Majo no Tabitabi

"Happiness is a way of travel, not a destination."

Fiction often tells us a similar tale: one of the hero saving the day, where happiness is a commodity given as a reward for good and just deeds. In the case of Majo no Tabitabi, which follows Elaina's solitary journey throughout the vast skies and endless seas, this rule of fiction is approached in a more skeptical manner. Good intentions may be rewarded, but it is not always so.

Unlike most anime, Majo no Tabitabi doesn't portray karma as an infallible law from which we can never escape. Sometimes the characters will strive to resolve an issue ... with good intentions, but as a consequence of following their heart, it can sometimes lead not to a problem being fixed, but a problem made worse. These themes can potentially be misconstrued by some viewers as the story being pretentious (among other disparaging terms), but Majo no Tabitabi does not claim that optimism or idealism is wrong, either. Karma and morality are treated as an open-ended question of which there is no inherently correct answer. It is situational and oftentimes a matter of luck, which is demonstrated by the various happy and unhappy conclusions to the episodes.

It's precisely this unpredictable pattern of storytelling which makes Majo no Tabitabi so enchanting. There are happy episodes that warm the soul, more slice-of-life in nature and which will make the viewer laugh and smile. There are darker episodes, which are less frequent, but which make you question the characters' actions as well as your own beliefs. And even in the quieter moments, where the story is meant to be approached more as entertainment, there are subtle themes that can be pursued by the viewer at their behest. What happens when a wall is erected in the middle of a small town, for example? While these themes are nothing exemplary on their own, they do complement the story on a wider scale by showing facets of Elaina's personality which are not otherwise explored in the more serious episodes. It is, after all, as much a story about Elaina herself as it is about the adventure. Travel is personal, and is inherently a story about the traveler.

Most likely, there will be some people who disagree with aspects of Elaina's worldview. And that is fine, as she is an observer and fervently avoids the role of hero. Unlike most anime protagonists, while Elaina is naturally a kind person, she will sometimes ignore the plights of others if it is not of personal benefit or interest to her. There are of course times where she will help the strangers of a country on a more selfless basis, but by and large, she calculates whether or not it is worth getting involved in a problem, just as the vast majority of people in our world do. After several years travelling from place to place, being embroiled in local issues that do not affect her personally, it is inevitable that at least some of her good intentions would have led to tragedy and less-than-happy outcomes. And so Elaina knows, and so she does not assume the helping hand will be met with a just reward. There is a big difference between someone like Elaina, who is experienced and hardened, and an anime character who is cynical and morally grey simply because it is perceived as cool to be so. I would even go as far as to say this is what separates Majo no Tabitabi, a surprisingly adult-oriented anime, apart from series like Oregairu and Re:Zero. Elaina may not possess the same innocence and happy-go-lucky nature as other characters in anime, but that is because she has traveled far and seen the world at large, and has thus not had the luxury of being trapped in a small social bubble, as so many are.

That is not to claim that Majo no Tabitabi's storytelling is without error, because it is not. There are a few aspects that I wish were better, particularly the conclusion of the 9th episode, which was excessive in a way the show hadn't really been up to that point. It's possible the anime staff tried to capture part of that Re:Zero audience, which, for a product seeking financial success, is unfortunate but expected. The themes and the plot of the episode were engaging and shocking in the right ways, but the visual direction had me almost feel as though I were watching a different anime entirely. But it is not as though the serious episodes all follow this same formulae, so the odd directorial shift for the one episode was given little more than a shrug from me.

Another issue some might find is that the pacing, particularly at the start, is lightning fast. Hearing "And so, six months later..." doesn't really allow the viewer to get all too attached to the events of the episode. I do appreciate that the story covers a large span of time (essentially 4+ years, and likely more in the light novels), and I even prefer this over more traditional slice-of-life, but trimming the timeskips down a tad would help to make the passage of time feel more natural and less abrupt. The presence of yuri elements towards the end - a frequent trope in slice-of-life series with predominantly female casts - was also a bit on the unnecessary side. That said, it is not pervasive, and is largely relegated to a single episode, which is fortunate as the series' strengths are not in romance and sudden... homoerotic proposals.

On a more technical level, Majo no Tabitabi is solid. While the animation is not something that will explode your mind and make you feel as if you were watching some massive-budget production, there is more effort here than the typical static visuals of most anime. In a lot of anime, it is essentially just a slideshow - panning over a single image for five or more seconds, with the only moving parts being the flapping of a character's lips. Majo no Tabitabi may occasionally fall victim to this shortcutting as well— there are weekly deadlines to be met, after all— but there is often more going on than the average anime, even if it is something as subtle as Elaina shrugging her shoulders while speaking. As well, the art style of Majo no Tabitabi is vibrant and lively, and the characters' facial expressions convey considerable emotion. They do not need to explicitly say 'I am angry' or 'I am sad' for you to understand what they are thinking and feeling. This may sound obvious, and something to be expected, but the sad truth is that most TV anime forget the importance of facial expressions and instead rely on voice acting talent to illustrate a scene. Majo no Tabitabi may be simple, but it excels in said simplicity.

It is also admirable how the anime staff honoured the creator's wishes to keep the anime adaptation free of sexual fanservice. I don't have any issues with sexual content in anime, and— to the contrary— view it as a positive when handled well. But moments involving pantyshots and things of that nature are juvenile and would do nothing but detract from Elaina's character. She is mentally and emotionally mature in a way that most female characters in anime aren't, and seeing her get embarrassed because she was caught changing clothes— or whatever else ecchi anime do these days— would diminish who she is as a person. The anime is confident enough in its own qualities that it does not need to add gratuitous sexual fluff. Leave that to the doujins and fan material, and keep letting Majo no Tabitabi be as it is, I say.

So, yeah. I liked Majo no Tabitabi. Quite a bit, too. A lot of people have drawn parallels between it and Kino no Tabi, and I would say that is quite appropriate. But where Kino no Tabi excelled in worldbuilding, I sometimes thought it fell short with regards to characterization. Majo no Tabitabi is the answer to that issue. While it may be more divisive than other anime of its genre, it comes as a solid recommendation to all varieties of anime fans. Anime like this are exceptionally, and increasingly rare in today's marketplace. If you haven't watched it yet, you're missing out on something special.

And if you're curious, I'll even go a step further: I think Majo no Tabitabi is the best anime of the year - and potentially more.

Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina

This is one of the shows I have bookmarked for this year. It is so sweet I do have a glucose monitor to use if I start to feel wonky.

Storyline: This story follows a cheeky, young witch named Elaina as she sets off on a fantastical journey across the world after being inspired by her favorite book. As with any classic fantasy tale, she’ll meet plenty of folks along the way, from the strange to the bizarre, including giants, townsfolk and even other witches! As she explores the world, her views on her own journey will take shape! ...

All of these elements –plus the efforts of numerous unnamed staff members and workers– make for a seriously beautiful start to a series that feels as cozy as a cup of tea.

But why is Wandering Witch so darn good? Well, let me answer that!

The foundation for Wandering Witch is good on its own: the story is engaging, the magic mystical and interesting, and the characters completely likable. However, the animation for this series is downright beautiful and took my breath away.

Beautiful art can come in a lot of forms, and much like video games, good art doesn’t equal a good story, and vice versa. Thankfully, Wandering Witch’s story matches the animation style beat for beat, providing a gorgeous canvas to tell this really earnest story on. Words really can’t express how lovely Wandering Witch is to just simply look at. Everything feels like it should be in a nice artbook collection.

Whether Elaina’s just in the city or at Fran’s treehouse home, the art is always on point. During action sequences –or even when Elaina takes off on her broom– the animation gets sharp, blending the base art style with slick magic effects that have genuine impact.

