You can tell witch training is not going swimmingly for the young sorceresses Akko, Lotte, and Sucy—they face expulsion for screwing up one class too many, and their only way out is if they successfully organize their academy's annual parade through a nearby town. But when they stumble upon the momentous discovery that the objective of the parade is to humiliate witches and commemorate their past subjugation, Akko decides it is time for a change: It is time to show the world how fantastic modern witches truly are! However, with the other girls struggling to keep up with Akko's grandiose ambitions, and everything from mischievous boys to slumbering giants getting in their way, maybe pulling it off will require not only all the magical prowess the pupils of Luna Nova Magical Academy can muster, but also a miracle.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Link_of_Hyrule
**SPOILER FREE REVIEW** Like most sequels to beloved classics, expectations were quite high for Little Witch Academia 2. Considering that it was practically funded out-of-pocket by fans of the original short film via Kickstarter, anime fans really had every right to demand their money’s worth on this one. With the quality of the original and the hype that was created thereafter in mind, my inner cynicism led me to believe that LWA 2 was set up for failure. However, much to my delight, it can be said without hesitation that LWA 2 recaptures the magic of its predecessor and yet again contains more energy and charmin its little finger than the entirety of the modern anime comedy genre has in its whole body.
Synopsis: Akko and her friends are tasked with organizing the annual “witch parade” for their town. As you might have guessed, not everything goes according to their plan.
If ever there was a difficult characteristic to describe, it would be “charm”, and yet it is just that which makes LWA 2 such an entertaining and heartwarming film. It captures that innocent, child-like sense of imagination and wonder that never fails to pry your lips upwards into a smile, and does so with the utmost perfection. Despite being an adult male, this movie made me giggle like a little girl from beginning to end. It’s not just heartwarming; it’s hilarious. The comedy is spot on and it hits every note that it needs to hit. Something about this anime brings back that Disney-esque feeling of seeing your wildest dreams brought to life by the power of animation; like seeing Fantasia for the first time. In an industry that many feel lacks the soul that it once had, LWA 2 has soul in spades. It reminded me why I like anime to begin with.
Another masterful aspect of this film was the fact that its pacing was flawless. Every scene has a purpose, not a single one of them drags on for too long, and no scene is a boring one. The fast, energetic pace of LWA carries on into its sequel, and it fits the spirit of the show to a T. Despite being less than an hour long, this movie goes through a full, satisfying story arc, several character dynamics, and effectively expands upon its cast of colorful characters. There’s something beautiful about the simplicity of a well-executed children’s tale; the premise isn’t anything remarkably original, but it doesn’t have to be because the execution is all that matters. The characters don’t have remarkable amounts of depth, but they don’t need to; all that matters is that they have personality, they are entertaining, and they are likable. Disregarding a recap scene or two, which you could potentially argue were unnecessary, I wouldn’t change a thing about the story direction.
One of the most important aspects of an anime in this style is the animation. When you write a quirky, upbeat script, it is absolutely imperative that your animation is equally quirky and upbeat, otherwise the show is doomed to fail. Needless to say, Studio Trigger totally nailed it, just as they did in the original. Comedic timing is something so nuanced that it comes down to fractions of seconds, and while many lighthearted anime (even the good ones) can sometimes find themselves a bit off on their timing or not executing jokes as well as they could have, LWA 2 has no such issue. It is no exaggeration to say this movie makes the most of each and every scene. The visuals are like eye candy, everything is polished and crisp, the character designs continue to be brilliant, and every movement is about as fluent as you’ll ever see. Simply put, it’s animation done right.
To sum it all up, LWA 2 is a brilliantly executed anime movie that appeals to everyone. All ages, all genders, and all cultures won’t be able to resist cracking a smile at a movie that is simply so much fun. It’s a fast-paced, heartwarming adventure that will bring out your inner child, and I highly recommend that everyone take the time to watch it. If you ever need a pick-me-up, I can’t think of another anime that will cheer you up more than this one.
Tozzy
Trigger has invited us back into the world of Little Witch Academia with a bang in The Enchanted Parade. The second, eagerly-awaited title in the series doubles the screen time and with it brings more action and characters to make its world feel as vibrant as before. Is it as good a film as the first? Maybe not. There’s a certain charm lost that was there the first time around but this is still a loveable, magical tale. While I was worried in the opening portion of the film that we were substituting too much magic for drama, a satisfying and action-packed conclusion saw the seriesback at its strongest. There are areas where the original animation excelled better but there’s plenty here that also adds a lot in areas of world building and action. This latest addition to the LWA series remains a family-friendly, energetic experience that’s going to leave you beaming as the credits roll by.
Story
Akko, Sucy and Lotte plus a trio of new characters find themselves thrust into control of the upcoming town festival. While Akko naturally wants to showcase the best of what witches have to offer, her ideas bring with it a few problems and create tension with her fellow students. That’s not all that’s at play, however. Before they know it the group are forced to band together and use everything at their disposal to overcome their biggest hurdle yet.
Having roughly 40 minutes to put together a cohesive, interesting narrative is a big challenge but Trigger managed to overcome this previously in half the time so they’ve had their practice. They also get the bonus this time of being able to cut down on a lot of exposition. They use this time well to expand the scope of the story. Because of that though there’s a little less intensity and magic. It works both ways.
The overall tone of the story is the biggest change up when compared to the previous offering, with a bit of character conflict thrown into the mix this time around. There was a real sense of adventure and exploration in the first film. Watching the characters make their way around the school grounds was exciting, the lessons were amusing and story in general was a lot more fluid. With some extra time up their sleeves Trigger opt to at least give us a lot of new characters and new settings. There’s some small thematic jumps, so it’s great to see the studio didn’t simply opt to do the exact same thing twice. Some elements of the story have certainly been copied over, but an expanded cast and setting help make it feel fresh.
Adding new locations to the world our story takes place in has its ups and downs. I felt that bringing the witches out of their school environment and into town took some of the ‘mystique’ and the ‘magic’ away from them. At the same time it’s nice to see the wider community around them and what the witches place in that universe is. When you look at it, there’s only so much Trigger could do by limiting everything to the school. While it’s wonderful to imagine all of their adventures happening in their own little bubble, it adds a new dynamic between the magical and human societies. Some may like that, others may not.
