Magical DoReMi
Encyclopedia
Magical DoReMi, known as in Japan, is a magical girl
anime
television series created by Toei Animation
in 1999. It focuses on elementary school students who become witch apprentices. Led by Doremi Harukaze, the girls must maintain their double lives in secret.
Magical DoReMi has been followed up by three direct sequels, lasting until its end in 2003. During the television series' runtime, two companion films were released in theaters. The English dub, produced by 4Kids Entertainment
, debuted in the US on September 10, 2005, with a preview episode airing on August 13, 2005.
On her way, Doremi is joined by her two best friends, Hazuki Fujiwara and Aiko Senō, as well as her younger sister, Pop. While taking tests to become better witches, at the same time, Doremi and her friends help out their classmates and friends with their own problems via magic, as well as battle Majo Rika's rival, Majo Ruka. All is going well until they meet Onpu Segawa, a child idol
, who does not share the same morals in using magic as them. Eventually, Onpu allies with Doremi and the girls and even saves them from turning into witch frogs at the cost of her own consciousness.
for most of her life, she is unable to speak Japanese well in her normal form and is unfamiliar with Japanese culture. While Doremi and the girls patiently teach her, they are also given temporary custody of Hana-chan, who was cursed with the former witch queen's magic to hate vegetables, which are crucial to her health.
(Ojamajo Doremi Naisho is a part of Motto Ojamajo Doremi.)
and ABC. In Japan, the show aired on each of the ANN
TV stations (Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC, Japan)
, TV Asahi
, Nagoya TV (Metele)
, and others) and Broadcasting System of San-in Inc.
. The show replaced the time slot for Yume no Crayon Oukoku
after its end and lasted from February 7, 1999 to January 30, 2000, with a new episode airing every week. The series soon followed with direct sequels, Ojamajo Doremi #, Mōtto! Ojamajo Doremi, and Ojamajo Doremi Dokkān! until January 26, 2003. Each series lasted from 49 to 51 episodes.
In North America, 4Kids Entertainment
licensed the show under the title Magical DoReMi, which aired on 4Kids TV
for the 2005-2006 broadcasting season. Unlike the international dubs and like many broadcast anime in the USA, Magical DoReMi was heavily localized
. Episode 30 was never released in English.
Starting with a sneak preview episode on August 13, 2005, 4Kids TV followed with new episodes airing every week since September 2005. The show was put on hiatus in mid-2006, but resumed progress with new episodes have been posted every Tuesday on their streaming video website from 2007 to 2008. On April 24, 2010, Magical DoReMi returned on US television on The CW4Kids
and ended its re-runs on July 24, 2010. Starting on May 27, 2010, 4Kids Entertainment also started uploading the entire show onto their YouTube
channel.
ran a manga-adaptation of Ojamajo Doremi. The story was based on the events of the original anime and was drawn by Shizue Takanashi
. The chapters were compiled into tankōbon
volumes by Kodansha
. Four volumes were released in total — the first three were under the title Ojamajo Doremi, covering the events of the original series and Ojamajo Doremi #. The last volume was adapted from the Mo~tto! Ojamajo Doremi story arc and was titled eponymously to it.
announced the coming of the light novel , featuring the original work of Izumi Todo
, story written by Midori Kuriyama, and illustrations by Yoshihiko Umakoshi, to be released on December 2, 2011.. Chiba Chiemi, the voice of Doremi Harukaze, posted via Twitter
that she had received a copy and that it focuses on the characters' lives in high school.
In the movie, Pop has just passed one of her witch exams, but gets into a heated argument with Doremi because Hana followed her into the Witch World. Initially unbeknownst to everyone, the flower Pop brought home from the Witch World is really the Witch Queen Heart, the Queen's favorite flower, which grants any wish it hears regardless of any possible dangers until it begins to bear seeds. One of the wishes it had granted involves turning Doremi into a mouse, unknowingly made by Pop over her anger towards Doremi. While Pop goes to search for her sister, the other girls track down the runaway flower before it starts to reproduce.
Though the movie bears little relevance to the series it's based on, it does mostly take place some time between episodes 16 and 37 and is referenced in both episodes 37 and 40 (the latter coinciding with the post-credits scene).
