This post contains spoilers. There are no spoilers of specific events, only of concepts and ideals that are important to the plot and how they relate to specific characters. If you plan on watching the show, I highly suggest you don’t read this post until after you’ve done so. However, if you’re still on the fence, read this post; hopefully, it will convince you that watching LWA is worth your time.

Kersti Rating: 10/10 for an animated TV show.

On Netflix!

I just finished watching Little Witch Academia, one of my favorite animated TV shows of all time. I think I may still like Airbender slightly more, but LWA is now above Steven Universe on the Kersti favorites scale.

There are so many things to love about LWA: great animation, adorable characters, an intriguing setting, a beautifully fleshed-out world, and fun writing. However, its message and delivery were the primary factors that won its place among the greats.  The show has a very clear, simple message, and every episode explores a facet of that message in a responsible, heartwarming, and completely relatable way. The message? You can change the world. The entire show is a guide to doing just that.

The Grand Triskelion

The Shiny Rod is a magic wand capable of summoning the Grand Triskelion, an ancient magic with the power to change the world. The Shiny Rod chooses the witch that wields it, a witch capable and worthy of unlocking the seven words. Upon speaking the seven words, the wielder of the Shiny Rod can summon the Grand Triskelion. However, the wielder must feel the meaning of the words within their heart for the words to work.

Essentially, there are seven lessons that one must learn in order to change the world.

The Seven Words

Strive for your ideal.

This is the first word that Akko, the main character, unlocks. It reminds you to strive for what you believe in, never compromising your ideals or dreams. No matter how difficult or how many times you fail, you must never give up, never falter, but always push yourself towards the best possible outcome. Learn from your mistakes, but never accept defeat. “Never let the flame in your heart go out.”

You don’t get the things you dream of. You get the things you work for.

The second word embodies the importance of hard work. It’s not enough to want something. You have to earn it. You must put in the effort to get that which you seek. Hard work is difficult and isn’t always as inspiring or as fun as the concept of your dream, but only through effort and work will make progress towards that dream.

Don’t compare yourself with others. Do what only you can do.

To me, this is one of the most heartwarming lessons in the show. It teaches that you cannot judge yourself by the standards of others. You should make your own standard, your own meaning, your own purpose. There’s no scale that can measure you as a person.

To see it through. Patience is important.

No matter how hard you work or how good your aims, things take time. If you can’t wait, you can lose rare opportunities or overreach yourself. Having patience may seem like it will have fewer results, but the results will be of much higher quality.

The gate to an unseen world will open when traditional and modern powers mingle.

When striving to change the world, a person must look for inspiration from the modern world and tradition. The ideals and practices of the past led to the wisdom of modern times. Our ancestors dealt with the same problems that we face. By combining their wisdom with the technology and wisdom of the modern era, we can create a better path to the future.

Thank you.

My very favorite word is a lesson in gratitude. No matter how hard you work, no person is an island. There’s always something in your life to be grateful for: your experiences, your genes, your upbringing, your privilege, your friends and family, the hard work of all those before you, upon which you can build your own works. No person gets anywhere by themselves.

Connect with other people, and your dreams will grow.

The final and possibly most important lesson: You cannot change the world if you endeavor to make something for yourself. If you want to change the world, it’ll inevitably be a world in which other people live. If you can make a world that they want to live in and inspire them to see your dream, they will help you.

 

The Characters

A few characters throughout the show seem deserving (or at least believe themselves deserving) of wielding the Shiny Rod and unlocking the Grand Triskelion. But it chose Akko. So what characteristics do these other people lack that make them less deserving than Akko?

Diana Cavendish

Diana is a selfless and hardworking young woman who inspires those around her. Through the show, she’s revealed to be surprisingly similar to Akko. She demonstrates herself worthy of the ideals of all seven words except one—the very first.

Diana loved Chariot, just like Akko. She was inspired, and a dream blossomed within her to be like Chariot. However, unlike Akko, Diana was convinced that she had to ‘put away childish things’ as she grew up. She compromised her dream, her ideal. She still maintains all of her other qualities that make her fit to wield the Shiny Rod, but the fact that she was willing to put aside her dream made her less worthy.

Croix

Despite their vast difference in personality, Chariot and Croix proved unworthy of the Shiny Rod for the same reason. Both fulfill all of the ideals of the seven words except the very last one.

Croix is a much bigger violator of this ideal than Chariot. She has good intentions: restore magic to the world. However, she’s willing to compromise the happiness of others to reach that goal. This inability to connect with others prevented her from being chosen in the first place.

Chariot Du Nord

Chariot was obviously worthy of the Shiny Rod when she received it. However, she was never able to discover the meaning of the final word. She proved herself unworthy of the Shiny Rod before she was able to unlock the Grand Triskelion.

In the flashbacks, Chariot is portrayed as being widely loved by those around her. She says that all she wants is to make people happy. Her downfall was her show. Her desire to be loved overshadowed her desire to make others happy. This and her inability to forgive Croix for what she had done separated her from others. She demonstrated an inability to connect with Croix and thus demonstrated that she was not worthy of the Shiny Rod.