Settle the fuck down everyone, we’re watching more Ojamajo Doremi! Doremi’s been offering us some truly stunning episodes recently, as a two-episode star turn by famed director Shigeyasu Yamauchi served as a demonstration of both his distinct talents, as well as Doremi’s own consistent strengths. Yamauchi’s layouts are always beautiful, and consistently evoke a sense of otherworldly mystery (and at times even terror) that merges wonderfully with Doremi’s increasingly tense adventures. From his alienating portrayal of Doremi’s insecurities to his fanciful depictions of the witch world and Maho-dou, Yamauchi really made his presence felt these last couple episodes, and I can’t wait to see his work again.

On the narrative end, the introduction of Hana-chan has continued to force our leads to mature and accept responsibilities well beyond the concerns of the first season. Onpu has demonstrated consistent strength and wisdom in the face of this challenge, while both Pop and Doremi have risen to this responsibility in their own ways. It’s been great to see these characters grow, but frankly, I also wouldn’t mind a super farcical episode as a palette cleanser, perhaps one featuring Doremi, Loyal Dog. But hey, whatever happens, this show is great, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it. Let’s watch some more Ojamajo Doremi!

Episode 5

Panning up on a mysterious figure with very fluffy hair. New villain?

“S-so is this the real Oyajiide?” Oh god, is this my punishment for wishing for a farcical episode? I TAKE IT ALL BACK, DOREMI. UNCLENCH THAT MONKEY FINGER

And of course, the cold open ends on him gyrating his hips. For those who’ve forgotten, Oyajiide was the first season character whose whole personality was “horny old man who leers at women,” because this thoughtful children’s show definitely needed a character like that

I figured I’d really miss the first OP, but this second one is so catchy that I can’t really mind it

Doremi’s busy potting plants. I kinda like how the transition from selling magical goods to selling garden supplies naturally echoes how children shift from play that approximates productive labor to the real thing, as they discover the satisfaction of genuinely contributing to the world

“Babies tend to grow really fast.” Taking care of a baby is also a natural reminder of something else that tends to elude children – how quickly time really passes by

We learn that Seki-sensei graduated from Karen Girls’ Academy, a prestigious girls’ school

“Somehow that isn’t how I imagined Seki-sensei.” You and me both, Aiko. I wonder if Seki was the Bad Girl with a legion of admirers

And so the girls decide to visit an all-girls school. And this is also an Oyajiide episode… goddamnit, I can already see it all in my mind’s eye

“Goodbye, Oyajiide.” OH HELL YEAH, WE’RE GETTING RID OF HIM

“When I was late, I used to run up this hill.” As always, Doremi is very insistent on portraying its adult characters as people just like its leads, just with more age and personal experience. They’re not buffoons, and they’re also not just kids but larger – this show isn’t about validating the egos and preconceptions of its audience, it’s about genuinely helping them learn to engage with the world, and its characterization is far richer for it

Seki was indeed a terror as a student, and often got into fights, beating up lots of boys in her pursuit of justice. I would absolutely watch a Seki-sensei Early Years spinoff

It’s great seeing Seki act bashful in the face of her own teacher. This is a good moment in the larger narrative for this kind of story – having spent their recent days maturing through taking care of Hana-chan, the girls can now see the vulnerability and approachable humanity of their own mentors much more clearly

Oh wow, turns out this episode was written by Reiko Yoshida, who’s gone on to pen scripts for all sorts of terrific properties. She’s a really close collaborator with both Naoko Yamada and Tsutomu Mizushima

“The ivy may have wilted, but the Karen Girls’ Academy has not.” This nun has lived long enough to understand things like this are bound to wither or change

Incredible faces as the girls are startled by a noise on the second floor

Ahahaha, they’ve left Oyajiide in a box upstairs ever since the move

Unsurprisingly, the wilting ivy of the academy seems to be the result of a Bad Item, so off the team goes to investigate