During Doremi and her friends' summer vacation, they visit her grandparents in the fictional mountains of Fukuyama, where they hear of a mysterious legend of Mayuri and Zenjuro, two star-crossed lovers that died in the Edo period
. During the next morning, when they investigate the forest, the girls get lost and face the Curse of the Full Moon, which makes them unable to use magic. Meanwhile, due to a traumatizing memory, Aiko develops a fear of Doremi's grandfather.
Magical girl
belong to a sub-genre of Japanese fantasy anime and manga. Magical girl stories feature young girls with superhuman abilities, forced to fight evil and to protect the Earth. They often possess a secret identity, although the name can just refer to young girls who follow a plotline involving magic...
anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
television series created by Toei Animation
Toei Animation
Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Co., Ltd. The studio was founded in 1948 as Japan Animated Films . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was reincorporated under its current name...
in 1999. It focuses on elementary school students who become witch apprentices. Led by Doremi Harukaze, the girls must maintain their double lives in secret.
Magical DoReMi has been followed up by three direct sequels, lasting until its end in 2003. During the television series' runtime, two companion films were released in theaters. The English dub, produced by 4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment is an American film and television production company in bankruptcy since April 2011. It is known for English-dubbing Japanese anime and specializing in the acquisition, production and licensing of children's entertainment around the United States...
, debuted in the US on September 10, 2005, with a preview episode airing on August 13, 2005.
Ojamajo Doremi
Eight-year-old Doremi Harukaze aspires to be a user of magic, as she believes it would solve all her problems and help her confess to a boy she liked. One afternoon, she comes upon a magic shop and correctly suspects that the shop owner is a witch. The shop owner becomes a witch frog, "greenling", as this happens to witches when their true identities are discovered. In order to retain her original form, the shop owner, Majo Rika, takes Doremi as her apprentice to turn her into a witch. Doremi must take nine witch exams at night to become an official witch; however, she must never let her own identity as a witch be found out or the same fate that befell Majo Rika will happen to her. Because of Doremi's constant mishaps in magic, Majo Rika refers to her as an , a portmanteau of the words and (.On her way, Doremi is joined by her two best friends, Hazuki Fujiwara and Aiko Senō, as well as her younger sister, Pop. While taking tests to become better witches, at the same time, Doremi and her friends help out their classmates and friends with their own problems via magic, as well as battle Majo Rika's rival, Majo Ruka. All is going well until they meet Onpu Segawa, a child idol
Japanese idol
In Japanese culture, are media personalities in their teens and early twenties who are considered particularly attractive or cute and who will, for a period ranging from several months to a few years, regularly appear in the mass media, e.g...
, who does not share the same morals in using magic as them. Eventually, Onpu allies with Doremi and the girls and even saves them from turning into witch frogs at the cost of her own consciousness.
Ojamajo Doremi # (Sharp)
Not long after Doremi and the girls finish the 3rd grade, they go into the Witch World to see Majo Rika. While taking a shortcut through the garden, the girls witness the birth of a baby, whom Doremi later names Hana. According to the witch law, they have to take care of the baby for a year since they witnessed Hana's birth. While Doremi and the girls learn to take care of Hana and help her take baby tests, at the same time, the wizards in the Wizard World are afraid of the tremendous magical power Hana has. Oyajide, a former ally of Doremi's, plans to capture Hana at all costs and even hires four boy wizard prodigies, the FLAT4, to help.Mōtto! Ojamajo Doremi
After losing their witch apprenticeship to ensure Hana's growth, Doremi and the girls are given another chance to get their apprenticeship back by appealing to the Witch Senate with sweets. As none of the girls know how to bake well, the Queen introduces Momoko Asuka into their group to aid their quest. In Doremi's daily life, Momoko also becomes her classmate, but due to living in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
for most of her life, she is unable to speak Japanese well in her normal form and is unfamiliar with Japanese culture. While Doremi and the girls patiently teach her, they are also given temporary custody of Hana-chan, who was cursed with the former witch queen's magic to hate vegetables, which are crucial to her health.
(Ojamajo Doremi Naisho is a part of Motto Ojamajo Doremi.)
Ojamajo Doremi Dokka~n!
