It has been a grueling ten months, full of delays, missing translators, missing editors, and missed deadlines. A long, long journey has ended. Finally, all 13 episodes of this superbly wonderful OAV has been translated into English to the general public. And I am pleased.
So what is Ojamajo Doremi Na-i-sho about? Well, for people who have never even heard of Doremi, there's some explaining to do via Wikipedia. To make matters short, Doremi is the best magical girl metaseries to come out on Japanese TV in a very, very long time. Granted, it is a show for prepubescent little girls, but I digress. There is something in Na-i-sho for everyone. Friendship, environmentalism, English lessons, culinary arts... Ojamajo Doremi has everything.
The first season recently got licensed by 4kids and is showing currently on Fox Kids every Sunday morning. I don't really approve of many of the plot changes 4kids did to localize the show for American children, but there's really nothing I can do. By subbing this OAV, I want others to know how heartwarming, how educational, and how intense Ojamajo Doremi is. The 4kids version is really only a watered down version.
Every episode is episodic, but in order to fully enjoy the characters you'll need to at least see several episodes of the TV series. The timeline of this OAV series is right after the third season. I only saw a few episodes of the third season, but that was enough for me to understand the quirks and knacks of all the characters. There's Doremi, the ever-clumsy female lead, but has a very good sense of humor. Aiko is the strong one in the group, foiled with Hadzuki the rich, soft-mannered one. Onpu is the typical school idol, and finally, there's the best character of all time, Asuka Momoko. Granted, Momoko doesn't get a lot of screen time, but in all my months of subbing anime, I have never heard any other voice actress say English as flawless as Momoko.
The episodic nature lends itself well to the OAV, as each individual story can be replayed over and over again. Some of the stories were comical, others heartwarming, but all parts exceptional. Jyunichi Sato is the genius director behind this greatness. Every episode has at least some sort of moral or lesson that is sometimes subtle, while other times blazingly clear.
Every episode had top-notch animation, especially the baseball episode. It's not as flashy as one would expect from an OAV series, but it gets the job done. The sound effects fit very well, and it's hard not to remember the various magical chants. XD faces are a common feature, as with skinny spaghetti arms and legs. This may be a turn off to some people, but I like how the characters have big heads in proportion to the body size, because that way the innocence of the fifth graders are exemplified. Doremi also features huge eyes, but the eyes are placed in the middle of the face, which are nice and proportional in regards to the rest of the features on the face.
Each story is so memorable. The BBQ with Kotake and his gang... Aiko coming to terms with her swimming phobia... Hadzuki and Yada's friendship... the Nutcracker... and even a story about Yamada, one of the many classmates, coming to terms with his dad. All were great, all were wonderful. One episode stands out above the rest though, and that is episode 12.
Episode 12 is the zenith of anime. It's an example of how this art form can be used. I'm very surprised that episode 12 can actually be aired in Japan, because of the sheer greatness factor it has. Here in America, episode 12 will be censored and hacked to bits, because it deals with the issue of death. Every time I watch that episode, I tear up like a bubbling little girl. I can't help it. Usually I don't cry much at anime, but episode 12 is just one of those that you can't help but feel the intensity of the character's emotions. Episode 12 deals with the touchy subject of cancer, and it was done beautifully. You haven't watched anime if you haven't seen episode 12 of Ojamajo Doremi Na-i-sho.
Granted, this show isn't for everyone. Hell, you wil probably get laughed at for watching it. I sure got laughed at by my dad, because of how kiddy the show looks. But for those people who can forge ahead and watch this, they'll be seeing one of the best anime in their life. People with no heart shouldn't watch this. People who only look for giant robots or extreme violence should look away, too. Everyone else, if you had enough of the Mai-Otome and the Shana and the fate/stay night, then give Doremi a chance. You won't be disappointed.
