Atsuko Kagari

**Atsuko Kagari** (アツコ・カガリ, *Kagari Atsuko*?), more commonly known by her nickname **Akko** (アッコ?), is the titular main protagonist of *Little Witch Academia*. She is a first-generation witch from Japan and an admirer of Shiny Chariot.

## Appearance

Akko is a slightly pale-skinned girl of average height with long, straight, chestnut brown hair in color which reaches about just below her shoulder blades in length with matching blunt square side-bangs on the left side along with a section of it tied onto a half ponytail on the back of her head and large crimson eyes.

As with other Luna Nova students, Akko's standard Luna Nova Academy uniform consists of a white long-sleeved shirt, a navy blue vest, a tie of the same color, and a skirt. While outside the school, she wore a buttoned jacket covered with a cape over the said uniform set. During practical classes and school functions, on the other hand, she wears a uniform consisting of a long navy blue hooded tunic, a pointed hat, a body belt, stockings, and long boots. Like her friends Lotte and Sucy, she completes her uniform with a red sash.

On days off, Akko wears a white t-shirt and brown shorts, which also doubles as her pajamas. She has also been shown occasionally wearing an orange turtleneck over a t-shirt and brown sports shoes with white laces (on some occasions in "Blue Moon"). While on her way to Glastonbury for Luna Nova's opening ceremony, on the other hand, she wears an orange hooded jacket, blue turtleneck sweater which collar had lighter tone, brown shorts, and red boots.

    When she was still a 6-year old child, Akko's hairstyle looked almost the same as her current one, but shorter and lacked a ponytail, and with the same bang texture. She also has the same type of eyes.

Concept artwork and a promotional poster of the first short film reveal that Akko originally had teal eyes, along with slightly longer hair.

## Personality

    In both short films and anime series, Akko is best described as a cheerful and optimistic yet impulsive and determined girl, which is consistent with her normally exaggerated expressions. She is always up for a challenge, even if it seems too difficult for her and everyone else. As Akko is very social, kind, and truly compassionate, people are often drawn to her happy disposition. She will do anything to pursue her dream to become a talented witch like Chariot, even if it means to put her life in danger. Additionally, Akko has an idealized view of witches inspired by her childhood idol Shiny Chariot, which clashes with her fellow students' perception. Being a fan of Shiny Chariot, she displays a poster of her in her room, and Shiny Chariot is often idealized in her fantasies. It is worth mentioning that she is also very immersed in her own fantasies and sometimes does not account for other witches' opinions. This does not mean that she is a selfish person: In the short films, Akko realizes she almost jeopardizes her friendship with Sucy and Lotte, thus resulting in her sympathizing with what she had done.

In anime continuity, Akko's personality remains consistent with in short films, though her overall characterization fleshed out better and her worst flaws being toned down a bit somewhat. Throughout her early months in her enrollment at Luna Nova, Akko earned infamy among her peers and the academy's staffs as much as Amanda where in her case, for her idealized view on witches, inferior magical abilities, and impulsive and reckless behavior that saw her repeatedly breaking rules. Contrary to Anne Finnelan's poor opinion about her and true to Ursula's statements, that is not to say Akko being unable to change to better, let alone aware with her own faults. Her first visit to the Fountain of Polaris saw her understood that she must work hard to achieve her dream, a lesson that motivated her to improve her magical skills and even unlock the Second Word of the Seven Words of Arcturus. The events of "What You Will" highlighted how much Akko's insecurities over her magical abilities plagued her to the point of comparing herself with the seemingly flawless Diana. She initially believed that emulating Chariot and outperforming Diana was the best way to prove herself only to be rebuked by both Ursula and Woodward (the latter did so by changing her appearance into the likeness of Diana), with the former advising that she should prove herself with her own qualities instead. Akko eventually let's go of these insecurities through liberating Vajarois from her sadness with the help of Lotte and Sucy and unlocks the third Word in the process, ending the tradition of keeping Vajarois appeased via sacrifices once and for all. The moment when she unlocked the Fourth Word while saving Lotte's home community from Greenman Disease saw her understanding that she must be patient. Though she took those lessons at heart and learned that it was her determination to be like her idol, Shiny Chariot, and desire to spread joy with magic which allowed Shiny Rod to appear before her in Arcturus Forest in the first place, Akko still retained her impulsive and reckless attitude.