Doremi and the girls are made into full witches by the senate, but the former witch queen's curse is about to put all worlds into an eternal sleep. The only way to stop the curse is to awaken her and recreate the gifts she both made and received from her grandchildren. At the same time, Hana, who has become bored of the Witch World, uses magic to age herself into an 11-year-old to be able to attend Doremi's school.Anime
Ojamajo Doremi is produced by Toei AnimationToei Animation
Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Co., Ltd. The studio was founded in 1948 as Japan Animated Films . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was reincorporated under its current name...
and ABC. In Japan, the show aired on each of the ANN
All-Nippon News Network
, or ANN, is a commercial television news network in Japan run by TV Asahi Corporation.-All-Nippon News Network stations:-Remote Controller Buttons of Digital TV:*1: Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting*3: TV Miyazaki*5: 20 ANN stations...
TV stations (Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC, Japan)
Asahi Broadcasting Corporation
is a regional radio and television broadcaster headquartered in Osaka, Japan, serving in the Kansai region.-Offices:*Headquarters: 1-30, Fukushima Itchome, Fukushima-ku, Osaka-shi, Japan...
, TV Asahi
TV Asahi
, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....
, Nagoya TV (Metele)
Nagoya Broadcasting Network
, Nickname: Mētele is a TV station joining All-Nippon News Network in Nagoya. It is broadcast in Aichi Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture, and Mie Prefecture.-Analog:JOLX-TV*Nagoya TV Tower - Channel 11...
, and others) and Broadcasting System of San-in Inc.
Broadcasting System of San-in
Broadcasting System of San-in, Inc. is a Japanese radio station and TV station broadcast in Tottori Prefecture and Shimane Prefecture....
. The show replaced the time slot for Yume no Crayon Oukoku
Yume no Crayon Oukoku
is a Japanese children's literature by Reizo Fukunaga and serialized in Nakayoshi from January 1998 to December 1998. It was adapted into a seventy-episode anime television series by Toei Animation in 1997. It has been dubbed into French and Italian...
after its end and lasted from February 7, 1999 to January 30, 2000, with a new episode airing every week. The series soon followed with direct sequels, Ojamajo Doremi #, Mōtto! Ojamajo Doremi, and Ojamajo Doremi Dokkān! until January 26, 2003. Each series lasted from 49 to 51 episodes.
In North America, 4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment is an American film and television production company in bankruptcy since April 2011. It is known for English-dubbing Japanese anime and specializing in the acquisition, production and licensing of children's entertainment around the United States...
licensed the show under the title Magical DoReMi, which aired on 4Kids TV
4Kids TV
4Kids TV was a Saturday morning television programming block on the Fox Broadcasting Company. The block was part of the Fox Network schedule...
for the 2005-2006 broadcasting season. Unlike the international dubs and like many broadcast anime in the USA, Magical DoReMi was heavily localized
Editing of anime in American distribution
Editing of anime in American distribution describes the process of altering anime to prepare it to be distributed in the United States and forms part of the process of localization. This process is generally applied only to series intended for broadcast on American television; series released...
. Episode 30 was never released in English.
Starting with a sneak preview episode on August 13, 2005, 4Kids TV followed with new episodes airing every week since September 2005. The show was put on hiatus in mid-2006, but resumed progress with new episodes have been posted every Tuesday on their streaming video website from 2007 to 2008. On April 24, 2010, Magical DoReMi returned on US television on The CW4Kids
The CW4Kids
The CW4Kids is a Saturday morning cartoon block on The CW Television Network that premiered on May 24, 2008 in the place of Kids' WB...
and ended its re-runs on July 24, 2010. Starting on May 27, 2010, 4Kids Entertainment also started uploading the entire show onto their YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel.
Manga
From 1999 to early 2003, the manga magazine NakayoshiNakayoshi
is a shōjo manga magazine published by Kodansha in Japan. First published in December 1954, it is a long-running magazine with over 50 years worth of manga publication history. The target demographic for Nakayoshi is aimed at young girls between...
ran a manga-adaptation of Ojamajo Doremi. The story was based on the events of the original anime and was drawn by Shizue Takanashi
Shizue Takanashi
is a Japanese manga artist known for illustrating the manga series of the girls' anime Ojamajo Doremi. In 1981, she won the Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo for Ohayō! Spank.- External links :...
. The chapters were compiled into tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes by Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
. Four volumes were released in total — the first three were under the title Ojamajo Doremi, covering the events of the original series and Ojamajo Doremi #. The last volume was adapted from the Mo~tto! Ojamajo Doremi story arc and was titled eponymously to it.
Light Novel
On September 5, 2011, Kodansha LimitedKodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
announced the coming of the light novel , featuring the original work of Izumi Todo
Izumi Todo
Izumi Todo , who is credited with creating series like Ojamajo Doremi and Futari wa Pretty Cure, is a collective pseudonym for the staff at Toei Animation...
