Episode Synopsis:
This is the final moment for our heroines! Croix’s evil cubey things have gone completely out of control due to being fueled by untamed anger energy. They have taken over a nuclear missile, and now it’s up to the witches of Luna Nova to stop it before it causes all out war between two nations.
Episode Review:
It’s time for the finale!!!!
There’s quite a bit expound on in this episode, as it wraps a lot of concepts up and closes the book on LWA.
As I predicted in one of my previous episodes, it’s now time for every one of the witches we’ve been super exposed to (Amanda, Constance, etc) to come together to use the power of friendship to stop a nuclear missle with anger energy fueled by a soccer game that has now gained sentience and is threatening to cause war.
Look people, I don’t pretend anime makes sense. Don’t shoot me, I’m just the Rolling Review writer.
**Warning** Spoilers for the finale of the show.
I felt like this episode was (mostly) pure Trigger magic. It brings out all of the wild and crazy artistic flair that is distinctively Trigger, and it is unappologetically crazy fun. It of course borrows from the magical girl concept that, with the power of your friends and the power of belief, you can freaking do anything. That concept is like….my peanut butter and jelly though, so I was happy as a cat on a warm windowsill.
Akko and Co. are tasked with somehow catching up to a freaking missile as it blazes through the sky and causes panic/suspicion amongst the people. Using the newfound seven word magicpalooza Shiny Rod, the Witches 7 are able to blaze through the sky to catch up to the missile.
I’m not going to lie, the contributions of Amanda, Constance, Jasminka, Suzy and Lotte are all…fairly weak considering that Akko basically proclaims them the new Witches 9 (add Croix and Chariot in to make 9).
And they all get super rad outfits.
As the girls blaze towards the missile on their awesome super broom, each girl adds a touch of personal flair to allow the broom to get close (Constance causes a giant rocket engine to come out the back, Amanda uses acrobatic flying skills, etc), followed by said girl ejecting off the end of the broom and spurning Akko and Diana along.
Despite, the lack of true involvement of each girl in the Witches 9, the ride to the missile is beautifully animated and filled with action. The missile retaliates with a swarm of miny missiles (yo dawg, I heard you liked missiles, so I put missiles in your missiles), so we are treated to all the wild angles and crazy bendy art that really makes your blood pump. It’s pure fun with no preservatives, and I was smiling all the way.
The foreground of the episode is the battle against the missile, but the background events are equally interesting. Croix, who now seems to have magically understood the error of her ways, transforms her evil laboratory into a mega video broadcast station and forces everyone with a screen to watch the quest of the Witches 7 as they battle the missile. Through the vocal prowess of Chariot, the world starts to believe in the girls and their pure belief energy turns to magic. It is here that the show’s theme of magic returning to the world is finally realized. We also get a montage callback to various other side-plot characters.
In addition to this Andrew finally makes his stand. He’s been coming into his own slowly as the series progressed. His interactions with Akko drew out a side of himself he had deeply supressed and when he finally stands up to his father and his surly mustached friend, it feels rushed, but still worth the wait. The arrival of the tiny Prime Minister who totally supports the witches was a nice touch as well, if a bit random.
I had a grin on my face a freaking mile wide as we came to the end, when Diana and Akko finally make it to the missile and fight back. This is where everything these two characters have been through finally comes to fruition. The girls work together like a well oiled machine as Diana weaves in and out of missile barrages and Akko metamorphs as fast as the wind. The breakneck pace of the fight is carefully choreographed so that you get a sense that Trigger really thought the battle out and had a great time animating it. As the theme song blazes over Akko and Diana’s last stand, it’s hard not to feel really excited.
Episode Summary:
The finale was explosive and fun. It also gave everyone a chance to shine and even showed some old faces from episodes past. My only complaint is the fate of Croix herself. This woman nearly causes a war between nations and is just…allowed to go scot-free to continue doing research??!? Granted, it is research to help Chariot but still…shouldn’t we arrest her or something? The teachers of Luna Nova even say she is welcome anytime. Ladies…what the heck?!
As we came to the end, I did feel like some bits were rushed or not developed as well, but at the end of the day, that’s just the little bit of my cynical heart talking. Little Witch Academia was every bit the magical show I wanted it to be and I truly loved it. It’s also something you could watch and enjoy with your kids so be sure to check it out when it comes out on Netflix in its entirety. For the first time since Concrete Revolutio S1, I am proud to say we Con Artists picked a good one.
To end…let’s close the gigantic loop Scott and myself have been complaining about since waaaaay back in the beginning.
The Con Artists 
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