Though she has a little discipline for studying and finds most classes boring, Akko is very clever. This is first seen in "A New Beginning" when she lures the Cockatrice so that it gets entangled in the vines of a Mandrake plant. In "Night Fall", she gets Lotte into the city by catching a ride in Luna Nova's food delivery truck. And in "Blytonbury's Undead Travelogue", she is able to quickly bring Mr. Holbrooke to Luna Nova by grabbing onto the Bell Tower bell and using a Mending Magic spell to reunite it with its clapper, knowing the clapper is on campus as Miranda Holbrooke's staff. Akko is very creative and eschews tradition for innovation. However, she does not have a great sense of her own capabilities and her overconfidence contributes to a tendency to look before she leaps, and her motivation to do her very best and inch closer to Chariot is often dismissed as naivety by others.

Despite her impulsiveness, ultimately Akko is a selfless witch who will risk her own well-being and reputation to do what is right, such as during "Orange Submariner" when she used her last bit of magic in her wand to break open the fishing cage to save a fish's family rather than using it later when they find Pisces (although she coincidentally found Pisces in the cage), "Luna Nova and the White Dragon" when she convinced her friends to go with her and take back the Sorcerer's Stone from the dragons, and during "Sleeping Sucy" when she volunteered to be the "sacrifice" to go into Sucy's mind and wake her up. In "New Age Magic", her kind heart has allowed her to feel sympathy towards fairy laborers of Luna Nova who went under the strike and joined their cause in getting more magical energy. Indeed, her kindred spirit saw her gained so many friends and allies as well as earning respects from her rivals, and loyalty between them which stemmed from her compassion proved so strong it inspired them to do the same; Ursula sacrificed her Broom Flight ability to protect Akko from the cloud of Wagandea pollen for the sake of her future while Diana entrusts Akko her premium Chariot Card, the only thing she lacked in her collection, in order to rekindle her resolve to be a witch like Shiny Chariot after the awful revelation surrounding their very idol and role model. Diana herself acknowledges how envious she was to the Japanese witch-in-training's positive traits which saw her changed the lives of many around her to the better, including those who stubbornly attempted to maintain status quo at the beginning, as much as she appreciated them, leading the Cavendish concluding that Akko's beliefs being the only true key to save the magical world.

## Abilities and Equipment

### Magic

In both continuities of the franchise, because of her mundane background and discipline for studying which initially leaves much to be desired, Akko is very incompetent with magic, especially in the use of magic brooms despite having practiced this skill several times. However, her potential with magic is unmistakable through her ability to use the Shiny Rod that once belonged to Shiny Chariot with impressive prowess and making significant progress in improving her magic.

In anime continuity, her difficulties in performing magic which worse than in short films (most notably being unable to take off with her magic broom) later explained to be the result of Dream Fuel Spirit used by Chariot in her magic show, draining out her magical capabilities. As a result, she had to work extra hard than her peers in order to be able to use magic properly, which she eventually succeeded after saving the world and restoring Yggdrasil as shown in Tree of Leaves in which she recovered signified by her success in floating for the first time.

Like most witches, Akko can project beams of energy by using her wand, (which becomes great explosions while using the Shiny Rod in its offensive forms), able to levitate objects or people and move them to a certain extent, and change the form of other animals. With Ursula's help, Akko was able to learn to repair objects with magic and later to repair larger objects.

#### Metamorphosis Magic

    Akko's signature magic mastered through hours of training as she was initially terrible with it. During the Samhain Festival, she was able to transform herself at will and maintain it for extended periods of time. By becoming different animals, Akko is able to take advantage of their different qualities for certain situations. She can also use the same magic to disguise herself into someone else in conjunction of item the person in question carry most, if not all the time.

### Other Abilities

#### Determination/Indomitable Will

Akko's greatest strength is her immense determination and willpower which allowed her to overcome even the most challenging obstacles. Hence, in short films, she faces an enormous magic-eating dragon and later, keeps moving forward on planning the Happy Time Project for the Witch Parade (where Sucy and Lotte left said project out of stress from Akko's impulsive control freak attitude). Similarly, in anime TV Series continuity, she pressed on to reach Luna Nova despite being trapped in Arcturus Forest with Sucy escalating their situation at the time by coveting one of the attacking cockatrice's feathers at her and Lotte's expense, riding the wild magic broom Shooting Star during the 1333rd Luna Nova Cup, trying to overcome the polar bear-like guardian of the Fountain of Polaris to know if she could gain the power of stars, trying her best to study for exams, attempting to solve one of the most important magic rules after having broken one, overcoming the temptation of Blue Moon Abyss' omniscient spirit when the latter offers to grant her desired future, and fighting Noir Rod twice. While there are instances of her losing hope, Akko would eventually overcome them in the end. Indeed, this trait of hers admires her friends and allies as much as inspired them.

