Greetings everyone

*dust off this place* heya!!!

May I offer this Akko in this trying times?

If so do you mind showing???

As a girl with ADHD, Little Witch Academia continues to strike a chord with me with the portrayal of Akko.

Akko not only displays common traits that come with ADHD, she also has to deal with the problems often caused by these traits. She’s hyperactive, she says things before thinking, she struggles to be able to focus/she becomes too focused, she displays time and time again struggles to learn things the “traditional way”. And as Episode 16 kinda shoved in our faces, she is impatient.

While “genki” characters aren’t that uncommon in anime, they are usually comical relief side characters or characters that can somehow lose their ADHD-related flaws when the situation needs it.

I feel LWA has had a more nuanced, more realistic depiction of this “genki” archetype than many other series. Like how they tackle the issue with learning difficulties and assuming everyone learns in the same way. I can imagine that many others with ADHD have been in a situation similar to Akko in episode 7, with Professor Finneran berating her for her lack of progress. But Akko’s struggle to learn isn’t entirely caused by herself. A big part of it is because of the teachers’ unwillingness to understand that Akko may need to be taught in different ways compared to other students. However, Professor Ursula acknowledges this and stands up for Akko (sadly, not everyone with learning difficulties had a “Professor Ursula” to stand up for them in real life).

Something that makes me sad is when people call Akko “insufferable” or something similar. I feel like these people fail to understand Akko’s problems. While, no, she should not get away with hurtful things she does to others, I think it might be easy to forget something: Akko is not an adult.

Akko is still just starting to realize her shortcomings and how to deal with them. She doesn’t fully understand herself yet, and why she struggles with certain things. She may not always realize that her behavoiur can hurt others around her.

This also means that her problems will not just stop, just because she realized how to deal with it. As an example, she will not now suddenly stop becoming impatient after episode 16. She will most likely be able to tell herself to calm down more often now, but not every time.