ADDED 1/28/21: After listening to this song about a thousand times, I think I can say that this is my new favorite anime opening. It’s so beautiful…. I love singing along, too. 😊
UPDATE: I made some changes to the translation based on the English dub of episode 12.
VERSE The more you add color to your dream The more it takes shape You can picture it; you can make it come true
Like a gentle breeze Turning old pages I look back… “No, it’s okay”
Stories of encounters and farewells Full of things I don’t know* I gently reproduced them in spreading ink
CHORUS “Where are you going?” A little farther What I leave behind becomes part of my dreams I choose whatever appeals to me, and my choices Make me who I am
“Let’s meet again, it’s a promise” I thought I saw you smile at me “Let’s meet again” — a pinky promise is a magic spell I woke up to the sound of your voice
Translated by me with DeepL Translator
* This line comes before the previous one in the song, but I thought the translation made more sense this way.
ADDED 1/28/21: After listening to this song about a thousand times, I think I can say that this is my new favorite anime opening. It’s so beautiful…. I love singing along, too. 😊
Happy Halloween! Last year, I reviewed three “witchy” anime: Witch Craft Works, Flying Witch, and Ojamajo Doremi. Well, there’s a new witch on the small screen right now, and she’s…interesting. She’s Elaina, the hero of Majo no Tabitabi (The Witch’s Travels), a.k.a. Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina.
Just Do It, Like Niké
We open with Elaina as a child reading her favorite book: The Adventures of Niké, the diary of a witch who traveled the world. Elaina decides she wants to be a witch herself one day and embark on her own adventure. Her mom is almost too okay with it. (Side note: I think she’s Niké. We’re never told her name, so she could be, though she probably goes by something else to hide her identity.)
Elaina studies and practices until at 14 years old, she becomes the youngest person in the country of Robetta to pass the magic exams and become an apprentice. Apprentice witches wear porcelain flower brooches. I love those little worldbuilding details. 😊
This is where we find out her main flaw: arrogance. She loves being seen as a prodigy, and during her celebration dinner with her parents, she calls the other examinees “weak”. The poor things will be apprentices for years, but she’ll be a full-fledged witch in no time!
In order to become full-fledged, she has to train under another witch and earn her recognition. Surely, any witch would jump at the chance to train Robetta’s youngest apprentice ever, right?
Nope. Everyone turns her down.
While wondering what to do next, Elaina overhears her parents talking about someone called The Stardust Witch, who has recently moved into the nearby woods. She investigates and finds a witch shouting and flailing in front of a tree with purple butterflies dancing around her.
…Well, it’s not like she has other prospects. Elaina ignores her first impression and approaches the witch. Her name is Fran, and surprisingly, she knows who Elaina is and that she’s looking for a teacher. And she says yes!
Finally, Elaina’s training to become a full-fledged witch begins…
…Or not.
Fran’s Plan
For one month, Fran uses her as her servant. She makes her cook for her, wash her clothes, catch animals for her spells, kill spiders in her bathtub, and massage her shoulders. You’d think Elaina wouldn’t take it — that she’d grab her broom, fly out the door, and leave Fran to do her own chores. But no. She suffers through it, holding out for the day her teacher will finally decide to teach.
Now if you’ve watched enough anime, you probably realize, as I did, that Fran is up to something. I didn’t buy her airhead act. These types of mentors are always more clever and more powerful than they seem at first.
Just as Elaina reaches her limit, Fran decides it’s time for a test. A duel. Against her.
And she doesn’t hold back. She hurls energy beams, boulders, flames, and lightning bolts at Elaina. Eventually, she gains her composure and tries to fight back, but she’s no match for a seasoned witch. Fran knocks her to the ground over and over until she can’t stand anymore, then she holds her wand to her neck. Duel over.
Elaina bursts into tears. After awkwardly comforting her, Fran reveals that Elaina’s parents paid her to be her teacher. They wanted her to learn about setbacks and failures, so that in the future, when something didn’t come easy for her, she’d know how to handle it.
Unfortunately, this girl is too determined for her own good. She’ll endure anything to get what she wants…and that’s her weakness. It’s why Fran was able to exploit her for labor. She needs to learn to say no.
Interesting message. Most of the time, we think of cocky people as manipulators, not suckers. But having a big ego can make you easy to control, especially if you’re willing to do anything to gain approval or maintain your image.
Elaina takes the lesson to heart, and Fran finally starts teaching her. After one year, the apprentice blooms into a talented and powerful witch. Her training ends when she beats Fran at a duel for the first time. On graduation day, Fran replaces her flower brooch with an official witch’s badge and dubs her “The Ashen Witch” because of her white hair. (As for her name, “The Stardust Witch”, she chose it because it sounded cool.)
