I'm Doremi! Becoming a Witch Apprentice (Ojamajo Doremi)

"I'm Doremi! Becoming a Witch Apprentice (Ojamajo Doremi)"
A good way to start one of the most unique magical girl show.
Series: Ojamajo Doremi Part of Season: 1 Episode Number: 1 Air Date: February 7, 1999 Next episode: "I Become Hazuki-Chan"

"I'm Doremi! Becoming a Witch Apprentice!" is episode 1 of the first season of Ojamajo Doremi. It is also the 1st episode of the entire series originally aired on Feb 7, 1999.

Plot

Doremi Harukaze is a clumsy girl convinced she is very unlucky. More than anything, she wishes magic was real so that she could try to turn her luck around. Then one day she comes across a strange shop.

Why It's An Happy First Episode

1. It introduce the characters very decently, especially Doremi herself, even if some of the other main characters such as Aiko are not introduced yet (she would howewer be introduced in the episode 3 of the show).
   • In fact, Doremi even describe herself in the beginning of the episode, and the way she does is perfect, especially in the French and Japanese original version.
2. The main characters, Doremi and Hazuki are very likable characters, especially Doremi who feel very bad because of the other that bully her for no apparent reasons.
   • Majorika, while mean to Doremi, is actually hilarous at time and sometime we can see why she is angry at her since Doremi accidently transformed her into a frog when she said that she a witch, and because of the fact that in some parts, Doremi is a bit obnoxious about being a witch.
3. There's still some moments that are funny such as when Doremi got hurt by the foot ball and say that she had probably not any chances with boys, which is funny in the French dub.
   • There's also the moment where Doremi didn't locked her bag and everything fall down of it, which is very funny to watch even if it's embarrasing for her.
4. It had a hidden message about to believe in yourself, as seen in the very first scene where Doremi pray for being more happy, but unfortunately it didn't worked so it is a bit wasted and not easy to found this message.
5. While not great because it is a very first episode, the animation is still pretty nice to look at, especially the art style itself.
6. It also had sad moments but in a good way because they mostly introduce the personality of Doremi who lack an happy life, even if some of those moments could feel painful to some peoples.
7. Great soundtrack that is very nice to listen to, most of the musics would be found in other episodes of not only this season but the other seasons too.
8. The moment where Doremi enter the Magic shop when she found out about Majorika being a witch and that she accidently transformed Majorika into a frog is very memorable.
9. It paved the way for the plot of the series, which was already clear in this very first episode, so at least the premise is also decently presented.

Unlucky Qualities

1. As stated in WIL#2, while a lot of the characters are likable, there's still many unlikable characters because of them bullying Doremi.
   • The classmates are pretty much the worst characters of this episode, often seen making fun of Doremi just because she had terrible grades or because she got expelled from her class.
     • In fact, the only one of that classmate that do not bully her is of course Hazuki but howewer it is understable because she's Doremi best friend.
   • Majorika, while she had the right to be angry because of being transformed into a frog, she still very harsh toward Doremi, who just want attention and don't know yet how to do magic, in which it off course make Doremi sad.
2. This episode had lot of animation errors, which is howewer understable for a very first episode of a late 90s anime, and some of them are very noticeable, those errors are mostly involving Doremi color code.
3. Some peoples might not like this episode if they don't like torture episodes, even if this one is done right.
4. Downer Ending: Doremi crush ask if the girl who got hurt want to be in couple and Doremi is once again very sad and it end, howewer it isn't the worst ending that she got in the show.

Reception

The episode reception is positive and was seen as a nice way to start this show, it had a score of 8.9/10 on IMDb, making it one of the highest rated episode on the site.

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