Inspired by her favorite book, Elaina ventures out to see the world she's read so much about. Like a
leaf on the wind, she travels from one country to another, looking to sate her inquisitiveness and
searching for new experiences. She's confronted by humanity in all its forms, whether strange,
bizarre, or emotional. Exploration and curiosity drive her journey. Where to next, Elaina?
(Source: Funimation)
# ~~~ Nothing fills us with wonder the way that stories do. ~~~ ~~~ img100%(https://loucosporgeek.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Wandering-Witch-featured.jpg) ~~~ Whether you're cracking open a good book or turning on the telly, there's always something special to be found in consuming media, through sheer enjoyment and the impact they have on our respective worldviews. Growing up with stories is a universal experience. From various walks of life, both young and old alike are bound to come across any number of stories. Stories come in a limitless number of forms, ranging from whimsical flights of fantasy to the simplest of daily interactions. These tales have the potential to shape how we see the world, and thus influences how we interact with everything around us. Our personal experiences are stories in themselves, and the way they're told and interpreted gives way to an infinite number of stories internalized and shared. It's a beautiful cycle, one that *Majo no Tabitabi* revels in exploring. A collection of a wandering witch's adventures, _Majo_ both celebrates and questions how we perceive media. And heck, even if you're not all that into meta-contextual analysis, the episodes themselves are loads of fun, capable of bringing out that childlike wonderment we associate with a great story. The following review is spoiler-free, but do jump ahead to my **Tl;Dr** if you'd like to go in blind. Without further ado, let's take a journey into the fascinating world of _Majo_! *** # ~~~ *Majo* is like a box of chocolates - packed with assorted variety and "flavors." ~~~ ~~~ img100%(https://media4.giphy.com/media/UNu0fnYvVihYQObmtP/giphy.gif) ~~~ You'll never know what kind of episode you're going to get in any given week, but they're all but guaranteed to surprise and deliver. The series follows Elaina, a young witch, and her travels to various locales. While rarely deviating from this simple formula, *Majo* more than makes up for it by regularly switching up its setting and themes. The show's stunning presentation goes a long way to draw us into its realm of magical mystery. One of the prettier shows you'll find this season, *Majo* is filled with distinct character designs, great lighting effects, a charming musical score, and most things in-between. An especially praiseworthy aspect are the strong directorial choices, bringing the best out of a tonally-colorful script. Anything from goofy comedic romps, high-stakes energy, and sinister dread is depicted well, through good shot composition and fun choreography. All in all, *Majo's* versatile presentation is beautiful to take in. # ~~~ Prettier still, however, are the storytelling tricks scattered across the series. ~~~ ~~~ img100%(https://animeshelter.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/majo-no-tabitabi-episode-4-1062-648x365.jpg) ~~~ Integral to the show's "variety-hour" narrative structure is the inclusion of magic. While the in-world magic system isn't comprehensive or the most thoughtful, it's clear to follow within the context of each episode and allows for plenty of inventive plotlines. Personally, I find that the real "magic" of *Majo* lies in its ambition. The series takes every opportunity to explore fascinating concepts through various mysteries and obstacles Elaina faces in each of her tourist stopovers. From creative thought experiments made possible by magic to non-linear narratives, *Majo* is very much interested with keeping the journeys as unpredictable for us as they are for Elaina. The show is comfortable with competently playing to familiar story conventions in one week, before shockingly subverting them in the next. Where other programmes would prefer to maintain a status quo, *Majo* is not afraid to venture into the unknown with each new episode. Intriguing story concepts are often established and exhausted within the runtime, ensuring that each storyline doesn't overstay its welcome. # ~~~ Perhaps the most interesting experiment of all though, is Elaina herself. ~~~ ~~~ img100%(https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/sunri/imgs/9/0/902cb585.gif) ~~~ Her character is introduced as a bright-eyed child, enamored by the wonderful tales of her favorite book, 'The Adventures of Nike.' She aspires to follow in Nike's footsteps, in the hopes of too becoming a travelling witch and experiencing similar stories for herself. At first glance, the origin of our Ashen Witch signals a rather standard character, but what comes next reveals anything but. She's no audience surrogate or tropey righteous do-gooder. She has personality and wit, keeps a level head and at times indulges in refreshing sarcasm. She's vain as heck, she knows she's a queen and she owns it. Most importantly, as much as we'd like to believe otherwise, Elaina is pretty far from perfect. At several junctures she makes decisions, and not all of them are necessarily choices one would agree with. Which brings me to what I feel makes her so special: Elaina is a representation of the audience. # ~~~ *Majo* creates an engaging discussion about escapism and audience expectations. ~~~ ~~~ img100%(https://randomc.net/image/Majo%20no%20Tabitabi/Majo%20no%20Tabitabi%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2002.jpg) ~~~ 'The Adventures of Nike' plays a prominent role in the show, often mirroring or contrasting the reality Elaina encounters. In fulfilling her childhood dream, the travelling witch goes from locale to locale, not getting too attached to her scenery. The world is her oyster, she can seek out new places and people as and when she likes. However, that reality isn't always in line with the world of her folk tales. Things don't always go as planned, and she isn't your fairytale heroine. Oftentimes the show reminds us of Elaina's inexperience and immaturity, highlighting how much more she has to learn in life. Elaina's relationship with her childhood tales and her real-life decisions achieve three things. First, *Majo* challenges the idea of how audiences are conditioned to consume media. We're accustomed to expecting stories to play out in a specific way, with some sort of closure at the end. These happy endings aren't quite what *Majo* is shooting for, however. I've seen several discussions questioning Elaina's failings in a given episode, which the show doesn't portray in a positive light. We're not forced to accept that Elaina has handled these situations to the best of her ability, and the resultant lack of catharsis compels us to reflect on her decisions. This means that we, the audience, become more involved in the story, and I find that effect to be incredibly engaging. Just like how we're sometimes dissatisfied with Elaina's choices, Elaina herself is disappointed with the outcomes she faces. Which leads me to my second takeaway: *Majo* explores our relationship with escapism. How often do we find ourselves sifting through the various catalogs of our preferred anime streaming sites, picking what to watch? In a similar sense, Elaina is Netflix-surfing before Netflix was a thing, roaming without staying in one place too long. It's certainly not a poor habit in moderation. However, Elaina's mythologising of Nike and refusal to return home does depict a less-flattering extreme. An extreme not dissimilar to those attained by real individuals today, who may find themselves obsessed with escapism while neglecting loved ones and work^. With social media and shows becoming more accessible than ever, it's somewhat sad that this illustration hits home in a present-day context. If we enjoy a medium, we might give it an unhealthy amount of attention; if we don't find pleasure instantaneously, we are conditioned to change the channel. But as much as we'd like to enjoy the world of fiction, there are some things in life we can't escape from. And that leaves us with the third point: *Majo* demonstrates how we're tied to reality. The great big world can be a scary place, filled with things we can't hope to comprehend in our lifetimes - things that get us down, things that change our lives. Sometimes I feel greater comfort turning to the stories I enjoy, instead of facing the music. And it's in those times that I forget to appreciate how wonderful life can be, in all its unpredictable chaos. The stories we consume are often in our comfort zone, but stepping outside into reality could be more rewarding than we could ever imagine. Who knows if things are gonna go my way, or if I'm gonna make the right decision? Uncertainty and lows are what makes the highs so precious. **Isn't that exciting?** # ~~~ While I enjoyed *Majo,* the series is a "mixed bag" in both senses of the word. ~~~ ~~~ img100%(https://animeshelter.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/maho-no-tabitabi-episode-2-0525-840x473.jpg) ~~~ It's variety is engaging, and provides some compelling commentary about how we consume stories. But the problem is, the stories themselves can sometimes leave plenty to be desired. And it's not the script's fault or anything, these episodic plots are mostly strong, fascinating ideas. That being said, the show's commitment to reinventing the wheel each week can work to the detriment of each concept. The standard 20-minute runtime we're used to suddenly seems small and insufficient with *Majo*. Plenty of story material seems left on the cutting room floor, resulting in cheesy spurts of exposition and ideas not fully explored. Recurring characters and plot devices serve their purpose, but don't really stand out to me (sorry, Saya.) **The biggest issue with *Majo* is that there's not enough *Majo!*** It's certainly not a bad problem to have, but the stories do leave me wanting more when the credits roll. It really makes me wonder how much better the show would fare with double the runtime, as opposed to its typical single-cour structure. Another point worth noting is that there are certain episodes that approach some seriously messed-up territory (looking at you, Episode 9^^.) One of the common complaints about *Majo* as it aired was the sudden tonal whiplash some viewers experienced after the first two episodes. Do prepare yourself for the unexpected, and exercise caution if you can't handle dark subject matter. # ~~~ **Tl;Dr**: ~~~ ~~~ img100%(https://i.ibb.co/CVF023T/Elaina-Repair.jpg) ~~~ *Majo no Tabitabi* is a layered and rewarding journey. Appealing visuals and a great score allow for the series' versatility to shine through; a variety of tones and themes are carried out brilliantly, ensuring that episodes are different but consistent. A vast realm of spells and splendor, the true magic of *Majo's* world lies in its fascinating concepts and meta-commentary. *Majo* has a thoughtful message for viewers, challenging the way in which we consume stories and perceive the world around us. However, there's also plenty of fun to be had for viewers tuning in to exciting adventures starring one of the best characters all year. Despite its many qualities, the show's short runtime does lead to untapped potential, which left me wanting more. That being said, *Majo's* adventurous offerings should not go unnoticed. **7/10**~ *** # ~~~ **STRAY RAMBLINGS (SPOILERS):** ~~~ - ^This is totally me attacking myself for my daily Groundpound sessions with Amelia XD Jokes, jokes. The V-Tuber rabbit hole is one I'm far too scared to fall into; I'm already shit enough with my time management as is! -^^Ladies, Gents & Others: we have a controversy on our hands. Simultaneously the best and worst episode of Fall, your mileage will vary immensely with this adventure. Personally I'm mighty impressed at the craft going into this, so let's take a closer look. Being a wannabe pretentious douchebag film geek, I gotta gush over how much I enjoyed how the episode presented itself. Story structure does tickle my nerdy pickle, being as literal an interpretation of Campbell's Story Circle as you can get. Elaina's gets a "call to adventure" when she receives the flyer and returns to that same bench from the beginning, changed and shaken by that harrowing encounter. Oh, and let's not forget how Elaina & Estelle cross a "threshold" into the past - it's great geeky fun. Though I'm pretty sure none of this structure bullshit appeals to anyone reading this, so let's jump into the aspect that makes it all work: the visuals. Little expense was spared in making this work. Neat cues like Estelle's magic ring and the newspaper scene are purposeful and add a lot more than flashy tricks. Direction is also consistent throughout, and I was gripped from start to finish. The premise is where we run into some problems, holy hell that was messed up. Personally I don't have big problems with the arc itself, even if things didn't make sense and seemed out-of-nowhere. The dark twist hinges on an info-dump, and Selena (much like the Doll Town episode) has all but one normal scene before going full-psycho. Another problem is with the idea that Selena's parents are abusers, which isn't nearly as developed or convincing as the other setups introduced throughout the episode. Once again, *Majo* is simply too short for its own good IMO. The show had its work cut out establishing not just technical devices (Estelle's magic cauldron, alternate timelines,) but also setting up the steps Estelle took in saving her friend. Her countless sacrifices are what connects us to the story, which in turn makes Senena's betrayal hit so much harder. At a baseline the episode still functions, and Selena's tragic story works on paper. However, it's a lot weaker than if we got more than an hour to rewrite Selena's history. Or rather, more than the 20 or so minutes of runtime every episode is allotted. - Lighting Round of some of my favorite arcs: Ep 4, while contrived, did eventually become one of the more memorable episodes. I really liked how it turned out to be a complete subversion of your typical fairytale, and the concept of the ghost town was super interesting. I also liked short about the Wall in Ep 7. The pacing was a tad too fast, but what's pretty special was the passage of time. Was kinda hoping for the wall to be a recurring plot device, but those hopes got crushed about 3 mins later when it came down lol. Just thought it'd be fun to see how much Elaina had changed as time went on. - Wow, that finale was nothing short of amazing. It addressed the idea of choice in stories, going as far as to label (our) Elaina *The Protagonist*. Really fun meta stuff once again, I really dig the [*Remedial Chaos Theory*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-jVbjtTKVM) vibes. Also: # **RUSSIAN ELAINA**. **THIS IS NOT A DRILL**. ~~~ img100%(https://i.ibb.co/cYB1W5g/Screenshot-2020-12-19-172838.png) ~~~ - **IN A NUTSHELL**: [*Kino's Journey*](https://anilist.co/anime/486/Kino-no-Tabi-The-Beautiful-World/) meets *Harry Potter.