However, Elaina’s animation isn’t the only beautiful thing in the series: the music is just as lovely, with cues handled expertly, especially in highly emotional scenes. As stated before, music is handled by AstroNoteS, who’s previous anime-related credits include High School DxD Hero’s theme song “Switch.” AstroNoteS shines here with lilting music choices that immerse the viewers in a fantastical world. I hope that’s a name we’ll see more of in the near future.

satisfying magic sounds into Fran and Elaina’s duel. Everything fits the world quite well: even small, simple sounds tucked into the background flavor the world and really make Wandering Witch a sonically delightful watch.

Elaina finally becomes recognized as a full-fledge Witch, and receives the name "the Ashen Witch".
What more can be said about such a powerful premier? Every element of Wandering Witch is enjoyable, from the stunning animation to the beautiful music and the genuinely likable characters. With a strong premier that definitely promises a powerful series, Wandering Witch is the easiest recommendation ever.

Fans of Kino’s Journey –both the original series and the recent new animation- will find that same coziness as Elaina takes to the skies and catalogues her travels as the Ashen Witch. Additionally, light novel readers will be happy to find that the world has –thus far– translated quite well, and feels just as lush as it can in the books.

Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina is already a strong contender for Show of the Season. Safe to say I’ll be induldging in Elaina’s magical world.

Great story, art, sound and character.
It is the work of our lifetime.
Don't miss it.

A journey always begins with the very first step and that’s truer than ever for a young girl named Elaina. With a fantasy setting built by the creative mind of Jougi Shirashi, we are treated one of the must-see shows of this year.

Despite the light novel popularity, we didn’t get an anime adaptation airing until 2020. What’s slightly more concerning is that the anime itself is contained within a 1-cour of 12 episodes, and it raises the question if it’s enough to show its true colors. Thankfully, I can say with easy confidence that Majo no Taitabi (Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina) does indeed ... meet its expectations. This is more than just a fantasy adventure but explores the character journey of a human being.

Watching Majo no Taibtai feels like watching a child growing up, with every day being a new experience. This idea applies directly to Elaina, a young girl who became a witch. She has the heart of an adventurer, the ambition to succeed, and a thirst to prove herself to the world. From the very first episode, she wants to show the world what she’s learned starting with her mentor, Flan. Unfortunately, it also exposes some of her vulnerability as a witch and that she has a lot to learn than meets the eye. That’s where her journey begins. Elaina embarks on personal journey to learn about the world and discover what’s hidden from horizons beyond.

As an episodic adventure, the storytelling usually has a self-contained story but always follows how Elaina meets people or dealing with whatever problem she comes across during her journey. Early on, she encounters Saya, and after helping her, they become friends and seemingly forges an important friendship. It goes to show that Elaina herself is both someone easy to get along with and is a selfless person. She puts others’ needs above herself and is never afraid to take risks to help others. This also leads her into dangerous circumstances where her own life is at stake and she must resort to using what she’s learned to survive. From her journey, Elaina also discovers some of the darker truths of the world. This includes her stay in The Land of Truth Tellers or dealing with a princess with lost memories. From the hidden truths, it reveals that underneath the lighthearted magic adventure, there’s a deeper darkness. Elaina never becomes a victim herself but that doesn’t make other characters an easy prey for sin. One of the most prominent example is during episode 9 when she finds out the dark past of a girl named Estelle. I won’t go into spoilers but from this episode alone, it’s shown that some characters are really beyond redemption.

With each passing episode, we learn not just about Elaina’s adventure story but also about Elaina herself. She has a lot of potential as a witch but sometimes, she isn’t able to fully solve the problem of others. In fact, this anime can be depressing with episodes of despair. In other words, don’t go into the show expecting every episode has a happy ending. Some of them ends up with tragedy and even Elaina herself shows moments of despair. She is still a sensitive girl that is vulnerable to deep emotions. But through meeting new people, she improve herself both mentally and physically. Thankfully, the anime isn’t shy on displaying the character personalities and chemistry of the cast. Two of the most noticeable pairs are Elaina/Saya and Elaina/Fran. One of them is based on mutual friendship as their fellow witches. The other is based on a student and mentor relationship as Elaina wants to prove herself. One other noticeable character by the name of Shelia also appears later in the show. Her personality is mostly characterized being an antithesis of Fran. The anime seized the opportunity to show their past and present relationship, and by the end of this series, they became close friends. In fact, I would say with confidence that friendship is an important theme of the show. It’s through friendship that people can understand each other and resolve problems without just resorting to the magic arts.

Majo no Taibitai is both a light and dark show, meaning that where there’s light comedy and humor, there’s darkness and despair. The comedy mostly comes from the character personalities of the main cast while the darker elements are hidden within the self-contained stories. However, I will say that overall entertainment value still revolves around Elaina’s journey. She carries this show with each episode that has us, the audience, wondering what’s ahead. Will she live up to our expectations or is her journey one that has serves with little purpose? It’s an ambiguous question because it depends on how you approach the show. Despite the storytelling showcasing episodic adventures, they each have recurring elements that ties the overall anime together. When you’ve seen what this anime for what it really is, then there’s a great chance you’ll want more than just 12 episodes.

Studio C2C managed to do excellent work when it comes animating the setting and overall world fiction of the show. From day one, I noticed that every character is distinctive in some way or form. Elaina has the classic look of a young witch complete with a hat, silver hair, and youthful appearance. Similarly, other characters such as Fran and Shelia has their look as more experienced witches. However, the biggest perk of the show is the overall world building. Almost every episode depicts a new setting as Elaina travels from place to place. It sort of feels like playing a JRPG with a character going into towns and resolving new problems. Only here, we follow Elaina on her adventure as we watch her. The different settings are also saturated with colorful content such as the Land of Mages and magical Kingdoms. Without a doubt, Majo no Taibitai convinced me that Elaina’s journey knew what it was doing when it sells its visual storyteller.

On the subject of character voice acting, I would like to say the majority of the character cast fulfills their role but Elaina herself can sometime display childish tendencies, which translates to some awkward moments in the show. Other than that, the anime contains charming themes with an elegant tranquility, especially for its opening music song and general pace of its soundtrack.

Yes, it’s only 12 episodes long and the light novel has more content if you’re thirsty to continue Elaina’s journey. But judging on the anime adaptation, this is nothing short of a hallmark of entertainment. It shows that when a show with creative ideas and charming character cast is executed together, the storytelling sells itself. You can be the judge and decide to recommend this to others or not. But for me, Majo no Taibitai is a show that sets a fantasy adventure by excellence.

I'm honestly in love with this show, while sure it isn't perfect, but it's certainly one to watch for this season, and here is why!

This honestly reminds me of Kino's journey. It's a fun show with it's premise. Making each and every episode different and unique in it's own way. Which I honestly think is brilliant. It not only allows you to explore the world in more details, but also add an element of surprise each and every week so far. With it's story following our witch protagonist, as she goes from location to location, engaging in different kinds of story. It's really fun and ... imaginative. With the stories having a mix of emotions all through out.

The characters themselves? All seem realistic and each have a different kind of appeal to them. Which is great to see, always good to have a wide range of personalities to keep a show fresh and engaging to the viewer. Particularly our MC, with having more than one layer to her personality, which adds more to her character. Which can only be a good thing.

The art and sound is always great, it's always interesting to see what new environments come about. Really is. You can't go wrong here, even the magic our MC uses itself is good looking, along with any kind of action scenes in general, it's really good stuff, and goes along with every scene within the show. While the song is very fitting to each scene.

The way the characters move is also very great, as their movements never look off, or bad at all. It's really good stuff all round. They really did a good job at not only the details, but making sure it all flows smoothly.

