Saturday has come again, and it’s absolutely time for some more Ojamajo Doremi. Doremi has entered a somewhat odd interim phase in its current arc; after Onpu’s dramatic debut and declaration of intent, she’s mostly just hung around, acting occasionally villainous but more often just indifferent to our heroines’ plights. Her nefarious benefactor Majo Ruka obviously has a legitimate stake in sabotaging Rika and her ojamajos, but Onpu mostly just seems down for whatever, and willing to work with any side if it sounds like fun.
In meta-genre terms, Onpu and Ruka’s appearance has kept Doremi focused on fanciful witch world conflicts, from the dramatic race of two episodes ago to the witch frog invasion last week. This makes sense; like with Ruka’s first appearance, it’s difficult to pull off a classic “one of our classmates has a problem”-style episode while also keeping things focused on the inter-witch drama, and so Doremi is temporarily prioritizing its magical worldbuilding over its moral lessons. Unfortunately, these episodes don’t tend to be as strong as Doremi’s standard material – the system of magic in this world is too arbitrary to really invest in, and these episodes tend to lack the satisfying emotional substance or thematic payoffs of the more realistic conflicts. Still, Doremi has always managed a reasonable balance of its various component materials, and I’m guessing this recent swing towards magical malevolence will pay off soon. Let’s see what schemes Ruka and Onpu cook up this time!
Episode 38
Doremi flies across the moon, and is greeted by… motherfucking Godzilla. That’s literally Godzilla. We’ve got a Godzilla episode, folks
Great shot of this kaiju (it’s got horns, so it’s not literally Godzilla) roaring contrasted against the moon. I don’t know how we’re possibly getting here, but I’m ready!
That kaiju was actually drawn by one of Doremi’s classmates! Wonder of wonders, it looks like we’re getting a classmate-focused episode after all
Our new boy is Ryota, who’s scribbling monsters in the middle of math time. Doremi’s teacher remains as snarkily charming as ever
And of course, Doremi is just actually sleeping
“Ryota and the Monster of the Night.” Genuinely thrilled to be getting another classmate-focused episode. These are always so charming
The teacher announces they need to make something for the “fall show.” I’m not sure if that’s a general Japanese school tradition, or just an event for these young elementary schoolers
Onpu: “What I love is only one thing.” My immediate guess is “me,” but it seems like this may be our first seed for actually learning who Onpu really is
Doremi is such a bad influence, lol. She manages to get Ryota yelled at a second time out in the hallway by demanding he sketch the kaiju from her dream
And now Ryota is actually cleaning the gym like they were assigned, while Doremi weeps on the floor about how hard life is and how unlucky she is. Our gallant hero
Ryota’s on the soccer team, so two of our familiar classmates show up to grab him. At this point I think we’ve actually had dedicated episodes for well over half of Doremi’s classmates, and now the show can offhandedly add new details to their lives by illustrating how they cross paths with each other. A natural illustration of one of Doremi’s most key points: the fact that we only tend to see the public faces of the people we know, but that everyone nonetheless contains multitudes
Doremi’s classmate-focused episodes do this directly, but simply seeing familiar characters in new contexts can accomplish it without drawing any narrative focus. The things that stories take for granted are often more effective teaching tools than any overt lessons they try to impart – and on the flip side, the things stories take for granted can also be some of the most insidious (ranging from “this class of people are obviously a joke” to “trusting others will only get you burned” and beyond)
We return to one of the show’s favorite games, “guess what clay creature Doremi is failing to sculpt”
“It’s because you keep making all this weird crap.” I expect that’s subtitler liberties, but I could totally see Majo Rika describing Doremi’s creations as “weird crap”
Oh my god, this is so adorable. Ryota is on the beach in a monster costume, terrorizing the countryside and fighting against three tiny children
Nice touch using all these low-angle shots to evoke the imagery of monster movies
“It’s the hairbun monster!” Doremi attempts to intervene and is immediately, savagely dunked on by these children
Aiko no don’t fight them these children are too ferocious