* - **BEST GIRL**: Who is the charming, beautiful witch, who arguably beat out every waifu this year? That's right, it's Elaina (and it's not even close.) Gotta forgive Saya for all that simping, God knows I'd do the same. ~~~ img100%(https://media1.tenor.com/images/502ee6559a823a406b662d5480ac0207/tenor.gif?itemid=18827847) ~~~ *** And we're done! Thanks so much for making it this far, glad you stuck around with this "journey," heh. If you happen to like my verbose rants, feel free to check out my other [reviews](https://anilist.co/user/AnimeDweeb/reviews) for seasons past and present, peace~
~~~__ A journey filled with wonder__~~~ _____ Whether you're a long-time fan of SOL or you're just curious about what magical fantasy this could be, this show gives you a nice calming dose of everything a child could dream. A collection of dreams a child grew up to realize. A literal book of the achronological story has unfolded and this review will be spoiler-free but please feel free to skip to the __Tl;Dr__ if you want to go in blind. Now, let's get into these adventures! ~~~__A Rubix cube with something new on each side__~~~ ___ This story follows a little girl named Elaina, whose one true dream is to become a witch and travel around the world like the witch in her favorite story. Once this dream is realized, we follow her story as with each episode she embarks on a new journey to another place, documenting it as she went. The animation is definitely one worth speaking on and is absolutely what makes this show one of- if not, the prettiest new-gen anime of this season. When you watch it, it's almost like you're pulled into the scenes because of how pretty and quite ironically- how magical it all looks through how it presents the transitions from place to place and each character. ~~~__You can get lost in the magic__~~~ ___ While this is certainly a more laidback fantasy SOL, the story elements of where you can see the beauty of the magic of the different characters you encounter. However, you could also say that this strength in a beautiful and diverse storyline could also serve to be part of the show's flaws. While Majo was certainly not afraid to put the audience in a different location every Friday, it can sometimes be seen as hard to grasp the fact that the focus for each episode will be different with no __real__ closure until you watch enough of it to realize that fact. As you go through the show, while each adventure is new and exciting, there is still much to be fulfilled with each episode having Elaina leave to go off somewhere else without really exploring where she's been. This reigns especially true by suddenly exploring darker tones without showing the recoil from it in Episode 9- nobody was prepared for; so do be cautious when beginning the watch that one. You truly never know what may come in an episode of this which can really through individuals who like closure in adventure stories like this. ~~~____Tl;Dr____~~~ Overall? _Majo no Tabitabi_ is a beautiful visual journey of wonder. Interesting and engaging themes sprinkled throughout twelve very unique episodes. While its greatest strength of diverse episodes also serves as its greatest weakness due to the lack of real closure in every episode, Majo is still a show that one can truly expect to enjoy in the long run. There's definitely more to be desired with this show and this hidden gem shouldn't be overlooked. __~8/10__ ___ Annnd, that's all folks! This was my very first review and I'm a little nervous writing it because my tastes are typically really different from others- BUT that's okay! Thank you for reading and expect more in the future+
I really, really wanted to like _Majo no Tabitabi_. Anime, manga, and light novels have been short on more episodic series for quite a while, particularly those centering on a traveler's journey through varying settings. The best-known and best received light novel-turned-anime in this vein is _Kino no Tabi_, and _Majo no Tabitabi_ takes obvious and direct inspiration; in both cases, a female protagonist travels alone, staying for short periods in small cities, acting primarily as an observer to events rather than as a catalyst (though generally being drawn in against her will). This isn't to accuse _Majo no Tabitabi_ of being a ripoff--most works in this medium are derivative to some extent or another, and there are meaningful differences in both the protagonist's personality and in the settings themselves. Indeed, _Majo no Tabitabi_ tries to tell its own story--it just doesn't do a very good job at it. The protagonist, a newly-minted teenage witch named Elaina, having spent two arduous years as an apprentice to an older witch, decides to travel the world on her own, visiting various "countries" (as I mentioned above, none of these are larger than city-states), most of which have a unique theme that causes some sort of conflict over the course of the episode. For instance, in one of the episodes that I thought that squandered its potential, the country's prince had cast a spell banning all lies, causing the effect of the townspeople using underhanded ways to be dishonest without directly lying. Yet compared to say, _Kino no Tabi_, and oddly for a work focused on traveling between different locales with different cultures, nothing is really done with this outside the opening minutes of the episodes. Elaina herself is, at best, a mixed bag of a protagonist. She's portrayed as slightly vain and self-centered--some people I've seen dislike her just because of this, but I'm generally more defensive of these sorts protagonists with personal flaws. The real problem is that her development over the course of the series is inconsistent, and cuts off right as it's seemingly about to go somewhere in the final episode. One of the later episodes, without getting into specific details, shows her failing to stop a gruesome murder, and ends with Elaina devastated and reconsidering her future as a traveler. The next episode proceeds to...not feature Elaina at all until the final few minutes, and then the episode after it doesn't seem to address anything that happened previously that seemingly would have caused her at least some trauma. While some of this can be ascribed to the decision to adapt chapters out of order to create more of a unified narrative and provide more spotlight to some secondary characters, the actual effect ends up being a clunky whiplash between very dark and fairly light-hearted episodes while failing to properly bridge the two, while emphasizing mostly uninteresting secondary characters over any sort of worldbuilding. An earlier episode features Elaina learning that a family has been staying with owns a slave who is repeatedly abused by the head of the household. While she at one point repairs a vase and stops the father from beating her, she chooses to not intervene any further and leave without attempting to free her from bondage, even after seeing the slave girl traumatized from learning about the outside world (it makes more sense in context). I don't necessarily think it would have been better for the story for Elaina to be a more active heroine, whether in this episode or in other episodes, but it reflects on a common problem in the series to introduce a moral dilemma without giving it any real weight or meaning. There are definitely some highlights to the series. The overall production values are above average despite some awkward 3DCG usage (the worst offender being a breaking vase in the aforementioned slave episode), and there are a couple episodes that I genuinely liked, including both the first episode (Elaina's background story) and one about a vineyard. Ultimately, however, due to both misguided adaptation decisions and an author biting off more than he can chew, _Majo no Tabitabi_, like its protagonist, fails under its own hubris.
Wandering Witch is a story about finding purpose through experiences and trying to move above and beyond them in order to approach them in the best way possible, only to struggle and keep failing, only to keep doing them over and over again. Its clear source of inspiration - as well as the most apt series to compare it to - is Kino's Journey, but whereas Kino is mostly stationary in her approach towards the various people and locations she encounters, Elaina attempts to react on a case by case basis. In many ways, this makes Elaina reactionary, and this sets the tone for the series' main focus; on whether the cycle of fate can be overturned through her own hands, or whether she can't, with the answer the series provides being mixed, but leaning towards the former - albeit with a particular nuance. It's impossible to separate Wandering Witch from Elaina as a character, with her adventures being front and center for all but one episode of this series. Elaina is a haughty, arrogant, exceptionally talented witch and yet this betrays an otherwise lonely, pessimistic young woman who due to her many failures constantly fails in rescuing people she otherwise could have had a chance to save. As a result, her arrogance over her beauty or talents come off as less of her being genuinely narcissistic but rather as a coping mechanism towards herself. Her reactions to the various stories covered in the series as a result vary, as despite her best intentions she bares witness to many a tragedy that she feels she couldn't have done anything about - one tragedy in particular sticks out with the aforementioned nuance, as a man essentially tries to cheer up a slave who's being abused by her master by showing her images of people living happy, free lives. However, this ultimately proves to be her undoing instead, as by showing her the lives of people being happy, he's essentially doomed her to an unhappy end where she will ultimately languish in despair then kill herself. Episode 9 is another case where things fall to hell, as Elaina desperately tries to assist someone in overcoming her destiny but ultimately fails and watches a tragedy unfold before her eyes. The core message across many of the series' darker episodes being that Elaina can't stop these tragedies from happening, because the seeds to these tragedies happening have already been buried, waiting to grow by the time she's stumbled across them, so it is only natural she'd fail. The moral this series proposes - and this is especially evident once one contrasts the darker, more infamous episodes this series has gained a reputation for against the otherwise often lighthearted tone in the series - is that the intent behind solving problems does nothing if the underlying cause behind said problems still exist. Elaina's character arc, as a result, is her trying different approaches to different problems and slowly but surely progressing as a character and changing her approaches due to her experiences. This comes to head in an amazing finale, where she comes across what she could have been had she chosen to do things differently, and accepting that ultimately, she is painfully flawed, but will not stop romantically exploring the world - beyond that ugliness, there's too much beauty for her not to find something to explore. In a strange way, instead of being a more direct coming of age story, the series promotes continuing to romanticize and explore the world, but if and only if your approach changes alongside it, which various characters over the course of the series failed to do. The side cast in this respect exist to act as a form of connection that Elaina has to the world around her, and a constant reminder - over and over again - that she has a place to belong, irrespective of where she goes or what she experiences. Saya's love for Elaina (that's heavily implied to be mutual in a later episode) is comically over the top, and yet there's a scene where Saya gives Elaina a necklace, reminding her of her connection to her. Elaina tries to leave a city after stumbling across an acquaintance, only to then be reminded on the way out that said acquaintance knows she'd do this kind of thing, has waited for her in advance and proceeds to see her off on her journey. The side cast are a fun bunch whose dynamics with Elaina and each other are reasonably fleshed out, with a particular should needing to go to Saya as well as Nike's trio, whose book about their travels is an inspiration for Elaina to travel herself, is another subconscious connection between her and another character. It's these connections that give Elaina the power to continue on, and much of the criticism involving lighthearted episodes being in-between the darker, more cruel episodes in the series often tend to miss the point the series is aiming for about emphasizing the connection that Elaina has, that no matter how hard she tries to fight things alone it's her connection to others that acts as a source of salvation, culminating in a fantastic climax at the end of the show. Production values are excellent all around - everything from animation quality to voicework to sound design and direction is superbly done, with my only gripe being that comedic scenes sometimes feel stretched out longer than they should've been and, if watched from the perspective of someone who'd prefer a show with a more singular tone, can cause mood whiplash. However, these are minor gripes for what is otherwise easily one of the best anime to come out this year, and for anyone willing to accept this series for what it is, I cannot recommend this highly enough. Thank you very much for reading my review, any and all feedback would be appreciated.