Should you watch this? Yes, it's a very good show and certainly one of my stand outs of the season so far, which is very much keeping my interest week in and week out. So you should watch it too!

This show is pretty darn awful. Spoilers... but nothing that important, as the show itself makes all too clear.

Determined girl devotes herself to the study of magic so she can become a witch and travel the world. Only, we don't get to see her train, or devote herself, or observe the trials she faces, except when her foreigner witch teachers beats her up out of nowhere to teach her humility.

But that's not what the show is about! It's about her travels afterwards! How she visits people across the world and touches their lives!

Only she doesn't. She's a passive observer to ... all kinds of things happening. Mainly people dying... and she does nothing about it. She doesn't help, or use her powers to change the outcomes of any situations, even though the show makes her out to be an extremely powerful mage. She teaches a kid who's pretending to be bad at magic how to ride a broom, except she already knows how... (still not sure what role Ellania actually played for her...) and she digs a hole. Also she fixes a teapot. None of these things actually help people or prevent tragedy.

But that's the point! The world isn't all roses and marshmallows! Ellania must learn this by zooming around and seeing sad things happen to other people!

So this is just Kino no Tabi on a broomstick? They took a slightly-better than average show concept, removed the titular talking motorcycle (also removing the main character's foil with whom she could have verbalized her thoughts on the events she witnesses), and slapped more comedically cliche tragic events on the line-up... gave the main character magical powers she could actually use to help people, and then have her still not help people.

At least in Kino no Tabi the main character usually had some kind of stake in what was going on, or got dragged into things forcibly. Ellania literally just waltzes in, puts her hands on her hips and goes 'huh.' Gives the one-off, episodic characters 'looks of judgement' as they do dumb stuff and then peaces out.

This pretentious show is almost unbearably stupid, and after the first episode had me a little hyped up, too! The art is really nice though, and the sound design of the magic is good.

I'm not entirely sure why I watched four episodes of this show. Everything, from the original light novel cover to the studio (C2C) and production team, made me think nothing but “oh, it's just another mediocre LN adaptation” and prefer to choose more entertaining shows from this season instead. However, power of MAL hype is strong, and hot discussions about the third episode attracted my attention. New Kino no Tabi? A show where protagonist is not the purest person in the whole world and can make decisions that fall in the morally grey territory? Not your typical LN adaptation? Ok, ok, I gave it a ... try… and what a disappointment, even for my low expectations.

What “deep” things people found here? What “not your cute fantasy with cute waifus” type of stuff? It’s just another boredom that uses imitation of deep content instead of really deep things; an anime where primitive and childish stories (remember kids, stealing is bad; remember kids, train hard and be nice with other people) are mixed with… another primitive and childish stories. Episode 3? Ok, there are flowers, they are (spoiler) and caused some (spoiler). Moral of the story? “Even beautiful roses have their thorns”. WOW, so deep, so philosophical, so unique, so meaningful! Who cares about Kino's Journey, we have a new seasonal king here! How that moral lessons for 12 years old kids can be even a little interesting? Just how?

Our protagonist, Elaina? The road movie is a rough genre, but a charismatic, charming main character can make even a clichéd story enjoyable. What we have here? Naive and egoistic b… witch. Sorry, I wanted to like this girl — tried to see her inner demons, her philosophical point of view as a traveler, her interesting decisions due to the episodes, but nah — “praise me more” and “I don’t want to know what happened with a slave girl” are two phrases that describe our MC perfectly. She just doesn’t care about anything, even about her journey and the places where she travels; our witch is too epic for all that plebs. Kino wasn’t a superman, and two girls from Shoujo Shuumatsu weren't powerful magicians; instead of them, Elaina can use her magic to change something — destroy flowers, take care of the slave girl, et cetera. However, she doesn’t want to do it at all and just leave things to happen. Reason? She doesn’t care. Ok, no problem, but why should I?

Art and animation? Go to the C2C official site, type “generic cute light novel fantasy designs” and you’ll get everything that you can see in Wandering Witch. Spend the rest of your budget for some cool magical fights (but not so much, our money isn’t infinite, remember?) and use CG for everything else. CG butterflies. CG roofs & flowers. CG witches. CG backgrounds. CG CG. Sad bad true, nowadays animators forgot how to draw and use CG instead of everything. Who are we to blame them?

I wanted to see something unique here. Just something that can give me emotions — happiness, sadness, pain, interest, maybe even anger. However, there is nothing much to say about Elaina, because it’s just mediocre. Mediocre adaptation of the mediocre light novel in the castle of mediocrity: boring, uninspiring, nothing to grab my attention at all. Want to watch another clichéd anime fantasy? Try Majo no Tabitabi: maybe you will enjoy it, and even add Elaina to your favorites, because why not. What about me? Sorry, but I prefer Strike Witches, not Generic ones. Peace.

I hate the anime. I would understand the no destination part, but so far it feels like there's no story. The story isn't about a witch, it's about the witch's travels. It feels like it's just a story about what the world she lives in is like. The anime might as well get rid of the heroine and just get a narrator to explain all the places she goes to.

The MC's name is Elaine, but what does she do other than travel and write? Does she like documenting? Is her purpose to document history? Or is it just for her parents to let her know ... about her travels? Which can be done by using letters, instead of a book. Is she going to get into a relationship? Not just a romantic one, but with anyone. Will she have close friends? Does she even get emotionally attached? Is MC intimidating? Kind? Impulsive? Strict? Decisive? What kind of person is she?
Not one of these questions have been answered or suggested, all I can deduce is that Elaine realizes her beauty so much that she might suck herself. I feel as if the character doesn't have depth. Any person you meet like her you won't find interesting, which is why it's hard for me to be interested in this anime. I would understand being apathetic so much as to not help any person you come through, but why? There is nothing about Elaine that makes her interesting. Other than the fact that she's the youngest person to be a witch.
Even the setting doesn't have a story. Why is it mostly witches respected? Are there male wizards? Are females the only one to manifest magic? With all these problems circulating, what the hell are the monarchs/presidents doing if the country is rampant with problems and people randomly dying? The reason I can think up of as to why anybody else would watch this is because Elaine is hawt.

Every season as of late, I can’t help but find myself on the lookout for fantasy stories to sink my teeth into. Oversaturated as the genre may be, sometimes, only sometimes, among all the manufactured shlock you’re likely to find a single gem rising above. Gems in which the fantasy setting is often merely used as a backdrop for a greater purpose, while also fully exploring it without getting caught up in the numerous tired tropes.

You can see why the promotional poster alone of Majo no Tabitabi sucked me in.

Majo no Tabitabi started out strong. Not held back by lazy tropes, complemented with sometimes breathtaking ... visuals and a couple of OSTs that captured the magic of the genre, it wasn’t hard for it to capture my interest and had me expecting more. The lack of tasteless fanservice and the way the characters were written (in the earlier episodes) almost made me think the series’ writing had a distinctly female touch. But decently-executed fantasy often isn’t enough: it’s the focal point of the show that distinguishes it from the rest.

The show is about Elaina. This is her story, her journey, and other characters are only anecdotes, mattering only in the extent of how much they relate to her. Putting aside my grievances with the series which I’ll list later, I enjoyed Elaina as a protagonist. It’s not often that a more self-centered, immodest character takes the focus (excluding the overly loud and cocky shounen protagonist trope) -- Elaina feels real, unexaggerated in her demeanor and deeply human. When Majo no Tabitabi is at its best, the show uses her journey and its magical setting to deliver certain ideas with its episodic adventures. For the first four episodes, that use of the setting pleasantly surprised me and kept me coming for more -- the show had not only subverted my expectations of a light novel-based fantasy series protagonist, but also the morals we’re used to in the medium.

