Ojamajo Doremi

Ojamajo Doremi (おジャ魔女どれみ, lit. "Bothersome Witch Doremi"), also known as Magical DoReMi in some countries, is a Japanese magical girl anime television series created by Toei Animation. It focuses on a group of elementary school girls, led by Doremi Harukaze, who become witch apprentices. The series aired in Japan on TV Asahi between February 1999 and January 2003, spanning four seasons and 201 episodes, and was followed by an original video animation series released between June and December 2004. An English language version of the first season, produced by 4Kids Entertainment, aired in North America in 2005. The franchise has also spawned two companion films, various manga adaptations, and a sequel light novel series.

## Plot

Doremi Harukaze/Dorie Goodwyn, a third grade elementary school girl living in the fictional Japanese town of Misora (the fictional American town of Port Mystic in the English dub), comes across an esoteric shop known as the Maho-Do (MAHO堂), accidentally discovering that its owner, Majo Rika, is a witch. Due to a curse placed on any witch whose identity is exposed by a human, Majo Rika is transformed into a magical frog. Wanting to return to her original form, Majo Rika makes Doremi her witch apprentice, giving her the ability to cast magic. Feeling guilty for placing that curse on her, Doremi accepts Majo Rika's offer in hopes of fixing her mistake. In order to become a fully fledged witch capable of turning Majo Rika back into a human, Doremi has to pass nine different witch tests, whilst also keeping her identity a secret from other humans. Doremi is soon joined by her two best friends, Hazuki Fujiwara/Reanne Griffith and Aiko Senoo/Mirabelle Haywood, and later by her younger sister Pop/Caitlyn who all become witch apprentices, helping to run the Maho-Do whilst using magic to help out their friends and families, with the occasional mishap. They soon come across a rival witch apprentice, Onpu Segawa/Ellie Craft, who has been using forbidden magic to influence people's memories. Whilst initially cold towards the other girls, Onpu soon warms up to them and sacrifices herself to prevent their identities from being revealed. In order to save Onpu from an eternal sleep, the girls give up their magic powers to awaken her.

In the second season (Sharp), at the start of the fourth grade, Doremi and the others, who sneak into the Witch World to visit Majo Rika, witness the birth of a magical baby, who is given the name Hana. As witch law dictates that whoever witnesses a magical baby's birth must take care of it for a year, Doremi and the others are once again made witch apprentices, tasked with raising Hana. While also taking care of the Maho-Do, which has now become a gardening store, the girls must ensure Hana's growth and help her pass several health examinations held by the Witch World's head nurse, Majo Heart. Meanwhile, a wizard named Oyajide attempts to kidnap Hana to help aid the Wizard World, later enlisting the help of four young wizards known as the FLAT 4. At the end of the series, after the witch apprentices help mend relations between the Witch and Wizard Worlds, they once again give up their powers in order to protect Hana from the past queen of the Witch World.

In the third season (Motto), as the Queen of the Witch World pleads to the other witch senates to make Doremi and the others witches again, half of the senates are opposed to the decision. Thus, the Queen offers a compromise in that the girls, who are made into apprentices again, must pass six patissière exams in order to become full witches. With the Maho-Do remodeled into a bakery, Doremi and the others are joined by Momoko Asuka, a returnee from America who initially has little experience with Japanese outside of using a special intercom, to help them bake sweets needed for their exams. Midway through the series, Hana is afflicted by a curse from the past queen, causing her to have a dislike for vegetables which are necessary for her magical growth, prompting Doremi and the girls to help her get over her pickiness. After curing Hana's pickiness and passing the patissière exams, the girls appeal to the past queen, Majo Tourbillon, who had despised humans ever since she lost her human husband and child, undoing a curse placed upon a forest, where her true form is found sleeping, protected by magical vines.

In the fourth and final season (Dokkan), Hana, who has gotten bored of the Witch World and wants to be with Doremi and the others, uses all of her magic to instantly grow up and become a sixth grader. This results in the Maho-Do being transformed into a crafts shop and Hana's magical crystals shattering, requiring Doremi and the others to supply her with the energy needed to become a witch apprentice. Meanwhile, the Queen discovers Majo Tourbillon's power will eventually cause all worlds to be put to sleep. As such, the Queen tasks the girls, who are assisted by Majo Tourbillon's fairy, Baba, to recreate various handmade gifts that Majo Tourbillon's six grandchildren had made and received from her in order to remind her of the happy times and break the vines imprisoning her. The vines soon start spawning black flowers that cause people and magical beings alike to be affected with laziness, with the girls enlisting the help of Hana and a white elephant named Pao to put a stop to them.