Introduction

The group members for this project are Madi Collins, Kathryn Tucker, Kieran Hanks, and Seiji Furukawa.

We chose to analyze two distinctly different characters from the anime Little Witch Academia (リトルウィッチアカデミア). This project examines the usage of gendered features by these two: Amanda (アマンダ; pictured below, left) and Akko (アッコ; pictured below, right).

Methodology

We focused on and transcribed in their entirety Episodes 5 and 12, which center on both those characters respectively. We analyzed Episode 5 for gender usage by Amanda, and we analyzed Episode 12 for gender usage by Akko. We divided the work evenly, so each group member transcribed one half of an episode. Potential gendered features were identified and highlighted, and then compiled into a spreadsheet. The distribution of features were visualized in pie charts, to show what parts of speech gendered features seem to be primarily realized.

Initially, we suspected that Amanda would use many masculine language features, as she comes off as more of a tomboy. We decided that Akko would provide a good baseline of comparison, as she is the anime’s main character, and would give us a lot of data to work with. She also seemed to be more neutral of a character. Both of these assumptions were correct, and the data that we collected allowed us to analyze the characters and their language more deeply.

In Episode 5, Akko and Amanda get detention for misbehaving in class. The episode follows the development of an emergency at the academy when the source of magic is removed by an angry dragon. Akko and her friends depart on a quest to get it back, while also abandoning their detention cleaning duties.

In the other episode we transcribed, Episode 12, the students are preparing for the Samhain Festival, and Akko describes how badly she wants to win the title of “Moonlight Witch” at the festival. As preparations are being made, Akko accidentally changes her appearance into that of her rival, Diana, and has to go about parts of her day masquerading as Diana. As the requests for the talented Diana pile up, Akko finds herself unable to handle them, and is eventually found out by Diana herself.

Analysis and Discussion – AMANDA アマンダ

In both episodes, we saw heavy usage of masculine language from Amanda, also evidenced in the above  pie chart. Among her group of friends she used extremely masculine language features, such as changing endings from 「ない」to 「ねえ」. These features demonstrate that she portrays herself as an assertive, confrontational person, and we can start to see these portrayed language traits as being part of her personality in the beginning of episode 5. In the episode, Amanda and Akko have a fight, where they quickly alternate saying much of the same thing. However, the nouns and particles used differ drastically, with Akko sticking to 「あんたーよ」 (notice the lack of だ) and Amanda using the hyper-degrading おまえ, but realizing it as 「おめえーだよ」. Amanda’s use of command form (ex: 「隠れろ」、「みろ」) is also very striking as no other character in this episode uses command form quite the same way; it comes off as excessively direct. From this context and the language that Amanda uses throughout each of these episodes, it becomes clear that Amanda asserts herself both linguistically and personality-wise through the usage of masculine language features. It is interesting to note how Amanda’s usage of hyper-casual male speech expresses a degree of psychological distance between her and her peers, as casual speech usually expresses less psychological distance when used within the peer group. This psychological distance effect  is usually achieved through using more polite language, and Amanda employing hyper-casual male speech results in an additional level of abrasiveness. From this, one can see that Amanda both asserts and creates a distanced and masculine construction of herself through the usage of more aggressive language. In doing this, she sets herself apart from all of the other girls at the academy and creates a more individualized, masculine personality.

Below are the spreadsheets of all times that gendered language was used by Amanda in Episode 5:

Analysis and Discussion – AKKO アッコ

The above pie chart shows that Akko used mostly gendered nouns, and expressions. She mainly used nouns such as 「あたし」and 「あんた」when referring to herself and others. These types of expressions show how Akko feminizes herself and her friends. As Akko goes to an all-girls school, this feminization makes sense as she is constantly among female peers, and it also may help Akko to fit in among the other witches. We also saw a large amount of gendered expressions, as Akko used 「でしょ」or 「でしょう」quite frequently. While these may be considered neutral expressions in some contexts, Akko uses them quite frequently, and to express uncertainty that is similar to the unassertiveness of Japanese feminine language. These expressions further displayed Akko’s usage of feminine speech and her characterization of a more feminine girl. Akko’s gender expression is explored more deeply below, and we are able to see how relationships and context impact Akko’s gender expression. 