It is up to the individual viewer whether some of the episodes’ unusual, seemingly anti-idealistic nature feels heavy handed and edgy, or whether it’s a nice breath of fresh air. Majo no Tabitabi doesn’t indulge in edginess or try to “be different” -- while the contrast between some of the more horrible scenes and the cutesy art is a pleasure to watch, even the seemingly grim episodes have satisfying endings, and their messages are often much less edgy and more grounded than given credit for. There is one particular episode where the “edginess”, however, does undeniably stand out — and it comes after a series of more whimsical and light-hearted adventures. I think most viewers will know which episode I’m referring to. Although it’s hailed as the peak of the series, I could only find it jarring and overly shocking after all the light-heartedness that preceded it (despite the terrific job in imagery, I commend the animators). There is little point in having a shocking encounter to break the protagonist down, only to completely forget about its events in the next episodes onwards. I’m not a purist who thinks development is everything a character needs (characterization is great, people!), however, beyond that episode, even directly following it, we barely get to see how Elaina was affected (in fact, her character remains mostly static throughout the series, with some effective characterization sprinkled here and there) -- this wouldn’t have bothered me as much, had the episode not possessed the trappings of a “cathartic” episode for her.

If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably wondering “how can that description be anything less than a 7?”

I almost feel bad writing this part, after having such high expectations and good faith on the show, but the more I watched, I found myself realizing that too much good faith was wasted on Majo no Tabitabi.

It’s hard to pinpoint when exactly my excitement for the next episode turned to mild interest, and then hope that maybe, just maybe the next episode would be better -- though if I had to say, it’d probably be after episode 4.

I mentioned how natural and grounded Majo no Tabitabi feels, despite some of its more grim episodes. This only goes for the first few episodes. After a certain point, the show derails to the point of indulgence -- and I’m not talking about amped up edginess. We get a character who reminds me of Demon Slayer’s Zenitsu -- who continually follows and harasses the protagonist, takes away from whatever conflict the characters are involved in, and generally is a nuisance to watch. The gag may be funny to some the first time -- it wasn’t to me, and certainly not the second, third or seventh time. I made the Zenitsu comparison, though I feel that may’ve been unfair to him, when he has a variety of different dynamics with characters other than his love interest -- Majo no Tabitabi being focused on Elaina alone, this tomboy character’s sole intrigue is in her insistent love for Elaina, and little more. That's one weakness of the show's inherent structure, as if you can't make other characters lovable or interesting from Elaina's perspective, then they won't be lovable or interesting to the audience, either.

But I could bear through a horribly-written and aggravating cast member every couple of episodes. This show had, after all, a lot of qualities I looked for in fantasy. "It will get better!", I told myself. I think it was around when the show indulged in the typical sister-incest gags that I came to terms with the fact that I’ve been giving it far too much leeway for what it was, a fantasy light novel -- with all its tropes, flaws and failings, only disguised differently and unique enough not to be a waste of time.

If you enjoyed the first few episodes and expected more, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. If you haven't, then you probably won't like the rest it has to offer, as it's only an inconsistent plummet downhill from there.

If you went into this show expecting all sunshine and rainbows, you would be sorely mistaken. This is not your typical lighthearted fun adventure. Elaina’s journey is bittersweet and oftentimes filled with some truly dark and depressing moments.

The story centers around Elaina, a talented witch who happens to be a rare prodigy. She is coined the Ashen witch based on her long ashen colored hair. Being so young, she embarks on an adventure traveling from place to place encountering many people along the way who all have their own issues. There are many other shows this premise draws similarities to such as Kino’s Journey and ... Mushishi. While in Mushishi, Ginko would go around and help people with their problems, Elaina doesn’t necessarily do that. There are some exceptions but for the most part, she would just happen to stumble upon the misfortunes of other people and choose to not get directly involved. She is a morally grey character and this plays a role in making the show bittersweet and distinct. Not every tale ends in a delightful and happy way meant to teach you some important lesson about life. Elaina isn’t some champion of justice who tries to push her self-righteous beliefs onto others. She is for the most part blunt and distant with her interactions and personality. She is admittedly kind of full of herself, self-absorbed and can come off as a bit of a jerk. If something were to put her at risk with nothing to show for it, she will simply not bother and choose to avoid the issue at hand.

As one would guess the show is episodic in nature. Despite this, some of the side characters Elaina meets are recurring resulting in there being a sense of payoff with her encounters and progression in the story. Each episode features a new concept to keep itself fresh. In one episode Elaina could be in a civilization of people who can’t tell lies and in another, she would find herself in a decimated city with an angry fire breathing dragon roaming about. There is no shortage of diversity here. The opening song compliments this as it is a wonderfully light and soothing adventurous soundtrack with gorgeous visuals to ease you into the wonder of the show.

This show has some elements of intrigue but it is not without its faults. For one thing, it is a bit slow paced at times so if you are into more of the action stuff, this probably won’t be for you. This is very much a show about absorbing the atmosphere and setting. Unfortunately, while there were certainly some tragic tales and rather unnerving scenes, the majority of them did not invoke much of a reaction from me other than a bit of shock value or dread. I didn’t feel like there was a meaningful lesson to be learned by these tales other than “Oh, life is tragic” or “things are not always what they first appear to be”. It feels a bit monotonous and pointless.

This issue is only elevated by the lack of proper character development and herein lies the main strength and weakness of the show: the personality of our main character. While on one hand, some people may find Elaina to be an interesting and charming character as she is simply a traveler who acts more like an observer than a justice seeker, others may view her as being relatively shallow and a narcissist. She more often than not doesn’t bother to help people despite having the means to do so and one can’t help but feel a bit of disconnect. But I do believe that this serves the story well as her lack of involvement in some of these tales gives the world a life of its own as we often don’t see the conclusion to several people’s stories even if a certain outcome was implied. Even with all this power and being a prodigy, Elaina is just as much an ordinary person as anyone else thus begging the question of “why bother getting involved in the first place if it’ll only cause me harm?”

The other witch who has a crush on Elaina has a relatively flimsy and one note personality. I didn’t find anyone from the main cast all that interesting. In fact, the only characters I could find any investment in who have some level of depth only appear in one episode while the recurring cast lacks any likability. They could have made things more interesting by having Elaina go through a bit of an emotional and internal psychological struggle. Instead, she comes off as someone who doesn’t care about the messed up world around her and turns a blind eye all while spouting obnoxious one-liners about how amazing she is. We also never really explore her psychology especially after the first episode where it looked as if that would be the case. Unfortunately, she just comes off as a self absorbed character who lacks any endearing qualities aside from being cute which seems to be more than enough of a selling point.

With all that said, the visuals are pretty incredible. There are countless gorgeous backgrounds that give more life and personality to the world. There is an attention to detail on small items that would appear on desks or cluttered rooms and some of the buildings in the city landscape. Some of the character designs truly stand out and are appealing like a few of the witches while others like random villagers and townsfolk or some minor characters are pretty forgettable and bland. Elaina’s design is overall fantastic and clearly the main draw of the show. Her dark witch outfit compliments well with her ashen hair giving her the aura of an imposing figure. She is inarguably very cute and definitely stands out among all the other characters. The animation is mostly stunning, capturing the feel of being a whimsical experience filled with magic and witches similar to what you would get from something like Harry Potter.

It’s difficult to parse what kind of experience one should expect to get out of Majo no Tabitabi as it almost seems niche. On one hand, it can genuinely be an enjoyable show to watch with its exquisite art and episodic variety. Seeing one tragic tale after another in a seemingly messed up world can be fun as you are never certain what will happen next. It might also scratch that itch that some fans of Kino’s Journey or Mushishi yearn for with a whimsical tale of adventure and uncertainty but at the same time rarely provides anything truly deep or inspirational that you’ll be thinking about down the line. The characters in this show also seem to be lacking in many ways making it difficult to invest in or care about them. But despite there being many flaws with the show, it can still be engaging if you become enthralled in Elaina as a character and whatever tale she finds herself in.