, story written by Midori Kuriyama, and illustrations by Yoshihiko Umakoshi, to be released on December 2, 2011.. Chiba Chiemi, the voice of Doremi Harukaze, posted via Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
that she had received a copy and that it focuses on the characters' lives in high school.
Ojamajo Doremi #: The Movie
was the first theatrical release for the series and was directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi. Roughly twenty-seven minutes long, it was released on July 8, 2000 (along with Digimon Hurricane Touchdown!! / Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals) for the 2000 Summer Toei Anime Fair. The Digimon movie was split into two parts and Ojamajo Doremi #: The Movie was screened in between.In the movie, Pop has just passed one of her witch exams, but gets into a heated argument with Doremi because Hana followed her into the Witch World. Initially unbeknownst to everyone, the flower Pop brought home from the Witch World is really the Witch Queen Heart, the Queen's favorite flower, which grants any wish it hears regardless of any possible dangers until it begins to bear seeds. One of the wishes it had granted involves turning Doremi into a mouse, unknowingly made by Pop over her anger towards Doremi. While Pop goes to search for her sister, the other girls track down the runaway flower before it starts to reproduce.
Though the movie bears little relevance to the series it's based on, it does mostly take place some time between episodes 16 and 37 and is referenced in both episodes 37 and 40 (the latter coinciding with the post-credits scene).
The Secret of the Frog Stone
was the series' second theatrical release and hit theaters on July 14, 2001, screened between Digimon Tamers: Battle of Adventurers and Kinnikuman: Second Generations. Similar to the first movie, it was again directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi.During Doremi and her friends' summer vacation, they visit her grandparents in the fictional mountains of Fukuyama, where they hear of a mysterious legend of Mayuri and Zenjuro, two star-crossed lovers that died in the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
. During the next morning, when they investigate the forest, the girls get lost and face the Curse of the Full Moon, which makes them unable to use magic. Meanwhile, due to a traumatizing memory, Aiko develops a fear of Doremi's grandfather.
CDs
Throughout the run of the series, multiple singles, albums, and compilations were distributed. The original series' CDs were released under Bandai Music Entertainment, while music from Ojamajo Doremi # was distributed by King Records. However, from Mo~tto! Ojamajo Doremi onwards, the CDs were distributed by Marvelous Entertainment.Ojamajo Kids
During the run of Ojamajo Doremi Dokka~n!, Toei hosted live events with dance performances by select actresses who portrayed the girls, titled "Ojamajo Kids. " These girls were selected via auditions.- Kasumi SuzukiKasumi Suzukiis a Japanese actress born on June 21, 1990 in Kanagawa, Japan. Her specialty is tap dancing.-Roles:* Sera Myu: Tanjou Ankoku No Princess Black Lady + as Manna* Ojamajo Doremi as Doremi Harukaze...
- Doremi Harukaze - Tsugumi Shinohara - Hana Makihatayama
- Miiya Tanaka - Hazuki Fujiwara
- Chiharu Watanabe - Aiko Senō
- Makoto TakedaMakoto Takedais a Japanese actress and model signed onto Stardust Promotion. She is well known for portraying Yuki in Cutie Honey: The Live.-Career:Takeda made her first appearance as a model at the age of 11 in the music video of Maya Okamoto's Dear. The same year, she auditioned and won a role in Ojamajo...
- Onpu Segawa - Chisato Maeda - Momoko Asuka
External links
- Official Ojamajo Doremi website at Toei AnimationToei AnimationToei Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Co., Ltd. The studio was founded in 1948 as Japan Animated Films . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was reincorporated under its current name...
- Official Ojamajo Doremi Sharp website at Toei Animation
- Official Motto! Ojamajo Doremi website at Toei Animation
- Official Ojamajo Doremi Dokkan website at Toei Animation
- Official Ojamajo Doremi Naisho website at Toei Animation
- Official Magical DoReMi website at 4kids.tv4Kids Entertainment4Kids Entertainment is an American film and television production company in bankruptcy since April 2011. It is known for English-dubbing Japanese anime and specializing in the acquisition, production and licensing of children's entertainment around the United States...
- Information in English about Ojamajo Doremi, Sharp, Motto!, Dokkan and Naisho at Toei Animation