Within both of these episodes, one can see that Akko uses more feminine or gender-neutral language. We see Akko using more feminine language among her peers, and she tends to use more neutral language (sometimes masculine) with her professors. This may be due to the fact that her relationship with her friends is more casual, and doesn’t mind as coming across as unassertive or more feminine to her friends. However, she may want her teachers to view her as stronger, or more capable so she tends to use more direct and assertive language with them. In episode 12, we saw Akko using the masculine sentence ender 「な」in the presence of one of her teachers, and this may have been done to appear more confident in her abilities. Akko has large goals for herself, and she may want to be taken more seriously in their eyes so she might use more neutral language to convey this message to them. 

During the second half of episode 12 of Little Witch Academia, Akko spends a good portion of it appearing as her classmate, Diana, caused by an enchantment cast on her by a magic mirror. As such, many of Akko’s classmates mistake her for Diana, and so Akko must pretend to be Diana to prevent suspicion. Akko adopts what she believes to be Diana’s speech habits, and speaks in a formal (but highly-feminine) manner, utilizing the 「わ」 and 「わね」 particles at the ends of her sentences and using a mix of casual and formal speech (for example, using 「でしょう」 instead of 「だろう」). In the previous episode our group analyzed (episode 5), it was also interesting to discover that Akko uses 「でしょう」 multiple times in that episode, but in episode 12, she mostly used it when she was under the appearance of Diana. In fact, there was a scene towards the end of the episode where, after Akko had returned to her normal self, she actually used the informal, more masculine-sounding 「だろう」 a couple of times. However she did not use it in the presence of her peers, but when she was speaking with a professor. This is further evidence of our theory that Akko tends to use less formal, more neutral/masculine speech in order to create a more confident/direct persona around her professors, but uses more relaxed, feminine language around her peers. It was also interesting to note that there was a particular scene in this episode where it seemed that Akko forgot that she had the Diana spell cast on her. In this scene, Akko accidentally says 「あたくし」, rather than the proper 「わたくし」, which is a formal gender-neutral pronoun. As we all know, 「あたし」 is a highly-feminine pronoun used mostly by Japanese females in casual situations, achieved by dropping the “w” sound in 「わ」.  Throughout the anime, Akko uses this pronoun most often when referring to herself. But what Akko did in this scene, under the illusion of Diana, is accidentally combine the formal speech pattern that Diana uses with the feminine speech habits that Akko herself uses to create 「あたくし」, a pronoun that you would never use because it combines both formal and informal elements. We thought that this was an interesting, yet odd, mashup. Akko messing up her speech is evidence of her struggle to convincingly act like Diana so that her classmates do not suspect her.

Below are the spreadsheets of all times that gendered language was used by Akko in Episode 12:

Conclusion

Overall, both Akko and Amanda used gendered language more when with their peers than anywhere else. In many of Amanda’s utterances, she used extremely masculine language around her peers to set herself apart from the other girls at the academy, while Akko tended to use more feminine language to seemingly fit in with the other witches. In this context, they are on opposite ends of the spectrum, as one is trying to fit in while the other is trying to stand out. Akko is a character who has big goals and dreams for herself as a witch, and in this way, she tries to fit in with the other witches to excel. She also uses more neutral language around her professors, in order to seem more serious, confident, and professional. Appearing this way to professors would also help her to excel as a witch, as they are more likely to take her seriously and provide her with new challenges. Unfortunately, we do not get to see many interactions with Amanda and her professors, and can only analyze her language based off of peer interactions. In short, Akko used mostly feminine and neutral language to characterize herself, while Amanda used masculine language to do so; this in turn created personalities that allowed Akko to fit in and be perceived as more teachable, while Amanda’s allowed her to stand out as different from the other witches.