Review contain spoiler scenes In the Japanese popularity rating, this anime is located at the very bottom, while non-Japanese viewers call it the anime of the season. It's a common situation today, especially when a bad show gets too much attention. ~~~img2020(https://i.imgur.com/hbw56LW.jpg)~~~ _~~~A good background to start. It will be very rare later~~~_ Majo no tabitabi - stories of a traveler around the world, where all the elements are bad. Stories are about nothing. For example, 8 episode, it tells about a city where all residents are fanatical about dolls. No idea, no point, just a mockery of those who collect figurines. This is not the most popular genre, and instead of good stories, we get a common yuri bait (lost brooch in 2 ep, body swap in 11). But the next episode will show you slavery, child abuse, and so on. Frivolous and serious stories have one thing in common - the world in this anime is ugly. It is inhabited by ugly people, bandits, narrow-minded kings, rapists, maniacs, lustful witches. The world is ugly, as a result, predictable and dull. This is often compared to ideologically opposite https://anilist.co/anime/486/Kino-no-Tabi-The-Beautiful-World/ where the essence is spelled out in the title, The Beautiful World, the ugly world is really beautiful. In Elaine, only the heroine is beautiful, and only because she herself says so many times. ~~~img2020(https://i.imgur.com/Zi2UN94.jpg) _No problem if you are self-imposed. It's a problem when you have nothing else.~~~_ The author loves her very much, so she got the role of an observer from him. The ugly stupid world will never get her dirty, because she is just looking. 4 or 9 ep, where the maniac and the suffering witch fight, she is inactive. She will act only when there is no threat for her (to drink wine). Therefore, her connection with stories is extremely minimal. ~~~img2020(https://i.imgur.com/udiy4l5.jpg)~~~ _~~~Are terrible things happening again? I’ll watch, just don’t touch me.~~~_ The world does not work here, in particular magic. "Magic is not capable of everything" - says the author in an interview. But when there is a need to restore your lost beauty or fly into the past - magic can do anything. The heroine will not be able to save or find with magic a lost brooch, because author needs yuri bait, waste of potential. ~~~img2020(https://i.imgur.com/gVMYVHD.jpg)~~~ ~~~_"I asked the animators not to draw panties in the anime, everyone should enjoy the story." But the ninth ep asks to sit next to an adult, because the story is not for everyone._~~~ The visual work here is ambiguous. Nice design, strong (but rare) backgrounds. But subjectively - copositing is about nothing. The magical effects are terrifying, especially the ugly fire that Fire Force laughs at. And a very rare sakuga. ~~~img2020(https://i.imgur.com/u4FK8Ys.jpg)~~~ _~~~Sometimes the characters seem to be photoshopped against fabulous backgrounds.~~~_ Ideas and directions are quite easy to read, types of villains, cynical heroine, dolls-figures ep. Apparently, the author was very offended by the real world and is now making fun of him. But this is all very straightforward, boring, ideologically ill-considered, in an interview the author even fantasizes better. img2020(https://i.imgur.com/6FEUaRk.jpg) _~~~What could be worse than badly written stories? Poorly written shock factor violence.~~~_ Make a parody world, give the heroine a beautiful appearance and send her on a journey. Thats all. No characters, no stories, no world. Unfortunately it worked for the public, and for some reason I'm not surprised.
This show is magic and there isn’t a better way to describe it, rarely do you see such a perfect adaption of a Light Novel into the anime medium. This review will expand on why I believe this is among the best LN adaptations ever done, and how the show effectively executed its story, art, soundtrack, characters, in a way that exceeds other LN adapts. THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS Story: 8 The Journey of Elaina is essentially Kinos Journey meets fantasy magic world, Elaina travels to all sorts of interesting destinations and meets all sorts of unique people, along the way she might make friends, the occasional enemy, or completely choose to avoid everything and remain neutral. The show is very episodic, and many episodes will contain their own story or even multiple stories, however that does not mean the show doesn’t have a good plot, overall even the short stories are well written and have important messages that are conveyed to audience outright or in subtle ways. Some of the better stories are whole episodes and focus on an interesting setting in countries with special rules or attractions that Elaina adapts to, she may make friends in these countries or maybe she will have a hard time, but they always end with Elaina having a great story to tell when she gets back home. She might visit a country that only magicians can enter or a country without magicians, she might meet thieves or people trying to scam her but also meet friendly people who help her expecting nothing in return. The journey she travels on parallels real life backpacking, and really exemplifies how big and diverse the world is, and how many different experiences a person can come across depending on their circumstances. Some aspects of the show are a bit hard to watch, but they are grounded in realism, there are bad people out there and there are plenty of countries where the rules and customs may conflict with your moral outlook, for example with slavery. This show delivers these experiences without holding back and demonstrates how people can think and act in entirely different ways from what the audience or Elaina view as moral, without being cardboard villains. In comparison to the original light novel, this adapt had very little important information was skipped and it was largely faithful of every section covered, the studio went out of its way to make sure all the little details of the story were added and it helped make the world all the more immersive. Art: 9 From an excellently choregraphed and well animated fight in episode 1, to amazing particle effects and endless gorgeous movie quality backgrounds throughout the show, this show has some of the best visuals this year. Every city, town, forest, field of flowers, general location was drawn so perfectly that it just completely draws the audience directly into the show. These are some of the most amazing locations I have ever seen in any fantasy anime, the field of flowers in the show make the audience want to experience visiting one, the city on the cliffs fills the viewer with wonder, the realistic looking clouds make the fields even more beautiful and the amazingly detailed towns really bring the show to life. The backgrounds were also able to easily communicate emotions and enhance scenes with the various coloring choices made, darker or introspective scenes had a beautiful selection of subdued colors while more pleasant scenes had light colors, the choices of colors never detracted from the backgrounds and always felt fitting for a scene. A fantasy world can be made or destroyed by the quality of the backgrounds and how appealing they are to the audience, the background art in this series was perfect and really draws the audience into the fantasy world presented and portrays it in a suitable way. The animation in the show is nothing to look down at either as it greatly exceeds what is necessary for a slice of life travelling show, in fact the action scenes in this show were among the top 3 for the entire season including actual action series. Magical effects in this show were also a treat, in most anime magic is demonstrated with balls or blasts of energy and magical circles, once in a while creative effects are used but they are rarely ever demonstrated as effectively as in this show. From magical vision enhancement, to amazing teleporting, time reversal, and storage abilities, the show brings together an array of magical effects, each demonstrated in ways that are unique and creative compared to the vast majority of anime. The sound: 8 The OP was great, the soundtrack could easily draw the viewer into the show, all the background music and sound effects complemented the scenes they were in effective and generally made them even more emotional and enjoyable. The sound effects for wind, magical attacks, and water were all especially good, among the best I have ever come across in an anime. It was also nice to have all these little sound effects that are not included in most anime, such as the character walking down a staircase or tearing apart bread, it makes the world so much more immersive. Overall, the soundtrack is magical and deserves at least an 8/10 for how all-encompassing it is, how much it complemented every scene, and the strength of the OP. Characters: 9 It’s important to point out ahead of time that some viewers may be seriously bothered by Elaina’s inaction and the very short periods of time she spends in the places she travels to but this has a very specific purpose. Elaina is a traveler, not a Shonen protagonist, and she cannot get to comfortable or involved in any of these places otherwise her journey would end. Elaina also promised her parents to never pick a fight even when wrongdoing is occurring, if it does not directly involve her, in order to get them to give her permission to travel in the first place. If anything, Elaina is a refreshingly realistic take on a main character, most people would not try to save everyone as a tourist in countries they visit or try to improve a situation even if they are capable of helping a bit. This is because it’s incredibly difficult to make lasting change, a country where slavery is legal would require the entire government to be overthrown in order to fix the problem, something that Elaina might not be capable of doing. There are other systemic issues presented in this series as well where Elaina will not intervene due to understanding how hard it will be to solve the problem, how her attempt to solve it could backfire, or how committed she would have to be in order to see her solution through. It is worth adding that Elaina may come across as being way to full of herself, however she largely lives up to her own hype. Elaina is in fact quite attractive and popular wherever she goes, her skill with is quite real as well given her achievement of being a witch at such a young age. There is nothing wrong with the main character being very confident in themselves if it backed up properly. Side characters like Fran and sometimes Saya were also quite nice, seeing Elaina meet them again and catch up, and learn more about each other’s lives was enjoyable. Most characters in this series do not show up again after their initial appearance, however even in a single episode they usually get a lot of development. There were side characters that made the audience feel sorry for them, characters that were lovable, characters who you wanted to see join the journey with Elaina and characters who you hate, all of these characters were developed in the span of single episodes yet felt quite real. The Journey of Elaina did an excellent job with the side characters as even though they don’t get a lot of screen time, most of the named ones had a full story told in a single episode. Enjoyment: 8 It’s a fun SOL show with some dark moments and moral lessons thrown in, don’t expect too much out of the story as it is episodic, however you can anticipate really fun characters and excellent production values. The comedic timing and reactions with Elaina are great as well, and its very fun to watch her interact with new characters and explore new nations. I would say this show was very much something that is easily enjoyed as long as you don’t over think the story and recognize that Elaina is not a Shonen hero, they are not on a journey to become a hero, they are just a tourist wherever they visit. Overall: 8 Relax, sit back, and enjoy as Elaina takes you to interesting countries and watch her deal with all sorts of unique situations. Everything about the show can be described as pristine, from the detailed particle effects, to the beautiful movie quality backgrounds, the soundtrack which draws you in and the characters that keep you engaged. There are very few flaws to this show and it is definitely the single best new show that aired this season, overall, it gets a solid 8/10 rating.
