Ojamajo Doremi (also known as Magical Doremi or Little Witch Doremi) is a magical girl anime series that ran from 1999 to 2003. It also has a OVA series that aired in 2004. It focuses on an elementary schooler, Doremi Harukaze, who has to become a full fledged witch to turn Majo Rika, a shopkeeper who Doremi had discovered is a witch, back into her original form. Her friends, Hazuki Fujiwara and Aiko Senoo, later also become witch apprentices alongside Doremi. The three girls have to help run the MAHO Dou, Majo Rika's magic shop, together while keeping their identities as witch apprentices a secret.
While Ojamajo Doremi is much more niche in the west, it's a rather popular franchise in Japan. Toei's magical girl cash cow inbetween Sailor Moon and Pretty Cure, if you will. Since the anime was initially aimed toward young girls, there is a lot of merch of the taps and wands, as well as dolls, kids' costumes, and more. The franchise has some video games, a film commemorating the 20th anniversary, collaborations with mobile games such as Puyo Puyo Quest and BanG Dream! Girls Band Party, and a light novel continuation, Ojamajo Doremi 16. There has also been some physical merch releasing over the past few years such as make-up, accessories, and gacha toys. There is also a mobile game exclusive to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau called Ojamajo Doremi Puzzle Carnival.
An Ojamajo Doremi 16~20s animated project has been announced for the 25th anniversary, starting with a promo video! The project, which will celebrate both younger and older Doremi and her friends, might be a TV anime series, a web series, or a film. It hasn't been decided yet! It all depends on feedback from fans who comment on the official YouTube upload of the promo video.
Ojamajo Doremi is very near and dear to my heart, and it is my favorite magical girl series of all time. Remember the days when anime episodes were uploaded onto YouTube in three parts? That was how I was able to discover this series back in middle school (around 2008). While it's a kids' show, it actually tackles some serious topics surprisingly well! It also feels like literally everyone and their mother gets character development here and I am all for that. We appreciate character growth in this house.
It's hard to find an English fansub of the anime these days, but I do heavily recommend it (despite the r-slur being used in older versions of the fansubs a few times iirc). I have also seen the 4Kids dub, some on TV (which aired for a bit around 2009/2010 for some reason..?) but most on the 4Kids site while it was still up and hosting episodes of its own dubs. While it is cute at some moments, it just doesn't hold up as well as the original. I'm kind of glad they only dubbed season 1 in this case.
In regards of Doremi media I haven't personally checked out yet, I haven't read Ojamajo Doremi 16. While I've heard it gets darker than the original show (which does scare me a bit), I will give the animated project a try once it's ready and released. There's also a manga adaption of the original anime, but there's no English translation as far as I know and it is completely different from the show!
I have some of the merch for the show, such as a few of the taps and wands, most of the Sharp Friends doll collection (yes, even Pop), the Flower Garden MAHO Dou, and a couple of poseable figures of Onpu and Pop. I appreciate my parents for putting up with me while I was extremely fixated on Doremi many moons ago. I may add pics of my merch collection eventually!!
