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Yoh Yoshinari's Little Witch Academia: "Awesome free cartoon on Youtube"

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7Th

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lwa_image.jpg


What is Little Witch Academia?
The first proper project of Studio Trigger (Hiroyuki Imaishi's very own studio), part of the Young Animators Training Project initiative; a 26 minute mini-movie directed by Yoh Yoshinari.

Who is Yoh Yoshinari?
One of the greatest Japanese animators of all time (as far as I'm concerned, at least); character designer for Valkyrie Profile, mechanic designer for Gurren-Lagann and concept artist for Panty & Stocking. He directed everyone's favorite Parallel Work.

What is it about?
Witches doing witch things.

Why should I watch it?
See the next post. Besides, it's only 26 minutes long.

Where can I watch it?
OFFICIAL YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBlqxEIJ_Cg
OFFICIAL NICOVIDEO: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm20646468
 

7Th

Member
AnimeGAF impressions (the only reason this thread exists):

Well, we already talked about what type of talented 'trainees' TRIGGER Inc., took under their wing, but still, in my opinion, this is the kind of project that could present as more beneficial for a training project than any other, because it simply inspires imagination without extraneous or a pretentious conditioning, instills a initial joy for the medium they could work for... like Shiny Chariot also inspired Akko into admiring what she could do, to the point of her going to the Academia against all obvious hardships just clinging to the wonders she experienced at that show. All in a way someone like Mr. Yoshinari, with his broader, more open view and 'connoisseur' of styles outside the normal reach of their somewhat 'inbreed' industry, could provide.

This seems a work of loving the characters expressiveness in it, loving the process of creating such characters... making them seem alive and putting them in a setting exploiting visually that lively approach. Not as means of putting safer self-inserts of the viewer to direct easily a moralizing message, but as better accomplishing a very own creator's fantasy that absorbs the spectator on their imaginative vision in which these characters are properly rooted into, on that strange world, to explain and hit harder with said moralizing message of (precisely) never ceasing to believe (even if in a fantasy like this one, is a sensible remark)... how those characters in their unique situation tackle such crazy, and splendid, and magical happenings awakens our enjoyment like no other, I think.

Little Witch Academia

THE
POWER
OF
2D
ANIMATION

Little Witch Academia

Holy sakuga batman. Anime is saved! Frankly I feel I can safely say this will probably be the best looking thing released all year. (or rather I will be able to get my hands on)
Now getting serious, this was quite superb. The setting an characters looked charming, the animation was top notch and there was a constant feeling of motion throughout the short making it feel like nothing was really wasted or just done to show off like is the case in this sort of short occasionally. Well worth watching.
I loved this cut so much. Potion girl was surprisingly awesome.

God dammit Yoshinari's style is AMAZING when given this much budget. It feels like one of those awesome TMS-animated episodes of Animaniacs or something but BETTER.

Now I want a full length Yoshinari movie. ;_;

Little Witch Academia

So good. So awesome. It's a visual tour de force that never wastes a single cut or a single second. They know that it's a short film with limited runtime, so Yoh Yoshinari packed something interesting in every single scene. It's simple but entertaining, short but sweet, and oh so magical. If this is the true power of Trigger, then Imaishi is going to have really high expectations to meet when he unveils his TV series in May! Om nom nom nom.

Little Witch Academia

Based Yoshinari doing Yoshinari things

Little Witch Academia

Oh, wow. This is insanely good - not just an entertaining story, but some of the most entertaining animation I've seen in years. It's Tweeny Witches, but a supercharged 2013 version. Bravo, young animators! Bravo, Trigger!

[Little Witch Academia]

5Uae9cU.jpg

Little Witch Academia

So beautiful, so colourful, so full of energy.

Little Witch Academia

I know that after Wolf Children everybody decided that Hosoda was the next Miyazaki, but can Yoh Yoshinari also be the next Miyazaki? Consider it a personal favor.

Little Witch Academia

One of the best-looking things ever made. It excels in every area of the animated visual medium, not just the animation but the direction, color design, layouts, background art, and character designs. They take full advantage of the strengths of traditional animation and the short is full of wonderful props and gags that fit the setting. The story is harmless fun with simple but believable characters. I totally called
the teacher being Shiny Chariot.

I'd make .gifs but I'd have to .gif the whole thing. It's going to be hard for Anime Mirai(or Trigger) to top this.

Little Witch Academia is pretty cute. I like the gap in the under skirt shots too. No pantsu for animegaf perverts *everyone drops the series*

Also cute eyebrows.

Little Witch Academia

... I am not worthy of this beauty. orz orz

Little Witch Academia was really good. If only everything had the quality that it does. Great animation, good humor that doesn't feel forced, likeable characters. Good stuff.

Guys, what if LWA is the "Citizen Kane" of anime?!

