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!
Episode 17
Our cold open reveals… hell yes, we’re going back to the witch world! While it’s always rewarding to luxuriate in the familiar scenery of Doremi’s hometown, the witch world is where this production’s background artists really get to stretch their muscles, conjuring all manner of fantastical scenery for a world that seems limited only by imagination. I still think fondly on the episode that seemed inspired by the surrealist paintings of Giorgio de Chirico
Excellent faces from our girls as they learn they’ll once more be facing off with the witch baby authorities. They failed their last test, but it was for the best of reasons – they prioritized Hana-chan’s needs over the demands of the test, thereby demonstrating a truer sense of responsibility than even those that actually completed their challenges (like that goddamn Moto-moto pair, who shouldn’t even be allowed near children, much less made responsible for their development)
As ever, this OP revels in the expressive simplicity and fluidity of Yoshihiko Umakoshi’s character designs. Detail is the enemy of expression – the less detailed your character designs, the more your animators can infuse them with energy and life via exaggerated, character-rich movement. The old masters tend to be even more dogmatic about this – Yasuo Otsuka hammers in the cruciality of simple, agreeable designs throughout his teachings, and his student Hayao Miyazaki’s work clearly demonstrates that lesson, with Miyazaki sticking to largely the same models of simplified characters from Future Boy Conan through The Boy and the Heron
The baby witch exam proctor Majo Heart might actually have one of the most complex, angular designs in the show, which in turn means she tends to receive more Kaneda-style pose-to-pose animation than the fluid stuff, since it’s easier to pose such characters than actually animate the transitions of their movement
Big fan of the sorta corrugated cardboard texture of this background art, which makes this world feel all the more hand-crafted and intimate
Majo Rika is basically the epitome of this show’s simplified design philosophy, a “frog” that’s really just a round bean
Yep, we’ve got Hana-chan’s third month health exam coming up
Majo Rika and Lala still seem traumatized by Hana-chan’s cries. The two of them offer an important lesson in this baby-raising context, assuring kids that their parents’ exhaustion in the wake of a new baby is actually perfectly normal
“Hana-chan’s Crawling Exam.” Meanwhile, the show at large is insistent on celebrating these milestones, teaching kids to appreciate the steady growth of their new siblings
Even the real world has a sleepy face on the moon. There’s magic everywhere
“Stop that, you guys. You’re upsetting Hana-chan.” Makes sense that Onpu the performer would be the one who understands that their moods impact Hana’s mood, and thus they must try their best to be cheerful around her
Excellent “you for real right now?” pose from Onpu when Doremi starts marveling at the progress of the other babies. She is very clearly the animators’ favorite
We are informed that today’s test will be a crawling exam
But while Hana-chan is a pro, Atarimeko-chan (the daughter of our octopus and squid lovebirds) is apparently not so gifted. Well yeah, she’s a sea creature, that makes sense
Yep, we’re watching a baby race. Always good times here in the witch world
“You have to feed the milk at the first checkpoint! Then change their diapers at the second checkpoint!” I had never previously considered the mechanics of competitive baby-raising, but it seems these witches have it all figured out
“This is not a race!” HOW IS IT NOT A RACE!?
The babies must now contend with the Forest of Pink Spears, a task which will apparently somehow demonstrate their productive growth over the preceding month
And now we’ve got a fucking labyrinth. What could they possibly be testing for!?
Nonetheless, this is exactly what I love about the witch world – they’ve got rigorous testing for every stage of witch and witch baby development, yet basically none of their challenges make any sense. It’s like a carefully adjudicated round of Calvinball
Hana-chan of course overcomes the challenge by walking sideways up the walls. Who knew her exorcist routine would so swiftly come in handy?
If anything, this test might be evaluating how well the new parents can prioritize their babies’ needs over the stress of competing in this alleged race – but then again, doing precisely that was what caused our ojamajos to fail their previous exam, so I can’t exactly assume there’s a coherent master plan here
That nonetheless does seem to be the direction we’re going, as emphasized by the other girls chastising Doremi for attempting to rush Hana-chan
Hah, clever wipe transition here as a shot of Atarimeko curls in from the edges, condensing into Majo Heart’s crystal ball. Always a fan of this production’s willingness to embrace ostentatious transitions and screen-in-screen flourishes, two valuable techniques that have almost disappeared in our regrettable modern era of attempted “cinematic” realism
Our next challenge is crossing a ball pit, which feels hard enough for adults, much less babies
But what’s this!? Our babies have accidentally wandered onto the eighth-month exam course!? Oh why oh why did we situate these two courses five feet apart!?!
And Onpu actually discovers the mistake, but simply doesn’t give a shit. Love her
The next challenge involves guiding the babies up a frictionless slide, which they unsurprisingly topple back down pretty much immediately. What little faith I still held in the witch world’s childcare philosophy is swiftly dwindling
After their naps, the subsequent challenge involves crossing the sand dune room from Stalker. Alright, I really gotta object at this point
They’re then faced with thin rock bridges over a rushing river. I suppose raising a witch baby would require confidence in facing greater challenges than a normal baby, but I just don’t see how any caliber of baby is expected to survive this murderous gauntlet
Interesting multiplanar technique here, with each of the subsequent bridge stones set on a different layer so they can tilt independently. Staged from behind, the technique facilitates an effective sense of both fragility and depth, emphasizing the length of this bridge relative to the tiny babies
Oh god the babies fell in the river
Girls we’ve got no time for all this bank footage, the babies are floating downstream!
Fortunately, the Motos and their idiot babies make so many mistakes that Doremi’s team gets double credit for saving them. A great victory!
And Done
Alright, we’re gonna need to make some changes to this whole witch baby evaluation program. Having babies compete in baby races is nonsensical enough, but when you’ve got babies crossing treacherous rock bridges over raging rivers, you’ve clearly lost the thread of responsible childcare. Nonetheless, this visit to the witch world was yet another nonsensical delight, once again demonstrating the carefree whimsy of this production’s approach to magic, as well as the endless visual flourishes of its stalwart animators. And hey, if this is the level of professionalism we can expect from our witch baby proctors, our ojamajos clearly aren’t doing too bad!
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