With her job done, Fran leaves Robetta. She’s actually from another country, and she came there to meet someone. Elaina asks if she did, but of course she doesn’t answer. Figures. Maybe she tell her when they meet again. (Spoiler alert: it happens early in the series.)
Now that Elaina is a witch, there’s only one thing left to do: begin her journey. Her father is one of those anime dads who doesn’t want his pwecious widdle baby to go, but again, her mother is 100 percent okay with it — on one condition. Well, three conditions. She makes Elaina promise:
To run whenever she’s in danger
To not think of herself as someone special
To come home eventually and tell them about her adventures
Of course Elaina says yes (although she breaks the first two promises quickly). Her mother gives her a standard witch’s outfit, two hats (in case she loses one), and a diary to record her travels. So leaving her sobbing father in her mother’s care, the young witch takes to the skies.
“Who’s That Heartless Hero? That’s Right! It’s Me!”
The rest of the show is a bunch of episodic stories that take place in a random country Elaina is in. This is where things start to get weird.
After a lighthearted episode where she meets her future apprentice (I think) named Saya (UPDATE: nope, I was wrong), the tone shifts dramatically. We’ve seen everything from curses and a slave to implied suicide and the genocide of an entire kingdom. It’s like watching a different show! This is not what I thought I signed up for!
The strangest part is Elaina doesn’t react to these situations the way you would think she would. I don’t mind cocky heroes. In fact, I like the contrast between their noble deeds and their big heads. It can make them more interesting than your typical virtuous knight or flawless superhero.
But even cocky heroes need to display some virtues like empathy and self-sacrifice. In other words, they should still be heroic. Elaina doesn’t feel that way to me. She’s not a horrible person — at least she cares about her parents, Fran, and Saya. But I don’t like that she rarely tries to help people in need, except in minor ways that don’t make a difference.
For example, in episode two, she finds a man in the midst of a curse taking over his body. What does she do? She backs up, jumps on her broom, and flies away without looking back. How admirable.
Oh, did I mention the curse is her fault? You’ll see what I mean when you watch the episode.
It ticked me off that she didn’t even try to help him. One viewer said there was nothing she could do, but I disagree. We see her turn back time in some scenes. Granted, as a young witch, I’m sure her magic has its limits, but I would have felt better if she had at least tried and failed instead of doing nothing at all.
So yeah, I don’t like Elaina yet. The most recent episode I watched helped me start to warm up to her, since she does act more selflessly and shows a sense of gratitude. But she has to do more to win me over.
I haven’t given up on her, though. Another reason I like cocky heroes is that they usually don’t stay that way. As I said in a post on my other blog (about a couple from Winx Club), flaws are tools for development. Characters have them so we can watch how they lose them.
I think this will happen to Elaina. After all, her mother made her promise not to think too highly of herself. She’s failing so far, but we still have seven episodes. Who knows what will happen?
Verdict
If you can tolerate Elaina’s arrogance and some darker moments — I doubt every episode will be like that — I recommend this show. And if nothing else, it’s gorgeously animated. Anime is not just entertainment. It’s art.
You can watch Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina on Funimation and Hulu.
Happy Halloween! 🎃 I saved the…cutest witch anime for last?
Yeah, that’s weird. But Ojamajo Doremi is my favorite witch anime — and one of my favorite anime, period.
“Ojamajo” is a portmanteau of “お邪魔 ojama”, which means “hindrance”, “bother”, or “nuisance”; and “魔女 majo”, which means “witch”. So the most common translation of the title is Bothersome Witch Doremi. (I’ve also seen Useless Witch Doremi.)
Title card for Magical DoReMi, the 4Kids dub of Ojamajo Doremi
You might remember this show asMagical DoReMi on 4KidsTV. “DoReMi” combined the first two letters of Dorie, Reanne, and Mirabelle, the main characters’ dub names. (I’ll note the characters’ signature colors so you know who’s who.)
But in the original version, the name “Doremi” belonged to one character (the pink girl).
Plot Summary
Majo Rika and her familiar Lala
Doremi Harukaze is a perky third grader who’s obsessed with witches. One day, she comes across a magic shop called the Mahou-Dou and exposes the owner, Rika, as a witch. A witch who’s found out turns into a witch frog. Only the person who revealed her can change her back, so Rika must train Doremi as a witch so she can break the curse.
Later, two of Doremi’s classmates, Aiko Senoo (blue) and Hazuki Fujiwara (orange), catch her using magic. To guarantee they’ll keep the secret, Rika makes them witch apprentices, too. Two more apprentices later join the group: Onpu Segawa (purple), a famous child idol; and Momoko Asuka (yellow), who just returned from living in the U.S.
Together, they’re the Ojamajos (as Rika calls them). They use their magic to solve people’s problems, but sometimes they just make things worse. But hey, at least they’re trying.