Some themes have channelled over from the first film, but the biggest change this time is the focus on friendship. In the original show it was more on having confidence in your own ability. This time Akko faces a lot more conflict and troubles with those around her, friends included. People may be a little bit put off by this slightly more serious approach but it thankfully has its purpose. Trigger use their extra minutes to create character complications that stretch over a long run of the film. The strength of friendship is an easy theme to stuff up and instead come across as cheesy. They mostly avoided that here. Everything revolving around this theme is nothing original but that hasn’t stopped it being executed fairly. Characters are shown to have retained important lessons, reflected on what they’ve been through and apply all that knowledge to find a solution – much like the first film. It’s a formula that works, even though it brings nothing new to the table. It’s easy to watch and it manages to be entertaining while doing so.
When the action kicks into another gear as the film nears its conclusion, the ride feels worthwhile. One particular moment is immensely satisfying, and you’ll know it when you see it. It’s a perfect blend of Trigger’s animation capabilities and ability to put on some memorable set pieces.
Characters + Art
Akko returns as our loveable, often inept, lead character. While Akko remains a primary source of comic relief for the show she’s a lot more proactive this time around. It’s refreshing to see that the original LWA tale has had an effect on her in that way. The original series gave her a huge shot of belief in her own capabilities as a witch and now this is a look at how she applies her new knowledge. I think some may be a bit turned off by this new, confident side of her. It’s certainly quite the leap from what we’ve seen previously. Her outgoing personality and habit of acting before thinking gets her into trouble once again. Nothing new changes there at least – and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
Both Sucy and Lotte feel a little underutilised but, honestly, that’s not a big deal. That too serves a purpose of its own. When they are on screen not a second is wasted and their role to play in the story still feels meaningful. It can serve as reminder that even not being around can make the times you are more important. As for our new trio they’re not that memorable, more there just to help drive the story along than contribute anything of value. They get their odd scene of comic relief or chance to show-off but that’s about it. I think it’s also disappointing that Diana, someone who played a big role in the complication of the first film, gets cast to the back this time around. Strange that Trigger didn’t opt to make more use of a character with a more defined personality and presence than almost anyone else in the show. It’s a show that very much rides on one character, Akko, which means a lot of your enjoyment will come out of how much you can take to her character and how’s she’s changed from the first outing.
I’m personally a big fan of Trigger’s character designs. The exaggerated expressions and reactions are always worth a laugh. The studio keep things simple when it comes to effects and shading in the animation, putting most of the work into some nice backgrounds. As always in Trigger’s works there’s the odd lazy bit of animation scattered about. Some background characters look crudely drawn and it’s often very easy to pick out where the costs have been saved. Some frames look very hurriedly put together, but thankfully most pieces of action looks a treat. As a whole, however, the first LWA struck me as more visually impressive.
Summary
Even when given additional time thanks to the efforts of their backers, Trigger was going to find it hard to live up to a wonderful debut in this franchise. But they’ve come close. It’s a show dying for more exploration of its characters and an expansion of its magical elements. I like the friendship building side of things, don’t get me wrong, but there’s that sense of adventure and mystery lacking that was present in the original Little Witch Academia.
Score: 6/10 (Fair)
lawlmartz
"Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun." - Randy Pausch Preface: Little Witch Academia was a surprise upstart in the Young Animator's Expo in 2012, and along with fellow member Death Billiards, these two productions started making waves. The fan outpouring was great, and demands fell on the then-brand new studio Trigger to make more! A kickstarter was raised, and incredibly, the $150,000 goal was smashed in 30 days with the help of nearly 8000 backers and a grand total of $625,318!! (This is all pre-Kill La Kill, guys and gals.) Let's get into some other nice numbers- the score on this anime.Artwork and Animation: 10
The original was entirely hand drawn, and with an enormous budget, it turned out to be a spectacular showing of fluidity and vibrant, flashing magical colors. LWA 2 is no different; it's absolutely stunning to watch flow across the screen. I would go so far as to say that this is on a Disney level of traditional animation both techincally and in fluidity. The magic and characters practically animate themselves right off the screen, crisply, sharply, and beautifully.
You Yoshinari doesn't get enough recognition for his work at Trigger in my opinion. As a Key Animator and character designer for FLCL, Gurren Lagann, KLK, Dead Leaves, PSG, and others, this guy has a crazy credit list, and his work is always quality. As the director and creator for Little Witch Academia- his eye for animation really comes to life.
Sound and Voice Acting: 8
Same players, new game. Sounds great, and good performances by the VA.
Characters and Story: 9, 8
After getting in trouble in potions class by Professor Snape, the hyperactive Akko, the narcoleptic Sucy, and the brainy Lotte are forced to plan and create a parade float for the yearly festival in town. Traditionally, the parade
is about making fun of witches and reenacting middle ages witch hunts, but in a much less deadly way; but our trio team up to change the public's opinion of witches by making it into a fun and exciting show and showcasing how cool and exciting witches can be!
Along the way, Akko gets cross ways with her friends, and ends up having to work with three new characters, the "problem children". This little gang is constituted of Amanda O'Neill, the red headed, hot tempered girl, Constanze Braunschbank Albrechsberger, the silent German robotics engineer, and Jasminka Antonenko- the constantly grazing Russian girl.
The story is paced excellently, with not a magical drop of filler to be found. An hour of screentime practically flew by on a broom, from the opening with a very Harry Potter feel, to the magical dreams-come-true Disney ending.
It's a very heartwarming and enchanting watch- honestly, I know I keep repeating myself, but it just feels very Disney.
Enjoyment and Overall: 9
The extra length, the new characters, and the sharp, beautiful animation really sell Little Witch Academia. It's a fun romp through a gorgeous world.
Little Witch Academia 2 didn't have to be astoundingly original and bold to be charming and fun. The humor hits the right marks, the visuals are awesome, and it is simply easy to enjoy. The original was a very cute work that was obviously inspired by children's tales and movies from ages past, and this works well within that framework- another adventure, another day in the life of a little witch.