Warning: This review might not be very well articulated, as a side effect of this anime itself not being very well articulated.

Through the course of Majo no Tabitabi's airing time, I saw horrendous fighting and arguing in this community over whether it was a masterpiece or a shitshow. People were arguing left and right about Elaina's moral compass and I've been here from day one to see it. I'm of the opinion that Tabitabi is, indeed, a shitshow; but not quite for the reasons most people seem to think it is.

You see, the problem with Majo no Tabitabi is that it thinks it's so smart. ... It thinks it's making such a big statement about the reality of the world and being so deep about the characterization of its main character. It will literally do the stupidiest shit you've ever seen while wearing unshakeable smugness. It will literally point-blank copy Kino no Tabi without the things that make Kino no Tabi valuable.

It's a show that fluctuates all over the place with absolutely no sense of continuity. This is not a criticism towards its episodic format, but rather one towards the way it's applied - Tabitabi is indecisive on whether it wants to be a lighthearted slice of life about traveling or a grimdark edgy gorefest that only a 14 year old could possibly think is making a statement. You get out of an episode about Elaina befriending a witch her age in a peaceful country directly to one about her meeting a child slave who commits suicide. Then you get out of an episode about a 5 year old sociopath who's been abused by her parents murdering them in a blood-shower montage where Elaina has an absolute breakdown about being unable to help people... to a completely unrelated little slice of life adventure episode involving her mentor. Oh, might I add that the whole child serial killer-induced meltdown Elaina has is never brought up again? That is the issue. I understand what the show is trying to do: the world isn't perfect, and you are bound to run into misery and witness the darkest parts of human nature if you set off to know it, hence their decision of not making this a purely optmistic slice of life. But the extremes that they take simply do not work. You dip into the worst of the worst only to come out on top of the best of the best in the next episode. The worst of the worst is never acknowledged again. There is no evidence of it weighing in Elaina's conscience, seeing as she cries once and then forgets about it. There is absolutely no evidence of this 18 year old becoming wiser or hardened by the things that she sees. If there is absolutely no nuance, then what really is even the point of including it? We already know that the world sucks, thank you very much; address this fact only if you have something of value to add to it, because just being like "Look, this child, who is by the way a character you have no attachment to, killed her parents. Isn't it fucked up that this happened?" did not do much. This is NOT an statement about human nature and the injustices of the world. This is just depravity for the sake of depravity, because apparently depravity sells, and apparently depravity is enough to convince people that something is actually very deep and layered.

The wild atmosphere shifts make the slice of life bits harder to enjoy, but to be honest, a lot of it is already corny and really stupid. The staff stated that they didn't want to include panty shots in the anime to "keep it wholesome", and yet add in jokes so sleazy that at this point I'd much prefer to be seeing panties. The comedy is unfunny; I know comedy is subjective, so I should be saying that it didn't personally work for me, but I have a hard time picturing anyone but a teenager who's new to anime actually laughing at the comedic beats in Tabitabi. It has huge amounts of yuri bait as well, and I'm always up for yuri, but in this anime it's just very shallow and cheap and I did not care about the characters involved. Most of the valuable slice of life bits involved Fran, Elaina's mentor; the first episode is by far the best one of the anime, as were the ones where Elaina ran into her during her travels, because their relationship actually seemed to hold emotional weight (unlike Elaina's relationship with Saya, where Elaina honestly doesn't even seem to like the girl at all).

The worldbuilding in Tabitabi is bafflingly piss-poor: there's very little told and even shown about the actual workings of the world and the way that magic and class hierarchy works, which is a criminal offense in an anime about traveling, where the world around Elaina should behave like its own character. Sometimes you have no clue how powerful witches are even supposed to be, you have no clue what level of magic Elaina is supposed to be able to use. You just get vague nods like "oh yeah, child slaves are legal in this country", which makes the whole thing that much stupidier; they waste time making entire episodes about old men having a fetish for women stepping on grapes to make wine instead of expanding on any of this. I feel like I know absolutely nothing about the magic association or about the countries she visited, but I sure know a lot about a random character's act of vengeance.

When we get to the characters, it's... difficult.

Obviously the anime leans heavily on its titular character, Elaina. She's a travelling observer type of character. Elaina is not a bad character; in fact, I think she's very well constructed personality-wise, and I'd like to see more characters like her in anime. Her arrogance and overflowing self-confidence, her condescending manner and polite demeanor make for a good combo. They make sense within the type of character that she is. But the thing is, Tabitabi is not well-written. Elaina being an interesting character is an accident of good writing that does not last for long, because the situations she is put through make her act extremely inconsistently. Elaina will see a child slave being physically abused and do nothing about it; this is not because she is a terrible person, seeing as in other episodes Elaina is shown to care for and help people, even if begrundingly. This is because the author wants this show to be Kino no Tabi or Mushishi really badly but has no idea how to write a travelling observer character. In the same episode Elaina suggests that the boy who has a crush on the slave girl does something that is so obviously a terrible idea that it made me livid, which goes against the idea that she's smart. But then she will solve problems in a way that is supposedly very advanced, which goes against the notion that she is inexperienced and naive. Sometimes Elaina will act jaded, indifferent to the horrors that she witnesses, which makes absolutely no sense considering that she is a sheltered 18 year old girl who grew up in a perfectly normal, reasonaly well-off family. Sometimes, as I've mentioned before, she will cry and feel helpless in the face of them, but this will be forgotten and she will aquire no semblance of trauma, so there was no point. Elaina undergoes no character development. In the last episode she is literally still the same person that she was in the first one. Unless you'd like to count the last episode's attempt on psychoanalyzing her as successful, in which case, pardon me for my rudeness, but I will laugh at you. Elaina did not need to learn self-love, she did not need to make peace with herself, because again, she shows absolutely no sign of ever secretly hating herself or feeling bad about being unable to help the vulnerable except for one single scene. Once again, maybe if the anime reserved more time to study Elaina's character instead of wasting time giving us dumbass comedy segments, this might not have happened. I feel like a lot of this really stems from pacing issues as well; we get many timeskips all the time, so it's hard to keep up, and it really affects Elaina's characterization as well, seeing as every time we see her again, months are supposed to have passed. My point is that I don't think Elaina is a horrible person like it's been asserted by many. I just think that this anime sucks, and it unfortunately drags her down with it.

The supporting cast is pretty weak aside of the aforementioned Fran. Saya is Elaina's friend-slash-romantic-interest who's honestly kind of annoying. Sheila is Saya's mentor and she's fine when she is paired with Fran, but I have no strong feelings about her because she'd kind of just there. The elusive figure of Niké exists in the distance as the motivator of Elaina's travels, but not much if known about her besides who her pupils are. Some of the other characters who only last for one episode are seriously, and I mean it, not worth mentioning.

All that's left is the art and sound aspects, which are both pretty good. I do like most of the character designs and the BGM, and the animation is very easy on the eyes, I have no complaints on that front. The opening theme is absolutely perfect and it gives off a peaceful sense of wonder, which I REALLY wish was reflected in the anime itself. Everywhere Elaina visits looks the same, but that's not really the art's fault, it's more the author's fault for being really bad at constructing worldbuilding.

