It’s a cold and cloudy day today, as the last dregs of summer’s humidity brush up against the chill of New England’s nine month winter. Somebody’s been hammering and yelling outside at about equal volume for maybe three hours now, which served as this morning’s alarm clock. I went to sleep with profound anxiety and have woken up with profound back pain, symptoms which may or may not be related. All in all, it’s been a pretty lukewarm morning.
Fortunately, all those trivial gripes don’t matter much now. It’s time for Ojamajo Doremi, and when it’s time for Ojamajo Doremi, I really can’t complain. Our last episode of Sharp offered the kind of story I’ve been eagerly awaiting all season – a return to vignettes about Doremi’s classmates, focusing on the charming friendship between Marina and Kimura.
Doremi’s strongest episodes often inhabit one of its genre extremes; either they’re full-on magical spectacle, either full of farcical spells or focused on the alluring witch world, or they’re full-on character drama, stories that barely make use of magic at all, and instead illustrate fundamental truths of emotional development. Last episode fell in the second category, and offered a tale of insecurity, misunderstanding, and regret that barely involved our actual stars. As is often the case, the resolution didn’t come about as a result of some massive emotional revelation or shocking twist; Kimura simply needed a friend he could talk to without any sense of insecurity or defensiveness, who could help him acknowledge the truth he already knew. With a full season of ensemble character development behind us, Doremi can now pull off episodes that are almost Doremi-free – we’re well acquainted with several dozen of Doremi’s classmates at this point, and watching them interact and resolve their own problems is an inherent validation of all the time we’ve shared. Whatever this episode brings, I’m excited to return to this lovely show. Let’s get to it!