HaXXspetten
The original Little Witch Academia was a highly successful work from the 2013 Young Animator Training Project. It was a film praised for its energetic characters, stellar presentation and for quite simply being an incredibly entertaining movie from start to finish. Fast forward two years to 2015 and it's finally time to rejoin Akko, Lotte and Suzy in the long-awaited sequel film, titled Mahou Shikake no Parade, or The Enchanted Parade in English. After a consistent spree of misbehavior inside the school, the headmaster gives the trio an assignment to take care of in the upcoming witches' commemoration festival taking place in the local town. Inthis festival, the villagers throw rotten tomatoes at the witches, half-drown them and perform other cruelties, all under the pretense of reminding themselves of the witch hunts of the Middle Ages and why this tradition must never be implemented again. Akko however thinks this tradition sounds ridiculous and instead decides to put on a fun and lively show she calls the Happy Time Project for the townsfolk in order to make them see how cool and awesome witches are. Of course things never go quite so according to plan as they end up running into all sorts of problems along the way, and they may even have to do their fair share of fighting before everything is said and done…
The main character cast is the same as the first movie, but this time there are also three new witches joining the original trio. There is the resident burglar Amanda O'Neill, the tech addict Constanze Braunschweig Albrechtsberger (say that three times fast) and the habitual food thief Jasmineka Antonenko. All three of them are also tasked with representing the witches in the festival, and thus end up joining hands with Akko and her friends by also participating in her Happy Time Project.
The animation is fast, fluid and lively. It doesn't look spectacularly detailed but it fits the theme of the movie itself like a glove. I especially love when inanimate objects come alive through the usage of magic, then it truly looks like a classical Disney film more than anything else. Actually the entire movie reminds me a bit of Fantasia in that sense. As far as music goes, Little Witch Academia doesn't actually utilize a whole lot of it, but when it actually does use it then it sounds great. The more large-scale scenes and the climax have beautiful orchestral music which highly enriches the overall atmosphere and makes everything feel all the more dramatic.
Despite everything though, as a whole The Enchanted Parade is still a very simplistic creation, but what really makes it shine is quite simply how much fun it is to watch. It makes me feel like a child again, and as a result it manages to consistently make me smile when watching it. Even though it's 53 minutes long, I swear it only feels like half of that. It's just that captivating.
The first Little Witch Academia stands out as one of the most original anime films I have ever seen, and despite its simplicity I have always had a soft spot for it. The Enchanted Parade is no different. For what it's worth, I really cannot recommend it enough. Because every once in a while, you just have to let loose your inner child again.
TheAzureSky
This sequel succeeds in every way from the original Little Witch Academia. ★★★★ I almost want to break my personal rule of never passing out a 10/10 because this was so fantastic. Every minute of it was enjoyable. It’s obvious that the creators took immense care to maximize every second of this episode. The characters are very expressive. Their designs are attractive. They’re all distinguishable and unique. The animation is fluid and full of energy. The magic is creative and fun to watch. It’s surprisingly funny. The plot and what’s at stake is made clear from the beginning to let you know what the goal is soyou can easily root for them. There’s nostalgic scenery which makes you feel like a kid again. Every frame has something interesting to look at.
The Enchanted Parade hits every mark. It's immensely charming and leaves you craving for more. It’ll be a long time before another episode, but I can’t wait.
WdaCdaShdaDid
Remember the mystery of the first film about Shiny Chariot? Yeah, that's not what we're exploring in this film. Instead, let's talk about poorly handled metaphors for religious prejudice. It's basically the same as the first one, but with perhaps a larger budget and cast. And more guys. Because a film that is about women, women's relationships and fighting the old stereotype of "evil witch" of course needs more men - I mean bullies, cowards, thugs and probably corrupt government officials - in it. None of whom actually advance the plot. None of the relationships outside the trio from the previous film are explored in anymeaningful way, like between previous film's protagonist and primary antagonist, and most of the characters outside the main trio are background characters. The new female characters serve little purpose and we learn little about them. Two of them have little to no speaking lines.
The main problem I had with this was the bullying storyline. I don't know why this is popping up more and more, but we've seen it before: a group of, typically, male children are messing around and decide to pick on some of the main cast. The main cast typically does not retaliate through fighting, but instead tries to cure cruelty with kindness - a noble endeavor. The bullies seem to start to figure out that their victims are good/interesting. And ultimately the bullies just go back to bullying them in the same way. But now the main cast has accepted it with a smile. For no apparent reason other than the storyline has come to an end. The moral being, I suppose, that bullying is incurable, you should just accept it when people decide for one reason or another to assault you, and boys will be boys. You see this elsewhere in incurable street harassers: after going on some journey with the female cast member, they still catcall or harass her, but in a "loving" way, while the female victim chuckles or smiles or shakes her head. Ah, men... I just described "Yu Yu Hakusho" and "The Proposal".
Even outside of the toxic lessons and trope-forming crap, this serves zero purpose in the storyline. The protagonists don't even attempt to deal with the problem in an intelligent manner. Sure, they eventually sort of show that witches are useful people, but they don't find the parents of the kids to explain "hey, your children attacked us without provocation for somewhat prejudicial reasons." They don't go to the authorities or try to see how widespread this prejudice is. They just create a light show and accidentally defeat a giant. And these kids are HORRIBLE. The scene where they steal the thing they steal made me feel SO uncomfortable. Especially because they face NO consequences for it. The ringleader almost gets crushed to death, I guess, but ultimately all they do is the same bullying they did when they were introduced. Which is supposed to be fine, apparently, given that they're primarily at fault for nearly destroying the town and killing countless people???
Not much else to say about it. Akko was terrible. I know at least two people like her and I can't stand them. I was happy that she faced at least some consequences for her actions and did eventually apologize profusely. Although it would have been nice if someone had explained to her JUST WHAT SHE DID WRONG instead of assuming that she would figure it out by using psychic powers? Yes, it's obvious to us as the audience but it doesn't seem like she's aware. At all. As far as we know, she probably thinks she just ripped the equivalent of a piece of notebook paper in half.
There's a TTGL reference because of COURSE Studio Trigger would put in a nonsensical TTGL reference. It really doesn't make any sense. Maybe it'll make sense for the next film or series or whatever if they got into the lore behind the special wand. I doubt it. But maybe.
I wish I could be excited about this storyline that initially seemed focused entirely in a largely non-sexually-objectifying manner on women and women's friendships and magic done by and administrated by women and women's history. But it's just a giant disappointment recycling boring sexist and cliche tropes with some added bad writing.