My Thoughts
Like Digimon, Ojamajo Doremi has a lot in common with Winx Club. I started a draft of a comparison post for my Winx blog, Una di Noi Winx. Maybe I’ll post it here someday.
Anyway, one of the ways they’re alike is that their tones sometimes clashed with their content. Ojamajo Doremi had a lot of silly moments and plots. For example, in season three, Motto! Ojamajo Doremi, the Ojamajos had to save the Witch World by making a baby eat her veggies. I wish I were joking.
So yes, the show was clearly aimed at kids. But it also tackled some serious topics like divorce, racism, terminal illness, domestic violence, trauma, and even suicide! It didn’t always handle them well — one of the outcomes bothered me — but it tried as hard as it could, while staying happy and light-hearted overall.
I admire that, especially since you wouldn’t expect it from a show like this.
Why This Show is Special to Me
2014 was a rough year for me. During the summer, I changed jobs because I thought the new job would pay more. It paid less. (The variable hours made it hard to estimate.). On top of that, it was early morning shift, and I had to lift boxes bigger than me with no help or equipment.
I quit a month later, but that left me in limbo. My money was running out, but I couldn’t land another job. When my dad and his wife took me in, I felt like a failure. Why did I leave my first job? Why didn’t I stick it out at my second job?
The frustration and embarrassment crushed me daily. Sometimes, I didn’t wanna live anymore.
For some reason, I got the urge to binge-watch Ojamajo Doremi. I guess I needed something fun and sweet to distract me from my negative thoughts. If I remember correctly, I started near the middle of season two, Ojamajo Doremi # (Sharp), and watched till the end of season four, Ojamajo Doremi Dokkaan! That’s about 150 episodes. I don’t regret it.
I’ll always appreciate this show for being my escape when I desperately needed it.
Verdict
Ojamajo Doremi may be too silly for some people. If cutesiness and wacky animation aren’t your thing, I don’t recommend it. But if you can get used to it, you’ll enjoy one of the best kids’ anime ever made.
Motto! Ojamajo Doremi Opening Theme: “Ojamajo de BAN2” by MAHO-DO
VERSE 2 ijiwaru shite te mo otoko no ko wa hontou wa koi shiteru CHOCOLA A LA FOLIE hontou wa koi shiteru CHOCOLA A LA FOLIE
CHOCOLA A LA FOLIE
Notes:
As shown in this video, “Chocola ni Muchuu” takes inspiration from two French songs: “Notre Prof d’Anglais” (trans. “Our English Professor”) by Chantal Kelly, and “Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son” (trans. “Wax Doll, Rag Doll”) by France Gall. This might be because parts of Sugar Sugar Rune borrow from French culture.
Click here to watch another version of this opening. Can you spot the differences?
I promised I’d talk about a witchy anime I liked. Here it is: Flying Witch. (Yeah, I know — most boring title ever.)
Plot Summary
Makoto Kowata, a teenage witch, moves to Aomori to live with her relatives while she trains. The only thing she’s good at (at first) is flying. As she adjusts to her new surroundings, she works on improving her skills and introduces her muggle friends and family to the world of magic.
My Thoughts
When I first read about this show, it reminded me of Kiki’s Delivery Service. It’s also about a teenage witch who’s only good at flying and moves to a new town for training. But while Kiki’s Delivery Service is a coming-of-age story, Flying Witch focuses on the magical world Makoto is a part of.
Kiki’s Delivery Service doesn’t even have much magic in it. Her mom brews a potion that cures rheumatism for a family friend, and Kiki flies around using “spirit”. That’s it. (Oh, and Jiji can talk, but it’s implied that only she can hear him.)
But in Flying Witch, Makoto and the other witches cast spells, read fortunes, and interact with other kinds of magic beings. The magic isn’t sparkly or flashy, though. (One of her cousins even says that in one episode.) It’s subtle and mysterious.
I would say this show isn’t even about magic, but the hidden wonders all around us. Strange phenomena have always been happening, but the muggles in Makoto’s life never noticed until she came to visit. How do they react?
They don’t really. 😕
That’s one of the weirdest parts of this show. Most of the characters aren’t scared or astonished. They’re just…amused. A couple of them freak out, but only sometimes.
Makoto’s cousin Kei speaks in monotone. Not even seeing magic is enough to draw emotion out of him. (Unless he sees ghosts.)
Kei and Chinatsu
But her other cousin, Chinatsu, is one of the exceptions — and one of my favorite characters. She reacts the way you’d expect a child to react. Some things scare her; others amaze her. Either way, she thinks Makoto is awesome!
Having the youngest character react the most naturally to magic is brilliant. You could liken it to how kids are impressed by stuff that seems boring to adults. It’s not that it isn’t amazing; we’re just jaded, so we can’t get excited anymore.
