Professor Woodward. She made an appearance in the first part of the series, but only briefly. While she still only appears briefly in this second part, she has a more important role.

Professor Woodward was the mentor for both Croix and Chariot when they were students as well as the one who introduced them to the Grand Triskellion and the Shiny Rod. However, even by the end of this cour, she’s still fairly mysterious and we may never really learn much about her.

Professor Ursula as Shiny Chariot from the anime Little Witch Academia
Professor Ursula/Shiny Chariot

Conclusion

While I liked the second part of the series more than the first, I still had an issue with it. My issue deals with the ending of the series, the final two episodes to be precise. I’m going to include spoilers in this next part, you’ve been warned.

A missile is fired by a rampaging magic robot at a neighboring country and Akko & the gang decide to stop it through the power of friendship and whatnot. While this ending is exactly what I would expect from Studio Trigger, completely over the top in every way, it didn’t fit the rest of the series.

I get that there are general overarching plotlines about wanting magic to be viewed as something good, and the separation of magic and state or whatever you want to call it, but even though this ending had to do with those themes, it just wasn’t the right ending for me.

I couldn’t say what would have been a better ending, but stopping a missile controlled by an evil magical robot from starting an international war seemed like a bit much. Maybe I just didn’t want a magical fantasy anime to be about themes as real as international wars fought with missiles.

In the end, I gave the second cour a 6/10, which I think is the same as what I gave the first (I could be wrong). Honestly, if the ending was different I might have given it a 7 because I really did like how the show was going until those last two episodes.

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