Well folks, the moment has arrived. After fifty diverse and rewarding episodes of Ojamajo Doremi, and one climactic stab at the final witch exams, we have at last arrived at the end of Doremi’s first season. The things I’ve enjoyed about this season feel too numerous to list, but we’re at the dang finale now, and I think some pomp and circumstance is probably appropriate.

First off, I’ve come to absolutely love this main cast, with all four of our heroines surprising and impressing me over time. As is appropriate, Doremi started as the most helplessly ojamajo of any of them, and yet has probably undergone the most growth as well. Doremi started this series kindhearted and motivated, but very often petty and rash, as well as lacking in a personal passion she could take pride in. She can still be petty and rash, but her developing progress as a witch has forced her to challenge her own feelings, step back from the spotlight when necessary, and ultimately gain both the confidence and skill to apply herself and positively change the world through her mastery of witchcraft. The World’s Unluckiest Pretty Girl has grown into a genuine hero, and it’s been wonderful to witness.

Of course, Ojamajo Doremi has always been an ensemble production, and its illustration of Doremi’s friends and family have offered some of its most poignant, thoughtful, and emotionally instructive tales. Aiko’s process of coming to terms with her parents’ divorce, as she grapples with the distance between her and her father’s feelings, clings to the memory of her old home life, and ultimately learns to assert her needs without retreating into the past. Hadzuki quietly demonstrating she’s actually the weirdest of the three of them, proving herself equally suited to absurd kidnapping capers and somber meditations on death and the limits of our strength. Onpu finding the intimacy her family withheld in the camaraderie of her peers, and the trust of her closest friends. And all their various families and classmates and mentors and friends, who through their stories have collectively rung out that whatever your passion, if you embrace it with a positive spirit, it is worth celebrating.

That, in the end, may be our heroines’ saving grace. All through this season, characters have hidden the passions they love, often using them as a stand-in for the feelings they’re repressing as well. Their ultimate celebration of those passions has often echoed their celebration of those feelings, be it Masaru’s memory of playing trumpet with his father, Mutsumi’s determination to become a pro wrestler, or whatever else they most secretly and earnestly feel. Here in the last episode, the greatest secret of all is on full display – but at this point, Doremi and her friends have become such talented, laudable witches that perhaps that’s not such a big deal. However this season resolves, I feel privileged and delighted to explore one more episode with you all. Let’s watch some Ojamajo Doremi!

Episode 52

Our five witches in a line. “Starting from today, we will turn back to ordinary girls.” Not really anything to draw from that theme-wise, it’s just a dang dramatic threat

Oh man, is this the last time we’re going to listen to this opening song? I’M NOT READY TO STOP, IT’S SO GOOD I HAVEN’T SKIPPED IT IN FIFTY FRIGGIN’ EPISODES

“Goodbye, Maho-dou.” I suppose these menacing preludes probably landed with more impact in a time before people knew this show would have several lengthy follow-up seasons, and go on to stand as one of the most lauded and lasting children’s cartoons of all time, with revival projects being announced close to twenty years later

Just a good ten to fifteen seconds of everyone staring at each other and making shocked gurgling noises. I’ve been there

Ruka suggests erasing their memories, only for Rika to remind her that’s forbidden magic, thus informing us in the audience of why the easiest theoretical solution isn’t allowed

And so Onpu decides to take matters into her own hands, making sure everyone’s memories are erased. It’s time to cash in on this season’s most ominous thread, the threat of serious consequences for misusing magic – but as with at her rehearsal, Onpu is at last breaking the rules for entirely selfless reasons. At this point, she likely knows that this means she personally will be disbarred as a witch, but she’ll accept that punishment to protect her friends. ONPU HAS BECOME SO GOOD

I’ve heard Doremi’s actual staff are extremely biased towards Onpu, and I’m not surprised. Trainwreck gremlins who heroically redeem themselves are as fun to write as they are to watch, with all their positive actions infused with the weight of just how far they’ve come. Doremi was smart to make both its main heroine and first major addition to the cast trainwreck gremlins

Lots of dynamic angles and layouts that essentially use the character profiles to frame the active drama, which isn’t surprising – this episode is storyboarded and directed by the main man himself, Junichi Sato

Incidentally, it’s pretty convenient for me that basically all of these episodes are storyboarded and directed by the same person. You get an extremely clear view of their style and dramatic intent that way

Onpu puts on a brave face and directs the others to hurry, all while her own pendant disintegrates

Oh god, this beat is so good. Doremi’s mom wakes up and asks the girls what’s happening, then stops at the look on their faces, and quietly asks what’s wrong. This feels like such an iconic childhood moment – the point where you realize you really can’t handle this all yourself, and you need an adult’s guidance, and they respond to that honest vulnerability with the most gentle assurance possible

Onpu heads off to the hospital. Reframing the drama on Onpu’s condition is a pretty clever way to breeze past that whole “how the hell did we end up at Maho-dou with collective amnesia” issue. This is exactly the sort of thing many modern critics would describe as a “plot hole,” and exactly why those people have no business critiquing fiction. Whether a dramatic problem exists or not is not a good guiding principle for deciding whether or not illustrating its solution is the right choice for a story – stories are full of situations where we handwave the journey from point A to point B, because the space in between has no relevance to the story being told

