Little Witch Academia Feminism Influences

Little Witch 

(9/10/2017) --- This is such a cute animation movie as well a television show (1), I was hesitant at first as I feel it could be just a rip-off of almost any other magical girl show or Harry Potter; but the show is so charming and cute, even the movies are quite adorable.

To give a small synopsis, the show is about the misadventures of a first generation witch named Atsuko "Akko" Kagari as she enrolls in the school of Nova Luna Academy (2) to fulfill her dream of meeting her idol Shiny Chariot and to be in the campus that she also studied; but, Shiny Chariot is nowhere to be found.

There are some elements that the show reminds me of Harry Potter; albeit, it's his own version of a magic school which it wasn't introduce in Harry Potter but just turned the genre more mainstream. I personally would love to see a second series as well a third series, as the characters are adorable and relatable to the audience and the story doesn't get stall at a certain point, it just takes the right pace to conclude the first series on a proper way.

There still material to continue the show at least for a second series, maybe even up to a fifth, to give a proper conclusion to the show as if the students graduated to work on the school or took their own path. I totally recommend this small guilty pleasure to anyone, albeit there is one aspect and that the show got my attention and is the focus on human relations but also of what is to be an independent women in a world that is hostile.

The protagonist Atsuko Kagari or Akko (3) is probably the best example, as she lives on her own rules and tries to be her own person, beyond her admiration of the witch named Shiny Chariot (4) who inspired her to become a witch because of a show that Akko saw when she was younger; but, her actions go that she wants to inspire and make other people happy with her goal of being taken seriously as a witch but as a young woman, who is quite talented and powerful.

Not only the strong character comes from Akko, but from her friend and nemesis such as Lotte (5), Sucy (6) and Diana (7) in which each one of them offers a different perspective towards the inner turmoils of growing up and developing your own persona in a world that can be hostile towards you.

Diana could be the most interesting character from the show, as she seems to be independent and talented but is bounded to the family history, a history in which she feels as enslaved and couldn't even think of happiness. There is a juxtaposition of Diana's character as someone who tries to find happiness but is tied to family traditions, which is a cultural element that can enslave women across the world such as arranged marriage (8)

The fact that on episode tenth (9) Bee Commotion, with the introduction of Andrew Hanbridge (10) as a possible suitor, that he wasn't an influence towards the series but rather much of an ally, instead of a savior or potential romance showed that human relationships within the show were more important than to fall into classical anime cliches such as romance and being a helpless damsel in distress but rather a young person who is growing up, even with the insecurities that almost everyone has to live with.

Reference:

1. https://myanimelist.net/featured/294/Little_Witch_Academia__Studio_Trigger_Puts_a_Spell_on_You
2. http://little-witch-academia.wikia.com/wiki/Luna_Nova_Magical_Academy
3. http://little-witch-academia.wikia.com/wiki/Atsuko_Kagari
4. http://little-witch-academia.wikia.com/wiki/Ursula
5. http://little-witch-academia.wikia.com/wiki/Lotte_Yanson
6. http://little-witch-academia.wikia.com/wiki/Sucy_Manbavaran
7. http://little-witch-academia.wikia.com/wiki/Diana_Cavendish
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arranged_marriage
9. http://little-witch-academia.wikia.com/wiki/Bee_Commotion
10. http://www.mit.edu/~rei/manga-gender.html

An American Psycho: Paul Ryan

Paul & Barack

Not all the psychos are similar to Alfred Hitchcock or Bret Easton Ellis, or as the archetypal I am going to kill you with a gun guy; the people that have the power and unlimited amount of resources are probably thrice dangerous than any maniac with guns. The way Paul Ryan can be seen is similar as the main character in the novel American Psycho Patrick Bateman. Both individuals are antithesis of antiheroes, two men who enjoy the power they have to gain personal benefit even if it inflicts pain on other people.

The problem of Mitt Romney keeps focusing on his terrible decisions which shows the future America is going to take if he takes possession along with Paul Ryan of the White House which will give an indefinite amount of power to these two men as the main branches of power are mainly Republican, and they focus on their politics to outsource the jobs and sink the country in a deficit that it will be difficult to the surface out again; but the biggest problem are the ignorant segments of the middle class which believe the demagogy of Mitt Romney and see Obama as the source of the problem we are facing today while the source can be traced to the George W. Busch era and even beyond that point where Ronald Reagan focused on keeping the rich rich.

The problem are the ignorant's who thinks they know everything but at the end are the victims supporting their bullies to reach the powers because they are focused to believe in the lies that they can not see what problems lay beyond their porches. Some people described as Paul Ryan as a fiscal conservator but in reality he is just a shadow of Mitt Romney, someone who only can see money to put in their pockets or to backup conglomerates. He voted for the Medicare Part D that in essence costed more than the Obama health reform, and voters are even ignoring the Part D because an average American really don't read anything regarding health or actual events because the blind trust they have on the people of power. Maybe that's the problem that this psycho could get elected along with Romney because the middle class enjoy having other people to make decisions for them.

A man has no rights to make decisions on a woman's body, yet as Patrick Bateman he enjoys dominating every single decision on a woman's body as the original psycho did with Christie before he killed her and that's Ryan, just another psycho who thinks women has no right over their bodies as he stated on his 1998 campaign to prosecute women who undergo abortions. So, probably it's better to analyze the scenarios where is OK to bring a child to world where he is going to suffer and eventually be abandoned by the Republican party instead of planning their maternal futures, or what in the case of a rape.? A woman has her right to decide if she wants keep the child, abort it or place it for adoption. Is unfair on many levels that a man as Ryan wants to control females through his political reign along with Romney, we are in the 21st Century yet according to the Republican Party, women are just mere property items.

Log Cabin Republicans who vote for Romney and thus Ryan have to think twice because there is no sacrifice good enough only a stupidity to vote for these two buffoons as they plan to create a constitutional ban on marriage equality as well to put back every single achievement of the community back before Stonewall where it is OK to discriminate against LGTBQ individuals.

Maybe the current political trade can be focused on the continent trends where the Tea Party can be associated with Chavistas and Sandinistas movements that are focused on populism, where charismatic yet wealthy leaders convince the voters to vote for them in order to satisfy their economic interest. The problem again can be traced in the voters not the independent but the ones who can't make a good decisions because at the end maybe we the people we will listen to a monologue from Romney and Ryan regarding that they didn't care what they did but they are proud anyway.