#### Physical Conditioning

Thought she doesn't look like it on the first glance, Akko has honed herself to the same level as, if not greater than Amanda's own, enabling her to physically performing feats beyond girls around her age. In fact, she fares better than the Irish-American when wrestling against the temperamental Shooting Star and even briefly riding it until it completely broke free from its remaining restraints, effortlessly ran on the marble railing in Hanbrige Manor and even slid through one of the Manor's staircase railings nearby at one point while chasing a Cupid Bee, and ride Shiny Balai like a surfing board without losing balance at the slightest during the fight against Noir Rod-infested missile. These of course, were attributed by her desire to be as athletic as Shiny Chariot.

### Equipment

#### Shiny Rod

A powerful staff that may very well the embodiment of the power of seven stars that make up Big Dipper itself. Although Akko is initially unable to use it at will, she is able to use it in moments of great importance in response to her feelings, managing to revive the Seven Words of Arcturus. It can transform into a bow and create an arrow from thin air. She also managed to transform it into a great ax to launch a frontal attack as well as a grappling hook, a specialized sprinkler, and a flying broom. After breaking the seal of Grand Triskellion, the Shiny Rod merged with the Grand Triskellion, allowing it to access its powerful world reconstruction magic.

Akko eventually loses the Shiny Rod towards the end of the anime, after she used it to help spread the magic throughout the world, allowing it to disappear into the stars.

#### Shooting Star

A legendary, sentient flying broom filled with its own magical energy. Akko rode the broom twice; first during the Luna Nova Cup in "Don't Stop Me Now" and again during the battle against the Noir Rod missile in "Tree of Leaves".

## Misc.

### Etymology

* The name **Atsuko** means "honest" (敦) (**atsu**) and "child" (子) (**ko**).
	+ Depending on the writing, Akko's given name can have various meanings, such as "warm child" (温子?) or "passion/heat child" (熱子?).
* Atsuko's surname **Kagari** means "campfire, fishing fire, beacon basket" (篝).
	+ Akko's surname can mean both "bamboo basket/frame" (篝?) and "light, shine" (火狩?) in Japanese.

### Trivia

* Akko's English voice actress, Erica Mendez, also voices Ryūko Matoi from *Kill la Kill*, another Trigger production. Similarly, Diana Cavendish and Lotte Jansson's voice actresses, Laura Post and Stephanie Sheh, also voice Ragyō Kiryūin and Nui Harime in the same series.
	+ Akko also shares both her Japanese and English voice actresses with Gon Freecss from *Hunter x Hunter*.
* The way Akko obtains the Shiny Rod is different between the anime and the first short film. In the short film, she found it within Luna Nova during a treasure hunt. However, in the anime, she found it in the Arcturus Forest while trying to become a student at Luna Nova Magical Academy.
* As confirmed by Masahiko Ōtsuka and Yō Yoshinari, Akko was named after the main character Atsuko "Akko" Kagami from the first magical girl series created, *Himitsu no Akko-chan*. The latter elaborated that they chose the name Atsuko for being common name among many talented Japanese animators.
	+ Akko's character on the other hand, as the latter put it, represented a young animator who joins the industry looking up to a 'lowbrow late-night magical girl anime' and out of passion but without actual technique thus unable to properly draw clean lines for in-betweens, yet at the same time has egocentric confidence about being able to draw good key frames despite such shortcoming, something he and his fellow animators originally intended to transpose into a wizard story (read On Studio Trigger and Inspiration: Yoh Yoshinari’s Little Witch Apprentices and Yoh Yoshinari Interview (AnimeStyle, 03/2013) Part 3/3 below for more information).

