"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.
Alternative Titles
Japanese: 魔女の旅々
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
12
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Oct 2, 2020 to Dec 18, 2020
Premiered:
Fall 2020
Broadcast:
Fridays at 21:00 (JST)
Licensors:
Funimation
Studios:
C2C
Source:
Light novel
Duration:
24 min. per ep.
Rating:
R - 17+ (violence & profanity)
Statistics
Ranked:
#16352
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#572
Members:
397,353
Favorites:
3,838
Available AtResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 133 / 142
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Your Feelings Categories Dec 18, 2020
"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 ... Oct 23, 2020
Fetish fuel for sadists/bait for edgy teenagers in their “idealism is so cringe, bro” phase.
Majo no Tabitabi belongs to the “road movie” genre, which is a charitable way of saying “edgy Kino no Tabi’s knockoff with witches,” so I’ll explain what is wrong with this series using another road movie anime title, Mushishi, as an analogy. Imagine a Mushishi episode like this: The episode begins with Ginko on the road, having an inner monologue about how he is the most talented and successful mushishi in the country. He arrives at a new village, introduces himself as a mushishi, and asks if there are any people around ... Oct 23, 2020
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! ... Dec 18, 2020
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 ... Oct 23, 2020
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 ... Oct 23, 2020
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 ... Oct 23, 2020
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, the power of MAL hype is strong, and hot discussions about the third episode attracted my attention. New Kino no Tabi? A show where the 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
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Oct 24, 2020
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 ... Dec 18, 2020
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 ... Dec 18, 2020
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 ... Dec 21, 2020
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. ... Oct 23, 2020
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 ... Dec 2, 2020
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 – ... Nov 18, 2020
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. Oct 31, 2020
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
...
Feb 27, 2023
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 ... Nov 29, 2020
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 ... Dec 18, 2020
"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 ... Dec 18, 2020
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? ... Aug 1, 2023
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 ... |