[contains spoilers] The beginning starts off with the introduction of our main character Elaina. A small young girl, taken by the desire for travel, instilled by her favorite book – a gathering of stories of another traveler. Then, the essence of the show is revealed – for her to leave the warm abides of her parents, she needs to first become a full-fledged witch. The story, then, does something unexpected and moves into the future where our character has already passed the first two steps to becoming a witch. Elaina has already learned how to use magic and passed her exams for becoming an apprentice, at an incredibly early age, making her a prodigy. From the very beginning, the show separates itself from other animes. It quickly does away with the usual path of struggle and rigorous practice in the name of perfection, starting us at a point where it has already concluded. But… why? It’s a smart way of setting a concrete direction. It’s not about the pain and the falling-down-and-getting-back-up jazz we always see. It’s about the journey. That’s also well presented in the line of events throughout the entirety of the show. This is not the story of a fighter. It’s one of an observer. Elaina rarely wants to include herself in the center of the action or to be bothered with different tasks. She wants to experience worlds foreign to her, to meet interesting people. That can be even better seen when she expresses her blithe remarks when forced to try out more than she’d rather chew. Each episode is its own story with a beginning and an ending – the endings usually carrying some form of moral conclusion, almost fable-like. With its bubbly dawns and bright colors, the show is not afraid of tearing it all to shreds with dark stories and sad endings. First, we are following the events in a little slave girl’s life – one of abuse from her master and continuous harassment from a delusional boy, trying to make her “happy” (presented at first as nothing more than a simple romantic story, getting fishier with every second). All concluding with the show’s insinuation towards the little girl’s suicide. Next, we’re thrown in a castle with a princess suffering from amnesia, forced with the task of killing the monster that has destroyed her kingdom. Later, it’s revealed that the monster is the princess’ father, turned into one by his own daughter who’s actually a witch. It all ends with the monster dead and the princess left alone in the castle, engulfed with delusions about the presence of her loved one. I think it’s important to also point out that our protagonist chooses to not intervene with the occurring events. She could’ve easily saved the slave girl and possibly helped get the princess get back to her senses, but she chose not to. Another sign of the show separating itself from the expected. She stays true to her own story, refraining from changing others’. As a character, Elaina is an often narcissistic, selfish little girl, whose self-centered character frequently leaves her unbothered with whatever is occurring outside of her view. Those parts of her often spark some fairly humorous and original moments in the anime that definitely increase the enjoyment factor. Her narcissism can also be seen in its purest form during her beginning monologues in some of the episodes – “Who is the beauty blooming as beautifully as the most colorful flowers? That’s right, it’s me”. She is a person who hates fixing and prefers observing. An example of that is when Mirarosé asks her whether she’d like to help with the fight against the monster, to which she casually responds that she’d rather watch from a safe distance because there is nothing in it for her. Individualism is a pretty big part of her philosophy. She believes in the power of a human as an individual instead of in their ability to be dependant on others - in fact, she looks down on that. That can be seen in the time she spends with Saya, who's in a state of sorrow and despair due to her being left alone by her sister. In terms of character development, there’s barely any, apart from the very first episode when she learns to not always bear things she’s against. The side characters are well made – each adding to Elaina’s journey, without being a building block of it. The only exception being Flan who is Elaina’s teacher and makes her a witch. Saya’s romantic impulses also add to the show’s comedy and make an [possible] impact on Elaina (shown in the last episode where she meets all of her other personalities/possible outcomes – one being in love with Saya). Of course, in the show all flirtatious moves are swiftly shut down, allowing no romantic progress. Of course, the show is not absolute perfection. It does its best job at running away from clichés and attacking them head-on (in one of the episodes, magical items such as an unbreakable sword and guns with infinite bullets are introduced, clearly making jabs at the inconsistencies in other shows and media). Sometimes the events are fairly predictable, also prone to delivering expected punchlines, seen from miles away. The mysteries are mediocre at best, allowing the viewer to see through them, ages before they are resolved. I mean, in the doll city every single person is carrying a damn doll with them – it’s not that hard to see that they’re linked to the tragedy, is it? Plus, a creepy-looking lady is giving away dolls for free to numerous people saying “I just want to see their happy expressions" It’s not difficult to put two and two together and see that she’s the Ripper. Anyway… The concept for the show (a bunch of stories/following a character’s journey through additional stories) is pretty common in literature, though, I am still inclined to say that it’s original as an anime. The show has slight moments of inconsistency, where the protagonist pretty much throws herself in action, straying from the overall idea. Saya’s romantic impulses can from time to time be repetitive and forced and some punchlines become redundant but this is me nitpicking at this point… The show is well structured and mostly consistent, making it an enjoyable and somewhat relaxing thing to watch. It manages to avoid cliché traps and plot escapes, often challenging them head-on. The main character is original and entertaining, not falling into the hole of a basic protagonist that’s often seen in today’s anime. The mysteries can be predictable and some parts of the show become redundant but that doesn’t take too much out of the overall experience. For sure one of the better shows this season – would recommend! 7.5 [for info on my ways of rating you can visit my profile, bye]
I don't want to go into too much detail on the series, but Elaina is one of the most detestable main characters I have seen in a long time, and they're SUPPOSED to be likeable. It started with the manga, and it was so much worse in the manga. The anime is no better. In the field of flowers. The slave girl who is beaten, talked down, and knocked around by life and those around her. The suicides she assisted with. The poorly written shock value that occured later on in the episodes. My biggest gripe will ALWAYS be her attitude towards any situation and how she deals with others. She acts like a rich woman who is on vacation to a struggling third-world country so she can treat those as under her, there simply for entertainment, no matter their hardships. Give for the slave girl. She sees her abuse, she sees (in the manga) the possible aftereffects of the slave's rape by the owner. She sees her being beaten, verbally attacked. And at the end, when she fixes the broken vase and the owner abuses her for breaking it, she tells the slave girl "At times like these, you should say thank you." and leaves without helping the girl. It tried to make some point about staying out of things, and she allowed a small girl to continue her abuse and then countless deaths later on with the field of flowers. It doesn't even end here. This character acts like she is better than everyone, going as far as stroking her own ego over and over, and then sitting back comfortably as she watches a fellow witch suffer terribly. And just... watches. It tries to then play HER off as the victim, for having to witness such terrible things. And not help. Then she's off to the next location to just watch people suffer and live through hell, because that's all she seems to want to do. She somehow just so happens to find the worst thing possible happening wherever she goes so she can watch others get hurt, then she leaves when she would need to make a decision. Just a disgusting main character and it's only made worse by how the anime's perspective is how good, kind, and helpful she somehow is. This show seems to have some sort of issue with even knowing what itself is. It feels like a near tone-deaf world of suffering, painted as if it were "gray morals with no true alignment." There is nothing gray about rape, slavery, suffering, murder, and allowing others to die because you don't want to warn people of a malicious magic RIGHT at the border of town that is killing people. She has no moral compass, she only cares about what she can experience before quickly leaving when things might look like she needs to help in some way. "Just because you are doing something for someone else doesn't make it right." she says, as a child is raped and beaten, kept as a slave after her family died in a fire. Wow, what an amazing anime, so inspiring.
Apparently MajoTabi is not without controversy now that it’s ended. I got into it because of the SoL/cgdct angle at first, and then basically binged the whole show yesterday, so here’s my review, after a good night’s sleep, with everything still fresh in my mind. Majo no Tabitabi (Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina) is mostly a traveling show in the sense of Kino no Tabi. “Countries” are usually depicted as wall-enclosed cities with some definitive trait going for them (like “Country of Truth Tellers”, “Country that is split in the middle by a huge wall”). For most of the show, Elaina takes her trusty broom and flies from one of these countries to the next, all the way writing about her travels. There are SoL elements in there, and the episodic construction definitely help that along, but it is not a feel-good show in the way e.g. Yuru Kyan is. [from here on out: spoiler warning] For the first episode though, we get treated with an origin story. Elaina’s, our protagonist’s, favorite books when she was a kid are “The Adventures of Niké”, stories written by her own mother when she was a wandering witch (this, of course, we only learn later). Her goal in life is clear: she wants to become a wandering witch just like Niké and she wants to do it now. Burying herself in her studies, she becomes a somewhat precocious child and manages to pass the Mage’s Exam at 14 (apocryphally something usually done by adults). After that, an apprenticeship with a witch is in order to become a full-fledged, card-(brooch)-carrying witch herself. After some struggles, she manages to find somebody who will help her in her goal: Fran, the Stardust Witch. So far, so normal for an origin story. Here’s how the controversy, as I have understood it, starts. Fran’s approach to teaching seems very laid-back on the face of it, boiling down to using Elaina mainly as her maid around the house, until she breaks down frustrated that she isn’t learning anything. This, of course, is a trope in itself, whether the answer is “I wanted to see how long it took you until you broke” or “Actually, all the household chores _were_ training”. In this case, it’s the former. Fran tries to break Elaina out of her general passivity, accepting all that is thrown at her. This is where I respectfully disagree with what most people don’t seem to like about this show: this is not a moment, afterwards entirely unrealized in the real world, in which Elaina learns not to be passive about the _world around her_. This is, conversely, the moment where Elaina learns to take the reins of her own life, without regards to others. It is an individualistic message not too common in anime. She learns this lesson and then studies magic for a year under Fran, from the looks of it becoming one of the most powerful witches in the world. But during all that, she trains to become a wandering witch, not to become a wandering hero. From the get-go, her goal was never to set out and right the world of wrongs along the way, but to experience what the world has to offer regardless of what Elaina thinks might be the most moral. And yes, she’s a bit conceited and arrogant. Big deal. Who isn’t conceited and arrogant during their teens? She’s got more going for her in this regard than most, given that her character is both beautiful and kinda OP, traits that she often expounds upon. There’s another time-skip of a couple years, making her nearly 18 by the time she begins her journey. This is where it could’ve ended. The studio could’ve made up some countries with forgettable internals and just follow Elaina through her travels. And they certainly did that at times, with very lighthearted episodes. However, some of the episodes also contain quite dark elements. The difference in tone between episodes is often quite stark and, frankly, discombobulating, switching between yuri-bait with Saya (a mage's apprentice and later fully-fledged witch Elaina meets along the way) and blood-splattering killing sprees among monsters and humans. Along the way, there’s always some kind of throwback to Niké, up to a full flashback episode about her two students, Fran and Sheila (who is Saya’s mentor). The whole show is extremely episodic in structure. Basically all plot points are resolved in a single episode, opening up the world to travel somewhere else without luggage from the past. The only overarching plot points concern characters. The main critique I’ve made out from all this is that people see Elaina as inconsistent in her approach to problems in other countries. This is simply far from the truth. Elaina is almost too consistent in her approaches. She even spells it out more than once: “What’s in it for me?” Her priorities shift in accordance with what is most important to her at the moment. Sometimes it’s money. Sometimes it’s experience. Often enough it’s just not getting roped into things, and only the recurring characters, with which she has developed a bond beforehand, may have an influence on her internal decision process. Similarly to Main from Honzuki no Gekokokujou she’s a female character with libertarian traits and a not primarily nurturing or supportive, virtue moralistic role. _It is 2020_, folks. The story is not perfect, of course. Especially the switching moods could have been addressed by a more consistent pacing, which is of course hard in a show as episodic as this. Some of the characters rely heavily on tropes to give them any semblance of personality, the shoutout to Harry Potter during the Magic Academy episode is overdone, and the parallelism between the relationships between the teachers and their students is similarly trite. Both the OP and ED are beautiful, well-rounded and match with their songs, while the animation and backgrounds in general are clean and well executed, but nothing special. All these traits make MajoTabi a good anime. Not necessarily a great one, but an enjoyable ride nonetheless.