YizelTro
"Harry Potter" is the first thing that came up in my mind even tho i've never watched it before. but, with the concept was being a little bit similiar to Harry Potter, the vibe that this show was giving to me was Disney vibe, and i really like it. The story is simple imo. it was just a story about a girl that want to be a great, gorgeous witch, want to be a witch like Shiny Chariot who she really admired and inspire the girl to became like Shiny Chariot. i think that was simple, but it the way they modify the story wasreally good imo. they made the story into a story that really enjoyable and fun to watch.
The animation was great as i expected from Trigger, and at the same time it was giving me disney vibe so it was a little bit weird but i love it. Cool and Great animation especially the action ;)
On the other side, the characters were really good imo. in the previous movie they only showed three characters but in this movie, they added 3 more, and i think the characters were funny XD
There was some conflict too betwee the glasses girl and the MC but i expected that, because before the conflict occurred the atmosphere was getting hard so i kinda expected that, and again, they executed it really good imo.
Soundtrack, in my opinion, really great. The soundtrack is the reason why i was feeling disney vibe while watching this anime XD
Overall, it was a pretty simple story, yet they executed it really well. fun and enjyoable to watch because of the soundtrack and the animation. Characters were fun to watch too. really enjoyed it so much. wish for another movie :D
9/10
Artrill
[9.0/10] _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Going through the OVAs for Little Witch Academia before I dig into the series is exactly what I needed during a lazy afternoon. Mixing childish Sunday-morning nostalgia and utterly impeccable presentation, LWA's second OVA, The Enchanted Parade, is an utter joy to experience. With explosive character animation, beautiful design, and endlessly love-able characters injected into a Harry Potter-esq modern world breathed new life into me. We follow Atsuko "Akko" Kagari, an adorable optimist that struggles with her witch schoolwork yet, with the support of her two equally cute friends, Sucy and Lotte, ultimately succeeds where it matters most. It's a story that is as oldas time, really, the idea of our protagonist being an underdog and forced to work with friends to become better. Yet, when done right, this story is as timeless as it is old. Especially when you get so many unique voices and solid direction into the mix.
That's exactly where LWA succeeds in its narrative based storytelling. What it is sharing with us is somewhat generic and simplistic, but the way it goes about sharing is what stands out. If you aren't as much about aesthetic as I am, then you may disagree with me, but I see not only potential, but realization within the world in front of me. That's more than I can say about the majority of television I watch.
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[Aesthetic, Narrative, and Character]
I don't usually lump all of these categories together, yet I think they all play off one another. The first OVA from 2013 was enchanting and beautiful, this OVA is on a completely other level, in my opinion. I expected the beautiful people at Trigger to tone down the fidelity of animation with this almost hour-long project, yet they upped the anti. My jaw was agape the majority of my watch, so much so that the ice-cream I was supposed to be eating melted.
This project looks utterly astounding. From the gorgeous key-frames to the energetically pronounced and blurred fill-frames, there doesn't seem to be a single moment where Trigger had to time-save on this project, which makes it infinitely more lively. People seem to not understand just how much impressive aesthetic can actually do for the narrative. I wouldn't be remotely as attached and enamored by these characters if the way they were animated wasn't so lively and notable.
For the same reason I consistently praise Kyoto Animation for their exceptional character animation, I will say that Trigger stepped up their game notoriously for this OVA. If you don't know, character animation is the animation that is relegated to making a character's personality shine through the presentation. As in, giving characters unique animation that expounds or develops their established personality traits.
For example, Akko is an optimistic and lively girl, so her animation reflects that. She's constantly flinging her arms around, doing all kinds of wacky things in the background, even her walk-cycle is different than that of someone like Sucy, who is restrained and quiet. Something as tiny as a walk-cycle or the way she picks an object up makes all the difference. These differences shouldn't go unnoticed because they make or break characters for me. Beyond just the aesthetically incredible character designs which, at this point, is synonymous with Trigger's team, they offer not only a variety of characters, but a variety of captivating personalities through the way these characters are presented. Through their movement you learn about them, and that is so refreshing.
Especially when you realize that a huge amount of anime, especially television anime is very low on character animation. Most characters utilize similar movements and animations because that saves time, effort, and budget, focusing on elements a lot of producers or directors may view as "more important," when in reality, character is the most important and character animation should never be ignored.
Enough about the aesthetic. It's perfect. It is literally perfect. I wouldn't change a single thing about the way The Enchanted Parade looks. From the engaging world of the witch academy to the tiny details that are speckled through each students rooms, from knick-knacks to posters, giving you insight on who they are. The visuals here are beyond what I expect. They are cartoony to an extreme, but that is what makes them all the more unique within the current generation of anime.
When it comes to character, as in, the way characters are written, they are expressive simply due to the aesthetic behind them. Sure these characters aren't explosively three dimensional as people, but the base traits they were given are continuously expanded upon through the presentation and ultimately creates people I am charmed by. You see just how important aesthetic and minutia can be to get you attached to someone? It doesn't have to be intricately written character arcs with complex emotions, it can be something as silly as three base character traits and clear motivations all lined up well under the umbrella of care given by the people animating and writing this project.
The story of the Enchanted Parade follows Akko as she tries to show the cynical, human world just how awesome witches are, especially since the non-magical people aren't too into witches. What makes Akko instantly like-able is the fact that she comes from a non-magical background, making her not only relate to the non-magical humans she's speaking to, but giving her an alien-vibe within the academy she attends. She's the underdog you can't help but root for, and is a solid twist on the "outcast" trope.
From this motivation she has a rough go-about proving this. From kids meddling with her plans to having a cliched falling out with her friends, everything is predictable. But in this case the predictability works because these OVAs have done so much to already make me care about these characters. I can't bother being critical of the predictable scenario when I want these characters to succeed nonetheless.
What also resonates with me is this stories focus on friendship. Which always is significantly more interesting than romance. Romance, I feel, lacks nuance when done poorly, to the point where it feels obnoxious to sit through. I can't begin to express how happy I am that this project didn't collapse into marketable romance bait, which it easily could have. Instead it is about friends overcoming something and that just warms my cold, cynical heart.
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[Sound]
I can't say much about this. The music is really solid and isn't inserted into the oft-groaned at J-pop craze that so much anime forces into their shows. A sweet orchestral backing helps sell scenes well, and thankfully it isn't over-indulged within, making it not overpower other scenes. It's good. What I do want to mention is how superb the sound-design is, though. All these little elements add up.
