We’re back with more Ojamajo Doremi! The show’s first episode was very charming, and I already know these episodes are good too since I’m writing this intro after the fact, so let’s not waste any time. Doremi may not be a particularly good witch, but she’s going to do her… well, maybe she’ll try somewhat. LET’S FIND OUT!
Episode 2
Goddamnit I just got Doremi’s name. I am not a smart man
This writeup is going to be a little weird, since between watching that first episode and now, we just experienced the greatest American political disaster in many, many years. The world is a darker place now, and so I’ll do my best to bring my usual enthusiasm to this lovely show, but it might be a little tough. Who knows, maybe Doremi + Trump’s Apocalypse will actually make for a reasonable reading experience. Let’s get to it
…welp, just spent another forty minutes just staring through my monitor. Cleaned up some trash downstairs. Still feels like I’m living in some weird soundless dream world
Gotta do it, though. We’re in this together, guys. One day follows another
Alright, let’s start
Opening with more of the combination fairy tale/musical note theming, with this musical bar border around the first shot
Looks like we’re getting a formal introduction to Doremi’s bookish friend
“I wonder what would happen if I ran away.” Jeez! It’s tough all over
Still really appreciating this show’s small-scale but pretty painted backgrounds
“Becoming a witch apprentice isn’t about the cool outfit!” Rika, I hate to tell you this, but the outfit kinda sucks
A lot of this show’s appeal is just “dang, these are some great faces,” which doesn’t really necessitate the most in-depth criticism!
Of course, Doremi herself is also great. The average protagonist of a children show seems to be much, much better than the average protagonist of a show aimed at teenagers. Shows for children offer characters that it’s easy to relate to – shows for teenagers offer characters that it’s “easy” to pretend you are. From an adult perspective, the artifice of an eternally witty or deviant teen protagonist is just tiring and distancing, while an honestly portrayed kid is completely human
Doremi jonesing for that witch sphere fix
Doremi has been enlisted into forced labor. The witching world is tough
The style of delivery this vocal director is going for is very different than what I’m used to in anime. They’re not afraid to give Doremi herself a very abrasive tone (similar to Usagi from Sailor Moon, actually), and the deliveries in general feel more choppy and honestly conversational
Apparently Rika will just be traveling in a flying dust pan from here on
A series of witch exams numbered 9 through 1. Our first meaningful narrative hook, at just about the right level of evocative vagueness
Lala is a lot better about managing Doremi
Hadzuki is her friend’s name. The title of this one was about becoming Hadzuki, so I assume that’ll be our magical adventure. Between that and the first episode, it seems like this may just be a show about discovering and respecting the personal worlds of others, which would be pretty lovely
“You don’t know what’s happening in my house.” Yep. Why are the children’s shows the ones that actually take on meaningful topics
Well, I know the answer to that – late-night anime is escapism designed for a very specific audience of teenagers and young adults, occasionally sprinkled with compelling sparks of poignancy and vision. Children’s anime is intended for a broad audience, late-night anime is in large part a phase to be moved past
I really appreciate how understated and honest this conversation is. They don’t make a big production of Hadzuki running away, and they don’t villainize Doremi in spite of her being quite insensitive
But Doremi still immediately notices Hadzuki acting differently at school
Talking to the nurse. Another good lesson: try to find adults you can confide in to support you
And what’s this, characters immediately working to settle disagreements and reestablish their friendship. What sorcery is this
“Only magic can help me.” YOU DON’T SAY
“I’m a witch friend of Doremi’s” god damnit Doremi
It’s good that magic can just do whatever in this universe. This is extremely not a show about magic rules
The still frame of Doremi spinning across the sky is extremely good
“She’s wasting her magic spheres on useless crap again.” I’m sure that’s some translator artistic license, but I still laughed
Looks like they’re playing really loose with the existence of witches. Also a good choice – this is not a show about trying to hide her witch nature. It’s a show about people and their problems
The show’s expression work isn’t fluid at all, but you can still easily parse Doremi in Hadzuki’s body
It’s interesting that Hadzuki is just excited about all this, with no real reservations
