The fact that Studio TRIGGER decided to ask for more funding on Kickstarter of all places. And then the fans funded it in only three hours, and managed to double it within a day!
When Akko and the girls accidentally summon a giant fungus monster that takes out the whole class with a knock out gas, Finnelan and Diana waste about a second before agreeing on the correct spell and combining their magic to neutralize it with no effort whatsoever. There's a reason she's considered The Ace.
Akko's ultimate Ascended Fangirl moment, when the invoking of Shiny Ballista causes her to transform into her own version of Shiny Chariot's outfit.
Linked with funny, Miss Ursula's combination of reassuring the crowd that it's All Part of the Show, keeping anyone from being hurt, and throwing out hints to the girls of how to beat the Giant while totally trusting in their ability to succeed without her direct aid. Now that is one Badass Teacher.
With her two best friends refusing to speak to her for her insensitive Control Freak nature, Akko reaches close to the Despair Event Horizon. But after a talk with Diana (which was really just Diana scolding and insulting Akko), the protagonist regains her usual tenacity and plans out her project.
The Parade itself and the climax as a whole is pure awesomeness, particularly the broom chase scene in Blytonbury and the fight between the trio and the giant.
The main theme, aka, Luna Nova Magic Parade, is an grandiose, bouncy and joyous theme that perfectly fits the intent behind Akko's Happy Time Project.
Contested Sequel: Fans are a bit divisive on the film's quality compared to the first film. Many tend to find it to be on par, if not better than the first film, due to the added world-building, the introduction of fan-favorites Amanda, Constanze and Jasminka and the slightly more fleshed out characterization for the likes of Akko and Lotte. Others find it to be inferior due to not finding it as exciting as the first film, the side characters being underdeveloped and Akko's more self-centered personality compared to the first film.
Fan Nickname: Fans tend to refer to Akko's transformation upon using the Shiny Ballista as either "Shiny Akko", "Enchanted Akko" or "Mahou Shoujo Akko".
Fridge Brilliance: Diana's speech in the film is a reflection of the criticisms lobbed against Studio TRIGGER: For doing something simply because it entertained you. It isn't hard to read Shiny Chariot as a personification of Studio TRIGGER, Akko as a personification of the artists, writers, and animators who embody Trigger's philosophy, and witches in general representing anime itself. Which makes Akko's utter determination and pure-hearted belief in making the parade a celebration of witches rather heartwarming, because it's the same way with Studio Trigger: They make anime simply because they enjoy it and want to spread that joy. The uncanny resemblance between Shiny Chariot◊ and the studio's actual mascot Trigger-chan◊ seems to further support this.
Fridge Horror: While it is played for laughs in the film proper, the traditional witch parade before Akko revamped it is rather horrifiying to think about, as it's essentially a glorification of the witch hunts that used to occur back in the olden days, with muggles gleefully putting witches through publically humiliating, offensive and painful acts just for the sake of their entertainment, which combined with the added context of what these parades are renacting, can easily give off the impression that the parade is made with bigotry and hatred towards witches in mind. It's no wonder why Akko wants to revamp it and why Diana wants to simply cancel the whole thing altogether.
Funny Moments: At the beginning of the film, Akko, Sucy, and Lotte are hauled before Finnelan, who asks them rhetorically how many times she's had to see them since day one. Akko, Comically Missing the Point, tries to work out precisely how many times it's been.
While she undermines it right after by berating her bad spellcasting, it's still sweet that Diana briefly compliments Akko for her magic at the end after saving the town. Especially since Diana is usually an Alpha Bitch to her otherwise.
Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar makes a cameo in one shot of the film. Fast forward to a year later, one of Little Witch Academia's main key animators, Takafumi Hori, would go on to collaborate with her and the rest of the show's staff on an episode of the series, "Mindful Education" as well as the movie and the opening for Steven Universe: Future several years after.
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes creator Ian Jones-Quartey also makes a cameo alongside Rebecca Sugar. Jump forward to 2017 and not only would Trigger animate the opening for the show, but the show proper also features several shout outs to the franchise and even name-drops Luna Nova in "Are You Ready for Some Megafootball?!".
During their confrontation early on, Akko and Diana state to each other that they'll never agree to anything and that they'll never get along. Fast forward to the TV series two years later and Akko and Diana end up doing exactly just that by the second half.
Tear Jerker: When Akko rips up the sheet music to Lotte's ancestral song. Turns out having The Heart of the group Break is heartbreaking.
Diana barely has much of a role at all in the film and only appears a few times across the entire film, which while understandable given the limited runtime and the like, is still rather disappointing. Especially since the intital confrontation between Akko and Diana early on planted the seeds for what could have been an interesting conflict regarding the parade's fate (cancelling it altogether vs transforming it into something positive) that never goes anywhere after that scene. The film also never bothers to bring up how they're both against the parade in its traditional form and find it distasteful and humiliating.
Despite their interesting personalities and gimmicks on top of being a trio of troublemakers themselves, which could have led to interesting scenarios. Amanda, Constanze and Jasminka barely do much at all in the film and act merely as supporters for Akko most of the time.
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