Little Witch Academia Episode 18 Review: Sky War Stanship

Looks like Little Witch Academia has really started bringing in more action and excitement! Plus, the focus of this episode is someone most of us barely noticed because of her quiet and stand-offish demeanor! We’re also handed even more info on Professor Croix’s goal! Who wouldn’t be totes interested in those things, right?

Japanese Original Episode Title: 空中大戦争スタンシップ

Plot

I enjoyed this week’s story quite a lot! Knowing something new about the culture of witches with each episode is already a treat. It’s even better when it’s wonderfully mixed with a character’s time in the spotlight, especially with someone like Constanze! She was invited to be a guest hunter in the Wild Hunt, a yearly sports event where the hunters catch ghosts in many areas before the year ends. If that doesn’t tell you how awesome she is, then, just the fact that she’s creating her own weapon for the event is already impressive in itself! Not just any other weapon too, but a giant ship! The thing though was, Akko accidentally broke Cons’ stanbot, one of her small robots, so she badly wanted to make up for it by helping her build the ship, but her clumsiness just kept making more trouble for Constanze!

Episode Highlights

Wild hunt: For a group that’s such a stickler for tradition, it’s surprising to know witches have something like a sport and actually love it! I’m amazed at how they melded responsibility with entertainment. Since the hunters have to get rid of all ghosts before the year ends, turning it into a competition is a sure-fire way to get the job done properly and quickly! Another surprising thing was seeing the usually serious witches go crazy over sportsmen. Even the teachers were excited!

Helping Constanze: I kind of felt sorry for Akko! She only had good intentions in wanted to aid Constanze, but she kept messing up! I would have felt very frustrated if I made trouble for my friend instead of actually helping them, what more when it happens multiple times! That’s why it made me happy that she got to be of use in the end, and that Constanze let her despite saying that she worked alone! They even managed to improve Constanze’s battle ship further because of Akko’s idea, and it became the key that defeated the ghost monster. I’d say this was more than a win-win situation!

Selfish exploits: Oh Croix, always making things more complicated. I thought she just invited commoner audience to make things harder for the wild hunt, but what would that accomplish, right? I should’ve known that she’d do something more sinister. Just proves that she’s really a selfish person; she interfered and almost ruined an important event because of her own pursuit for power. She only spread the rumors to collect information on people’s emotions, and even unabashedly admitted her plans to Ursula.

Giant Robot vs. Ghost Monster: Who knew we’d actually get a mecha battle scene in a series about witches? That’s certainly a plot twist! To top it off, it was a battle between a ghost monster and a giant magical robot! It was certainly another example of girl power because Constanze made that robot ship while Akko helped her make it and control it! And even if they had a bad start with the fight, the wild hunters supported the girls out by giving them some of their magic and powered them up!

Themes & Trivia

Helping and being helped: As they say, ‘No man is an island,’ meaning we can’t live life on our own! We need people to socialize with, aid us, and support us! Otherwise it would be just a lonely and hard world, and it already is even with friends beside us. How much worse would it be if we didn’t have them, right? Plus, we can accomplish better and many more things if we work together! It’s just like how Constanze’s ship became better with Akko’s assistance and idea, and how the two girls defeated the monster with the wild hunters’ support!

Muteness: When I first saw her along with Amanda and Jasminka in The Enchanted Parade, I’ve always thought Constanze was just an ultra-shy girl who never really liked talking. Only now it was confirmed that she’s actually mute! And that made her even more amazing because she never seemed to let that stop her from doing what she loved to do, even if she did encounter quite some difficulties in this episode due to it.

References: For some reason, I noticed that this episode had a lot of these, but to be honest, I’m unfortunately not really familiar with most of them. I most likely never got to watch the shows they belonged to. But surely most of you probably have, so it would be nice if you could share the references that you were familiar with in the comments section below! All I know is that Akko did the Gainax pose for a second, and that the battle between the mecha and the ghost monster was reminiscent of the super sentai series battles where the heroes fight off giant monsters.

Comments

Stories that resonate with you in a certain way are really bound to stick with you, just like how this episode did with me! It was a great mix of action, comedy, and heartwarming lessons. The writers even did a good job introducing us to Constanze! Her skills and personality made her such a super cool gal, albeit in a different way than with Amanda! Not only that, but she was also super cute too! Did you see her smile at the end? It gave me diabetes! That was too cute!

Another thing I loved was the animation! I definitely salute the animators who animated the robot! I personally don’t enjoy drawing mecha because it’s tons hard. They, on the other hand, not only made it move, but with dynamic and fluid motions too! I also noticed certain scenes that were animated better than usual, like the part where Akko was looking above the city right after they launched the ship.

Miracle Magical Shining Tornado Punch!

We now have somewhat of an idea on what Croix is trying to aim for, although the info’s still not enough to know exactly what it is. Better than nothing, though, right? I’m wondering though if there’s a specific reason why Ursula can’t stop Croix from fulfilling her plans. And what exactly is the problem if Croix manages to achieve her goals? Need more info!

Well, as always, I’m looking forward to hearing about your thoughts on this episode, so do leave a comment! Don’t forget to share the references made if you know any of them! Our Spring 2017 reviews are worth checking out too!