Settle down kids, it’s Doremi time and that’s final. In our last episode, Ojamajo Doremi proved it can actually weave Onpu’s ongoing antagonism into the show’s usual classmate-focused mode, as she brainwashed a hapless upperclassman into briefly falling for our orb-haloed heroine. “Doremi in love” episodes are always a bunch of fun, and this one was no exception, while also benefiting from one of the strongest sets of layouts the show has put together yet. Between last episode’s love drama and the episode before’s kaiju shenanigans, it feels like Doremi’s visual mastery of its own drama is improving over time, which is almost frightening to me. If Doremi gets too much more visually appealing, I’m not sure any of us will have the power to stop it.
Beyond its own inherent appeal, last episode also ratcheted up the urgency of dealing with Onpu’s witch delinquency (witchlinquency?). She’s not casting constant illegal spells at Ruka’s command – she actually just is That Bitch, and even Ruka is totally unable to control her. She’s also made it perfectly clear that she feels no guilt or responsibility for her actions, so it’s probably going to take a disaster closer to home to make her realize what a turd she’s being. Whether this week sees us challenging Onpu directly or rambling through more classroom drama, I’m eager to see whatever’s in store. Let’s dive into another episode of Ojamajo Doremi!
Episode 40
“With this tree that grows magical spheres, we’ll be set for life!” Ah good, an episode about printing money. “Don’t engage in financial fraud” is one of those lessons kids learn before middle school or never learn at all
I love this collection of Random Stuff we open with
Rika’s conducting some kind of ritual, and she’s conscripted the girls’ fairies into it. The visual gag of these four performing a ritual dance is really something
Hadzuki thinks she’s casting a curse. I appreciate how the profoundly polite Hadzuki has this dark streak, like when she was mocking Doremi’s romantic prospects last episode
Majo Rika is so offended by this suggestion that she summons both mouth-Rikas and background-Rikas to tell the girls off
“Doremi Aces It? Level 3 Exams!” Wow, we are just burning through these exams. I know this show went for several seasons even after these first fifty, so maybe they spend the rest as full witches
Ahaha, these condescending fairy faces. The fairies are developing a lot more personality, and it’s great
“Among all exams, the level 3 one is the one most witches fail.” Good thing Doremi’s already a pro at failing, then
“There have been many witches who gave up their Porons at this point and went back to being normal girls.” Oh my god, this intense little flashback here. Young witches collapsing in despair and giving up their dreams. What the heck
Dela arrives with terrific news: in order to celebrate the 100th year of the Queen’s reign, all apprentices who pass this exam will be given a seed that can grow a tree that grows GODDAMN MAGICAL SPHERES
If the Queen is celebrating her 100th year, I’m not sure why Rika and Ruka are so concerned about succession. Seems the Queen’s got things covered
“I can’t believe that magic spheres grow on trees.” “What kind of flowers will be on the tree?” Just letting the girls riff on this absurd concept is great. While the mechanics of the witch world are often intangibly vague, they can serve as great fodder for our very well-illustrated protagonists to comment on
Aiko’s Rika impression is way too good
Pop is determined not to miss this exam, so she magically summons her own coffee
Aaand she fails. “Pop fails to stay up late” has become a welcome pillar of the Doremi aesthetic
Nice dramatic composition of the whole team gearing up for battle
Onpu appears, and Doremi for some reason is totally civil with her. KICK HER ASS, DOREMI!
