Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I thought we’d check back in on our ojamajos, and see how Doremi and the gang are handling the trials of raising their witch baby Hana-chan. Having recently learned how to crawl, Hana-chan spent the last episode raising all manner of hell at both the Majo-dou and Doremi’s house, screaming through the night and crawling on ceilings and generally running wild over her beleaguered caretakers.

So yes, a nightmare of an episode for our witches, but definitely a treat for us in the audience. Doremi at its most whimsical is basically prestige comedy, demonstrating ambitious, dynamic storyboarding, marvelously silly expression work, and persistent creativity of storytelling. The show is a master class in limited animation fundamentals, demonstrating that animation economy need not limit your production’s brilliance. I’d be perfectly happy with another silly one, but whether we’re due for farce or heartbreak, I’m sure we’re in good hands!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I thought we’d check in with Doremi and the gang for another ojamajo adventure, as our girls do their dubious best to prove themselves worthy witches. Our last outing was a fantastic slice of insanity, as Doremi’s exceptional and much-adored sister Pop took center stage, balancing the affections of her classmate and arrival of a handsome new teacher with characteristic grace. We even concluded on a reprise of Faithful Dog Doremi and her canine companions, always a clear sign of an upper echelon Doremi episode.

With our last two episodes having featured first cow and then sheep stampedes, I imagine we’re in for a quieter adventure this time, perhaps one that falls more on the emotional end of Doremi’s broad dramatic palette. We’ve certainly got the staff for it; after all, this coming episode is directed by Junichi Sato, the legendary director of Sailor Moon, Princess Tutu, and Aria the Animation. With our journey in such eminently trustworthy hands, let’s see what awaits Doremi and the girls!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to announce we’re returning to Ojamajo Doremi Sharp, which just recently broke my heart with its poignant Mother’s Day episode. Rather than the easy layup of simply celebrating the cast’s relationships with their mothers, our last episode explored the complicated emotions inherent in feeling isolated on such occasions, how to balance your painful grief with your desire to remember your lost loved ones, and how we can seek to connect with each other and collectively find joy in these bonds, whether our parents are together, divorced, or sadly passed away.

As always, Ojamajo Doremi soars by taking both its characters and its audience seriously, speaking without prevarication or metaphor about the genuine struggles that every child must overcome, and admitting frankly that such struggles are also faced by the adults in their lives. There is no facile assurance of “growing out” of the difficulties of coexisting; instead, Doremi offers a kindly assurance that we all face these difficulties together, that the adults we trust are all fighting their own sympathetic battles, and that through sharing both our joy and our sorrow, we can find a common humanity that is the essence of love itself, and the foundation of a compassionate society.

All that is basically the great work of artistry incarnate, but that episode also made me cry, so I’d be happy enough to cool down with goofy witch-world antics or something. Maybe a reprise of Loyal Dog Doremi? Well, whatever’s coming, I have absolute faith in this team, and am eager to get this show on the road. Let’s get to it!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I thought we’d take a stroll down to Maho-dou and check in on the ojamajos, who are surely getting up to some preposterous trouble even as we speak. I mean, the last episode saw Doremi considering marriage to a philandering cowboy entirely so she could consume his herd of cows, an engagement that was only thwarted by her learning they were actually dairy cows. Our girls are not exactly the paragons of selflessness and maturity you might expect from magically empowered guardians – they’re just messy, frequently misguided kids, for whom magic is just as often a source of calamity as a solution to it.

Of course, that’s precisely what makes Ojamajo Doremi so compelling. Its characters are multifaceted and self-defeating in ways that don’t just make for great comedy (and excellent faces), but which also demonstrate the actual, unvarnished process of growing up and attempting to find your place in the world. They clash and dream with relatable pettiness and ambition, making their ultimate attempts to make right and help others an example all can aspire to. It is the messy characters who hang closest to our hearts, for there is nothing more human than messing up, and nothing more admirable than seeking kindness in spite of our foibles, than picking ourselves up and trying again. Let’s see how these girls mess up next!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am impatient to return to the ever-charming, frequently preposterous adventures of our dubious witch Doremi, as she and her companions struggle to raise their witch baby. When we last left off, they’d managed to stumble their way through a frankly embarrassingly witch baby health inspection, wherein our girls’ thoughtful, well-intentioned focus on Hana’s health and comfort earned them a bye instead of an actual pass. Frankly, I’m beginning to question Majo Heart’s credentials as a witch baby health inspector, if this is the sort of performance we can expect from her proctoring.

To be entirely honest though, I’m actually quite happy to see the team fail, as that likely means we’ll be indulging in even more Witch World adventures soon. It’s always nice seeing this production team stretch their design muscles for the outright fantasy sequences – though of course, Doremi’s greatest triumphs tend to fall more on the personal, mundane side, illustrating the difficult emotional trials of life, and the “magic” that is our ability to find solace and understanding in the people we love. Let’s see what sort of adventure awaits as we return to Ojamajo Doremi!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’d like to check back in on the trials of Doremi and the gang, as our crew continues their magical training and witch baby-raising under the dubious tutelage of Majo Rika. Of course, there’s plenty of room for detours along the way, along with self-imposed trials like messing with Hadzuki’s dance lessons. Ultimately, magic is really just a fantastical garnish for Doremi’s true substance: its thoughtful, wide-ranging exploration of the trials of youth, and the lessons we must internalize to mature happily and with confidence.

In Hadzuki’s case, that lesson was a familiar one, resonating with past trials like Onpu coming to understand her mother’s trauma, or Aiko accepting her father’s pursuit of new romance. Ojamajo Doremi’s empathy and insight stretches to its adults as well as its leads, emphasizing that we are all fallible works in progress, and in turn encouraging its heroes to walk forward with an understanding that there is no finish line to growing up. We’re all just doing the best we can, and in this production’s hands, the wonder of coming to love ourselves and our fellows feels as magical as any outright fantasy. Let’s see what shenanigans our team gets up to next!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to be returning to Ojamajo Doremi Sharp, as we check in on the continuing fortunes of our increasingly competent ojamajos. Our last episode featured the welcome return of Aiko’s best friend Nobuko, who came ready to greet the fourth grade with a new adventure, “The Boy Who Ran.” Seeing all of Aiko’s friends add their own additions to the narrative was both inherently funny and also a satisfying riff on their individual personalities – even if they hadn’t inserted themselves as characters, it would have been easy enough to assign Hadzuki, Onpu, and Doremi to their respectively gothic, melodramatic, and steak-obsessed contributions.

Ojamajo Doremi’s classmate-focused episodes embody one of its greatest strengths: its dedication to furnishing its entire ensemble cast with distinctive, multifaceted, and evolving personalities, such that they feel like people we’re coming to know better all the time, rather than devices serving some specific dramatic purpose. With its remarkably thoughtful, generous narrative and marvelous production team, every episode of Doremi is a reminder of just how good anime can be, and I’m looking forward to whatever comes next. Let’s find out!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to be returning to Ojamajo Doremi Sharp, after far too long away from this outstanding magical girl production. Doremi is simply marvelous in all regards, demonstrating both the creative playfulness and emotional insight of top shelf children’s animation. Whether it’s a thoughtful vignette regarding one of the girls’ classmates, a fantastical exploration of this show’s charming magical world, or a dive into the complex home lives of characters like Onpu and Aiko, every episode of Doremi offers something new and special, demonstrating animation’s ability to enrich the lives of viewers of any age.

Our last episode was another top-shelf tearjerker, as we learned of the anxieties preventing Onpu’s mother from wholeheartedly endorsing her daughter’s next performance. Onpu episodes are always great, and that one fell into a particularly rich vein of Doremi Drama: the show’s sensitive articulation of its parental figures’ doubts and fears, a theme it has harnessed to remarkable effect in both Onpu and Aiko’s stories. Through its humanization of its adult characters, Doremi serves as a gentle guide for its viewers, leading them through the frightening realization that their own parents are not invincible – as well as the ensuing sense of pride and purpose found in giving back to your parents, and bolstering their slumping shoulders with your own emerging strength. I imagine we’re in for a lighter episode after that standout, but regardless of what’s ahead, I’m sure it’ll be an excellent time. Let’s return to Ojamajo Doremi!

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am delighted to return to the world of Ojamajo Doremi, a fantastic franchise that we last visited three friggin’ years ago. That’s quite a long time in anime fandom, so let’s start off with a brief refresher. Doremi and her three friends Hazuki, Aiko, and Onpu are currently hard at work training to become full witches, which has most recently involved them taking care of a magical baby named Hana. Hana is so overstuffed with magical energy that her tantrums can topple buildings, so it’s been quite the challenge for our would-be witches – but having most recently cleared Hana’s magical health examination, they’re all feeling pretty confident about the road ahead.

That’s about where we’re at narratively, but of course, that doesn’t cover any of what makes this production truly special. With a production spearheaded by legends like Takuya Igarashi and Junichi Sato, Ojamajo Doremi benefits from expressive character animation, beautiful background art, and impactful, emotionally resonant storyboards. The show’s aesthetic strengths are further complemented by excellent character writing and unusually thoughtful vignettes, diving into difficult aspects of childhood and life more generally with frankness and grace. The show’s leads have grown significantly over the course of their journeys, and the production’s ensemble approach means we’ve come to know a great number of their friends and classmates as well. Ojamajo Doremi is an absolute standout of a magical girl show, one of those lightning-struck creative confluences that demonstrate anime at its best. Let’s see what our ojamajos have been up to!

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