Little Witch Academia

The combination of Oshima's music and the whimsical nature of the OVA is really something to behold. Everything is so light and silly, and the animation is very overly expressive, almost looney toons like at times. You get can't help but love its charm that's for sure, its infectious. Sucy was totally the best character btw, awesome VA and crazy potions that lead to mass sakuga! Too cool.

little witch academia

Fun show with animation to the max. sad magic in anime is all just cg circles these days :(

Little Witch Academia

Anyways, this was really fun to watch. I sure do love attractive anime. I'm very glad and pleased that this is the only magical girl anime I've even bothered to give the light of day (that has come out) in the past how-so-many odd years.

Finally, (nsfw?) what the heck is this, Trigger? Deducted points, that's what.

Little Witch Academia

Just watch it already it's awesome. Not much to say that hasn't already been said but I do think the music deserves more props. Kind of makes me wonder how much of that grant money went to hiring a full blown orchestra.

Little Witch Academia:

It delivered.

Little Witch Academia

That was all kinds of amazing.

Little Witch Academia

There are no words, screencaps or gifs that could sum up just how incredible this is. THE POWER OF LIMITED ANIMATION

Little Witch Academia


There has to be more ... right? And sadistic Alchemist girl is best.

Little Witch Academia

I BELIEVE IN BASE TRIGGER!

This is a superb show, this is what I want from a witch show. The concept, the scenario and the action are fucking beautiful. This should be a full fledge series so that Trigger can swim in a pool of money.

Little Witch Academia

Yo this shit was pretty good

Little Witch Academia

It has been a long time since I have seen this kind of 2D animation (should I count Young Animators?). Gosh how I missed it.

WTF, only 30 minutes of heaven.

Little Witch Academia

Holy shit. Pitch-perfect in every single respect.

I wish so badly it had been a full-length movie ;__; MOAR PLZ

Little Witch Academia

Well, that was pretty amazing. I really do hope we get more of this.

Little Witch Academia

Anime is saved.

Little Witch Academia.

This was joyous.
It was like a combination of the best elements from Tweeny Witches and Magic Users Club and ALL of the Cute.

Sucy > everything

I watched like this with the sound turned up.
Like being in a mini movie theater.

Haven't actually tuned into this thread in a while, and I'm really late to the party with this, but just finished watching Little Witch Academia. I think it's ended my short estrangement with the medium.

Little Witch Academia


I'll endeavor not to tread too much old ground with this impression, but I really can't impress upon this enough: Little Witch Academia is a visual masterpiece. It's extravagant, it's vibrant, it's beautiful, and it's just gorgeous to behold in its' exaggerations and its' expressiveness. It's dense, yet held aloft by some fantastic pacing and energy. The premise is nothing so extraordinary, but I don't really see this as any sort of mark against it - the entire production is executed with such grace and such utter confidence that it's impossible to knock it down for something as trivial as that.

Suzy is by far the stand-out character, as an aside. Actually, if there's something I could really add onto my impressions, I really love how effective the production is in making you immediately understand what you need to know about a character. It's just a really graceful approach to it. There's no hamfisted expository narration or conversations or anything, you're dropped into their group dynamic and you can immediately figure out what you need to know about them from there.

I really can't wait to see what Trigger has in store for us.

Little Witch Academia

Stuff like this is why I watch anime. Simple storytelling, but oh such great execution, the animation was so fucking awesome as well. It pretty much packed "style" in every single frame, some of those character expressions were like HNGGGGGGGH, and the setting despite being rather cliche and by-the-books in terms of premise, managed to present it in a interesting way, that made me eager to see more of it which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned. I don't think this needs a TV series though, I feel only a film would do justice to the material, especially due to the standards set by this to begin with.

Haven't really commented on LWA in this thread because there's only so many ways you can say "This was amazing".

Little Witch Academia

Wading through the shitpile that is anime is worth it for moments like these.

Anime Before LWA: Dead.
Anime During LWA: Saved.
Anime After LWA: Dead.

No. Little Witch Academia is intangibly better than Wasurenagumo.

Wow was this a treat. The visuals, coloring, and designs were spectacular and provided an amazing display of effects that would at times leave me muttering "holy shit". The characters were easy to like and even easier to love when you have a hotheaded character like Akko supported by the laid back jokester type Sucy and 1% ojousama Diana. Speaking of which, my OTP has to go to AkkoxSucy with AkkoxDiana being my reaaaaaally close second. Not really much else to say besides echoing what others have said already. Anime is saved, thank you based Trigger, etc.

