Ojamajo Doremi is a difficult series to recommend because I'm sure many people are going to write it off immediately for a myriad of reasons. It's a show aimed at little girls, its over 200 episodes long, and it's just a slice of life with a very thin over-arching plot. However, even as a 23 year old male this series was able to grab me right off the bat and never really let go, so I'd like to throw together a quick little review describing why I think this underrated gem is worth your time, no matter your age, gender, or personal preference in anime.

The true strength of Ojamajo Doremi can be found in the three main pillars that support the entire series: the characters, the animation, and the moments of greatness. The characters in this series truly surprised me. Seldom do I find a series where every single member of the main cast is outstanding, but Doremi's main five girls each endeared me for different reasons. None of the five girls are very similar in any way, each of them have clearly defined motivations and all of the characters play off one another in different ways, which adds a lot of depth in moments when the characters are struggling with something or fighting with one another. Despite this being a "show for kids", Doremi's characters have a lot of depth to them and experience a wide range of problems that feel more mature than an average kids show, such as topics including social isolation, divorce, suicide, death, racism, etc. These problems are usually written in ways that don't treat the audience like a bunch of immature idiots like a lot of American children's TV series do, but instead tackles a lot of issues head on in a very upfront manner, which is a really cool thing to see. It's like the writers actually cared a lot about the kids watching their show and really wanted to create relatable situations for absolutely everybody. If you're a kid struggling with divorced parents, Aiko presents herself as a perfect role model for a lot of tough situations that a divorced kid might be in, same thing with Onpu and never being able to see her father, Momoko with being a foreigner etc. Furthermore, these characters experience a lot of great overarching character arcs, which I won't spoil but can be best described as "growing up and maturing is magic within itself". Another incredible aspect of Doremi is it's background characters. Never once have I seen a series that takes place in school get the viewer familiar with every single member of the class besides Doremi, and because of this by the end of the series I felt a lot more connected with every member of the school, having seen their hardships and how they dealt with them. There are obviously some let downs in the cast that I'll get to later, but all in all I'd say the characters are the true driving force behind this series's magic.

The animation in Doremi is absolutely superb. Not only are the character designs unique, popping with color, and full of emotion, but Doremi makes it a point to be constantly moving as much as humanly possible. I've described this show before as "the most ADHD thing I've ever seen" because it is always trying to maximize the emotion of every single frame. If a scene is supposed to be wacky and crazy, you're gonna bet that the music is going to ramp up and the absurd facial expressions are gonna come up, but if a scene is going to be sad then everything will come back down to earth in a really satisfying way. This seems to be a trademark directing trick of Junichi Satou at this point with series like Aria utilizing it to great effect, but it is especially prevalent here. Umakoshi's designs are once again on point, and overall the animation in this show is fantastic, even if it may seem a bit dated to the modern anime viewer.

I touched on before how this series can dive into topics not normally tackled in kids shows, and these topics usually are prevalent in some of my favorite episodes, however the best episodes of the franchise include specific moments of greatness that make Doremi even more enjoyable. If you haven't seen the series already, about 90% of the episodes are just fun episodes that usually revolve around a classmate or something going on in the witch world, however Doremi has the ability to come through on incredible moments of emotion and feeling in some episodes. Not every episode in Doremi is a winner, and there were even stretches of episodes where I felt the series was turning dull, however on the flip side there were also many moments that were done just absolutely perfectly, and in the long run I feel that those are going to be the moments that I will remember the longest.

With all that being said, Doremi certainly isn't perfect. Characters like Oyajide and Pao-chan are just straight up obnoxious and it would be way better if they weren't there (and Hana too when she's a child), every season is constructed exactly the same which can feel repetitive and uninspired (besides Na-i-sho), and there are some stretches of episodes that feel boring or uninteresting as stated before. Not all seasons of Doremi are equal in my eyes, with my favorites being Na-i-sho and Mo~tto, however I gave every season of Doremi a score between an 8 and a 9, so overall I enjoyed this series a lot. If you are interested in a fast-paced and hyper slice of life with fun magical powers in an elementary school setting that tackles a wide range of emotions, well Ojamajo Doremi is perfect for you. But for everyone else, give it a shot anyways. From moments of gut busting laughter to genuine tears, I feel that Ojamajo Doremi does a whole lot of things well, and it gets a strong recommendation from me.