_Hello, thanks for reading this review ^-^. This is my first one so it is probably not the best; even so, any constructive criticism would really help. I also wanted to say it’s likely that I didn’t cover everything in this review so if I may have missed something then yeah; this is long enough anyways as you will find out if you read all of it. So sit back, relax, grab a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy the read!!!_ ____ On the surface, Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina/Majo no Tabitabi is a charming episodic tale about a young girl named Elaina who is inspired by a book to become a witch and travel across the world writing about her own adventures. I went into this hoping I could escape the realities of our currently extremely depressing climate and experience a magical journey alongside this carefree protagonist. However, by the end of it I felt… ‘bewitched’ if you will (This is the only pun, I promise xD). What first seemed like a wholesome episodic collection of tales from a young witch’s adventures became so much darker. ~~~__A wolf in sheep’s clothing…__~~~ In episode 1 & 2, my expectations of this show were satisfied, from the initial development of Elaina’s character through her training, to the establishment of her relationship with Saya and her visit to the Land of Mages. This series follows a repeated theme that I would expect from such a show which involves one of the main characters or the audience learning some sort of life lesson; a moral to the story. ~!For example in episode one, Elaina is forced to do several of her Fran's household chores for seemingly weeks on end without learning any new magic or skills or seemingly anything to do with actually being a witch. The main lesson is that you don’t have to endure tedious & painful things that you don’t want to do hoping that the ideal situation will just magically appear at the end of the tunnel (ok, maybe I was lying ‘bout that one pun earlier). She learns to speak up for herself and tells Fran what she really wants rather than just slaving away!~ However, in episode 3 the story takes a grim turn and whilst I thought this may just have been a one-off, from episode 4 it became clear that this was not your average magical adventure. In many cases, it seemed to do the opposite of what I had originally desired; rather than diving into a feeling of escapism, some episodes just reminded me of how evil humanity and nature can be in any world. ____~~~A lighter side…~~~____ Of course, this does not mean that the whole story had such a stern atmosphere, I definitely welcomed the episodes which provided some light comedy every now and then with some classic & unique scenarios. ~!like the two towns split by a wall or the grape-stomping villages in episode 8!~ I think this kind of contrast throughout the series was well-done and convinced me as an audience member to continue watching, but I think what was even better at engaging the audience was how it prompted us to fill in the gaps at the end of each episode. Many of the stories, especially in the first-middle part of the series, end on a cliff-hanger as we are left to put two and two together. This kind of storytelling works in pushing us to watch the next episode hoping that there is some indication of how the previous story ended even if we know that it will likely not be the case. Overall, the story and various premises are well-written & well-executed and I thoroughly enjoyed it even if it was depressing at times. Coupled this with a mixture of ominous and elegant music, it was really quite… enchanting (ok I will actually stop now!). ~~~__Elaina’s character is frustrating…__~~~ Whilst I did enjoy many of the characters in this series, even if some of them were only present for one/two episodes, there was one major outlier and that was Elaina herself. Whilst I did not mind her carefree character, Elaina’s ego was a bit too much for me at times. ~!I know the first episode was about being self-confident and standing up for yourself, but Elaina really needed to turn down the self-righteousness just a tad!~ The fact that she is presented (or presents herself) as having little to no flaws kind of hurts the story in some ways. I mentioned earlier about how many of the episodes are left to open-ended for us to fill in what might have happened after Elaina had left that particular town/country; the problem is that in many cases when events in that episode seemed to end badly, Elaina could have easily fixed them or done something for that episode to end positively. Instead, despite being shown as this witch with all this talent who can easily beat many skilled opponents and get herself out of various sticky situations, she seems to just leave events to unfold as if it isn’t her business. ~!despite arguably starting the plant takeover in episode 3!~ Now I will admit that this is probably just ‘hopeful me’ wishing for every chronicle to end happily; I have seen people argue that this is just another moral of the story that unfortunately some things are just out of your control. I understand the notion that it would be a fitting lesson in a series intended to portray such morals and I do tend to agree, but again the fact that Elaina has little flaws and is also presented as stubbornly ego-centric in some sections of the anime makes this argument less believable. There is one episode (potentially the darkest one of all) where I can acknowledge this is the case since we can visibly see the helplessness and trauma she experiences afterwards but I won’t go into too much detail for anyone who hasn’t watched it yet. ~!I do think that episode 12 saves this in a way though as we are able to see the different sides of Elaina as well as some of the reasoning behind her some of her previous decisions.!~ Other notable characters to mention: whilst I was not a fan of Saya, I can accept that this is just a problem with my personal taste since I don’t particularly like the use of clingy characters for comedy. I don’t know why but I really liked Fran, maybe because she seemed to bring Elaina off her high horse and back down to earth whenever they met. Also, honourable mention to Sheila who was an absolute legend in the few episodes she was present for; I mean the car lights on the broom says it all. All the character & costume designs whilst similar in some cases, the colours and accessories helped to bring out the unique personality of each of the main & supporting cast. __Animation/Visuals__ Overall, this anime had some high production values when it came to animation because every scene was visually magnificent. Everything from the landscape/towns to the characters; what shined most though was the magic especially during the few battle scenes in the series. Honestly it was just incredible and there is nothing much else to say. It would have been one of my contenders for best animation of the year if Crunchyroll would have actually put it up for nomination (trust me, this is not the only bone I have to pick with them -_-). I have to give credit to C2C studios; having watched several of their shows now, the quality of their animation is always top-notch and have on several occasions turned an average story setting into a great anime. __Audio & Music__ Whilst there wasn’t any stand-out voice acting in my opinion, the sound effects were definitely a highlight of this show. The sound of magic being hurled into the air made any high-paced battles feel that much more gripping. What also really got me engaged was how the music would suddenly change whenever the atmosphere of the episode altered in some way. Overall, the music throughout the anime was very compelling and although it wasn’t anything notable in itself, it added another layer to the mood of every situation Elaina found herself in. As for opening & ending theme songs, again it was nothing spectacular: the opening theme tune is ‘’Literature’’ by Reina Ueda who is a pretty established voice actor but I would like to hear some more of her songs in the future. The opening is quite relaxing and shows off the amazing animation the series has to offer, introducing the characters and scenery that we see throughout the series. The ending song is ‘’Haiiro no saga’’ by ChouCho who is very established as an anime singer in her own right, already having several big anime opening & ending songs under her belt (like Hyouka op 1 and some for the Fate series). It’s no surprise, taking this into account that I think it is better than the opening from a song quality perspective (as you can tell, I’m not an music expert xD). __Final Thoughts__ Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this series. Whilst not a utterly unique premise and structure, the anime definitely had it’s own dark & unique twists on this episodic style of storytelling. If your someone who isn’t a huge fan of the action but appreciates excellent animation and the magical anime genre as a whole, I would highly recommend giving this a go. For me, Wandering Witch was definitely a decent way to round out a depressing 2020 even if it reminded me of my own mortality somewhat. __Story: 8 Characters: 6 Animation/Visuals: 9 Audio & Music: 8 Enjoyment: 8__ (Edit: changed scores and implemented new scoring system - see profile page for more info.)
Wandering Witch is a story about finding purpose through experiences and trying to move above and beyond them in order to approach them in the best way possible, only to struggle and keep failing, only to keep doing them over and over again. Its clear source of inspiration - as well as the most apt series to compare it to - is Kino's Journey, but whereas Kino is mostly stationary in her approach towards the various people and locations she encounters, Elaina attempts to react on a case by case basis. In many ways, this makes Elaina reactionary, and this sets the tone for the series' main focus; on whether the cycle of fate can be overturned through her own hands, or whether she can't, with the answer the series provides being mixed, but leaning towards the former - albeit with a particular nuance. It's impossible to separate Wandering Witch from Elaina as a character, with her adventures being front and center for all but one episode of this series. Elaina is a haughty, arrogant, exceptionally talented witch and yet this betrays an otherwise lonely, pessimistic young woman who due to her many failures constantly fails in rescuing people she otherwise could have had a chance to save. As a result, her arrogance over her beauty or talents come off as less of her being genuinely narcissistic but rather as a coping mechanism towards herself. Her reactions to the various stories covered in the series as a result vary, as despite her best intentions she bares witness to many a tragedy that she feels she couldn't have done anything about - one tragedy in particular sticks out with the aforementioned nuance, as a man essentially tries to cheer up a slave who's being abused by her master by showing her images of people living happy, free lives. However, this ultimately proves to be her undoing instead, as by showing her the lives of people being happy, he's essentially doomed her to an unhappy end where she will ultimately languish in despair then kill herself. Episode 9 is another case where things fall to hell, as Elaina desperately tries to assist someone in overcoming her destiny but ultimately fails and watches a tragedy unfold before her eyes. The core message across many of the series' darker episodes being that Elaina can't stop these tragedies from happening, because the seeds to these tragedies happening have already been buried, waiting to grow by the time she's stumbled across them, so it is only natural she'd fail. The moral this series proposes - and this is especially evident once one contrasts the darker, more infamous episodes this series has gained a reputation for against the otherwise often lighthearted tone in the series - is that the intent behind solving problems does nothing if the underlying cause behind said problems still exist. Elaina's character arc, as a result, is her trying different approaches to different problems and slowly but surely progressing as a character and changing her approaches due to her experiences. This comes to head in an amazing finale, where she comes across what she could have been had she chosen to do things differently, and accepting that ultimately, she is painfully flawed, but will not stop romantically exploring the world - beyond that ugliness, there's too much beauty for her not to find something to explore. In a strange way, instead of being a more direct coming of age story, the series promotes continuing to romanticize and explore the world, but if and only if your approach changes alongside it, which various characters over the course of the series failed to do. The side cast in this respect exist to act as a form of connection that Elaina has to the world around her, and a constant reminder - over and over again - that she has a place to belong, irrespective of where she goes or what she experiences. Saya's love for Elaina (that's heavily implied to be mutual in a later episode) is comically over the top, and yet there's a scene where Saya gives Elaina a necklace, reminding her of her connection to her. Elaina tries to leave a city after stumbling across an acquaintance, only to then be reminded on the way out that said acquaintance knows she'd do this kind of thing, has waited for her in advance and proceeds to see her off on her journey. The side cast are a fun bunch whose dynamics with Elaina and each other are reasonably fleshed out, with a particular should needing to go to Saya as well as Nike's trio, whose book about their travels is an inspiration for Elaina to travel herself, is another subconscious connection between her and another character. It's these connections that give Elaina the power to continue on, and much of the criticism involving lighthearted episodes being in-between the darker, more cruel episodes in the series often tend to miss the point the series is aiming for about emphasizing the connection that Elaina has, that no matter how hard she tries to fight things alone it's her connection to others that acts as a source of salvation, culminating in a fantastic climax at the end of the show. Production values are excellent all around - everything from animation quality to voicework to sound design and direction is superbly done, with my only gripe being that comedic scenes sometimes feel stretched out longer than they should've been and, if watched from the perspective of someone who'd prefer a show with a more singular tone, can cause mood whiplash. However, these are minor gripes for what is otherwise easily one of the best anime to come out this year, and for anyone willing to accept this series for what it is, I cannot recommend this highly enough. Thank you very much for reading my review, any and all feedback would be appreciated.