Chinatsu still does, to the point where — spoiler alert — she wants to be part of this magical world. Everyone else is content with it being a dash of weirdness — a “spicy topping”, as the theme song says — in their otherwise-normal lives.
The Main Character: Makoto
I gotta admit: I roll my eyes when I see the name “Makoto”. It’s a unisex name that means “sincerity” or “truth”, and you see it a lot in anime. Sailor Moon, Digimon Tamers, and Free! came to my mind right away.
Maybe her plain name is supposed to contrast with how odd she is. She may look innocent and normal, but she likes weird and creepy things like most witches do.
For example, in one episode, she makes lady fingers (or “Witches’ Pinkies”). But they’re literally shaped like fingers. With blood coming out of them.
Still, I think her weirdness is what makes her a charming character. It’s also nice to watch her learn magic. (Her older sister helps out later in the show.)
Verdict
My sister nicknamed this show “Farming Witch” because it surprisingly has more farming than flying. It’s also pretty slow sometimes. Those are fair criticisms. Flying Witch is slice of life, after all.
Usually, the characters are living their daily lives when something unusual happens. A cloaked stranger visits. Makoto picks a screaming mandrake out of a field. She and her cousins investigate a haunted cafe.
Half of an anime’s budget is spent on food porn.
Or they pick bakke off the side of the road and cook it. (I’m not sure what bakke is. Butterbur sprouts? 🤷🏾♀️)
Anyway, this show isn’t supposed to be action-packed. It’s about everyday life with a layer of magic over it. If you prefer drama and adventure, Flying Witch isn’t for you.
But if you don’t mind a show that’s calm, light-hearted, and episodic, then I recommend it.
VERSE kakedashita hibi ni yukitsuita kono basho fureta tobira hiraite hoshizora no kanata yume no ashiato hiroiatsume utau yo
yume ga kaketeku basho ima mo kokoro ni himete yoru o tsutsumikomu mahou kakete odoridasu
CHORUS yakitsuita you ni irozuita fuukei wa koronda kurai ja tokenai kara sekai wa tsuzuku yo hakanai mama no ima o dakishimete kawaranai mama jikan to hikari mitsumete aruiteku
In honor of Halloween next Thursday, all of my posts for the rest of the month will be about witch-themed anime. Yesterday, you saw the opening to Mahou Tsukai Precure!(a.k.a. Maho Girls Precure!). Today, here’s a mini-review of the anime Witch Craft Works.
Plot Summary
Every day, Honoka Takamiya sits next to Ayaka Kagari, the beloved “princess” of Tougetsu High School. Despite being classroom neighbors, they’ve never spoken to each other. But that changes one day when Ayaka saves him from an attack by a group of witches.
Turns out she’s a Workshop Witch who uses fire magic. Honoka is her “princess”, and her mission is to protect him from the Tower Witches, who want the special power inside of him. He and Ayaka share a magic bond that makes her unkillable, but only when he’s nearby.
Together, they try to survive the war between Workshop Witches and Tower Witches.
My Thoughts
To be honest, I remember little about this show. That could be a problem by itself. It’s forgettable.
This is literally the order of these scenes. The character in the first scene disappears, then it immediately cuts to the second scene.
My biggest complaint about it was the choppy pacing. The show constantly jumped from scene to scene with no transitions and no explanations for how they were connected. Sometimes, this happened in the middle of a battle, so it figuratively and literally took you out of the action.
Also, the show had way too many characters for a 12-episode series. I didn’t remember any of their names, not even the main characters’. All I remembered were two factions of witches fighting each other, and one of the main characters was a fire witch. Who was on each side? Beats me!
Finally, this anime committed one of my cardinal sins: undoing all consequences. Dead characters came back to life, the leveled city was restored to normal, and life continued as if nothing happened. Why did I waste my time on a grand-scale battle that had no stakes?
Main Character #1: Honoka
Who?
I remember nothing about this guy. He spent the entire series being protected by Ayaka and other witches, and he barely made his own decisions. Yet everybody wanted him. They either wanted the MacGuffin power inside of him, or they wanted him romantically.
That includes his sister. She wanted to marry him. And have three kids with him. Because anime.
Main Character #2: Ayaka
Can’t say she was interesting, either. She was the cliché stoic warrior with incredible power and a single focus: protecting Honoka. But since he was such a dull guy, it made you wonder why she even bothered.
Verdict
Do I recommend this show? No. If you like flashy magic battles, you might enjoy it. Otherwise, skip it.
Now you know a witchy anime to avoid. In a couple days, I’ll talk about a witchy anime I did like.
Notes: Though the logo says “Mahou Tsukai Precure” in Japanese, the official name of the season is Maho Girls Precure! Toei also refers to it as Witchy Precure!
Prattler's Paradise 