Majo no Tabitabi is a clusterfuck. I honestly feel like I should be giving it a lower rating now that I've accessed it and realized I only enjoyed one or two episodes out of twelve, but I won't, because at the same time I feel like I've seen worse. What can I even say to conclude this? Don't watch it, I suppose, unless you are in fact a 14 year old who's new to anime and who thinks that the character arcs in Elfen Lied rule. Maybe in this case you'll find this anime to be profound.

Kino no Tabi meets Kiki's Delivery Service – what could possibly go wrong?

After acquiring a status of a witch, Elaina leaves her hometown to travel around the world. On her journey, Elaina is about to experience bright and dark sides of the world and society. The story is episodic with almost no connecting plot line, and every episode is supposed to bring some kind of question about human nature.

I like both road movies and moral dilemmas very much but unfortunately I can’t bring myself to enjoy this show. Among other problems, like shallow plot and questionable moral messages, the protagonist is the biggest one – ... Elaina seems egoistic, arrogant and detached. She doesn’t play any active role in the plot, acting as a passive witness, and for the most part it’s her decision to not interfere.

This strongly reminds me of Kino from Kino no Tabi, but in Kino’s case her behavior was logically explained by her tragic past and awful situations she experienced during her journey. Elaina, on her part, have no reason to be detached from people she meets. She grew up in a loving family and was able to develop her prodigious magic skills. Local witches’ unwillingness to take Elaina as apprentice was probably the biggest disappointment in her life, but parents came to the aid and basically hire a tutor for her.

With Elaina’s backstory in mind, her detachment from people she meets looks like egoism and over-confidence, it’s like she is fearful of closer relationships and meaningful decisions for no reason. She is the type of person who happily enjoys soft warm bed while outside her window the dragon eats innocent citizens (If anyone is wondering, this scene is from ep.4). I wonder if creators deliberately made Elaina unlikable to develop her character or to portray her as evil protagonist, but this plot twist seems rather unlikely for such straight-forward story.

In my opinion, the anime would be better if Elaina’s backstory wasn’t revealed, especially in the first episode. Or if her character developed through the story. But the show paints Elaina as wise and mature person, which she clearly isn’t.

Watching The Journey of Elaina feels like reading a storybook. It is about Elaina, a traveler from a faraway distant land, and her journey as she travels to lots of different places and encounters new people. The show seemed like a happy go lucky anime at first, surprisingly it has a darker tone. It shows how harsh reality and the truth could be as Elaina journeys around the world. It is like the fairy tale you read as a child however not all fairy tales have happy endings.

When Elaina encounters problems along the way. She may seem not to care but she does. She ... feels responsible and she has to live with those feelings. However, it does not mean she is obligated to help them. That's the beauty of the anime. In reality, you are under no obligation to help someone in distress. In Elaina's case, she simply wants to travel around the world. That is why she wanted to become a witch to travel! She can help whenever she wants. She will help when she can.

While listening to the opening song, Literature by Reina Ueda, I feel so relaxed and calm. You can feel the fun adventures of Elaina, and how light, mesmerizing, and exciting it could be. However, in the ending song 灰色のサーガ by ChouCho you feel the opposite, you can feel how dark, strange, and frightening the journey of Elaina but in a good way. Which is why I love both the opening and ending song.

You can learn a lot of things in this show and it is simply beautiful.
Please give this show a watch, Majo no Tabitabi needs more recognition!

Wondering Witch Elaina, “Every journey begins with a single step. We just have to have patience.”

The story isn't all adventuring to fun nations; it gets dark from time to time. The story shows that the world isn't always a bright place, especially since magic isn't always used for good, and there are wars going on...

Elaina's character display is a realistic portrayal of personality that isn't being shown on some anime nowadays. If you notice every little detail, and character interactions, you'll start to feel that some of this is not being shown on some typical anime that you've already watched. If you are the ... type who enjoys Fantasy, Slice of Life and somehow a little dark twist, then this one is just for you!

That being said, this is the type of show that you will very much enjoy from the start to the very last episode.

The first episode was absolutely amazing and definitely peaked my interest in watching this anime without any research on it. It was beautifully animated and stunningly well written.

unfortunately however that is where it all goes downhill, after the first episode the story becomes boring and very much a monster of the week style of show. The animation quality seems to have had half the budget after the first episode and looses the beauty that it had.

I recommend to anyone to watch the first episode and that is a solid 8/10 for me, but after that episode the show is at best a 5/10.

This is Kino's travels (or the many other travel anime) mixed in with a kawaii magic girl main character. If you don't like either genre, you won't like this show. There is no world-building, because there is no world (aside from the magical girl trope). It's episodic and each story self-contained. A collection of disparate folktales with a magic girl inserted in there as an observer. There's a reason why Disney can only really adapt a handful of old fairy tales to create our fondest childhood memories (and big blockbuster success). Because there are really only a handful of coherent ones with positive messages. The ... other 99% are mostly just dark, nonsensical, ill-defined, inconclusive, depressing, or subversive. There are no lessons taught, other than maybe a fatalistic one. If you enjoy irrational, just open up a newspaper. The MC has no personality other than what is required to push a particular tale along. The very first episode is indicative of the meaninglessness of the rest of the series. Her doting parents hire a witch to abuse and near-kill her to instill humility? Even though she has displayed no arrogance, entitlement, or moral degeneracy? I really only started watching this because the production budget seemed higher than the rest. Maybe the story would be interesting, or there would be interesting characters. Nope to all.

A story about a painfully unaware, narcissistic witch (w interchangeable with b) who travels around the world.
Why is it bad? The writers are as obvlivious to her narcisstic nature as the main character - this unintentional element turns an elseway mediocre narrative sour. Making it painful to watch, not in the way of being "gory", "dark" or "psychological" - but more like having to spend time with some douchebag relative / friend of a friend who you'd rather just keep our of your life permantently.

In short. The MC is incredibly unlikeable, and the intro sums up the show.

The fact that this show has ... a high rating shows that most people are bad judges of character, and why it's common to get into toxic relationships.

"When I grow up, I'm going to go on an adventure just like Nikéh did!" - A young, growing silver-haired "Ashen Witch" named Elaina.

To be completely honest, this show is one of (if not) the hardest reviews I've ever written, and for very promiscuous reasons. From the "similar-but-different Kino's Journey" vibes, to the many controversies of "fanservice" and the in-between stories of light-heartedness and deep, plunging darkness, Majo no Tabitabi (or Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina) is definitely something that's a stand-out in the Fall season alone for the lore of fantasy, with a cinch of the classic adventurous spirit of young-and-upcoming newbies just ... starting their magical journey across the outside world. Prepare your witch brooms and sit comfortably, because this will be a long and arduous journey, from start to finish. (Spoilers be warned, but putting in storyline context so that it's not as heavy.)

The wonderous life of a young child that's awakened by the love of books, and one particular book about it raises this young girl's interest: "Nikéh's Adventure", based on a collection of short stories which detailed the former's adventures around the world (a.k.a a re-imagining of Kino's Journey's "The world is not beautiful, therefore it is" tagline). The growth that spurred her to become the youngest apprentice witch at 14 years of age, and in order to travel to places unimaginable at age 18, this is the "adventure of a lifetime's" journey record of the Wandering "Ashen" Witch Elaina, off to mimic Nikéh's legacy and create new ones in the process (even if she has a hint of knowing who Nikéh was in the first place or not, that's not the main point).

Right off the bat, you'll notice that I didn't mention that Elaina IS a protagonist, because like Kino, they're NOT meant to play off as the "hero" counterpart, and at its core, they are what they are: adventurers at heart (or you could call them protagonists, but on a neutral standpoint, same thing). For the most part, these adventurers can only "monkey see, monkey do" at the various towns of strange cultures and folk people, and strike up conversations with them, while letting the "series of unfortunate events" play out as follows in a 3rd-person perspective. If there are circumstances which need their help, they can only offer as much as they're willing to, everything else is out of their control. This is a stark contrast to the obscene counts of Shonen characters who are oh-so-willing to see lives in danger and adapt their instincts to save the day (of which there are many, don't quote me on that).