This review is mostly spoiler free ______________________________________________________________________________________________ I have seen many people compare Wandering Witch Elaina to the anime/light novel Kino's Journey, and it is frankly quite insulting to KJ. This episodic series has no consistency and is painfully contradictory. I heard that this is partially because the original source was the author's first work, but for anyone going into this series because you are a fan of episodic series such as Mushishi or Kino's Journey that flow smoothly between each episode/story... you better erase those expectations before watching this or steer clear of this anime altogether. The cohesive storytelling present in Mushishi or KJ is nowhere to be found in Wandering Witch Elaina. Taking after the awkward mash of varying quality in each episode, Elaina has absolutely no consistent morals whatsoever. She can~! leave an entire town to die after infecting them all !~under the pretense of "staying neutral" but breaks this vow immediately when there are big benefits for herself. She is taught humility and failure by her mentor and parents in the first episode and lovingly tosses it in the garbage on her way out. Character development is miserably nonexistent not just in that first episode, but the entire show. Unlike Kino who recognizes that their judgment is not superior to other people, Elaina fails to ever notice that her wisdom is most often harmful rather than helpful, and honestly quite foolish. Elaina's status as a witch seems to prevent her from being capable of critical thinking skills or self-improvement. On the rare occasion that she does take a moment to question herself, the episode is already finished and her memory is essentially reset by the next episode. In fact, the only consistent element of this anime is Elaina's inability to improve as a person in any way, shape, or form. I have seen some people argue that her character is intentionally unlikeable and that her conceited outlook is part of a complex or perhaps an underlying theme of self-discovery in the show, but the problem is that the series does a poor job of conveying either of these messages... because these interpretations were completely off the mark. The spoiler reasons for Elaina's inconsistent character I won't mention, but the entire finale in general would've been better with more obvious foreshadowing and contrast early on considering it had about as much impact as a shitty isekai title. This isn't to say there were no good moments, but for a show about expanding your views and world through experience, there is a noticeable lack of learning or introspection from the protagonist because she already believes she has peaked as an individual. While some episodes have wonderful worldbuilding and concepts incorporated, it is incredibly fleeting and the majority of the series feels dull instead of thought-provoking. All in all, I fail to comprehend how or why such a series gained so much traction or popularity this season.
___Chapter 1: The Prologue___
Majo no Tabitabi tells the tale of a wandering witch. But that witch isn't just anybody, no it is
Elaina. She is an incredibly talented child that is also willing to put in the effort in order to
achieve her goal of becoming a witch and travelling the world on an adventurous journey. This is also
why she is able to pass the magic exams at the age of ten, an incredible feat indeed. After that she
seeks out a witch that would be willing to take her in and teach her the ways of magic. The witch that
accepts Elaina as her student is called Fran or also known as "The Stardust Witch". At first Elaina is
being treated as more of a housewife rather than an aspiring witch which leads to her falling down
powerless and crying in the arms of her teacher. Only after that Fran finally realizes that she had
made a mistake and from there on out properly teaches Elaina everything she knows. At just the age of
fifteen, Fran grants Elaina the title of "The Ashen Witch" thus making her officially a proper witch.
Three years after that we see Elaina travelling the world and thus the main story finally begins.
~~~img(https://i.imgur.com/JMoqigu.png)~~~
___Chapter 2: The Journey___
The story of Majo no Tabitabi is told in a very episodic way and each episode depicts a different
chapter in Elaina's journey. This also limits us to the amount of fleshed out characters in the show
with the only proper character also being our main protagonist Elaina herself. There are some
frequently reappearing characters such as Saya. Most of the characters except for Elaina have no more
than two quirky traits to give them some personality such as Saya's being heavily attracted towards
Elaina. Each and every episode is an adventure in it's own way which makes for an exceptional viewing
experience and also does a great job at maintaining the show's refreshing atmosphere. The show is
generally very lighthearted and wholesome but it has it also has it's unexpectedly gruesome and *real*
moments which further enhances the viewing experience although it might make a lot of people feel
uncomfortable.
~~~img(https://i.imgur.com/JMoqigu.png)~~~
___Chapter 3: Production Value___
Majo no Tabitabi's production value is extremely high. The animations are top notch even though there
are no shounen fights in it considering it is a Slice of Life anime. The visuals themselves can be
breathtakingly beautiful enough but that is only further enhanced by it's absolutely magical and
fitting soundtrack. The opening aswell as the ending are also both pretty good songs and are able to
further immerse the viewer using their extra-ordinarilly well fitting visuals. The voice acting in
this show is also pretty much as spot on as it can be. I wouldn't consider even a single character's
voice actor to be miscast which is very hard to pull off. I think Majo no Tabitabi is right up there
with some of the best slice of life Anime to come out in recent years.
~~~img(https://i.imgur.com/JMoqigu.png)~~~
___Final Chapter: The Message Below
The Surface___
As mentioned earlier the all so beautiful and wholesome story also has it's fair share of unsettling
and gruesome moments. Those two moments from episode three and especially episode nine. Episode three
heavilly shows us what it can mean to be bedridden and depressed. It shows that by giving someone
something that they long for but can't reach by themselves won't better the situation but rather make
it worse because after having a taste of their desires they are immediately reminded of them not being
able to fulfill their desires on their own which will only lead to more depression. Episode nine shows
us how shattered hopes can easily lead to insanity and how harder work makes the situation even worse.
People that desperately cling on to their last hope and are even to willingly throw their life away
for that sake and then are faced with the harsh reality is a topic that is very present in real life.
Well not necessarilly to the extend that is being shown in the Anime but still a topic that has never
been more relevant than today. Majo no Tabitabi speaks to it's viewers mostly by not only always
showing the good sides of life or the happy endings but also the often harsh and unwanted reality. A
show that is so aware of the time it is being published in that it managed to make good use of
cuteness and wholesomeness with bits of reality sprinkled on top of it. A must watch for every slice
of life fan and people that love to look for deeper meanings in fiction.
~~~img(https://i.imgur.com/JMoqigu.png)~~~
__Pros:__ - Protagonist is the most interesting in this series - Side characters are serviceable to say the least - The adventures they put in are interesting __Neutral:__ - Episodic in nature. You could watch this in any order between Ep. 1 and 12 - Some Yuri moments - Music and Visuals are average and could be improved upon - Story is not told in chronological order __Cons:__ - Tone on episode per episode can flip flop. - Some episodes are very generic plot-wise. Imagine Harry Potter without much of the Hogwarts parts, this could be the result. The main character, Elaina is a travelling witch that goes to different countries to write some experiences like the book she has read. To say the least, she is interesting. Most protagonists fall into one side, usually good. She is neither a goody two shoes nor straight evil. She's usually in the neutral side. She doesn't interfere with a location's problems unless she is forced to do it by other people or she is the one that caused the problem. If she could stay out of the problem, she will do that. She isn't your typical protagonist where she saves the day or the person that tries to ruin an area*. If you have read the LN, well, things are different Spoilery thoughts on Elaina. Contains spoilers for the LN. ~! I read volumes 1 & a bit of 2 out of curiosity because some people are saying that Elaina has a darker personality than what was shown in this season. Honestly, she looks to lean toward good in this adaptation where the source material leans towards the negative. She literally conned people in one story there because she's broke and everyone was ripping off each other because of the inflated economy. I honestly don't know why can't they put this one as a half episode and show us that she isn't super nice all the time. Maybe it was cut out as it may make her so unlikeable by the general audience. __This review will judge this show on its own.__!~ The side characters are serviceable and decent. For some reason, all of the recurring characters are female. Now, it isn't as bad as let's say Slime 300 where almost everyone is female in the world. Here, there are male characters. Most of them fall into the character of the day or a background character. The most notable recurring character is Saya which is every otaku that loves Elaina. She's more than that of course. Fran and Sheila? Aside from a focused episode on them, they have fairly little to show in the entire season. The story is usually self contained with fairly loose connections in between. You could watch this ignoring the episode number and probably know what is going on. The stories themselves are hit or kinda miss (or cliché). Majority of the show is light hearted except for episode 3, 4, 9 and some parts of 12. 9 is the darkest in my opinion though it could just be because of the "visual flourishes" put out there. 4 is not too far behind in darkness. There's barely any transition between tones which could take you out of the story. They just flip flop from dark to light. Most prominently changing from Ep. 9 to 10. If there is room for improvement in a future season or series, this is the one. The visuals are fairly standard. Sure, the magic parts can be flashy at times. But the rest of it is kinda average. The music, particularly the OP and ED is not amazing and fall to the serviceable but forgettable. Overall, I think this is enjoyable. Sure this is not going to win any awards in my opinion. But it serves its purpose as an adventure anime. The story is nice though not immune to some mediocrity. The main character is interesting for main character standards though falls flat on the visuals and sound. Maybe this studio could improve the technical stuff (Art & Music) on their next production. For now, this show is good but not much more than that. It just needs more oomph. __Story:__ 7/10 __Characters:__ 8/10 __Art & Animation:__ 6/10 __Music:__ 5/10 Best Episode: Ep. 6 Worst: Ep. 10 (Most generic plot)
There are many series that you might fall for or love and have no idea how to describe. Though Wandering Witch is not one of those anime. ~~~img(https://animecorner.me/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/thumb-8.jpg)~~~ Fundamentally, the series is fairly simple in concept. A cute witch with a big personality loves to travel the world and see new places. Across this expansive world, every person and every place has a story. The adaptation of the story in this case picks and chooses some stories from throughout the light novels, which I believe is absolutely fine for our purposes. Approach this series as a witch's log. A notebook and story documenting the travels of Elaina. This is not going to be strictly linear, but it doesn't need to be in order to provide something special and concise. Elaina does not serve the purpose of trying to interfere with these other countries or to fix the lives of others. These are the stories of the world and its inhabitants; not a story to showcase Elaina trying to force her own values on other cultures and countries. Meeting these new people and learning these stories helps Elaina to grow. Though more than that, she does not attempt to overstay her welcome. If asked for help she may assist at times, though to a limited extent even then. She is selfish and at times overly confident, but this adds a sense of charm to her character. Wandering Witch is not a story about a perfect protagonist who screams and stubbornly refuses to accept the misfortune of others. A series in which Elaina serves as a true traveler, recognizing her place in each location she visits and not butting into the problems and lives of others. The series leaves much of the future of these locations up to viewers/readers based on what has been implied after Elaina moves on, which admittedly offers a bit more depth in practice than I feel it tends to get credit for. Sometimes it's nice to sit back and learn about a world, or learn the stories and adventures of a certain wandering witch who loves to travel throughout it. Through some wholesome stories and others not so much, they all serve to document the travels of Elaina in an episodic format that I wish would last for longer than its 12 episode runtime. There are many who attempt to compare this series to a narratively similar counterpart, Kino's Journey. While it's absolutely true that the latter series is also fantastic, I feel as if the wrong crowd has stumbled upon Majo no Tabitabi and seems to approach it as something that it's not. Be prepared to sit back and enjoy Elaina's world as something special and independent entirely from other series with similar foundations. To add my own little inevitable comparison, I feel like each series holds its ground and maintains something unique to themselves. To me, Kino's Journey focuses much more on its world and narrative whilst Wandering Witch tends to focus more on its cast of characters and their interactions. ~~~img(https://i2.wp.com/www.animefeminist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Wandering-Witch-The-journey-of-the-ashen-witch-begins.png?fit=810%2C456&ssl=1)~~~ Allow yourself to be drawn to the cast of loveable characters, and just enjoy your journey alongside a certain ashen witch.
