Little Witch Academia: The Nonsensical Witch and the Country of the Fairies

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
My name is Atsuko Kagari, and I knew my destiny when I was six years old.
—Opening sentence

Little Witch Academia: The Nonsensical Witch and the Country of the Fairies answers the question absolutely no one asked: what if someone made Little Witch Academia, but make it like The Cat Returns?

In this 2017[1] Light Novel by Momo Tachibana, the not-so-adept-witch Atsuko "Akko" Kagari returns for another misadventure. She's not the only person back, though. Her friends Lotte and Sucy are here as well, dragged into yet another one of Akko's adventures. Set some time in the first half of the 2017 series, the trio are at a little place called Doras Hill for a class field trip. Being around Akko, your life will never be quiet. The trio are quickly dragged into an adventure involving a little girl called Sifla, a missing dog and cat, and the fairy realm. As Akko puts it, Sifla is "sad" that Alan the dog and Feoras the cat are missing. It is up to Akko to find the missing animals using her... how do we put this... unconventional approach to magic.

Existing viewers of Little Witch Academia knows exactly what Akko's spellcasting shennigans are like. If you don't know, let's just say: a lot of explosions, a lot of failures, and several growlings from her teachers (even the title knows Akko is a "Nonsensical Witch"). Where she lacks in magical ability, she makes up for in sheer enthusiasm and determination. Whether you like Akko's interesting approach to magic or not, get ready for ten times the Akko, for the entirety of the light novel is in first person, from the viewpoint of none other than Atsuko Kagari herself! Prepare yourselves for five times the complaining about schoolwork, and fifty times the gushing about Shiny Chariot.[2]

The light novel is standalone; you can read it without having read or seen other Little Witch Academia instalments.

Tropes used in Little Witch Academia: The Nonsensical Witch and the Country of the Fairies include:

See Little Witch Academia and the character sheet for the 2017 series for more tropes.

  • Beige Prose: Due to the easy reading level (it is a light novel), many descriptions gets straight to the point without hiding their meanings behind a thousand and one metaphors. Sentences are short. As page numbers increases, though, more complex sentences and descriptions are eventually introduced. The beginning is especially beige, and some colourful descriptions are added during the climax fight between Alan and Feoras.

Sucy grinned at me.
I'd seen the eyedropper she was holding.
Oh, wow. That was a close one. She'd almost gotten me again.

  • Canon Foreigner: Three new characters, never seen in the series the novel is based on, are introduced in the book: Alan, Feoras, and Sifla.
  • Catfolk: The Cait Sith clan is made up of walking, talking cat people.
  • Cats Are Mean: The trio was warned that they should absolutely not enter the Country of the Fairies. Because this is Akko we're talking about, she ignored the warning and entered the Country of the Fairies. What did she find? Cats. A group of cats who are not nice. When they saw the trio, they immediately lunged at Akko and her friends. The cats only stopped because Feoras ordered them to. The dogs are somehow even worse.
  • Damsel in Distress: The green trio--consisting of Amanda, Constanze, and Jasminka--are tied to a pole by the Cu Sith with very tight rope.

A Cu Sith pulled on her rope, causing Amanda's face to twist in pain. I probably don't have to tell you she was in a foul mood.

  • Establishing Character Moment: Alan was immediately established as lazy when he was brought in on a sled because he was too lazy to walk. He's also too lazy to talk.
  • Fan Girl: Sifla about Night Fall. You know who else is a fan of Night Fall? Lotte. One Night Fall fan + another Night Fall fan = a conversation that lasts for way too long.
  • First Person Perspective: You're stuck in Akko's perspective. This is the perfect excuse for Tachibana to spam the words "Shiny Chariot" over and over again. Oh boy, does Akko gush a lot about Shiny Chariot. The first chapter is especially notable for all the gushing.
  • Legacy Character: The title of Sifla was passed down from generation to generation. At the time of the light novel, the current Sifla was six years old.
  • Long Title: What kind of title is The Nonsensical Witch and the Country of the Fairies? It's already long enough on its own, but add the Little Witch Academia franchise into its name and you've made a sentence, not title. Who actually types out Little Witch Academia: The Nonsensical Witch and the Country of the Fairies on their own, without using the copy paste function? If you do, then you must be one of the most determined people on the planet. Even more determined than Akko to see Shiny Chariot.
    • The chapter names also qualify! They're shorter than Little Witch Academia: The Nonsensical Witch and the Country of the Fairies, but titles like "The Floundering Witch Who Can't Ride a Broom" and "The Trial of the Fairy King and a Mysterious Dream" are no laughing stock.
  • Interquel: The novel takes place sometime in the first half of season 1 of Little Witch Academia.
  • Our Fairies Are Different: In the world of this book, fairies are not little winged humanoids who can fly over the moon while spreading pixie dust. Instead, they're cats and dogs. Cats and dogs who have their own clans. Cats and dogs who can stand up.
  • Short Title: Long Elaborate Subtitle: The Nonsensical Witch and the Country of the Fairies is quite a subtitle.
  • Too Important to Walk: Alan is too lazy to walk. He is important to the Cu Sith, therefore he gets dragged on a sled by his own personal army of dogs.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years: Sifla, a six year old who knows a lot as the guardian of Doras Hill. She's still learning, but surprisingly competent at her role. Plus, she knows way too much about Night Fall than she should for her age.
  • The X of Y: The Country of the Fairies.
  1. English translation in 2019
  2. You know how we have the Gushing About Characters You Like page? Well, we could fill an entire subpage with nothing but Akko's quotes about Chariot.