With that out of the way, let's go through my main counteractive points:
Remember what I've said in the beginning about the "similar-but-different Kino's Journey" vibes? Because this series is just that and more with the added elements of fantasy and magic brewed in for a change of diversity, that's honestly not a bad thing. As much as I love both the 2003 (original) and 2017 (re-imagining) versions of Kino's Journey, the thought of adding a magical fantasy pinch would leave me springing for so much more, and thankfully newbie novelist Jougi Shiraishi has brought that to his first LN work released in 2016. The thought of reading a LN that's far in the way, interesting and original (well, in its own skin) really fascinated me, and these kind of fairy-tale-esque stories of comedic, mysterious, yet emotional and dark finesse are really one-of-a-kind, and I highly recommend that if you're left wanting for more, please pick up the LN.

Speaking of Jougi Shiraishi, there was a panelist interview between the anime magazine Newtype and the creator himself, speaking after the series' debut of Episode 1, with the VERY ODD request that he was stressed and nerve-wracked out while meeting with the production staff, with a simple request of: "Absolutely do not show underwear, please." to limit the appeal of the anime to pure fanboys "sexism fuel". WHY? For all you people living in the West who DO NOT understand the complications of Japan's adoration for such overuse of warped and perverted "sex appeal" censorship material, recall of the ecchi shows you've watched before, and insert the context to this. This was such a controversial topic that initially had fans wreck the internet with heavy backlash about such a decision made, and sadly this wasn't the first time this request was done before (e.g. Rumiko Takahashi's Inuyasha with Kagome, and director Tsutomu Mizushima with Girls und Panzer). Regardless of the decision made, I'm not watching this series to experience "fanservice" quality, and absolutely understand why Shiraishi-san made this "infuriating" request. Because this show is meant to be an open wonder for a broad audience, and even with some "fanservice" shot (a.k.a Episode 1 when Elaina was battling against her teacher Fran) that wasn't meant to be the extra appeal in the first place, the damage was (kinda) done. In the light of all these however, I'd commend Jougi Shiraishi for making this decision that no matter how questionable this gamble was, it's a good call regardless. Not that I'm complaining, just here to give my 2 cents, and more power to y'all if you think otherwise.

Going back to the diversity of the "in-between stories of light-heartedness and deep, plunging darkness", yes, this series functions like it does. Elaina starting out her journey as the youngest "most genius and hardworking" 14-year-old apprentice witch, only to be found that her discipleship was marred by the other witches in retaliation, and leaving her to the only witch that could: the "Stardust Witch" Fran. For three years this weirdo woman's decision to take Elaina under her discipleship was anything but ordinary, and teaching her life lessons that "shooketh" Elaina's smugness of overwhelming pride and ego into one of failure and setback before the 18-year-old Ashen Witch sets out in motion (because we can't all have nice things in life, but I do dig Elaina's smugness).

The main meat of interest in Wandering Witch, is of course, all the inhabitants of strange towns and cultures, plus the other characters that come into contact with our lovely smug-looking silver-haired apprentice witch:
Saya (or what I could call her the supporting character if in an RPG) is a laid-back girl, often needing others' reliability for support and generally a negatively-filled character...that is until Elaina comes along and gives her a pep talk of self-confidence and having "a couple's" item in exchange for the bonding and exchange, so much so that her reliant personality shifts exponentially and creating that "Yuri, but not so Yuri" vibe, therefore training to be a witch like Elaina and earning her the title of "Charcoal Witch" to match. Should I really talk about Mina (because she only appears in Episode 11), because as stern of a younger sister with a siscon complex and taking tutelage under the same teacher as Saya, is she that important to the (anime) storyline? Nah.

In any case, moving onto the sisters' mentor tutelage from the "Night Witch" Sheila. A member of the United Magic Association with the task to investigate the abuse of magic, she's a pretty calm and collected character...that is until the reveal of which like the "Stardust Witch" Fran, are former disciples under Nikéh (really heavily implying that she is Elaina's mother, because of similarities). Both having distastes for one another due to the way of their work-arounds, they're yin and yang to compliment each other nicely in spite of the accumulated love-hate relationship over the years. Really a fun duo to take out snuffs (a.k.a the recurring "antagonist" Curio Company band of thieves).

The highlights of this show, from happy-as-dope to dark-as-hallucinating lands, and truth-telling to abusive environments, to the comical and depressing moments, this series has it all. The eccentric personalities of the towns are there to provide an objective as to what the characters want to do (much less achieve, if ever possible) and get their jobs done as swift and quickly. Most of the time though, the unrealistic fantasy feels nonsensical (a.k.a Episode 7's old art of grape-stomping and wall graffiti) to the point of being very disheartening (a.k.a Episode 3's flower symbolism and Episode 9's deep sorrow), but like I mentioned, all is taken from a neutralist's POV. I know, I know, this series is a wave of roller-coasters of mish-mashed expressions and feelings that make you either want to sympathize or rip your heart out, because it was made that way. Lots of opinions that'd either drive you crazy or be mad about it, but don't take it into heart, because it's the beauty of small-screen anime.

A new fresh and renewed logo for a long-standing studio (of close to 15 years), that's why you call yourselves C2C. The production for Wandering Witch brings about all sorts of admiration, really pushing the studio's tagline of "Challenge To Challenge" even further with promising words into giving the anime industry with a new and refreshing image each and every time to move people with animation. Regardless though, I'd have to say that C2C did a great job of adapting the LN in both style and direction, partly thanks to director Toshiyuki Kubooka in honouring Jougi Shiraishi's words and doing the rest with the production staff. Very clean and bright animation (as C2C productions tend to be) with a fair use of 2DCG (not 3D) and keeping it consistent throughout. Even with all the gory visuals, I wasn't put off by all that imagery, and what an accomplishment.

The music department is also another aspect to selling this show, because it does the "pulling ass" treatment of showcasing everything on a light-hearted note, only to then pull a fast one on us of a trick plot to subdue us into a streamline of horror. That said though, Reina Ueda's "Literature" for the OP, I really cannot commend this calm and lovely song enough, not just for its light-heartedness, but also for a sensation of fluffiness. That's not to say that ChouCho's "Haiiro no Saga" for the ED isn't bad, but you can tell the tonal shift between both songs (if you're not a music nut, the color change should be significant: bright to dark colours). Overall, great songs in a season of some impressive OSTs.

In a nutshell, I would agree-to-disagree if this series is a 50-50 competent/incompetent way of saying that it's a poor man's version of Kino's Journey (but with magic), but also, I'd give the same reasoning of why this series is so compelling that it leaves you hanging and wanting for so much more (although the story choices here are somewhat limited to being only 12 episodes). This show, whether it took your breath away or not, to quote @SSGSlayer: "It is the work of our lifetime. Don't miss it (even for the world)." A must-watch in 100% confidence, and a heavy contender for Fall 2020's best (to end the year on a good note).

Fiction is all about perspective, and what can be taken from a piece of art will depend on the person viewing it. This is an incredibly generic opening statement that can be plastered onto any review for anything in existence, but such a primal notion is paramount to The Journey of Elaina. It’s a series that lives and dies by your appreciation of the main character, or lack thereof. It’s a collection of vignettes that can either move you, or have you mumbling “What the hell was the point of that?” at the end of twenty-two minutes.

“Who’s that hot witch who’s also a bad bitch? ... That’s right, it’s me.” --Elaina (probably)

Welcome to the wonderful witch waifu show! Elaina has a big hat that looks really cool and she has long silver hair, 10/10 flawless character design. Also she’s smug as shit and that’s funny and also based. Good show.