Every crunch and explosion is cartoony and energetic. It fits the aesthetic but also the charming world that these characters inhabit. I think this is a hard balance to strike, trying to maintain this level of cartoony-ness whilst not becoming a bit too much to handle, which can often result in mismatched comedy and poorly executed punchlines.
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[Conclusion]
What can I say, I was thoroughly in love with this second OVA. The Enchanted Parade was nearly perfect to me. I think the biggest flaws was the cliched narrative and character beats that felt mandatory to strike, but even they are easy to look past because of how love-able these characters are. Not just from the unique voice acting and the utterly wondrous character design, but also the animation being so unbelievably exceptional. It creates a realistic connection to these characters that so much anime lacks.
These potentially caricature-esq characters get so much well-deserved life breathed into them from this undeniably passionate team of animators that probably slaved away over hundreds of hours of meticulous animation that was required just for some of the unnoticed cuts that seem to slide right past an every-day viewers radar. It not only injects characters with life, but the world as well, making me eager to see what else this series has to offer.
Little Witch Acadamia : The Enchanted Parade is what I want to believe the main series is going to be like. While I'm not expecting this level of unbelievable animation, what I do want is the continued focus on lively character animation and cartoony cuts that make me nostalgic, remembering waking up at seven AM for school, and chomping on cereal as my favorite cartoon plays on the television.
Angry_Anime_Nerd
I know that this anime came out a year ago, so it may not have had much problems back then but this anime is not going to be remembered for years due to its tiresome cliches, squeaky dub voice acting, and non-fluid art. I did not expect this to be so poorly animated and filled with unlikeable and generic characters. Sound: Let's just talk about the dub. I don't know if I should blame the director or the voice actors but there is nothing great about the voice acting. The characters sounded like annoying and weak characters. Well, I guess that they tried but they still didn't doa good job. They were like amatuerish professionals doing a role that just wasn't perfect for them.
I know that Rica Mendez tried hard on voicing Akko but she still sounded a little too high-pitched and it just didn't fit the character. But it's hard to nail a child character considering that she was way older than Akko.
Sucy's voice actor was scratchy. The voice actor put little effort to make me care for the character. She can do better than that.
With that wrapped, the dub is pretty sub-par and I recommend to watch this anime subbed. You are not really missing out on anything if you watch it. It's cuter and more believable.
Another thing childish about this is the big stomping noises the characters do when they stomp their foot.
I do not recall seeing the dub for the predecessor so I don't know if anything is different or whatnot.
Sub: 6/10
Dub: 4/10
Animation:
The animation is not fluid. In fact, its childish absurdities is like they were focusing on trying to keep younger audiences entertained, not older audiences. Teenagers are not looking for something silly and panderous. The way Akko's eyes are colored are a bit too big.
Though, the rest of the character designs are pretty. I liked Akko's little braid, it resembled the little girl she is.
Characters:
At this point, I think that Akko has gotten even more childish. Her mischief and hyperactivity does not fit the girl that I remember from the first film. I know that she is just a young girl and kids can get overjoyed but that wasn't the girl that she was particularly supposed to be. I remember a calmer girl than that.
After mildly enjoying the first one, I was hoping that this one would at least be a bit better because due to the predecessor's flaws, I could not rate that one higher than a 6.7.
Due to its rushed story and weak characters, Little Witch Academia is a mediocre experience.
FAKEANIMEGIRL
(Check out my profile for a link to my site containing more up-to-date reviews and bonus media!) I was pretty damn happy when I heard Little Witch Academia was getting a sequel. Not only that, but the success of The Enchanted Parade was apparently going to be used to determine the production of an actual TV series. It almost seemed too good to be true, as I loved the first movie but was depressed at the thought there’d never be anything more. But the unlikely happened and not only did we get a Kickstarter sequel, which shows great potential for future ambitious anime projects, but aTV series has now officially been confirmed. I’m just now seeing The Enchanted Parade for the first time, so clearly I’m a bit behind. My hesitation wasn’t entirely coincidental: I had heard many lukewarm to negative opinions about this follow-up. After watching, I feel comfortable in saying that these misgivings seem oddly picky and hyperbolic.
Mainly, everything that made the original movie a stunning success returns. The primary complaint seems to be leveraged at the fact that the original movie didn’t deserve to be anything more than a one-off and its main draw was the storyline. Something I couldn’t disagree with more, as the plot of Little Witch Academia is the most downright ordinary thing about it. The coming of age witch girl story where a down on her luck schoolgirl manages to save the day and assert herself in the end. It’s the classic kids’ movie formula, and it was never the draw. What made a typical story so enrapturing are the usual qualities that do, such as everything that encompasses the framework of the story being told. In Little Witch Academia’s case, it’s story is magnified by many strong attributes. The first is the magical academy setting, which while has been copied many times after the popularity of Harry Potter, has yet to perfectly refine itself. It’s then still a ripe avenue to explore while not completely original, and Little Witch Academia gives us an animated installment that in a rare occasion isn’t about sexualizing girls.
The choice to make it animated is a particularly beneficial one, and the staff at Trigger studios bring a highly stylized and fictional world to life with a skill that transcends any subject matter and makes it worth seeing for the sake of itself. The scene choreography is marvelously dynamic, and the generally wavy shapes of the character designs gel smoothly with the fluid animating. Facial expressions move so quickly I frequently rewind in order to catch them all, because the art style is such a joy to look at. The pastel colors demonstrate a very bright and childlike world without going too far in alienating a general audience were they to go with more juvenile character designs instead. The excessive amount of detail in the painted backgrounds and movements of characters are not only stunning in their own right, but this combination of meticulous focus in drawing and freeform movement are important when it comes to background world building and selling the unique non-human characters and magic that fill up Little Witch Academia. Simply put, as long as Little Witch Academia has these fantastical qualities amplifying its base premise it will always be worth watching – for exactly the same reasons as the first one was. There’s no logical reason to turn on it here. Little Witch Academia has a distinct identity among anime that should be cherished so long as it still has something of it to give.
