This was the best episode yet. Fun, funny, exciting, and silly. Just the usual Trigger stuff. Though this episode was a little rushed, I still enjoyed the music and the animation. The fast flying scenes were done wonderfully and in the usual crazy way Trigger likes and we got lots of great expressions. The show still retains its charm and I couldn’t help but smile the entire time.
Akko finally has her first flying lesson and she’s absolutely pumped when Professor Ursula brings her broom. As new students, Akko and Sucy step aside and get help from the instructor. They focus, they say the spell, but Sucy is the only one to fly but we already knew she could. Of course, Akko doesn’t move an inch. The rest of the episode, we get many things. For one thing, Akko practices flying on her own and also with the help of Lotte and Sucy. I found these segments to be the funniest in the episode, particularly when Akko threatened her broom by breaking a stick but then begging and crying right after. I love Sucy, but you have to admit that her way of helping is a little extreme. But then again that’s the reason why I love Sucy so much. Akko tries the best she can, but she still can’t fly in time for…
the relay. The Broom Relay is a type of sport where, well it’s just as it sounds. Like regular relay races you’d see in the Olympics, the only twist here is that the girls ride on brooms. The rules are still the same as a relay, no shoving, you can’t damage the baton, it’s teams of three, etc. Akko found out through the trophy case that Chariot had won a relay, so that made Akko join along with Lotte and Sucy. That when the girls stepped in and helped Akko with her flying.
We also got maybe a plot point with the Shooting Star, a special broom that can fly without the Sorcerer’s Stone’s magic to make it fly. It’s a powerful broom that is hard to control. Akko and Lotte came upon it when they went to the cafe to pick up Lotte’s broom, and we also saw Amanda there. We later find out she took it for the relay race but she lost control of it and lost it, but Akko found it and managed to ride it (around the world?). She rides to the finish line against Diana, but Akko falls off and comes in at second.
We got a lot of things this episode with Akko learning to fly, the Shooting Star broom, and the relay being the same episode. How did Amanda steal the broom anyways? Why couldn’t we just focus on watching Akko learn how to fly this episode, and save the relay for the next? The episode was still great so I’m not complaining too much, it’s more like a suggestion the anime team could have done.
Also they’ve made it pretty obvious that Ursula is Shining Chariot. My question is what happened that made Chariot change her hair, her name, and just her whole identity in general to a new one. The clumsy Ursula is so different from the magical and confident Chariot, but I should have expected something about her when she somehow knew the correct spell Akko needed to use with the staff in the first episode. And that also introduced another plot point to us, but I doubt we’ll learn more until much later. Right now the show is focusing more on Akko becoming a witch, but Ursula’s identity and the reason for Chariot’s disappearance might end up being the main plot point of the show. What secrets are you hiding, Ursula/Chariot?