Onpu passed the level 3 exam, then went ahead and passed the level 2 exam, too. So is she brainwashing the test administrators as well? It frankly wouldn’t be that hard
Our proctors summon a warped clock, underlining the Salvador Dali-ness of this whole world
They have an hour to pass through three magical doors in order to cross three worlds, but can only use magic twice. Once again, we get a conflict that’s ripe for fun, creative applications of magical powers – I only hope the show exploits this one more than the obstacle course race
And all three of them end up in different places! What looks like some kind of crypt for Aiko, an ethereal storm for Hadzuki, and the witch frog village itself for Doremi. Very happy to get more evocative witch world backgrounds, and I also appreciate the callback to the witch frogs. Even as the world gets more visually fanciful, callbacks like this give it a sense of dramatic continuity that translates into an overall sense of solidity and place
Aiko’s world is some kind of strange, winding temple, with steps floating on air leading to infinite doors. She finds the door she’s seeking, but its steps wind away from her own perch. Does she use magic to cross the gap, or trying to find the root of those stairs? THIS IS AWESOME! THIS IS SUCH EVOCATIVE DREAMWORLD MAGICAL STUFF
“Oh well, I’ll just find some other way there.” This episode’s premise is so full of potential that I’m already imagining other potential mirror worlds they could enter, where they’d again be presented with the choice of using up one of their spells or finding some perilous long way around
I also like that they were separated for this test. It increases the sense of danger, and also lets their individual strengths and weaknesses shine. Hadzuki is the smartest of them, but she’s also the most fearful, and so much less effective alone
She runs into ghosts, and responds with a clear takeoff on The Scream. Classical art all around this week
While Hadzuki’s barrier is fear and Aiko’s is disorientation, it seems like Doremi must simply get over her own ego, and not get distracted by these witch frogs
Aiko walking away the second she learns this witch wants her to pay for information is fantastic. Aiko’s definitely grown up the fastest of these three; her family situation has forced her to learn to take care of herself
“You have a good business sense. I’ll show you the way to the door.” Aiko is so good. She successfully negotiates down to “sure, I’ll keep you company while you lead me to the door”
Hadzuki’s story is AMAZING. “C’mon, let’s hurry her out the door.” This town of ghost-like creatures just gets so fed up with her being terrified of all of them that they form ranks to shove her out the door. I have to imagine these witch world communities aren’t big fans of Exam #3
Yep, Doremi’s busy having a tea party with the witch frogs
Aiko enters a new world, and is presented with a riddle she immediately disarms. Aiko’s too good at this
This episode must have been fun or “fun” for Doremi’s background artists. So many beautiful new environments
Alright, Hadzuki just straight-up ran through a Giorgio de Chirico composition. So the witch world is deliberately aping a variety of surrealist artists. That’s awesome!
And Doremi jumps through the door to… the wedding of the squid and octopus. Doremi’s challenge is entirely based around politely excusing herself from various social situations
And now Aiko’s in a desert. This episode is NON-STOP
Aiko passes, after proving her virtue by using her last spell to give a parched witch water. She had by far the most meaningful test of the three of them, and she aced it
Hadzuki finds herself asleep in a strange garden of clouds. I feel like this episode’s wild imagery must have inspired more than a few childhood nightmares
It’s funny how this episode and show seem to understand horror or unease so much better than many actual horror shows. Violence in the abstract isn’t scary, but these strange worlds with mercurial rules certainly are
Hadzuki’s “laughing at bad jokes” power somehow saves the day
OH NO, THE LAST CHALLENGE IS STEAK
Doremi fails, as she absolutely deserves to. Goddamnit, Doremi
And of course, the seeds they did earn take two hundred years to grow. Good luck, girls
And Done
That episode was terrific! My principle complaint with the last exam episode was that it didn’t really put either magic or the witch world to creative use, but this episode was absolutely brimming with evocative new landscapes and clever turns by our heroes. While Doremi was basically as useless as ever, it was great to see Aiko actually triumph over a variety of tricky obstacles, while Hadzuki’s journey through surrealism offered both plenty of laughs and all sorts of gorgeous vistas. Some episodes of Doremi are heartfelt, some are thoughtful, and some just delight through sheer invention – this episode was a stunning example of the third, demonstrating the vivid creativity that makes this show’s concept of magic so special. I’m almost happy Doremi failed, just so I can see her take another crack at this awesome exam!
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