With the surroundings out of the way, let’s look at the core of Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade. Or rather, its story. Atsuko, Lotte, and Sucy are punished for constantly causing trouble around the academy and are given the responsibility of putting together the upcoming annual parade. Failure means flunking the year, but fortunately they’re not alone. They’re joined by three new troublemakers to help: a deft attempted thief, a mute mechanical wiz-kid, and a chronic junk food eater. These side characters add charm and visual gag diversity to many scenes, but mainly this story focuses on the friendship between the three leads, something which the original didn’t really have time to do. Lotte in particular is given more attention with a bit of background info, but for Sucy we mostly just get more definition on her mischievous personality. A shame, since she’s my favorite character, but now there’s the series coming up.
Anyway, Atsuko wants to show the non-magical denizens a different kind of parade that demonstrates how spectacular magic is, similar to how the performer Shiny Chariot did to her as a child. But despite her successes in the last movie, her immaturity and inexperience strain the relationships between her friends and keep her from her goals. When push comes to shove, Atsuko is forced to attempt her best and grow up a little along the way. It’s the same deal as the first story, admittedly with a little less punch this time around because it’s less distinctly personal than the victory of the first movie, but the little that’s lost emotionally is made up for the increasing attachment to Little Witch Academia’s world and characters.
This time the victory is shared among those other than Atsuko, and the journey there is filled with remarkable visual flash, humor, and fun characters. The folks at Trigger do a great job conveying character personality in exaggerated movements that make this kind of light animation so appealing, and overall another extremely impressive romp to a world that completely deserved being revisited. With the TV series announced I feel both excited and hesitant. I would always love more Little Witch Academia just like how I wanted this sequel, but where The Enchanted Parade did a fine job living up to its predecessor, I wonder if the TV series will be able to do so. Not because of the strength of story, but because of the things far more important to Little Witch Academia. I wonder if the direction and astounding detail and character in the art and animation will be lost with a stricter production schedule and budget plotting. With Trigger at the helm my worries are assuaged, as ultimately it’s the talent behind a series that mainly determines its success and they’ve delivered both in Gainax and on their own. But nonetheless my optimism for more Little Witch Academia is only matched by my realization of how high Trigger has set the bar for themselves and the strength of their magic.
Winstonite
Don't really get why this has such a high score. While the original OVA excels at nearly every aspect, the sequel fails on many front. The main character, Akko, went from adorable genki little girl with big dreams to just plain selfish, disregarding almost every one else and then get mad at them for not wanting in on your shitty little plan. Her friends get more development, which is fine, but the three other addition to the cast has almost nothing going on for them, and never developed, at all, period. They served as nothing more other than plot device to help her build herparade, and never seem to disagreed with anything she said.
The show itself is very, very quiet for some reason. Like, there's still the voice acting going on, but music seems to be missing from very key moments, which is wierd since the original LWA has a fantastic soundtrack, and even if they ran out of budget to write new music, they could've probably reused a lot of that. But, instead, we get generic orchestral music sparsely playing in the background.
The animation is still there, with the iconic Trigger style of animation with exagerrated expressions and cartoon-like feel. This is where the show excels at the most. Although it still feel like some corners has been cut, especially with the crouds.
Overall, even though I really wanted to like this show, considering the original LWA was probably my all time favorite, it fails me. I didn't really enjoy my time with it. Even at the climax, I was still put off by a lot off things. I just hope they can do better with the upcoming TV anime.
Flawfinder
Back when I was the type of fanboy who blindly bought into new things like a homeless man who found a book on Mormonism in the trash, I contributed to quite a few Kickstarter projects upon its discovery, waited months/years to receive my prize whilst feeling good about myself that I was supporting a dying industry, reaped the rewards, and said happy expression quickly turned to sullen joylessness when I realized that the final product - with no exception - wasn’t very good. In fact, they were worse than not good. They were utter shit that I could have watched for free anyways, so Imight as well have spent the money on a video game that everyone knows is shit but I wouldn’t personally know for sure until I played it myself. Like say, Ride to Hell: Retribution.
It just goes to show: try before you buy. Now to be fair, I did try the first Little Witch Academia back when people could actually say the word “Studio Trigger” without a mild snarl in their voice. I remember liking it at the time, but I honestly can’t remember why. In fact, I can’t remember anything about the first Little Witch Academia at all aside from the characters’ designs, the animation being nice, and this one cartoonish expression a dragon had right before he spontaneously combusted. What I did remember was that the cast consisted solely of little girls, so I went into the sequel with a bit of fear whilst reminding myself that Euphonium’s cast was mostly girls and it was...well I didn’t love the show or anything, but it was tolerable. Certainly a better well-animated cute girl thing than this banal pile of horseshit. Sixty bucks well-spent, huh?
The story of this sequel brings back the girls from the first installment, whose names I’m not going to even bother remembering because they have zero personality and thus I have zero interest in treating them as people. After pissing off their potions master and getting ten points taken from Gryffindor, they are forced to prepare for a local parade and learn about the nature of hard work and how goofing off tends to lead to trouble during important events. Oh wait, that would be the plot of a half-way decent kids’ show (unless you’re Gravity Falls, in which case it would be an awesome plot in an awesome kids’ show). The OVA is actually about the girls wasting time with lots of talking and ideas for the parade that never goes anywhere, and then when some kids show up all mopey, they cheer ‘em with magic and defeating another monster in a rehash of the dragon climax from the first installment, and then deliver a final lesson scraped off of a Disney Channel checklist that was thrown into the janitor’s office. As far as plots go, it’s right up there with that one episode of Da Capo SS when Aisha tries to teach little kids how magic can solve anything by having Junichi’s harem dress in mahou shoujo outfits that look like they belong in a strip club.
Yes, I’m sorry to say that Little Witch Academia 2 is the shit kind of sequel. Most anime sequels never do as well as the first to begin with, but this is the kind that’s basically the same as the original except with twice the length and twenty times the bullshit. There’s very little added to the formula and the stuff that is added is just used to pad out the runtime rather than contribute in any major way. Also, I’m not quite sure, but I think the girls act more spazzy than before. It’s not as bad as Durarara’s gimmicky additions, but at least Durarara waited an entire cour before giving up on itself and going “fuck it. Let’s do the same thing Nintendo does with its franchises”.