Dragoon En Regalia said:
I could be a smart aleck and say that all this is reason enough to watch Little Witch Academia, but this short doesn't resemble shows like Gurren-Lagann and Panty & Stocking all too well. Instead, Yoshinari's in the forefront with a straightforward, albeit dazzling take on a familiar concept: the all-female high school adventure. I've never seen it played this straight so well, though, and that comes with both pros and cons. The characters are generally generic, ranging from plucky Akko playing the fool to Diana the reasonable ojou; there's nothing subversive here in regards to stylization, narrative techniques, or general plot points. And the main character conflicts become excuses for profuse pyrotechnics in the thick of the whole thing. So long as one's expectations are set accordingly, none of that even matters for a ditty like this. In fact, any necessary character development and exposition here is handled gracefully and kept hidden within background details and humorous dialogue—not to forget stellar animation.

[Little Witch Academia]

All hail Trigger, etc, etc. This was a pretty fantastic short and one of the best anime works that I have had the pleasure of consuming in some time.

Just about everything thing that I can think to discuss about this production would simply be praising how great it is rather than any substantive criticism, to the point where the real difficulty would be in trying to find weaknesses with the work.

Little Witch Macademia

It was alright. I might watch a whole tv series of this.
 

Akira

Member
So did they spend all their animation budget in the first episode like most anime or should this be pretty consistent?

(haven't seen it yet)
 

Tomat

Wanna hear a good joke? Waste your time helping me! LOL!
To explain it for non-anime fans on GAF: this is one of those rare occurrences where you'll probably enjoy watching it even if you don't like anime.
 

TheChits

Member
Just caught this. The animation when
the dragon is blowing up at the end is amazing. His expression right before he dies is just perfect.
Really impressed overall
 
Just watched it on YouTube in HD; really fun ride. Great animation andvreally likeable characters; Sucy is awesome. There's some real good potential here for an actual show.

Just caught this. The animation when
the dragon is blowing up at the end is amazing. His expression right before he dies is just perfect.
Really impressed overall

My thoughts exactly.
 

sn00zer

Member
Wow did not think I would like that....but that was down right awesome, reminded me a lot of the whimsicalness of Miyazaki

Probably my favorite thing was they made an anime about kids and completely avoided the lolita style...they were just kids, not just at the legal age prepubescent sex symbols....

Very well done, very innocent, a ton of fun, and animation was top notch...and I say this as someone who generally detests 99% of anime

EDIT: So is this studio making more minifilms? Would really hate to see this get turned into a show (wouldnt mind a 6 "mini movie" run though) , I think the animation quality really sets it apart...and that could only diminish if it was serialized
 

redlemon

Member
how very disappointing
I watched it, good animation quality, it's Harry Potter but with little girls so thumbs up Japan, and I don't see what all the fuzz is about but maybe that's just because I don't watch anime

Despite nods to harry potter it has more in common with the worst witch.
I enjoyed it. The animation was superb and they managed to fit a decent amount of plot into a 24 minute anime. It makes me pretty hopeful for their series later in the year.
 
that was fucking awesome!!!!!

loved everything about this! such gorgeous art and animation, wow. woooooooow.

i would love a full show of this.
 

cjkeats

Member
Just finished it, loved it. Characters were great, and it was a ton of fun. Akko reminded me air if Madoka from Rinne No Lagrange, that "go get em!" attitude, and inherent clumsiness.

It was just a super fun ride.
 

Tomat

Wanna hear a good joke? Waste your time helping me! LOL!
Well with that kind of introduction it'll be a right letdown if it isn't the greatest thing of all time.

I'm assuming it is not depressing and melancholic so I probably wouldn't like it anyway.

You only like depressing things? Damn.
 

Tomat

Wanna hear a good joke? Waste your time helping me! LOL!
No, the opposite, I can't really tolerate cute and charming things and break out into fits of hives and cynicism upon contact. I was nearly hospitalized once after booting up the free copy of LocoRoco that came with my PSP.

I didn't like LocoRoco either.
 

Branduil

Member
No, the opposite, I can't really tolerate cute and charming things and break out into fits of hives and cynicism upon contact. I was nearly hospitalized once after booting up the free copy of LocoRoco that came with my PSP.

Well the short has a running monocle-vs.-mustache motif.
 

Lafiel

と呼ぶがよい
No, the opposite, I can't really tolerate cute and charming things and break out into fits of hives and cynicism upon contact. I was nearly hospitalized once after booting up the free copy of LocoRoco that came with my PSP.
It's probably because it wasn't a very good game.:3
Is this suitable for kids? serious question.
Watched it with a number of my siblings who ranged between 16 to 8. I'd definitely say it's suitable.
 

Lafiel

と呼ぶがよい
Yes, as long as they can read subtitles.
It's so visually-stimulating that I think even a child who can't keep up with the subtitles will get something out of it. Like my brother couldn't read the subtitles got pretty hyper during some of the climatic moments in the short.
 

sn00zer

Member
Really like how innocent it was... lolita stuff weirds me out to no end, so its nice seeing anime companies can still make shows with kids in them without turning them into sex symbols...damn this thing was just awesome, cant wait for whatever is next
 
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