This series utterly boiled my blood. It was just edgy for the sake of being edgy, feeling like it was written by an 12-year-old edgelord who spent way too much time watching dark stuff and talking about the world being all depressive while being dressed in black clothing. Either that or the writer was high off his head smoking some high-grade stuff because the stories he was haphazardly pooping out didn't make any sense. Not only that, he was also caught between two minds of what he actually wanted his series to be, switching between lighthearted, happy-go-lucky adventures to something needlessly grim and dark so chaotically, it gave me tonal whiplash. One episode, the Wandering Bitch came across a village with a tradition of having pretty ladies stamp grapes for wine in an innocent adventure then the next she's be travelling back in time and seeing a kid butchering our abusive parents, turning her into a crazed serial killer. Ugh. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Our story begins with our bitch being retold a story of her mother's adventures when she was little. The series did little to mask the fact the protagonist, Nike, of Elaina's favourite story is infact just her mother. This inspires her to enrol in witch academy and become a witch so she can go adventures like Nike. After a timeskip, we see that Elaina has gradulated witch school at the tender age of 14, making her the youngest to do so. Still, she needed a mentor before she became an offical full-fledged witch. I don't know how that works, but okay. The series attempts to use the classic hero's journey troupe, but gets it all wrong as it depicts Elaina's cowardly senpai witches rudely slamming the door in her face when she asked them to apprentice her. It was outrageous as it sounds. No one would ever willingly turn down the chance to tutor a once-in-a-lifetime prodigy like Elaina knowing the publicity that would come their way having mentored such a prospect. At the very least, they wouldn't slam the door in her face and risk getting on her bad side, because she's clearly going places. From there, she runs into her classic "out there" mentor, Fran, isolated far off from the main town. Fran tasks her with basic household chores that you already know is going to be one of two things, either disguised training or a disguised life lession. It just happned to be the latter in this case. Near the end of the first episode, it's revealed Elaina's parents hired Fran to teach her nothing (at first), then overpower her in a test in order to teach a valuable lesson of humility, fearing at the rate she was going that she end up becoming conceited and arrogant. They would be right, too. After a heartwarming moment between the two after Elaina breaks down crying, Fran then taught her for real within a Rocky-like montage, making her full fledged witch within that timespan. Before leaving on her journey, her mother handed her three promises. 1st: "That when faced with danger, flee at once." 2nd: "Do not believe that you are special." Remember that you're equal to everyone else. (basically, never be above your station) 3rd: "To come home someday and let us see you happy and healthy." Well. Elaina does the first one and disregards the rest. Hell, even in the outro, jetting away from her parents on her broom, she was already talking herself up in a pointless self-intro that just made her look exceedingly arrogant and vain. "Now, then. Here's a question for you. Who might that witch be, the sight of her as she flies over the stark mountain range lovely enough to take your breath away? Why, yes, that would be 18 year old me." Okay, bitch. Get off your high stick. You're not all that. We see in the next episode of her talking herself up again in yet another annoying self-intro that sadly became a recurring theme throughout the series, throwing away all of her initial development and reverting her back to square one. Some people have defended her character flaws, but the reason why I can't agree personally is because Elaina has no one to bounce off or put her in place. Vain characters like her only interesting and likeable when they have other characters to play off. Outside of the characters she encounters in these one-off episodes, she's mainly by herself, frustratingly stroking her own ego everytime she does her self-intro routine. It was infuriating. The next episode introduced the worst character in the series, firmly ranking Elaina at number 2. A weird, obsessive lesbian by the name of Saya popped into the fray, mudding the already fractured tone of the series with cringey, unfunny comedy, because we really needed yuri. Ugh. Just to be clear, I'm not homophobic. I enjoy both boys' love and girls' love, leaning more toward the former, but they need to be established and written tastefully. Just having a character weirdly obsessing over another of the same sex comes across as the author's weird tink. And Saya certainly felt less like a character and more like the writer's own sexual desire for some girl on girl action. She was weird the second she was introduced, even going as far as to steal Elaina's ID Brooch (proof of her being a fully fledged witch) just so this random girl she had only just met wouldn't pass through and be on her way. Saya remarked that she was "lonely" without her little sister to keep her company, but that just made her look like even more of a loser, attaching onto the first girl she laid eyes on. Saya then becomes absurdly romantically attached to Elaina and started trying to treat her like a wife whenever she appeared. Fortunately, she didn't appear in many episodes, but the ones she did appear in dragged the already low quality into the abyss. I've already mentioned how the series feels like it was written by an edgy 12-year-old typing up his first fanfiction but here's an example of how depraved the series can be. During her travels, Elaina comes across a braindead boy gathering the happiness of others in a bottle so his father's sex slave could watch those very happy people living far more fulfilling lives that she could ever never even hope to have when he releases the cloudy substance and it forms visions above her. Yeah, the kid wasn't very bright. He was so foolishly naive he never clocked the little girl attending to their every needs without compensation was their slave, whom his Dad was raping in the Light Novel. (The anime toned this down and just had her as an abused slave instead) See what I mean about the series being edgy and dark for no reason? There's no deeper nuance or layers to this. It's just a warped piece of nothing for the sake of shock value. It gets worse when Elaina, our main character, does nothing to help the poor little girl despite having the power to free her. Outside of using magic to fix a vase the little girl mistakenly dropped to prevent her cruel owner from beating her, telling her an "Arigato" (Thank you) would suffice instead a "Gomen'nasai" (I'm sorry), she's does nothing. Instead, she just left and flew off on her broom, basically saying, "Oh, well. Sucks to be them" in frightening, cold indifference. It painted her in such a poor light that any indifference I had built up for her up to that point turned into outright contempt. It just makes her needlessly heartless and callous. It's not like she couldn't have saved the girl because she totally could've if she so chose. Elaina not helping those in need is the equivalence of a highly skilled and trained martial artist watching an old man in his late 70s far past his prime getting his ass handed to him by a couple of kids and just thinking to himself, "Damn, wouldn't wanna be that guy" before continuing on his way. That's what Elaina basically is in her world; the equivalent of a highly trained martial artist. She has the power to help, but she just doesn't. She stupidly tries to justify her inaction with "just because one's doing the right thing doesn't make it right" in a pretentious attempt to sound philosophical and deep. It's incredibly frustrating and makes her so unlikeable. I kinda get wanting a self-interest character, but you don't want to run the risk of making your protagonist heartless. Yuna, from the series, Kuma, Kuma, Kuma Bear was a self-interest character, too, yet she extended a helping hand to those in need. Not because she was a hero or wanted praise or anything, but just because she was a good person with a kind heart. I find that much more relatable. Elaina's characterization is very inconsistent. One moment she was portrayed as a jaded, hardened warrior who's seen the worst mankind has to offer (which makes no sense given that she's a sheltered girl) and the next, she's sheltered again. Episode 9, an example of the latter, really angered me. Elaina was asked by another witch to travel back in time with her to prevent the death of her friend's parents so that friend wouldn't allegedly murder her abusive uncle, transforming her into an insane serial killer. I mentioned this at the start of the rant. At first, they believed her uncle was the one abusing her after her parents were murdered, so they travelled back in time with the express purpose of preventing her parents' murder so she wouldn't move in with her abusive uncle and wouldn't need to go psyco killing him. But no! The episode laughably revealled it was the parents who was abusing her all along. The dad was raping her and the jealous mom hit her in retaliation. So, she stabbed them up and gave Elaina a crazed smile with blood stained teeth. I could only laugh at such degenerate writing only a little kid would ever find deep. Anyway, the other girl had to kill her all over again as Elaina could only cry and watch, because apparently now she has a heart. After returning to the past, the girl loses her memory because magic operates on a Fullmetal Alchemist equivalent exchange laws. The greater the magic, the greater the cost. It just so happened memory loss for the cost of time travel. Elaina dashes off into the night and laments about how useless she is about being unable to do anything. Nevermind the fact she's had the chance to help others and chose not. Her breakdown feels entirely disingenuous. The episode ends with Elaina questioning her life purpose and the next episode airs regarding a lighthearted flashback of Elaina's mother training Fran and her friend, once again haphazardly switching tones. This is an horrific series that suffers from a severe case of identity crisis, not knowing whether it wants to be early Berserk with edgy and dark tones or Dragonball with lighthearted, happy go lucky adventures. (I say early Berserk because I know Miura - god rest his soul - redefined his early ideas and turned them into his strengths). So, it ends up recklessly juggling these two tones to an atrocious effect. I get the sense it wants to be HunterXHunter skillfully telling a serious story with quirky flair to lighten the series, but Wandering Witch's episodic strucuture doesn't allow for this. The reason why HxH's switching tones works as opposed to Wandering Witch's is because its structured like the epic adventure that is, with long arcs that features build-ups and cooldowns. This allows the audience the appropriate time to reset. Journey of Elaina, on the other hand, just throws stories of wildly different tones in our faces with no forewarning due to the episodic nature of the series, resulting in tonal whiplash. The world building is incredibly insufficient. With Elaina essentially warping from city to city, there's no sense of adventure. She arrives at a new town and leaves at the end of the episode, flying away to some new place. It robs the audience of the feeling of journeying with the character this way. The reason Pokemon has always felt so fun even now is because we actually see the characters travelling. They don't just teleport to a new town for Ash to challenge the gym. At times, they're on the open road experiencing the world around them and the many different species of Pokemon inhabiting their world. This makes every destination our heroes arrive at feel that much more earned and rewarding. Wandering Bitch: The Journey of Elaina could take cues. Horrific series. I didn't even mention the atrocious body-switching episode where it introduced Saya's incestous sister, because the series really needed incest. Ugh. Just another example of why an edgy twelve year old must've wrote this. Straight 0/10. I have nothing nice to say about such an degenerate pile of edgy nonsense.