The animation is still of good quality, so at least the visual-loving fans have something to slobber over after having eye surgery to repair the damage caused by Santa Company. And if you, like me, are tired of seeing Trigger turning into Shaft with their cheap animation-saving tricks whilst someone makes bad catchphrases in the recording room and repeating their stories with more self-referentiality than Platinum Games, you’ll be pleased to know that at least they kept at least one of their usual annoying quirks out of the thing. Now if only they’d fix the other fifty, maybe they’d actually produce some good stuff. But we live in a world where everything that can go wrong will go wrong, so I wouldn’t hold out hope for that unless it turns out that they’re making a remake to Thundercats or something.
So is there anything new in this thing? Um, there’s a parade? People like parades, right? Unless they have singing dinosaurs voiced by John Goodman, I mean. There’s...um...see, this is the reason why I don’t like reviewing, let alone watching cute girl stuff. They lack substance, they’re not funny, and they’re so bloody hard to write about. At least when something ends up as a trainwreck, I can work with that. And speaking of cute girl stuff, hell will freeze over before I watch any more Girls Und Panzer or that movie about the three goddesses that A-1 Pictures is releasing. Hell will have Satan turned into a pussy bitch when A-1 releases something good.
See? Now I’m insulting studios who have nothing to do with the anime I’m talking about just to lengthen this review out the same way Little Witch Academia 2 has the girls chat about the practicalities of magic like I give a fucking damn just to fill up an hour worth of screen time. Well you’re not pulling me into your evil any further.
The story is ripped out of every kids’ book cliche ever whilst borrowing too heavily from the first. The characters are either completely unrelatable or act like bad parodies of characters from much better kid shows. And the humor sucks balls, realized it didn’t like the taste, and vomited for three minutes when it decided to show up, because there were large sections of the anime that felt like I was watching the pointless filler from A Troll in Central Park again. It’s a poor product from a disappointing studio created through terrible means that wasn’t at all worth the wait, and I’m happy to just forget it existed and continue refreshing my western cartoon feed waiting for a new episode of Gravity Falls to finally get released.
sop12
It's hard to rate anything from Little Witch Academia with less than 10/10, an anime series that I like a lot and that is my favorite and the movies have the same excellent quality. Synopsis: Akko is a girl who is a big fan of a witch named Chariot and wants to be like her, so she enrolls in the Luna Nova academy, where her childhood idol studied, but Akko and her friends are punished and put to participate in a festival that humiliates witches and they have to fix the situation. Story: 9/10 As an LWA fan I am totally incapable of saying that the storyis bad as it is actually very good! The idea of modern witches is very well built, similarly the design, it's nice to watch too and it has a good plot, although the anime is relatively darker. This movie is reminiscent of the first season of the anime, with a more fun and fanciful vibe, which is awesome.
Characters: 10/10 LWA HAS AMAZING CHARACTERS!!!! In this film, we had a better development of Akko and her friends, the "antagonist" Diana and others. The characters are incredibly charismatic and you will probably like most of them and they have a very well defined personality that will be deepened throughout the anime mainly.
Animation and soundtrack: 10/10 Little Witch Academia has wonderful animation, worthy of Trigger studio, the character design is also good and yields several gems for the viewer. The soundtrack is perfect, it matches every scene and moment.
Pleasure: 10/10 This movie amused me a lot, I watched it immediately after seeing the anime 2 years ago, I remember that I was very happy to have movies, because the anime ended up with a taste of "I want more", until today I hope for a continuation of sequence.
Overall: 100000/10: LWA is my favorite anime and the movies have exactly the same quality, an anime full of references, light and easy to watch, these are just some of the qualities of this show, I recommend anyone to see Little Witch Academia, and I particularly watched in the anime-film order.
Ps: renew Little Witch Academia please, I've been waiting for a new season or new movies for years, but as the story had an ending, it probably won't :(
Ciaran_Zagami
Good visuals, nice music and overall an improvement on the previous OVA. But the story is derivative and predictable. I had to stop and start watching watching cause I'd seen it all before so many times and I just didn't have the stamina to get through it all in one go. I think most of my problems trace back to Akko. She's annoying, an id fueled creature who runs on pure impulse. With no forethought for her actions, constantly causing problems, outright blind to her friends desires. Yet she constantly tries to guilt and manipulate them with the guile and charisma of a toddler on a sugarrush.
Her only redeeming quality is that she's so stupid you can solve the (admittedly minor) plotholes with something like: "She's too stupid to do/know that"
The other characters don't fair much better, they get much less screen time then Akko and basically all boil down to a single personality trait. Tomboy, Gadgets, Food, Evil etc etc etc.
The visuals are nice though, very fluid and lively. If your an animation fan you might get something out of watching the cool dance sequence and explosive visuals. But digital animation tends to fail when it comes distant objects and every crowd is full of clones.
Honestly I can see why this is popular, its cliche and easily digestible.
Chrismas95
Like the first Little Witch Academia, every minute of The Enchanted Parade is used with intent so it's easily worth watching. The longer run time made me skeptical, but that simply gave TRIGGER the chance to make a grander story without compromising anything to fit it in. The plot is about how our big dreamer Akko tries to make a grandiose parade completely from the ground up despite everyone—even her team of friends—doubting it. I was hoping the plan would work for the whole thing. There are tensions when the plan starts seeming too ambitious, but the planning process and magic parade are a joyride thanksto the unique characters, stellar animation, and appreciable music/voice acting. I was impressed to no end when TRIGGER stuck with the parade focus, even spinning the climax around the parade instead of abandoning it like I thought they would. I think my only gripe is how one of the main characters is the “fat person whose actions are inseparable from food” trope.
Thanks to it maintaining interest throughout and looking stellar to boot, this movie definitely earns a spot in my favorites.
Prorogon
Really disppointed with this movie. I really liked the first Little Witch Academia but so much of the charm was lost in this sequel. The protagonist Acco or whatever her name is gets really annoying really quickly in this movie. A lot of the sick animation sequences from the first one have been substituted for drama here. Whilst it does have an excellent action sequence at the end, by that point I didn't care anymore. The animation and sound is as fantastic as you would expect from Trigger but the characters let those perks down. A lot of side characters got introduced that were granted,funny, quirky and interesting but we don't get to know them nearly well enough to care. I hope the TV series feels more like the original but I'll just have to wait and see.