“How were all of Doremi’s friends convinced nothing happened” is a question that would be genuinely difficult to answer, and probably require some dedicated screentime to invent a solution, but neither that problem nor its solution are particularly important to this story, and so instead the show uses Onpu’s injury to immediately reorient our own emotional focus on what is important. Maintaining a cohesive, satisfyingly paced dramatic/emotional throughline is pretty much always more important than explaining how every single thing happened, and “worldbuilding cohesion” is generally only important insofar as it facilitates (or at least doesn’t undercut) drama as well

Granted, the line of where dramatic convenience starts to undercut our faith in a story’s world is different for everyone, but I feel online critical culture as a whole assigns it far more reverence than it’s generally due

“Anyway, leave this to your teacher.” Another line emphasizing that it’s okay to seek help, and sometimes there are things you need to rely on an adult for

I’m liking the heavy focus on shadows in this episode’s lighting. This shot of the girls in silhouette crossing a clouded sky is lovely

Hadzuki and Doremi just sorta throw little tantrums about how unfair the situation is, but Aiko sits resolutely thinking, until she slams her first down and says they’ll ask the Queen for help. I always love these little demonstrations of how Aiko’s family situation has naturally pushed her ahead of her friends in terms of emotional development and self-reliance

The Queen says she must wake up in 24 hours or be condemned to sleep for a hundred years, which seems like a pretty arbitrary judicial sentence, if I’m being honest

The Queen claims there’s nothing she can do, but then the girls keep sobbing and pleading and they’re so adorable and oh my god okay maybe there’s one way you can save her

“If you use Magical Stage with your crystals, there’s a chance she might wake up. But should you fail, your crystals might break instead. And whether you succeed or fail, you will cease being witches.” Damn, she really isn’t messing around. Though the Queen loves big selfless gestures, so I’m not too worried

The dramatic scenes are great, but I feel like Junichi Sato’s style may actually shine the most during the gag scenes. This shot of Majo Rika yelling at her ojamajos is so dynamic, I love the contrast in their thin linework as they’re pressed together and her imposing, very differently inked profile

Oh damn, they actually turn Majo Rika back

…for like a second, but Doremi’s crystal is too small to maintain it

Majo Rika’s friends all admit they like her frog form better, including her own fairy. Ruthless

We get this brutal sequence of the girls apologizing to their fairies in tears for leaving them. WHY IS THIS EPISODE DOING THIS TO ME

The girls transform into butterflies to visit Onpu. I always love when their “transformations” are actually just them in unconvincing animal suits

Onpu’s mother is at her bedside, tearfully apologizing for pressuring her daughter. Another devastating moment, one that lets the quiet authenticity of this experience ring out unfiltered by dramatic layouts or sound design – just a mid-distance shot of her slumped shoulders, as we hear her ugly sobs

Thinking that Onpu must have become a witch to fulfill her mother’s dreams gets all of our leads talking about what motivated them – Hadzuki’s desire to be more self-reliant, Aiko wanting to keep her dad from overworking, Doremi lacking the courage to confess. If the finale’s first half was basically a tip of the hat to all this show’s secondary characters, this one has balanced it with an intimate and thoughtful reiteration of the strength of its main leads

More excellent shading adds a sense of consequence to Majo Rika offering her final blessing

It feels like their jewels are kind of a dramatic downgrade from the wands. The bank footage of them spinning their wands around was always very satisfying

The ritual looks like it’s failing, but then AW SHIT POP ARRIVES THE CAVALRY IS HERE

And Onpu survives. Damnit, this episode’s really getting me

The Queen collects all their wands and crystals, but I mean, c’mon. What clearer indication could there be that these five deserve to be witches than “they were so committed to the spirit of charity and selflessness that defines being a witch that they were actually willing to sacrifice being a witch in order to embody that spirit and help a friend”

And now the Maho-dou is closing. WHAT IS THIS EPISODE

“You might be Ojamajos, but you’re like daughters to me.” I am going to die

“Even though we can’t use magic anymore, we’re good friends now.” “No, we’re the best of friends!” Doremi stop thi sis killing me

And Done

AND DONE? AND DONE!?!?!? AGHHHHHHH

Ojamajo Doremi, why are you so cruel. I figured this would be an emotionally tense episode, but I wasn’t ready for an episode opening on “Onpu leaps on a live grenade to save her friends,” segueing into “Onpu is in a permanent coma while her friends debate giving up the things they love most,” and ending on all of our heroes sacrificing their powers and making tender goodbyes to their magical friends. This was both a devastating episode and a wonderful affirmation of this show’s core values, demonstrating the empathy and personal strength our heroines have nurtured all season long. Its many tearful moments felt thoughtfully realized and thoroughly earned, and its conclusion could well stand as a reasonable ending to the series altogether, while also offering plenty of hope for the future. It’s been a joy to watch this esteemed show, and I’m happy to see this season end so well. Thank you all for accompanying me on this rambling journey, and I hope to share more Doremi adventures with you all soon!

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