* One recurring event/running joke in *Little Witch Academia* series is that Akko has her face flat with bruises from mild harm:
	+ The first short film has her face smacked against the desk by a small fairy summoned by a professor for dozing off.
	+ Some episodes of TV Series also have Akko receiving this injury where the most notable one being the pilot episode, "Starting Over", in which Akko fell flat on the face after unintentionally crashed onto Sucy.
	+ In the *Chamber of Time* game, she got crashed against the ground after failed to stop an animated skeleton model for a second time.
* According Naoko Tsutsumi, Akko is supposedly not the sole first generation witch who attended Luna Nova, but nevertheless the latest known instance since others like her was not featured yet until this point.
* As confirmed during Studio Trigger's Livestream at Anime Expo's channel in Twitch, Akko's residence is located at Chiba Prefecture. The same event confirmed that she became fluent in English thanks to her determination to become a witch like her idol Shiny Rod and that said language being required for Luna Nova.
	+ That said, Naoko Tsutsumi had established this fact earlier as far as 2017, though it wasn't well known due to it being alluded by Tatsuru Tatemoto in a 4chan conversation with fans at 4chan.
* According to Megumi Han during Studio TRIGGER's promotional livestream of *Chamber of Time* when inquired about Akko's future after Luna Nova, she proposes that Akko would take a similar path Ursula did; becoming a magical performer and traveling around a bit before applying to Luna Nova as a new teacher who helps out students like her.
* According to an interview with Yoshinari, Naoko Tsutsumi, and Shūhei Handa, Akko and Andrew are supposedly ended up together with the latter confessed his feelings to the former. However, Yoshinari disliked such because it would have meant that Akko was working for Andrew's sake and not for herself so it was ultimately scrapped. Yoshinari instead sees their current relationship as a "sort of playful guy-guy relationship", which Handa agrees with.
	+ Ironically, their English voice actors, Lucien Doge (Andrew) and Erica Mendez (Akko) are together in a relationship in real life.
	+ On a related note, as revealed by Yoshinari's interview in *Little Witch Academia Chronicles*, Akko was originally planned to be a type of girl who frequently crushes on handsome boys possibly not unlike Usagi Tsukino aka. Sailor Moon's anime iteration early on in the TV series' development. The idea was scrapped entirely due to opposition from the producer, the staff and the VAs.
	+ That being said, if her conversation with Sarah whom inquired her about love life to be believed in *Chamber of Time* game (a scenario which occurs should the player has Akko taking to the latter during night time) on the other hand, Akko is implied to be rather awkward when it comes about romance more than she let on
* Judging from her energetic yet impulsive behavior and short-attention-span, it's implied that Akko suffered mild ADHD at best. She even stated arguably to be a problem child for the same reason at school according to her bio in Chronicle Book.
* Akko can be equated with following characters through their similarities:
	+ **Mildred Hubble**: Mildred Hubble is the good-hearted yet bungling young witch-in-training and titular protagonist of *The Worst Witch* series. Like Akko, she displayed poor talent in magic, has a rival in form of a blonde-haired top student, and attended an all-girls magical school. As Yoshinari confessed that 1998 TV Series adaptation of *The Worst Witch* series being among inspirations for *Little Witch Academia* in Trigger Night Vol. 11, it's safe to assume Mildred Hubble being the basis for Akko's character as opposed of Harry Potter who, by contrast, a mythical hero who rose to save his home community from its greatest crisis on the same vein with Luke Skywalker from *Star Wars*.
	+ **Luz Noceda**: Both Luz and Akko dream of becoming witches, both hailed from mundane family, and both have role-models whom inspired them to become witches. The difference is that Luz's role-model, Good Witch Azura, is a fictional, whereas Ursula aka. Shiny Chariot is a real person.
* As revealed in Trigger Night Vol.6, the showrunners of *Little Witch Academia* series initially considered dowsing (a form of divination to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, claimed radiations (radiesthesia), gravesites, malign "earth vibrations" and many other objects and materials) to be Akko's specialty in magic until they settled with Metamorphosis Magic instead..
* Despite their initially contrasting nature, the fact that Akko and Diana being not dissimilar more than they let on (both being inspired by Shiny Chariot, familiar with everything related to their said idol and, in anime TV series canon, having their magical capabilities unwittingly drained via the latter's Dream Fuel Spirit as part of Croix's Noir Fuel Spirit plan) has inspired fans to ship both characters, something which didn't go unnoticed by animators of the series. Some of them such as Shiori Miyazaki prefers to address the ship in question as DiAkko while others AkkoDia.
	+ On a related note, two artworks which coincided the airing of "Cavendish" and "Intelligence and Sensibility" further inspired aforementioned ship; one featuring Diana pleasantly surprised by how Akko perfectly fit with one of her outfit sets while another featuring Diana who curiously blushes upon Akko's compliments.
* As confirmed by Ryouji Masuyama, the design of Akko's mouse form was inspired by Ganba from *Gamba no Bouken*, which approved by his superiors at Studio Trigger.

