Oh goodness I loved this episode. Mainly because I could really relate to it, to both Lotte and Annabel.
That upcoming Saturday of that week, Lotte has planned to go to an event for a long-running novel, night fall, where it will release its 365th novel. She’s a huge fan of the series and she’s so ecstatic to go, but things go downhill for her when she, Akko, and Sucy get punished for stealing a tart (even though it was all Akko’s fault). Because for some reason the school can’t supply anything more than potatoes. Their punishment being on that same Saturday, Lotte is absolutely crushed. But Akko comes up with a plan to sneak out of the school in the potato van after they help unload it and the girls all go to the night fall event.
Lotte was absolutely adorable this episode. She proves how big a fan she is by identifying extremely minor characters from the volume and chapter they appeared in, and she showed her stuff in the quiz. It was so fun to see her run around the event in full cosplay, laughing and having fun. We learn that as a child, Lotte was teased a lot because she was a witch, but then one day she found night fall and was able to identify with some characters in the book who were in her situation, and soon she was absorbed into the story and is now a mega fan. I think it’s safe to say that many people can relate to Lotte and say something in their life, whether it be a book, an anime, a video game, or whatever, has saved them in one way or another. It’s made them happy and give them something to look forward to, and its made them found other people that like the same thing as them. I somehow feel that myself, and I know other people that feel just as strongly as her. And I like how it was treated in this episode. Even though Akko and Sucy knew nothing about the book series, they both supported Lotte and cheered her on in the quiz show and made sure she had as much fun as they could. Especially Akko, since she felt guilty about getting them all in trouble for her wrongdoing. And even though in the end neither of them knew what the hell she and Annabel were talking about, they were happy for her. They’re such good friends, and I’m glad that even though this was a Lotte episode, we got a great look on the girls’ friendship.
And for me personally, I could really relate to Annabel. We learn that night fall is a series that’s been written for 120 years, but it’s never been only one author writing the series. When Lotte wins the quiz contest, she receives Annabel’s personal fountain pen, and when Annabel hands it to her she says that Lotte will be the next Annabel and write the rest of the series. But this current Annabel is only a child, and the only reason why she held that quiz contest was because she wasn’t feeling confident in her writing anymore and wanted to pass the baton to someone else. The series was getting some pretty harsh reviews from the fans and so Annabel was feeling discouraged and basically gave up. But Lotte didn’t want to become the next writer and wanted Annabel to continue because she loved her writing despite the bad reviews, and so Lotte and the others searched for her to tell her all of this. I have to admit that at this moment I was getting slightly emotional. As an aspiring writer myself, and a sensitive one at that, I always push myself to write near perfect things because I’m afraid that people will never like my writing and then I’ll get all upset. While my current workshop classes are helping me with that, I always look ahead into the future and dread if people won’t like my work and end up writing bad reviews. I want nothing more than to be successful, but I’m scared I’ll get discouraged. But hearing Lotte’s speech really warmed my heart and I was so glad she was able to reach Annabel.
And it’s true. Even if it’s a small part of the fanbase that’s enjoying your stuff, then that means that you’re doing something right. Of course you can work hard to improve your work, but from what I saw of the comments, the “critiques” were mostly just flame posts. They were just saying “It sucks!” or “It’s a trainwreck!” and things like that. I think this is just her opportunity to sit back, relax, and continue writing. Because she loves writing and she doesn’t want to stop. And if she knows that someone like Lotte and other people love her work that much, then she shouldn’t give up. It hurts giving up on something that you love doing. Continue and get better! You’re always going to have your ups and downs, but when you’re down you just have to get up!
Okay so enough emotional stuff. Funny stuff! So one of Diana’s girls also loves night fall, the person that was cosplaying Big Ben was one of the teachers, and Luna Nova actually feeds their students mashed potatoes, french fries, and potato salad for one meal. Oh, and an Evangelion reference. Well that was fun. I feel like the episodes just keep getting better!
So….Lotte was seriously chatting with one of her teachers?