_chitanda
tl;dr: If you watch the TV series, this is probably a waste of time. If you have not, it's a pretty cute short movie to watch and to show the beauty of Little Witch Academia. Going to compare TV series and this. - Story (6/10) Pretty simple story about a girl (Akko) inspired by a magic show to become a witch. This is basically the same premise as the TV series, and while both series make Akko seem like the worst witch ever, the TV series expands on the reason. - Art (8/10) I have a bias for TRIGGER, so I love their art style. The animationis similar to the TV series.
- Sound (7/10)
There was nothing memorable here.
- Characters (6/10)
Because this was a 23 minute OVA, there was not much room for character development. However, you are able to get a sense of each character's personality. In comparison, the TV series was able to expand on each character, being it was 24 times longer.
- Enjoyment (7/10)
It was a simple story, just showing the daily lives of what witches do. There was a conflict near the end, which was easily resolved.
- Overall (7/10)
Pretty good show to remind me of the beauty of Little Witch Academia; however, I would highly recommend watching the TV show if you have the time.
Tyrannicswine117
Warning possible Spoilers So going from a 30 minute OVA to a 53 minute movie is certainly an upgrade and gives more time for character development too which we nicely see in this. The story continues with Akko, Sucy and Lotte with they usual antics, but their latest screw up ends up them almost getting expulsion unless they successfully organise the Academy's annual parade so Akko and the others try their best to succeed. So going from a simple dungeon exploring lesson to organising a magic parade was definitely a step up in the story department as we get to see the girls along some new additions tacklea near impossible feat so they don't get expelled, it was fun watching the characters try their best to make a successful parade despite being the worst witches in the academy which made for some ridiculous ideas to be made.
It also showed how deep the relationship was between Akko, Sucy and Lotte who all have a dispute at some point in the movie after certain things happened that made them all go their separate ways.
There was also scenes that showed how witches are treated in this world despite learning magic would be awesome the majority of people still see it as a nuisance and Akko was determined to show them wrong and by doing so got her and the others in trouble with a gang, it brought about some funny fights though.
The characters were developed a little more in this movie as we got to see more of the relationship between Akko, Sucy and Lotte who despite their differences actually need each other in order to make things successful.
There are also some new additions to the crew too and they are Amanda, Albrechtsberger and Jasminka. Each of them fit perfectly into the group since they too also have their quirks that get them into trouble.
The artstyle was done just as well as the first OVA, the parade was actually done very well and the Titan that appeared at the end was also detailed very well, the girls outfits also changed towards the end which made them look like colourful superheros.
The comedy was again really funny especially when the girls got into multiple fights with a gang who would throw tomato's at them, however with the dispute that went on with Akko, Sucy and Lotte it was definitely more serious this time around luckily everything worked out in the end.
Overall this was a nice addition to the LWA series and gives me more hope for the main series that has just finished airing recently.
Drakestalker
The Enchanted Parade is a direct sequel to the original Little Witch Academia OVA. In terms of what it has to offer, it’s more of the same – just longer. The animation is still great, but other than being longer, it brings nothing new to the table. From every point of view, the previous OVA was better. The plot was tighter, the pacing was faster, and it felt like the animation was a touch more ambitious. Unfortunately, the one thing that movie did for me that the OVA did not was absolutely kill Akko's character. Even from the OVA, Akko was portrayed as a self-centered, loud,annoying, pushy, insensitive, inconsiderate, incompetent brat. That said, the action was too intense and the pacing too fast in the OVA for any of those nascent traits to really leave an impression. The movie, however, lets you have all the joy of experiencing the whole 9 Circles of Dante's Inferno that is Akko's personality.
Annoying and hot-headed protagonists are nothing new in anime, especially in the shounen genre, but they always have a "But!" – "Yes, they're annoying and hot-headed, but…!" There's always a silver lining, a redeeming quality. Akko has no such thing. The show tries to make it seem like she does, but fuck no, she doesn't. She always shows great determination and what not during the climax of whatever trouble they typically find themselves in, which is all fine and dandy, but the redemptive factor is severely dampened by the fact that whatever the aforementioned trouble is, it's almost invariably her fault. As the Chinese moon base commander said in Independence Day: Resurgence, "You don't get credit for cleaning up your own mess." Except that, as opposed to Liam Hemsworth's character in the film, who was innocent, the line would be completely appropriate in Akko's case.
She didn't just annoy me. She legitimately worsened my mood. I intensely disliked her. I am pretty patient with cartoon tropes and stereotype personalities, tsundere waifus and loud shounen protagonists and what not, but Akko got to me. The animus I had against her was something I hadn't felt towards an anime protagonist in a good long while. I didn't want to see her improve. I didn't want to see her mature. I didn't want to see her succeed. I wanted her to be run over by a truck or something. I wanted to earth to split open and swallow her up. I wanted her gone from my sight. I looked at her with the disdain with which one looks at dogshit on their shoe.
Additionally, Akko has a strident anti-traditionalist streak just for the sake of being against tradition, which genuinely offended my sensibilities. As Donald Kingsbury once said, "Tradition is a set of solutions to which we have forgotten the problems." If you don't know or understand the purpose of a specific tradition, don't dismiss it out of hand. Think of it like Jenga. If you remove one thing, you don't know what else will crumble and where. No, your ancestors weren't all stupid and ignorant and you're not uniquely enlightened. Whenever she has an ideological conflict with a character who is bound by various duties and responsibilities due to their social class, Akko's solution and suggestion is to: "Just do whatever you want!" Some of them, as the descendants of prestigious noble houses or of high-ranking statesmen, tell her that they can't do whatever they want, because there are some things they have to do. Her answer to that is invariably: "But is that what you want to do?" As a girl born in a regular family with no responsibilities or expectations placed on her, she is just incapable of understanding that there are things one must do regardless of what one wants to do, even if those things interfere with what one wants to do. The concept that there are duties and responsibilities greater that one's self, than one's own desires, seems to be alien to her.
In Harry Potter, whenever Draco would mess with Harry, I would think to myself: "That bastard! I can't wait to see him get his comeuppance!" Here, whenever Cute Girl Draco would shit talk Akko, I couldn't help but think: "I mean... she's not wrong, though."
Still, in spite of all of this, The Enchanted Parade is still worth seeing, if for no other reason, then just on the merits of the animation alone.
