ladyusada replied to your post “I’ve seen seventeen episodes of Little Witch Academia, and while I...”
omg no what? I love Akko with Andrew! She's helped him grow so much, and the attraction between them is so cute. How is this a hated pairing!?
Andrew is a dude, and therefore it’s a m/f pairing instead of a f/f pairing in an anime series where f/f ships rule supreme in the fandom (for obvious reasons---the cast is mostly female), and
Diana/Akko is the juggernaut ship of the fandom, and Andrew/Akko is seen as a “threat” to the juggernaut ship, thus (from what I’ve personally witnessed) Diana/Akko shippers feel that it’s necessary to leave nasty comments on Andrew/Akko fanworks, because they feel that their ship is superior and thus they’re entitled to feel this way.
It’s your typical ship war nonsense, in other words.
But I’m happy to hear that you also like Andrew/Akko! I’ve seen through episode nineteen now (I think the last one was nineteen---it was the one where Diana heads home and we learn about the Cavendish family), and I ship them more than ever, haha. I agree with you: The attraction between them is really cute, and I especially like how neither one has to be “knocked down a peg” (so to speak) in order for this relationship to work.
When we first meet Andrew, he . . . doesn’t hate witches, per se, but he hates magic in the sense that he believes it’s obsolete and a waste of time. We get the sense that most things are a waste of time in Andrew’s eyes; he seems bored at best and jaded at worst. He doesn’t seem to find enjoyment in anything that we can see. He doesn’t care overmuch about school (instead he’s going through the motions), he doesn’t find happiness in the girls that fawn over him, he’s not interested in the things his friend has to say, et cetera. But since this is an anime about a witch attending a magic school, what we’re supposed to pay attention to is that Andrew has a very negative view of magic (and of the school, Luna Nova), something that his childhood acquaintance Diana is very aware of.
So then he notices Akko as she tries to sneak off to the Fountain of Polaris, and we have that moment where---she has caught his eye, she’s unusual, and it’s that moment the audience recognizes as one of almost awakening in the sense that Akko caught his eye where no one else could. For the first time he seems interested in magic (or at least something magical---her rabbit ears), and when she introduces to herself we’re tricked into thinking, just for a moment, that he’s going to at the very least lie and say he has interest in magic / Luna Nova in order to impress her.
Andrew is honest. He says he thinks magic is obsolete and pointless and so is the school. And of course Akko gets upset, of course she’s offended and angry---but Andrew doesn’t back down from his honesty even though he had that moment of being interested. And I love that; I love that Andrew wasn’t forced to compromise himself or his opinions for the sake of his interest in Akko. And I love, too, that Akko is never forced to compromise hers. Even moving beyond that episode (where Andrew was introduced and the two met for the first time), although they learn and grow together, they never have to compromise themselves. Andrew opens up more and more to the idea of magic (first when he agreed to keep what transpired between them in that first episode a secret, and later still when he doesn’t scoff at it once at the Cavendish manor and even makes a remark about how, back then, he never understood Diana’s obsession with magic), and Akko learns how to listen to someone’s thoughts, feelings, and opinions, which is something she’s honestly not very good at. (For while she didn’t agree with him in the Cavendish episode, she acknowledges that she sees the logic in what he’s saying, but she just can’t agree on an emotional level.) But even as they open up to each other like this, and even as they grow together like this, they still don’t compromise themselves. It’s clear that they’re growing, not sacrificing, and we see this in the way they never hesitate to push and question each other in a way that they both respond positively to. Even when they’re arguing (such as in the party episode, when Akko grows irate with him for going along with everything his father says, and Andrew---despite being under the influence of the love bee!---argues back with her that she couldn’t possibly understand what it’s like to grow up in his circumstances), it’s clear that they listen to and respect one another. Andrew doesn’t just cut Akko down or insult her; he makes it plain when he disagrees or he thinks she’s being rash (and she often is, let’s be honest), but he also asks her questions to get her thoughts, and he genuinely listens to her answers. Akko, likewise, doesn’t just railroad over him (at least, not as much as she does with some others); she also asks him questions, firing right back at him with his same typical style. It’s in this way that they actually help each other learn and grow, and mature as people.
(And yes, Andrew starts coming around on the subject of magic, but it’s gradual. It doesn’t feel like he’s sacrificing that part of himself because he didn’t throw it away the second Akko intrigued him. It feels like a more more natural understanding, borne of his relationship with her, rather than something he detached for the sake of this relationship.)
So yeah, I really think it’s a good ship. I honestly really like them together a lot, and I like the ship more and more with each episode they spend together. (It’s funny, because I’m sure that the Cavendish episode made Diana/Akko shippers really happy, but while I like that Diana’s and Akko’s friendship grew, it just made me ship Andrew/Akko even more, particularly with the way he was smiling at her hat at the end of the episode, wondering how she could have left it behind. That was so cute!) It might be the unpopular ship, but oh well. I’m used to that by now. =P
