Little Witch Academia Vol. 1-3 by Yoh Yoshinari (Translated by Taylor Engel)

You know, I didn’t think I’d ever write manga reviews, but here we are.

Little Witch Academia, Vol. 1 by Yoh Yoshinari
Illustrator: Keisuke Sato
Little Witch Academia #1
Published by JY on June 26, 2018
Age Group & Genres: Comics/Graphic Novels, Fantasy
Format: Physical
Source: Library

"Reach out your hand, and your story will begin!"

Those words changed young Atsuko "Akko" Kagari forever, sparking in her a lifelong dream of becoming a real witch. Now she's been accepted to the same school as her childhood hero, Shiny Chariot-the prestigious Luna Nova Witchcraft Academy. As the only student to come from a non-magical family, Akko finds herself surrounded by prodigies from around the world, but giving up isn't in her vocabulary. Whether it's making friends, proving the doubters wrong, or just flying on a broom, Akko is going to make her fantasy a reality!

Trigger & Content Warnings: fatphobia (volume 3)

I love magic schools so much, and Little Witch Academia absolutely sold me on this when I saw it on Netflix while browsing for a new show to watch. I got hooked from the first episode despite taking my sweet time finishing both seasons, and I immediately went searching for other adaptations of the show. Lo-and-behold, one day, I found a manga version.

(There’s also the game, which I have on my wishlist and found before I found the manga, but I have not played yet. One day, though. And there’s a light novel, too!)

The manga follows the anime pretty well at its core concept: the story is about Atsuko (Akko) Kagari, a girl who’s had a dream of becoming a witch ever since she heard Shiny Chariot say the words, “Reach out your hand, and your story will begin!” at a magic show when she was a child. Shiny Chariot is her absolute inspiration (and she hopes to meet her one day), so she’s over the moon to attend Luna Nova Academy, a prestigious school training girls to become witches — the same school Chariot attended. But Akko isn’t from a magical family like her peers, so she struggles in her studies — from flying on a broom to successfully transforming herself into something else.

Akko very much gives off an in your face energetic vibe from the get go, and because I’m not the biggest fan of those types of characters, she actually came off slightly annoying at first. But she was such an endearing character that never gives up and her antics were humorous that one can’t help but grow to love her as the protagonist. Plus, I think the rest of the characters just balances her out because they’re so polarizing to her in characterization that it’s a bit comical.

Reading the manga was an absolute treat, and I loved seeing the anime getting brought to life through a different medium. Keisuke Sato really captured the characters in the art right down to the expressions. But while I did enjoy Little Witch Academia, I feel like it cuts it off and goes into the side stories that really just complement the anime rather than being a sole adaptation. And by cutting off, I really mean it cuts off in a clunky fashion rather than a smooth transition.

I love the side stories though: some of them aren’t part of the anime, and some are vaguely touched upon. It was overall really nice diving further into some of those scenes and the backgrounds of some of the side characters that don’t get covered as much in the anime (though the development isn’t as great as the show when reading as a stand-alone without the prior knowledge). But while I enjoyed reading it overall, it feels like there’s an assumption people reading the manga of Little Witch Academia are already fans of the anime and have watched it or are in the process of watching rather than the possibility of the other way around. This was wholesome and cute, but I’d highly recommend watching the anime over the manga.