### Other Appearances

* Akko makes a cameo in the post-credits scene of the thirteenth and final episode of *Space Patrol Luluco,* another anime series produced by Studio Trigger. This announced the *Little Witch Academia* television series.
* A character that looks similar to Akko made a cameo in *Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon* episode, *Mounting an Electrifying Charge!*.
	+ Another similar looking character also featured as a recurring background character in *SSSS.Gridman* where she appears in Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 5, Episode 8, and Episode 13. Unlike in *Little Witch Academia*, however, Akko's *SSSS.Gridman* incarnation lacks her trademark ponytail and the color of her eyes somewhat inconsistent (either brown or crimson in different shots).
* Akko's hat makes a cameo appearance in episode 4 of *BNA: Brand New Animal* among the hats Michiru tried shortly after regaining her human form.
* Akko's Luna Nova standard robe, witch hat, sash and wand made a cameo as one of props in the magic shop Amity, Willow, Gus, and Hunter visit in the first special which made the first part of Season 3 of *The Owl House*.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Little Witch Academia Chronicles, Chapter 3, page 78
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20130710121222/http://littlewitchacademia.com/characters\_akko.html
4. ↑ https://wavemotioncannon.com/2017/01/03/yoh-yoshinari-interview-animestyle-032013-part-33/
6. ↑ Little Witch Academia Chronicles, Chapter 1, page 18
9. ↑ Studio TRIGGER's Livestream, Anime Expo Lite 2020.
10. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/LittleWitchAcademia/comments/hl4xt1/some\_lwa\_lore\_from\_last\_nights\_trigger\_stream/
12. ↑ Q&A With Voice Actresses About Their Characters' Future, Studio TRIGGER's *Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time* Promotional Livestream, 2017.
14. ↑ Little Witch Academia Chronicles, page 234
16. ↑ https://www.tumblr.com/caincifer/175156571618/sarah-firmly-believes-akko-has-a-crush-on-someone
17. ↑ https://twitter.com/truetomb/status/895320292695826432
18. ↑ https://twitter.com/sana0827/status/895297919452037120
19. ↑ https://twitter.com/sana0827/status/895296547465723904
20. ↑ https://twitter.com/nanamaru/status/895305692755533825
23. ↑ Little Witch Academia Chronicles, Chapter 2, page 44
25. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/LittleWitchAcademia/comments/6ypftw/so\_akko\_made\_a\_cameo\_in\_the\_pokemon\_sunmoon\_anime/

## External links

 Atsuko Kagari at LittleWitchAcademia.jp/TV1st

### **Essays**

* ATELIER EMILY
	+ “You’re a witch, Akko.” — Little Witch Academia and the Mundane by ajthefourth January 9, 2017
	+ On Studio Trigger and Inspiration: Yoh Yoshinari’s Little Witch Apprentices by ajthefourth January 16, 2017
	+ A Look Into The Mind of Little Witch Academia's Atsuko Kagari by ajthefourth May 6, 2017
	+ (SEVEN) Metamorphie Faciesse! A visual love letter to Akko's growth. (Little Witch Academia) by ajthefourth December 21, 2017
* *Manga.Tokyo* - Little Witch Academia: What Made The Immature Akko a Heroine? by manga.tokyo August 6th, 2017 (Archived in 25 July 2021)
	+ Source: *animeanime.jp - 「リトルウィッチアカデミア」未熟なアッコを主人公たらしめたものとは 藤津亮太のアニメの門V 第24回* by *Ryota Fujitsu (藤津亮太)* July 13th, 2017 (Archived in 10 June 2023)

### Interviews

* Wave Motion Cannon
	+ Yoh Yoshinari Interview (AnimeStyle, 03/2013) Part 3/3 January 3, 2017