Elaina is a terrible person who willingly enables bad things to happen to other people; she has the power to make positive changes but chooses not to out of her own convenience. She’s incredibly stuck-up, self-centered and rude whose only likable trait is being cute.

This is all well and good and all but it’s basically Kino’s Journey again, just with more magic and less talking motorcycles, and also less set rules for the main character.

I’m not trying to throw you off with conflicting opinions, these are just various things I’ve heard others say about the series. And they’re all valid statements. Elaina’s journey is not a clear, focused narrative, largely guided by the actions and personality of the titular character. As simple as that is, it’s plenty of cause for division.

Elaina is not a hero and it’s made clear rather quickly. More often than not, she chooses to stay out of conflicts, even if she seems to have the power to take action and solve them. Her main interest is her main interest, and all she wants to do is see the world around her. On top of this, she thinks highly of herself, not just by keeping herself out of harm’s way, but also by never sparing a moment to compliment herself.

As said, your opinion of Elaina the character will completely influence your opinion of Elaina the show. So what do I think of Elaina?

Oh, ho ho ho………

You want to know what I think?!

Ha ha ha ha!!

She’s a great character.

You might be wondering if my infatuation with witches and their stupid ass hats is the reason why. Well, anon, let me tell you, I’m not so shallow as to completely set aside all personal beliefs for cute girls in big hats. But yes, that’s correct.

Joking aside and alongside, Elaina is funny. She’s witty, she’s relatable, and I think she’s interesting. It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a character in an adventure series like this, and many of her moments had me smiling. With a series of short stories about different pieces of the world, the two options are to make the world good or to make the character experiencing the world good. Ideally, you’d like to have both, but unfortunately that doesn’t happen in this series, and we’ll get to that. Not all stories are created equal, both in regards to the entire medium of fiction and the collection of Elaina’s travels. Some episodes were quite interesting and memorable and others felt rather pointless and silly. Despite an unbalance of quality, one element was consistently amusing: Elaina herself.

With a large world offering many different concepts, a more plain character is typical, as it allows the world to shape and develop them while also letting us project onto them more easily. Elaina isn’t an example of this--although I do relate to her much more than a generic adventure protag. Her laid-back attitude was what related me to the character, and her bold self-appreciation, often stepping into pure entitlement, was endearing and made her stand out a lot. She’ll often ask the audience directly who’s “that beautiful girl with ashen hair flutters in the wind, etc.” but her own self-entitlement will bleed into her everyday actions, like in episode two. After a clumsy apprentice mage crashes into her, sending them both falling onto a roof and destroying it, Elaina shows more concern for the lack of an apology from this girl rather than the blood trickling out of her head.

It’s a quiet, subtle savagery that just makes her so enjoyable. Her reactions to things around her are often sarcastic and witty, and despite a general lack of initiation she’ll take to conflict, anything bad that happens to her will immediately enrage her to the point of threatening to kill. Said bad things include cutting her hair, swapping bodies with her, or making fun of her chest (or lack thereof lmoa).

Most of the series is whimsical and largely undramatic, but Elaina doesn’t go entirely unchallenged. Occasionally, she WILL face an unpleasant situation and find herself unable to do anything about it--not actually from a lack of desire, but due to the laws of a region or her own lack of experience and power. Whether it causes a grimace on her face or a full blown meltdown, the dark realities of the world don’t leave her completely unfazed, and her weakness comes out.

If there’s any big problem with the journey, it’s that these moments don’t occur enough. Most of Elaina’s stories hold little to no consequence to them, which is why the character becomes so centralizing to its enjoyment. Some of these stories just happen and they could be mildly amusing for what they are, but a lot of them can feel largely unimportant and forgettable. For that reason, episode 9 truly stands out as the one episode with consequence and impact, where it feels like Elaina is truly tested and affected by this story. Even its music and cinematography are elevated much more seriously to the point where it almost feels like an entirely different show, and it’s a shame that it didn’t bleed into the episodes after it, because it was a genuinely terrific episode.

The other exception is the final episode, and without spoiling anything, it actually does connect the pieces together and ties Elaina's journey up into a nice, satisfactory ending. It highlights the consequences of Elaina's actions by showing different outcomes that might've happened had she done something differently, reinforcing the story's themes and giving weight to the past stories. It's also delivered in the most Elaina way possible, and I mean that in the most literal way possible. The finale is definitely worth the eleven episodes that build up to it.

Occasionally, Elaina is joined by some other characters--I’m sorry if this statement caused you to leap out of your seat. Her mentor satisfies the trope of stupidly powerful characters with lovable, lackadaisical personalities, especially with the voice of Kana Hanazamallamasama. Saya is the main subject of consequence from Elaina’s journey, as she enters the series as a fledgling mage who Elaina coddles somewhat, to quickly becoming a witch herself who then spends her screentime simping for Elaina as hard as she can. It’s good to have a character I can relate to so well. Her mentor, Shiela, is somewhat unremarkable outside of her tomboyish personality and the fact that she smokes out of a pipe and rides a motorized broom, so actually she’s really fucking cool. They’re alright.

The art is often quite good; never bordering on the territory of fantastic, but characters are well-designed, detailed, and animated with care. Background art is often given a great amount of attention-to-detail, but can easily go unnoticed for the settings themselves being fairly normal and uninteresting. Nothing in this series would win any sort of awards for presentation, except maybe the directing of episode 9 which was actually fire, but it’s all cleanly above-average and contributes enough.

Elaina deserves its divisive reputation, and maybe that was the point all along. Good stories aren’t necessarily made to be agreed with, it’s the way they’re told and what happens that defines them. Having clear, set attributes will only appeal to those who can appreciate them, and for me Elaina’s personality is what helps me get through the day. But it’s true that the series could have done more, and one can only hope that future installments can elevate it to the heights that it’s teased us with.

In other words, Elaina is my waifu and she can do whatever she wants because I said so and if you don’t like it then fight me irl punk

Story: 7/10
Art: 8/10
Sound: 6/10
Character: 9/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Witch hats: 10/10
Overall: 7.75/10 (Range: 6.5 - 8.5)

Much like Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica this show doesn't pull any punches. You haven't seen Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica? ok well add that to your list too. Majo no Tabitabi is lighter and more upbeat in general but still gets very dark in parts. You may expect a slice of life with generic characters but instead get something far more nuanced then we expect from typical anime these days.

Sometimes bad things happen. Sometimes you can help, and sometimes you can't. Sometimes you make things worse. Sometimes you can say "That problem is not my problem" (a logical stance never ... before taken by anime protagonists)

I suppose I was delighted by the show's willingness to break most rules of anime and have real characters make real choices. Sane choices by real world standards. Also when characters help others there is no guarantee they will make the situation better, things could go poorly, you just don't know. This keeps you guessing about choices, about outcomes, about everything.

Delightful surprising anime. Would recommend.

Brother, what the fuck did I just watch. I'm finishing ep 12 by questioning the reason for the existence of this anime. Why does this poha exist? Why did I watch this shit? As I keep wondering why I watched this until the end, I realize that it was just a huge waste of time that I had besides discovering myself as a bit of a masochist, since this poha is so bad that it made my brain hurt.
Anyway, the protagonist sucks and, if she didn't exist, the anime might be much better. Ep 12 meaningless, and even though some people say it makes sense, ... it's because they smoked about 5 tons of marijuana. Besides, her teacher is also a horrible character. Other than that, the other characters are well built (some, not all). I just wondered at the end why every witch is arrogant, but I think it's a characteristic that the author wanted to put in all witches, because it is not possible.