Little Witch Academia

Little Witch Academia (Japanese: リトルウィッチアカデミア, Hepburn: Ritoru Witchi Akademia) is a Japanese anime franchise created by Yoh Yoshinari and produced by Trigger. The original short film, directed by Yoshinari and written by Masahiko Otsuka, was released in theaters in March 2013 as part of the Young Animator Training Project's Anime Mirai 2013 project, and was later streamed with English subtitles on YouTube from April 2013. A second short film partially funded through Kickstarter, Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade, was released in October 2015.

An anime television series aired in Japan between January and June 2017, with the first 13 episodes available on Netflix worldwide beginning in June 2017. The remaining 12 episodes of its first season were labeled as the show's second season and was made available on the platform in August 2017. Two manga series have been published by Shueisha.

Little Witch Academia takes place at Luna Nova Magical Academy (ルーナノヴァ魔法学校, Rūna Nova Mahō Gakkō), a prestigious school for young girls training to become witches. Having been inspired by a witch named Shiny Chariot, a girl named Atsuko "Akko" Kagari enrolls at Luna Nova Magical Academy to become a witch, but struggles due to her non-magical background. This all changes when she discovers the Shiny Rod, a powerful magic relic left behind by Chariot.

One of the main themes in the series is Akko trying to live up to Shiny Chariot's ideals by showing the world that magic is still a wonderful thing, while Luna Nova struggles for its continual existence because the general public regards wizardry as outdated. In the TV series, this background element is expanded into a plotline in which magic is waning across the world. The secret to restoring the flow of magic lies within the forbidden Arcturus Forest, sealed inside a magical locale named the Grand Triskellion erected by the Nine Olde Witches, the legendary founders of the academy.

The key to undoing the seal lies in a sequence of seven magical words and the Shiny Rod, an artifact which reacts only to the wielder's genuine desire to spread joy and happiness. When Akko gains possession of the Rod, Chariot (secretly one of her Luna Nova teachers and the Rod's previous wielder) tries to guide her on the path to restoring the power of magic to the world. However, Croix, Chariot's former best friend, had also coveted – and was denied – the power sealed within the Grand Triskellion due to her selfish ambitions. As a result, she schemes to unlock the Grand Triskellion by force with use of artifacts powered by negative emotions she developed with her technomagical abilities and try to deter both Akko and her rival along the way.

A one-shot manga based on the anime and drawn by Terio Teri was published in Shueisha's Ultra Jump magazine on August 19, 2013. Another manga by Teri, featuring an original story, was serialized in Ultra Jump between August 19, 2015, and November 20, 2015, and was compiled into a single tankōbon volume released on January 19, 2016.

Another series illustrated by Yuka Fujiwara, Little Witch Academia: Tsukiyo no Ōkan (リトルウィッチアカデミア 月夜の王冠; lit. "Little Witch Academia: The Midnight Crown"), began serialization in Shueisha's Ribon magazine from September 3 to December 28, 2015. Shueisha released a compiled tankōbon volume on February 25, 2016.

Little Witch Academia was produced by Trigger as part of the Young Animator Training Project's Anime Mirai 2013 project, which funds young animators, alongside other short films by Madhouse, Zexcs, and Gonzo. The short was created and directed by Yoh Yoshinari and written by Masahiko Otsuka, with music by Michiru Ōshima. The short, along with the other Anime Mirai shorts, opened in 14 Japanese theatres on March 2, 2013. Trigger later released the short on Niconico and with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll on April 19, 2013. The short was later released on region-free Blu-ray on October 24, 2013.