Some nice new colors in this episode. The girls’ academy has a distinct color palette, heavy on burnt orange colors that make for a naturally peaceful, nostalgic atmosphere

More amazing faces. Beautiful expression work this episode, at least for a very generous definition of “beautiful”

“The graduation ceremony is soon, and the graduating students will have never seen the chapel covered in ivy.” Even the nun can’t help but feel mournful of these small deaths, and the experiences new generations won’t share. Hana’s arrival has really intensified this show’s general emotional and thematic reach

The girls conclude there isn’t actually a Bad Item, and decide to just magic the school’s greenery into health again. Pretty nice when you can just tell the magic what you want to do, and the magic gets it done

I forgot how pretty this season’s bank footage was. The spellcasting looks a lot nicer now compared to the first season

But the changes revert pretty much immediately. No quick fixes!

It’s actually been interesting to see the viability of magic as a general solution shift somewhat across the seasons. You still can’t really cast “solve all of my problems!”, but Doremi and her friends are now excellent at incidental magic, with their spells no longer tending to outright fail in dangerous ways

“Hana-chan?” “Looks like she’s really taken a liking to Oyajiide.” “I’m worried about her future, if she falls for guys like him.” Onpu with the searing burns, as always

Hana smacks on Oyajiide’s keyboard and actually releases the little goblin. This is the worst

Oh my god, Onpu’s look of resignation and despair as she listens to Oyajiide yammer about being in her fanclub. Onpu is such a great addition to the cast – even now that she’s chilled out a fair amount, she can’t help but feel righteous disdain at these overly adoring fans

Smart decision by Hadzuki, as she tries to triangulate the source of the Bad Item by charting the edges of its influence. If the Bad Item wilts all natural plants within its perimeter, than they can discover its location by finding the center of the wilting

Incidentally, this is also how I spent about three weeks this summer hunting Koroks in Breath of the Wild

I wish I could shout at these girls that it’s the bell, but sadly, they’re not getting the same repeated visual motif giveaways that we are

Using visual motifs like that is a pretty clever way to get the audience invested in a story, by making that audience think they’ve “solved” something ahead of the characters. In truth, the answer was actually provided to you by the visual framing, but we don’t tend to think of repeated visual motifs as “telling us the solution” in the same way that we’d feel condescended to if a character outright told us the answer. Tricking the audience into feeling like they’ve cleverly solved something is an excellent way to foster a sense of “personal ownership” or closeness regarding a property, making that audience feel more invested in the outcome

“I’m very pleased that Seki-san gets to teach such wonderful students as you.” That’s another privilege of adulthood – knowing that even though things end, life will perpetually surprise you with the young faces that replace them

The girls finally get the overt clues they need to realize it’s the bells

I love their new Four Musketeers magical stage ritual

Aaand we’re done. That’s all the Bad Cards. Arc over!

Haha, what an abrupt arc conclusion. “We’re busy with the Hana stuff now, but oh right, we forgot to finish that whole Bad Items thing”

To be honest, I actually enjoyed the sense of dramatic structure and heightened stakes that the Bad Items lent to the show – but if dropping them also means dropping Oyajiide, I am overjoyed to see the last of them

Oyajiide stops by the shop, but only Hana-chan recognizes his human form

And Done

WONDER OF WONDERS, THE WITCH IS DEAD. On the one hand, this was still an Oyajiide episode, and so we still had to put up with his entirely show-inappropriate lusting over all the female characters. On the other hand, OYAJIIDE’S ARC IS OVER AND HE IS FUCKIN’ GONE. This wasn’t even a particularly bad Oyajiide episode – I really appreciated the new insights we got into Seki-sensei’s character, there were plenty of nice new sets focused on her academy, lots of great expression work, and Hana-chan’s presence continues to expand Doremi’s thematic range in all sorts of ways. But all that aside, OYAJIIDE IS GONE. PRAISE THE WITCH QUEEN. THE GREAT TERROR IS OVER!

This article was made possible by reader support. Thank you all for all that you do.