Little Witch Academia is one of the best anime on Netflix and one of the greatest magical girl anime of all time. If it counts as a real magical girl anime. Does it count as one? Well, ignoring the technicalities it's still a really good anime and well worth the time investment.
Little Witch is full of tons of excellent characters that any anime fan can find enjoyment in. While many things about these characters may seem straight forward, there are many small details you may not notice at first glance so we've compiled a list of hidden details about the cast. So if you're a fan of this anime, keep on reading!
10 CROIX MERIDIES IS A DARK VERSION OF DIANA
If you haven't noticed, Croix is very similar to Diana in her relationship with her rival Chariot. Both her and Diana's rivals were the chosen bearers of the Shiny Rod even though that was both of their dreams. Their reactions and growths in relationship to the Shiny Rods choosing however are much different.
Whereas Diana grows past this choice and ends up growing closer to Atsuko, Croix lets her jealousy get the best of her and ends up becoming an anti-villain of the series. She serves as a dark reflection of Diana and gives us a peek into her future if she lets her jealousy consume her.
9 URSULA CALLISTIS' NAME COMES FROM THE CONSTELLATION
This show presents us with many references to constellations. The main two being the Big Dipper and Little Dipper, otherwise known as Ursa Minor and Ursa Major. Of course the constellation Ursa Major shares a relation to the Shiny Rod in the series. Chariot also flies in from Major in the show during the magic show.
Much like Ursula is also Chariot, Ursa Major is also called Chariot in other cultures. Ursula is also the one chosen by the Shiny Rod. Chariot's full name, "Chariot du Nord" also means "Northern Chariot" in French, which is another name for Ursa Major.
8 DIANA CAVENDISH IS BRITISH WITH NO ACCENT
You may not have known from watching either dub or subbed version of Little Witch Academia but the series's main rival Diana Cavendish is indeed British. During the show, it is said that she is a descendant of an ancient line of wizards from Britain but she lacks a traditional British accent.
This is due to her voice actress, Laura Post, not having a British accent herself. Due to this instead of going for an actual British accent in the English dub of the series, a mixed accent is substituted in instead.
7 DIANA'S BIRTHDAY IS ON AN ANTI-WITCH HOLIDAY
Another fun fact about Diana Cavendish is that her birthday is not necessarily a good day for her. In fact, it's on a day that was directly created to spite witches of all varieties.
April 30th is the day of the German festival, Walpurgisnacht, or Walpurgis Night. This holiday is a celebration of the beginning of summer. However, a quick study of German folklore will show you that there's a much darker side to this celebration. Walpurgisnacht doubles as a day where Christians prayed for God to protect them from the onslaught of witchcraft.
6 SUCY'S NAME LITERALLY MEANS WITCH
Sucy Manbavaran's name is quite literally a dead giveaway to her witch upbringings and lifestyle. This main character's name is of both Indonesian and Filippino descent.
The Manbavaran last name she was born into comes from the word Mambabarang. This word is the Filipino version of a witch and/or warlock. The name itself comes from another word, Barang which in verbal form is barangon, meaning "a place to hex." Very long history and culture lesson for the sake of a cool witch last name and that's one of the best things that goes into the series.
5 LOTTE HAS A FEAR OF FISH
This fear is very well known by those that have made their way through the Little Witch Academia manga adaptation but may be an unknown piece of the character when it comes to anime viewers as it was not mentioned.
In the manga version of the series by Teri Terio the fourth chapter has Lotte having a deep fear of fish. With the help of her friends and some bad situations, she is able to overcome this fear. The anime has her coming in contact with fish without showing any signs of fear.
4 CONSTANZE CAN'T TALK MUCH DUE TO ILLNESS
The mechanical genius of the wizarding main cast, Constanze Amalie von Braunschbank-Albrechtsberger (long name, we know), actually has a very sad reason she usually responds through emotional noises instead of talking. This reason isn't ever stated in the series but was revealed through a panel at AnimeNEXT.
Here at the official Little Witch Academia panel, it was revealed that Constanze mostly lost her voice due to a terrible illness she got as a child. Due to this, she was placed in a stanbot to heal which left her in her muted state. This was later retconned as a simple joke by Constanze.
3 AMANDA O'NEIL IS THE ONLY STUDENT TO WEAR DIFFERENT SHOES
At the school that our main characters attend, titled Luna Nova, it is believed that the dress code requires all Luna Nova students to wear standard witch attire complete with brown slip-on shoes.
Apparently, Amanda cares not for this rule as she instead decides to constantly rock different shoes while in attendance at Luna Nova. Amanda instead takes her tomboyish charm even further by wearing her sports shoes instead. We've yet to see her get in trouble for this so we guess the dress code isn't enforced too strictly over at Luna.
2 ATSUKO HAS A PROBLEM WITH HURTING HER FACE
If you haven't noticed Atsuko is very accident-prone, constantly hurting herself while taking the lead in various hijinks throughout the series. It's a very fitting flaw that perfectly matches her character personality and of course, is a horrible curse that goes with her archetype.
Apparently her favorite part to injure is her face as she's prone to falling flat on her face literally. On three separate occasions throughout the show, she's fallen over and lifted up her face to reveal it's been flattened like a pancake. Can't she make a spell or something to help out with that?
1 ATSUKO FINDS THE SHINY ROD IN TWO DIFFERENT WAYS
You may not know but before Little Witch Academia became a full-fledged anime it was a short film. This short film shared many similarities with the anime series but had many differences as well, both small and large.
In the short film, Atsuko finds the Shiny Rod during a school assignment treasure hunt at Luna Nova by sheer luck. Similarly but still different, in the anime Atsuko finds the Shiny Rod before even becoming a Luna Nova student at the academy. Instead, it is found in the Arcturus Forest while she is on her journey to become a student there.