Not yet sure what to make of these cash register ad breaks
Pop is so great
It’s nice seeing Hadzuki get flustered in her own very different way
Goddamnit Hadzuki, Doremi is way worse at being a person than you, you’re screwing this whole thing up
Of course, Doremi is far worse at even this
It’s nice how the problem doesn’t really seem to be anything totally devastating – Hadzuki just has very possessive and low-key controlling parents, a common but very real conflict
Hadzuki is apparently supposed to be good at violin. They really didn’t think this one through
Welp, grandma just revealed she actually doesn’t have a bottom half for a moment there
The finale of this episode involves Doremi almost destroying her own house in a broom collision. Doremi is not a good witch
The episode’s conflict ended up being even more mild than I expected, and that’s fine – “other people’s home situations are different” is strong enough on its own
Episode 3
Looks like this theater frame will be how they introduce a given episode’s focus characters. And here we’ve got the third witch from the OP
This girl is unsurprisingly the sporty one
Doremi still bemoaning her tragic lost steak. Times are tough all around, Doremi
So the third girl is a transfer
The guy who makes fun of Doremi gets a name: Kotake. Interesting to think that basically no character in this room is a background character. It’s a shame only children’s shows and rare exceptions like Bokurano get to humanize an ensemble like this. It seems like that’d be one of the naturally best directions to take a reasonably long-running series of self-contained episodic adventures
Yeah, everyone in this classroom has a totally distinct design. It also makes sense that this episode comes now; we’ve had two episodes to first introduce the premise and then the likely structure, and now the show can build on that platform by introducing a portion of their larger social world
Aiko’s very confident! Totally owning this introduction
The SOS trio. Lots of offhand character introductions – pretty much anyone in this class seems capable of adding to the conversation, meaning this room feels a lot less fabricated than most show classrooms, where only a half dozen or so characters truly exist
Jeez, Ai is really letting these girls have it
It’s nice seeing Hadzuki defend Doremi in her very Hadzuki way
Even the teacher claps when Ai catches the chalk thrown at her, lol
“She’s so cheerful, but she says things that can hurt others without a care!” Another classic and very relatable scenario – the kid who’s mean to you somehow getting popular, thus isolating you and your feelings
TAKE HER DOWN, DOREMI
Whoa, unexpectedly ambitious shot backwards out of depth here, as Ai walks towards the screen
Doremi’s backgrounds seem very flat and simplistic, so it’s interesting how this sequence is emphasizing their physical nature – Doremi hiding behind objects in the background, sneaking around corners of a continuous painting
Doremi, your magic sucks
Doremi’s flying noises are great
Seems like the focus is once again seeing life in another’s shoes
Oh no Ai’s acting nice and her relationship with her father is charming, this is terrible
Parents are key in this show, another separation between this and the escapism designed for teenagers
Funny but actually kinda realistic how one brief afternoon turned around Doremi’s feelings on Ai
This riverside background is lovely
Ai’s parents are divorced and it’s not a big deal. Another nice touch
Ai’s dad can’t come to the parent-teacher day because he has work. Once again, Doremi is presented with a problem that magic can’t actually solve, but might make her better able to understand
Nice conversation between Ai’s dad and Doremi. This show is just stuffed with the kind of frank, honest conversations that are unfortunately rare in so many shows
There is no way this magical adventure ends well. Already cringing
Oh my god Doremi made a zombie clone of Ai’s father Doremi this is not helping
Oh no the real Ai-dad is actually going to make it, THEY’LL HAVE TO FIGHT
Really touching scene between Ai and her dad
Aha, this last scene is so great. We’re really playing loose with the other characters discovering magic, and that lets the show do a lot of goofy scenes like this
And Done!
As I kinda expected, I didn’t have the most to say about this show craft-wise, but I certainly enjoyed it for its own sake! Ojamajo Doremi is absolutely charming, from its cast and aesthetic to its sensitive episodic stories. It pretty much embodies the honesty and empathy that tends to make children’s shows great, touching on a variety of personal topics with universal resonance. I’m not surprised people like it so much!
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