Little Witch Academia (2017 series)

Little Witch Academia is a 2017 anime series produced by Studio Trigger, and released on Netflix. It is part of the Little Witch Academia franchise, and perhaps the most prominent entry in it.

Let's face it. Magic is cool. Magic has so functions in life, from the mundane yet simple utilities like making plants grow faster, to the extraordinary like magical spectacles and combat magic. There's nothing that magic cannot do. Atsuko "Akko" Kagari knows this, which is why she signed up to the prestigious Luna Nova academy, where her idol Shiny Chariot attends.

Problem: Akko kind of sucks at magic. Flying on a broomstick is supposed to be one of the simplest spells for a witch. Everyone around her effortlessly rose into the air and soared through the sky, while not even a Training Montage nor The Power of Friendship could make Akko overcome gravity. Well, no fear! Her pluckiness and exceptional enthusiasm means she at least has a chance in the academy.

In 420 AD at the site dedication for the prestigious witchcraft academy of Luna Nova, our founding mentor, Woodward of the Nine Olde Witches greeted our first 100 students with these words "Let this academy be the first milestone in restoring the art of witchcraft and all of its lost glory.""
 * Anime Theme Song
 * Art Shift: In the second episode, as Diana animates a statue.
 * Chekhov's Gun: Akko initially finds her stuff lying on the ground, guarded by a, well, human-eating mandrake. That flower is used later on in the episode to attack the gigantic cockarice attacking the cast.
 * Children Are Innocent: Akko is depicted as innocent in her childhood flashbacks.
 * Crash Into Hello: How Akko and Sucy meet.
 * Dream Sequence: Opens the second episode.
 * Free Sample Plot Coupon: The Shiny Rod was just sitting on the floor in the forest in the Forest of Arcturus, which Akko easily picks up and keeps.
 * Freeze-Frame Bonus: In the first episode, when Akko holds out a guide to Luna Nova, you can pause the episode and read its content, which includes a history of Luna Nova, a map of the facility and how to access it, and pictures of the facility. "''Greetings from Luna Nova


 * Late for School: How the series starts out. Akko asks around for a bus stop to take her to Luna Nova, but turns out, there are no buses that go there. Instead, you have to ride on a broomstick.
 * Memento MacGuffin: Akko's rare card of Shiny Chariot.
 * My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Akko calls a cockatrice a "stupid bird" in the Forest of Arcturus, and now it wants to eat her. She meant to just cast a spell that Sucy gave her. Sucy uses Akko as bait to distract the cockarice while she harvests its poison.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Diana casts a family-secret revitalization spell in the second episode, to bring more life to the Memorial Tree which is special to Luna Nova. It led to the tree spreading its roots all over the campus. Then the trope occurs again as she tries to destroy what appear to be parasites on the tree's roots, but turns out to be Papiliodia -- rare butterflies who only hatch once in a hundred years.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni
 * The Song Remains the Same: The ending and opening songs remain in Japanese even in the English dub.
 * Surprisingly Good English: Despite being made by a Japanese studio, the Freeze-Frame Bonus guide to Luna Nova Akko holds up in episode one features perfect English, with real, on topic information about Luna Nova that you can read.
 * Taken for Granite: The cockatrice in the Forest of Arcturus, in episode one, has the power to turn things into stone with its breath.
 * Talking Is a Free Action: When Akko accidentally insults the cockatrice in episode one, there is just enough time for Sucy to explain what she's really done before the bird starts attacking them.
 * Transformation Sequence: Parodied. In the second episode, Akko has a brief sequence where she changes into formal clothes for the school. It turns out, those were not the clothes she was supposed to wear for class, and learns that before begrudgingly changing into the correct clothes.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair