Folks, it is absolutely time for more Ojamajo Doremi. The show has become a genuine favorite of mine, and offers a desperately necessary slice of optimism in a unforgivingly harsh world. I won’t lie to you – these last few years have rigorously tested my own optimism, as well as my faith in my fellow man. With my own country led by a man who essentially embodies all that is small and cruel about humanity, and a global rise of nationalism and xenophobia accompanying him, it’s become more difficult than ever to believe the future will be better than the past. As Donald Trump’s every hateful pronouncement earns righteous cheers from his supporters, I have to question whether the average person is simply less kind and empathetic than I assumed – whether our public commitments to charity and kindness were only ever aspirational, and whether our fundamental nature actual trends more towards cruelty and selfishness.

Fortunately, Doremi’s skies are in no way clouded by these unhappy thoughts. Doremi’s characters genuinely care about each other, and for the most part do their best to be kind. I’m not so naive as to believe the real world could ever be like Doremi’s, but the optimism of Doremi and its creators gives me a little hope, too. Doremi is a show that believes in people, and the sincerity of its creators, the passion of its artists, and their collective love for these characters come through in every episode. People might not actually be as fundamentally decent as Doremi posits, but to think otherwise leads only to despair. We have to believe in each other, and do our best to honor that belief in others. Great, empathetic media can foster that hope, and Doremi is a shining example of the form. Let’s dive into another episode of this beautiful and profoundly necessary show.

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Settle down kids, it’s Doremi time and that’s final. In our last episode, Ojamajo Doremi proved it can actually weave Onpu’s ongoing antagonism into the show’s usual classmate-focused mode, as she brainwashed a hapless upperclassman into briefly falling for our orb-haloed heroine. “Doremi in love” episodes are always a bunch of fun, and this one was no exception, while also benefiting from one of the strongest sets of layouts the show has put together yet. Between last episode’s love drama and the episode before’s kaiju shenanigans, it feels like Doremi’s visual mastery of its own drama is improving over time, which is almost frightening to me. If Doremi gets too much more visually appealing, I’m not sure any of us will have the power to stop it.

Beyond its own inherent appeal, last episode also ratcheted up the urgency of dealing with Onpu’s witch delinquency (witchlinquency?). She’s not casting constant illegal spells at Ruka’s command – she actually just is That Bitch, and even Ruka is totally unable to control her. She’s also made it perfectly clear that she feels no guilt or responsibility for her actions, so it’s probably going to take a disaster closer to home to make her realize what a turd she’s being. Whether this week sees us challenging Onpu directly or rambling through more classroom drama, I’m eager to see whatever’s in store. Let’s dive into another episode of Ojamajo Doremi!

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Pack it in folks, it’s time for more Ojamajo Doremi. The show’s last episode featured a welcome return to the show’s most reliable and rewarding mode, as we were introduced to Doremi’s classmate Ryota and his profound love of giant monsters. Like many of Doremi’s best episodes, there was no clear moral hook to Ryota’s tale – it was simply a quiet story about the hurt we can cause each other as friends, the legitimacy of all our passions, and the need to forgive. Its conclusion may have been boosted a bit by the introduction of a magically summoned kaiju, but that didn’t make it any less of a sensitive human story.

That episode also demonstrated that the presence of Onpu and Majo Ruka won’t necessarily be dominating our ongoing narrative. Onpu is basically just another classmate now, and though Majo Ruka is obviously up to no good, whatever good she’s not getting up to is apparently transpiring somewhere else. I’d like to see some stories that rope Onpu more directly into Doremi and the others’ lives, but so far she’s been pretty much an entirely antagonistic figure, and I’m not sure the show is going to make her sympathetic before we formally clash with her and Ruka. In light of that, I’d be fine with basically any direction this episode could take – classic classmate drama, Onpu-centric story that humanizes her a bit more, or direct confrontation with Ruka that also gives Onpu more substance. As long as it’s not more witch frogs, I think I’m good.

Alright, that’s enough preamble. Let’s see what’s in store for Doremi and her long-suffering friends!

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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!

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Folks, it is absolutely time for more Ojamajo Doremi. With Doremi’s generous, handsome, and highly intelligent principle funder having recently stuffed the Doremi fund, we’re looking at Doremi Saturdays for a while to come, and I couldn’t be happier. The show’s last episode held to one of its less common modes – a wholly plot-focused adventure in the Witch World. Pitting Doremi, her friends, and their fairies against an uncommonly disciplined hare and an absurdly speedy tortoise, the episode was a gleeful celebration of Doremi’s very silly world, offering few life lessons beyond “if you’re making a hole for Doremi to crawl through, make sure to leave room for her hair orbs.”

That episode also saw the continuation of Onpu’s antagonism, though frankly, “briefly interrupting the girls for a conversation while shopping” isn’t exactly the height of villainy. Onpu is treading a difficult line of kinda sorta maybe attempting to sabotage the girls while also remaining their friends, which feels like a natural expression of her generally staged existence. Onpu likely sees friendship as perfectly compatible with villainy, because to her, both of these things are a kind of performance. The only thing she seems to genuinely care about is making sure she herself gets what she wants, and she seeks that goal with the bright smile and feigned innocence of a natural performer. We haven’t seen a single moment of true honesty from Onpu, and I’m eager to see the show actually investigate her character. Whether this particular episode focuses on her or not, I’m excited to see Doremi ramp up into another high-stakes arc. Let’s get right to it!

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Today we return to Ojamajo Doremi, in the grips of one more dramatic witch-on-witch arc! Last episode introduced Onpu, a child actress who absolutely made the most of her debut by dunking on Tamaki, grappling with Doremi, and ultimately using mind control powers to make sure she earned a romantic lead role. That episode was an utter joy in its own right, exemplifying Doremi’s more farcical material, and once again leaning heavily on the endearing rivalry between Doremi and Tamaki. Tamaki is a terrific antagonist, and framing an episode around “Tamaki is challenged by a new girl who’s EVEN MORE Tamaki” was a great idea, even before we got to the silly appeal of their various audition challenges.

Of course, once the battle was over and Onpu had claimed her prize, we swiftly learned that this was all the plan of an old foe – Rika’s long-time rival Majo Ruka. The last time Ruka appeared, we ended up running through an arc that saw the girls losing their shop altogether, a paradigm-shifting conflict that ultimately felt a little drawn out. Ruka’s material lacked the emotional thoughtfulness of Doremi’s classmate-focused episodes, and I felt it leaned into the show’s magical worldbuilding in a way all these vaguely defined spells couldn’t necessarily support. That said, Onpu has already proven herself to be a more compelling character than Ruka, and adding an antagonist who can interact with the girls on their own immediate level seems like a very good way to add some emotional bite to this conflict. In spite of her poise, I’m getting strong gremlin vibes from Onpu, and am eager to see how she continues to torment our heroes. Let’s dive right into another episode of Ojamajo Doremi!

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Settle in folks, it is absolutely past time for another dash of Doremi. I’m currently sitting near the end of a long and stressful workday, but my spirits have legitimately been kept high all day by knowing I’ve got a new Doremi episode waiting at the end. This show’s world is so inviting, cast so charming, and stories so suffused with empathy that it’s hard not to smile while watching. Doremi is a genuinely thoughtful and often dramatically creative children’s show, but it’s also just the most inviting comfort food of all time, and I’m always happy to return.

The show wasn’t really in comfort food mode last week, though – in fact, Aiko’s failed reunion with her mother was another of Doremi’s signature tearjerkers, and its nuanced, dramatically somber finale felt like one of the most painfully real moments of the show so far. After having her trust betrayed by her father and finding herself incapable of greeting her mother, Aiko ended up simply reflecting on her childhood memories, her friends by her side. Life can be frustrating like that; we’re often burdened with feelings that demand some sort of cathartic, coherent resolution, but the real world rarely offers neat conclusions for our personal stories. We’re often forced to find solace much in the way Aiko did; by accepting that the past is the past, our stories are still being written, and we can always rely on the support of our friends.

Anyway! Last episode was a truly great one, but given we just passed a big dramatic highlight, I’m guessing we’re in for some also-welcome farcical nonsense this time. Let’s get right to it!

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Terrific news, everyone. Another month has come and gone, and so it’s time at last for some more Ojamajo Doremi. With Chihayafuru’s second season in the past and third season waiting in 2019, Ojamajo Doremi has once again assumed the mantle of my chief comfort food anime, and it serves that role with absolute distinction. On a plain aesthetic level, Doremi is simply a very good show – excellent characterization, simultaneously beautiful and charming art design, carefully crafted stories, etcetera etcetera. But beyond that, Doremi’s faith in the decency of people, and its gentle sympathy for its heroines’ struggles, is an oasis in a turbulent world, a sunny reading nook that I’m always happy to escape to.

Media that simply comforts you, whose principle goal is to make you feel safe and content and loved, gets a pretty bad rap in many critical circles. Obviously Ojamajo Doremi is intended to offer more than straight comfort food, but I personally feel the general disdain for “pleasant” or “unchallenging” media is fundamentally misguided. This is a very painful and complex world, and after dealing with all our daily challenges, sometimes we don’t want the shows we watch to actively squabble with us, to make us feel pain or attack our worldviews. Sometimes it’s been a long day and we just need a friend who’s there and happy to spend time with us, no expectations, no anxiety, just the natural contentment of being in a place you feel you belong. People deserve media that acknowledges that need, and media which makes us feel loved doesn’t have to be any less insightful, artistically compelling, or emotionally resonant. There is space for joy in the world and space for joy in art, and I’m happy to return to a show that is so willing to share its joy with us. I’m happy you’re all here, and I hope things are going okay. Let’s settle in for an episode of Ojamajo Doremi.

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We’re watching more Doremi, folks! I only get one of these a month, so I know I should probably try and save them for a rainy day or something, but Doremi is too good and I am too impatient and so damnit I’m watching it right now. I made a serious commitment these past few months to dive into all the Current Projects that have been waiting too long, and having nearly caught up with all of them, I have earned myself some friggin’ Doremi.

Anyway. Doremi’s last episode was a terrific example of one of the show’s most satisfying modes: immature, farcical adventure. The entire plot of that episode was basically “screw Tamaki, she sucks,” turning an ostensibly Masaharu-focused episode into a referendum on how much our main crew hate Tamaki’s guts. At this point, I’m not really sure Tamaki will ever get a true “focus episode” of her own – those episodes are generally designed to humanize Doremi’s various classmates, and Tamaki works so well as a villain that that almost seems like it’d be a waste. Then again, Nanami from Utena is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time, and Tamaki is basically just Nanami in elementary school. Brats deserve depth too, but given Tamami stole the show last time, I’m guessing we’ve got an entirely new tale waiting for us today. Let’s dive right in to Ojamajo Doremi!

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It has been far too long since we watched some good old-fashioned Ojamajo Doremi. The show is one of my biggest comfort food projects, and I’m always happy to return for another episode. With thirty episodes down, Ojamajo Doremi has established a broad and vibrant cast, extending from our endearing and multifaceted leads to a variety of engaging classmates, family members, and other acquaintances. The cast is strong enough that the show could easily coast on its fundamentals at this point – if you described an episode as “tall tale girl, teacher, and Pop have a ridiculous adventure,” I’d already know this was going to be a great one. But of course, Ojamajo Doremi is always climbing towards something new, be it some moral point or the elaboration of an entire new magical system.

Our last episode split the difference between those two priorities, as we got half an episode of classmate drama and half an episode of more magical exams. Our girls have passed the level 5 exams now, meaning if past episodes are anything to go by, this one will likely focus on celebrating whatever impressive new magic they’ve finally unlocked. I’m sure they’ll screw it up, and I can’t wait to see how. Let’s settle in for another episode of Ojamajo Doremi!

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