Uh oh, Ryota’s soccer buddies spot him. “Is playing monster games really more important than soccer?” I kinda hope that by itself is the crux of this conflict – simply learning it’s okay for other people to value other interests more than your own favorite, or the most ostensibly “serious” choice, is a valuable lesson that isn’t often prioritized. Stories tend to gravitate towards conflicts that have serious dramatic solidity; in this case, they might frame the conflict as “Ryota needs to take care of these children” or something. But even though “Ryota simply doesn’t like soccer all that much” is much less sturdy of a motivation, it’s also valid and true to life. It’s interesting to me how certain life lessons lend themselves towards fictional illustration far more than others, simply because the mechanics of storytelling favor certain types of conflicts over others
Ryota’s room is absolutely stuffed with monster figures. Doremi winds one up, and it chases the girls around the room until they give it money
Seriously, it’s a piggy bank, that’s literally what they have to do
Ryota’s mom doesn’t appreciate his hobby. We get an unusually lengthy conversation on one held shot as she threatens to throw out his monsters if his grades don’t improve. The steadiness of this perspective and extended back-and-forth of the argument do a great job of evoking that specific awkward experience of seeing a friend dressed down by their parents
Another moment spent hyping up whatever Onpu’s “favorite thing” will be
Onpu is actually starring in Gazamadon Part 2. I hope they bring back the original director
“I’m beginning to hate this look.” Something about Majo Rika deciding just this moment, while staring into the mirror, that being a frog isn’t for her is intensely funny to me
As expected, Ryota ends up missing the game because he’s working so hard on his model. One more classic Doremi conflict, where basically every perspective is a sympathetic one
His friends are hurt and feel like he doesn’t value them, so they start calling him an otaku, and saying how monsters aren’t even cool
I love the colors for this segment. The fading orange light creates a strong sense of tension
Ryota destroys his own project. If monsters are the reason everyone hates him, then monsters must be terrible
Another great shot, framed from inside the wreckage of his monster and peering out towards the door. The low angle make this feel like we’re surveying a monster’s path of destruction, the placement of Ryota’s friends at the fulcrum underlines how they’re truly responsible for this violence, and the curving angles capitalize on Doremi’s often geometrically unstable backgrounds to create a physical sense of discord. Whole lotta work for one shot
His friends immediately feel guilty
“Let’s use magic to fix Ryota’s monster.” “But will that really make him feel better?” I feel like those are the magic words that define all of Doremi’s best episodes – the moment when the girls acknowledge magic can’t fix this problem, only being a good friend can
…I say that, and then their immediate response is to summon magical stage and cast “help Ryota-kun somehow.” Goddamnit girls
Oh god, the girls summoned an actual kaiju. SEE I TOLD YOU
I fail to see how crushing Ryota under fifty tons of debris will restore his passion for plastic monsters, but I guess magical stage is the expert here
I love their monster design. Its lumpy back spikes and weird hair make it feel like someone’s mom sewed it together in their garage
“Gazamadon, wait!” This is adorable. They essentially summoned the real Gazamadon to let it tell Ryota how much its feelings were hurt when he threw away all its toys
“I said I hated you, but I really love you!” Amazing
Oh my god, they’ve even got a romantic ballad for Ryota and Gazamadon trampling around the town. This episode is amazing
I appreciate this episode’s steady moral shift from “respect your friends’ interests” to “the love between a boy and a kaiju is the most beautiful thing in the world”
Onpu’s favorite thing is, unsurprisingly, Onpu. Plus she also uses the fall show to promote her new movie feature. Onpu is pretty great
And Done
Ahaha, that episode was wonderful. I really was hoping for a return to Doremi’s thoughtful classmate-focused episodes, and this was a terrific example of the form. Focusing on some fairly subtle interpersonal drama and livened through its excellent layouts, this episode demonstrated the close eye for childhood conflicts that has consistently made Doremi such a treasure. There wasn’t any pat moral lesson in this one – it basically just explored the reality of having a personal passion that the people around you don’t necessarily share, and the give and take required for any friendship. It also climaxed with a young boy and giant monster reaffirming their love for each other while a romantic ballad accompanied their march through a defenseless city. I don’t think you can really ask more of an episode than that!
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