Wandering Witch may not be the best anime of 2020 as I do find it to be flawed but what comes in solid theming and a multi-dimensional protagonist makes this series good enough personally. When I first started watching it, I thought that it might not age well all because of its fantasy setting as well as Elaina being arrogant. But after giving it a better look and having a better understanding of it, I got hooked on the show’s theming and how Elaina explores the places she gets into. --- Before I get myself into talking about the show, I want to mention first how this was often compared to a classic anime that took inspiration. Of course! What I’m referring to is Kino’s Journey… the 2003 adaptation. Kino’s Journey and Wandering Witch have female leads who are largely apathetic towards others around them and are travelers who aim to experience as many different cultures and societies as possible. Now you might think if both are similar then Wandering Witch is clearly a rip-off, right? To which I’d add, they’re quite distinct from each other regardless of their similar elements. Kino is mostly stationary with people and settings she encounters while Elaina would pretty much react to certain things one by one whether there’s chaos involved or not. In other words, both are a slice of life but Kino is more likely stoicism while Wandering Witch involves in narcissistic acts. Alright, now onto the actual review! --- The story starts with Elaina starting her journey after reading her favorite book. She travels around a medieval-like setting as a witch while viewing humanity as a mixture of a blessing and a curse. On paper, this is good. In the actual show, it’s still good. While I do find some episodes like 6 and 10 to be rather weak in my opinion, the story doesn’t feel janky or forced. It does take time for Elaina to react to stuff she is intrigued or worried about without rushing anything. It also explores the themes of the show quite well. The message of this show is that Elaina is a flawed traveler who has done mischief to people and places she encounters whether it’s on her hands or someone else. This is rather unique because it shows that humanity is not normal at all and would have bizarre scenarios involved. --- The characters are quite interesting, although one carries the show and the others are motivated by the former in terms of depth. Elaina is a witch who, again, travels around and sees humanity as a mixed opportunity after reading her favorite book. She’s titled as the ‘Ashen Witch’ because of her hair. Why do I think she’s great? Her character. Yes, she has done asshat moves but her narcissistic behavior tends to play in the show quite well. What I’m saying is don’t always assume that being an ignorant prick necessarily makes you a bad character. Elaina doesn’t really give a shit when something bad happens. Elaina is NOT designed to be a white knight like most fantasy protagonists are nowadays. She just focuses on what she sees as important to her eyes. She does develop some heroic traits which I also appreciate but her arrogant acts top the show’s overall characterization for me. While Elaina is a top-tier character and is one of my favorites, the side cast is decent. You got Saya, Elaina’s dubious friend, and Fran, Elaina’s master. The side cast tends to make a good yin and yang that Elaina is surrounded by. But there are characters who are either just there or irredeemable dicks. I did mention in my Elaina talk that being an ass isn’t really bad writing. But I’ll also admit, some asshats tend to take their negative behaviors seriously and thus, ruin their character. You got this Emil’s father guy who has done dick moves to Elaina and… that’s it. If I were to be in the show then I would kick his balls. Overall, the side cast isn’t bad but we could see better. --- I’ll be short on the miscellaneous parts because, while they’re nice additions, are usually infeasible for the vast majority of the show’s writing properties. The animation is smooth, the art seems generic at first glance but it’s rather clean, the music is alright but mediocre in my humble opinion, and the voice acting is good, both in sub and dub (although, Amber Lee Connors as Elaina carried the English voice-acting for me. The others, I personally barely have anything against). --- And that does it. Wandering Witch is a good series with a distinct message to it. Though, I will say that it would be boring without Elaina’s colorful presence because while the rest of the characters are fine, they aren’t really noticeable enough. And also, back to the Wandering Witch vs Kino comparison, if one person asks me which of the two is better when it comes to overall writing then I’d say Kino reigns supreme. But it shouldn’t be that way. While again, Kino does better with certain elements Wandering Witch has, Wandering Witch still holds up quite well. Anyways, if you disagree with what I said and/or if I missed something, let me know. Criticism is always welcomed. Thanks for reading!
I really didn't have any expectations for this show. I tried watching the first episode long time ago with a friend and it was rather boring. I decided to put it off for the future, because I'm not a big fantasy guy anyways and there were better things to do at the time. After a couple of years I noticed my friend group was going to have a watch party of it. [Frieren](https://anilist.co/anime/154587/Sousou-no-Frieren/) somewhat changed my views on what fantasy could be, so I decided to give Elaina another try. Bad decision.
12 episodes about a total narcissistic bitch, there is not much to conclude or talk about; - the story is so unpolished and unoriginal it feels like something some little kid wrote on wattpad on a whim. - characters are so unremarkable I can't believe they actually made this an anime because there's just no story to tell. not to mention how inconsistent the personality of the mc is - mc doesn't experience ANY meaningful character development at any point after episode 6 I was pretty much just hate watching it's incredible how bad and content lacking this story is and how I was so invested in the slight bit of hope that maybe Elaina would grow up. but not only that she didn't actually mature, her personality was really inconsistent and confusing without any proper justification. all of the journeys she has been through felt like they didn't have any meaning whatsoever. this whole watch felt so pointless it's baffling, I've never felt so negatively about any work of fiction. I have to convince myself that this is a joke/bait and some commentary about edgy and "self aware" main characters, I really hope that's the case and that I'm just dumb for taking it too seriously, and even if it is they handled it so poorly it's not even the "funny" kind of bad, it's just bad to the degree it was hard to watch on occasions and not to mention how poorly they handled some topics. I definitely don't feel encouraged to check the manga, or anything else related to this anime and I honestly just want to forget about it which will be so easy considering I already forgot 50% of what happened __episode 9-12 spoilers;__ ~!the way they handled episode 9 is absolutely dreadful, from the point of the episode and the role it plays in Elainas development to the way they handled the little girl and the motives behind her actions. the episode starts totally alright, very cute even and the issue comes to the way they treated the little girl and the notices for killing her parents, after mentioning how she has been molested by her father and abused by her mother they decided to put the blame on the child and there was no commentary whatsoever about the actions of her parents, not even a word which is absolutely deranged and I can't believe they actually let that slide it's really beyond me. at the end of the episode Elaina breaks down, mainly because she wasn't as high and mighty as she thought. everything else that happened is just a very minor side thought. episode 10 just felt really unnecessary and unremarkable, they tried to expand on Elainas mother's lore but it didn't feel impactful at all and you can clearly see that Elaina is absolutely nothing like her mother in a sense that she didn't learn anything from her, despite even at the start of the series her mother trying to lecture her about not being a self absorbed bitch and it fell absolutely flat it's like the first episode never happened?? last episode was kind of a way for the creator to try and convince the viewers "hey guys she developed as a character I promise!" and it was the most underwhelming and basic development any character could get, it's actually really insane to think that she's 18, it feels like she's 16 at most. there is nothing to mention other than that, I guess episode 9 was brought up again as a way to connect that to her development as a character but it didn't feel very genuine.!~
___~~~El viaje de Elaina~~~___ Antes de empezar a responder la pregunta del titulo, quisiera poner un poco de contexto el porque arranque esta obra y la respuesta se basa en Elaina. Me acuerdo que este anime lo vi hace 4 años en emision pero por una cosa o otra lo termine dropeando, creo que una de las razones que tenia era su ritmo y el no saber a donde apuntaba la serie en cuestion. Tiempo despues, 4 años despues en especifico me decido a verlo otra vez, debido a que me resultaba muy extraño que la novela tuviera tanta nota y que el anime no, asi que me lo vi y esta es mi opinion. Lo dividire en 4 puntos: - Historia - Personajes - Aspecto audiovisual (Animacion, ost, opening y ending) - Disfrute personal _Historia:_ img720(https://somoskudasai.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/7-1.jpg) La historia sigue a una chica llamada Elaina la cual se graduo de la academia de magia a los 14 años de edad, cosa que es de alguien prodigio pero esto le llevo que nadie la tome como alumna ya que no se querian involucrar demasiado con la chica que se graduo a temprana edad, entre tanta busqueda se topa con Fran, la cual se ocultaba en el bosque, ella despues de ser muy dura con Elaina debido a la peticion de los padres de Elaina, Fran acepta entrenar a la pequeña maga y asi se volvio la bruja de las cenizas debido a su color de cabello. Asi arrancan las aventuras de la Bruja errante, escribiendo en un diario todas sus aventuras como la bruja que ella admira llamada Nikke. A partir de aca, todos los capitulos son autoconclusivos y ninguno salvo un par no representan correlacion uno del otro, salvo lo mas importante como Saya siendo la aprendiz de Elaina o el caso del episodio 9 que se retoma en el ultimo capitulo para desarrollar mas a Elaina. Aspectos a comentar de la historia: - Ritmo: es un ritmo bastante lento, no se si llega a lo pesado pero si se toma su tiempo para mostrarte las cosas, sobre todo los primeros capitulos ya despues repunta bastante bien. - Capitulos muy oscuros: si bien la historia tiene pinta de ser mas un SoL, es cierto que tiene ciertos capitulos que pueden quedar grabados en la memoria del espectador sobre todo el 3,4 y 9, no voy a ondar en dichos capitulos pero si son muy oscuros a comparacion de lo que creia yo que queria mostrar la serie, pero tambien me gusta porque enriquecen y separa la trama de otras que pueden ser parecidas y que sea todo de rosas. A la historia de doy 7 ⭐ _Personajes:_ img720(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/pv-target-images/68409ca6a04a07ebb78307928e80e2526134586d0379f96cb643aceea988f1e5._SX1080_FMjpg_.jpg) Elaina, la protagonista, tiene muchos factores a analizar como las promesas a su madre de no ponerse en riesgo teniendo cuestiones morales dubitativas porque a veces no se mete en situaciones y a veces si, el claro ejemplo es el capitulo 9 en donde no se entromete en ningun momento incluso cuando la situacion se estaba yendo de las manos, ya despues tiene su momento de arrepentimiento y lamento, dandole un desarrollo en el ultimo capitulo ligado a esto de la moral y cuanto se quiere involucrar en las situaciones de los demas, tambien dando paso a escribir su diario e historias para leerlas en el futuro. Por esto, la personalidad y carisma que desprende Elaina considero que es el mejor pj de esta serie o al menos la mas trabajada. img720(https://somoskudasai.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/10_5.jpg) Fran y sheila: La maestra de Elaina y la de saya, las pongo juntas ya que considero que su dinamica es una con potencial, la bruja de la noche y el dia que se complementan en la adversidad, el capitulo 10 que es uno de puro flashback, me gusto ver esa faceta con su maestra (para mi es la madre de Elaina o nikke que es la madre de Elaina) y como se complementan, si sale una segunda temporada o cuando lea su novela quiero ver mas de su dinamica porque me parece muy interesante. img720(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/48/4a/be/484abe7f27dc02033ce3829f95c39c64.jpg) Saya: no mucho que decir de este pj, lo unico que se sabe es que le gusta Elaina por darle una razon para meterse a la magia de una forma honesta y poder ir con su hermana de nuevo, fuera de que su conflicto parece que se resuelve en un capitulo no mucho mas, quisiera saber como la han hecho en la novela, el pj de ella en el anime no me dice mucho. Personajes nota 6 ⭐ Aspecto audiovisual: Creo que esto es bastante subjetivo, pero la animacion esta normalita, nada de fuera de serie tampoco la direccion no toma riesgos ni nada si no es decente, la ost si esta bastante buena al igual que el opening y el ending youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orWbRJ8qX34&pp=ygUYbWFqbyBubyB0YWJpdGFiaSBvcGVuaW5n) Aspecto audiovisual 7 ⭐ Disfrute personal: me gusto, como dije antes tiene sus puntos altos y bajos pero en si es una serie muy disfrutable que cada capitulo es autoconclusivo y que al final te trata de contar la historia de Elaina y sus viajes, haciendo que 4 años despues de su emision siga valiendo la pena ver esta serie, sobre todo por su duracion de 12 capitulos y con historias que seguramente no te dejen indiferente. Si sale una segunda temporada seguramente lo vere. Muchas gracias por leer, hasta una proxima Review