Aya to Majo (Earwig and the Witch)

With large windows adorning its spick-and-span halls, St. Morwald's Home for Children serves as a warm refuge for displaced orphans. For 10-year-old Aya, she is perfectly content living without a normal family, especially since she has everyone at the orphanage wrapped around her finger. However, to her dismay, she is one day selected by a peculiar couple, Bella Yaga and the Mandrake.

Aya soon learns that she has, in fact, been adopted by a real witch who wanted her solely as an assistant and had not even considered being her foster mother. As if that was not enough, Aya is told the one rule she must obey at all times—never disturb the Mandrake. To win the hearts of this seemingly heartless witch and the grumpy Mandrake is no easy task; but unlike other children, Aya accepts this challenge without hesitation.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Aya to Majo is based on Diana Wynne Jones' 2011 children's novel Earwig and the Witch. The film is the first full 3DCG animated feature done by Studio Ghibli.

The film was set to have its worldwide premiere at the 73rd Cannes Film Festival in May 2020, but the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the movie premiered at the Lumière Film Festival on October 18, 2020. The film debuted in Japan on NHK General TV on December 30, 2020, and in Japanese theaters on August 27, 2021. GKIDS released Aya to Majo on Blu-ray and DVD in North America on April 6, 2021.

A children's cookbook inspired by the food featured in the film titled Kodomo Ryouri Ehon Jiburi no Shokutaku Aya to Majo was released by Shufunotomo on April 28, 2021.

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Characters & Voice Actors

Aya

Main

Hirasawa, Kokoro
Japanese

Mandrake

Supporting

Toyokawa, Etsushi
Japanese

Yaga, Bella

Supporting

Terashima, Shinobu
Japanese

Thomas

Supporting

Hamada, Gaku
Japanese

Sally

Supporting

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Staff

Suzuki, Toshio

Producer

Morishita, Kentarou

Producer

Miyazaki, Gorou

Director

Kasamatsu, Kouji

Sound Director

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Opening Theme

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Ending Theme

"tashi no Sekai Seifuku (あたしの世界征服)" by Sherina Munaf (シェリナ・ムナフ)

Reviews

Jan 17, 2021

Keitaro004

Recommended

This movie is receiving a whole lot of backlash for the CGI-animation (it's a TV movie with a limited budget, guys, not a cinema release) and the "dissappointing" plot, but I thought the movie was fun. Not as good as other Ghibli movies, but still entertaining the whole way through.

The movie is basically about Aya (or Earwig) getting adopted by a witch, and the witch wants to use her as a slave. Earwig has to figure out how to escape or make things better for herself, or live in torment forever.

Earwig herself is very different compared to most Ghibli protagonists. Even though she's taken advantage ...

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Feb 1, 2021

Luubie

Mixed Feelings

Do you know Studio Ghibli? He is one of the best known names when it comes to animation, filmography and respectable staff. It is a studio that has gained notoriety with many important films for the industry and has fans all over the world. Children, youth, adults and the elderly ... Everyone who accompanies animes at some point is faced with some of his feature films produced. And of course, this is more than just merit. It was an achievement, the popularity of making animations in film format, something little seen before its creation. Today, Ghibli is known as the "best studio" by many people. ... And, in fact, he has reason to be considered a great producer. At the end of 2020, but seen by the majority in 2021, Ghibli went further, evolved his way of making films and produced his first film completely made in CGI. Aya to Majo premiered, but does the film deserve importance and Ghibli's legacy?

First, it is good to separate animation and production from the story of the film, as it is necessary to understand the reasons why the criticisms for and against exist in that title. Aya to Majo is no big deal. Basically, Ayatsuru (or just "Aya") is an energetic and mischievous girl, who lives playing games in the orphanage where she lives. She was left by her mother as a baby, but that never shook her, as she fully relies on her friends for everything. She has an important friend, Custard, in whom she has a special affection. But everything changes overnight, when a very bizarre couple decides to adopt her: Bella and Mandrake. Both have magical abilities and Bella is the couple's witch, while Mandrake does the job of being a "demon". Aya, just like anyone who would be adopted in her place would think, strange and fear the couple. But her curiosity for magic changes her relationship with the couple, especially when she becomes Bella's assistant. From there, the film is based on comedy, games and very cool and interesting mysteries.

The plot is simple and seems to follow American films from Disney and Pixar, where fantasy and the children's audience are the main objectives. It is really an art show, in view of the great effort that the staff had with this show. As much as it is only 82 minutes, Aya to Majo delivered something beyond what most expected. And this is where I want to demystify, commenting on his production.

The quality of the anime is above many other content that we see year after year, released on Japanese TV. This is a good thing, since movies and anime in television format with this quality are quite difficult to have. Even with the improvement and refinement of art and setting techniques, whether in drawings or in CGI, many shows are hampered by the time they have to make an episode, or deliver a finished scene. Shingeki 4 is a current example that faces these difficulties and has a strong and negative reception from a portion of fans, where the effort of an entire team is being literally disregarded, as if it were easy to make more than 30 thousand frames per episode. Exhaustion and psychological pressure are fundamental problems that need the attention of the industry. Aya to Majo apparently managed to reverse this negative picture of animes and delivered an excellent experimental work. It's a new chance for all studios and streaming platforms to make anime more innovative. CGI can be good, art can overcome with time and anime can use it as a new method of work and professionalization.

Going back to the film, what bothered me was neither of the two topics presented, but a lack of structure to keep the show interesting. Aya and Bella practically occupy the entire anime and their daily lives are the central focus. In addition, Mandrake raging is also well used. But, I felt that the lack of a better text and of development harmed the show itself, since it was, for the most part, weak. I don't know if it's just an opinion of my own, but I expected Aya's birth mother to appear in some more natural way, which it didn't. The anime also did not have a purpose, because the childishness and function of the story is just an attempt to convince the target audience that everything presented is cool and pleasurable. Of course, it is a show for children, I am not the target of the production for that very reason, but I hoped that Studio Ghibli would further improve this determining factor. Incidentally, the direction also did not know how to make a finale very well, nor did it improve during the scenes. It was just a fun that got tired, it was repetitive and that will be very little remembered by the otaku.

Overall, Aya to Majo is a decent film. It does not lack visual qualities and it is really deserved praise for its production. But aesthetics and history didn't go together this time. The anime does not entertain the most diverse in this type of media, nor will it mark generations, like Totoro and Chihiro. It is a pity, as its influence has the potential to reform the industry. However, the film has a quality that I liked. Children's comedies are things I really appreciate and like a lot. Congratulations to Ghibli, for doing a show like this. The studio brought the main essence easily and remained one of the most important organizations in the history of anime.

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Jan 16, 2021

Sahil_K_Chandio

Not Recommended

I already had low expectations from this movie since it was being directed by Goro Miyazaki and mainly because it abandoned the old incredible Ghibli art style but this movie was way worse then what I was expecting. The trailers had given me a bit of hope and I thought that maybe this movie might turn out to be decent but no!

Art(6/10): I was very disappointed and lowkey pissed when I saw they were not doing this movie in the original art style but I ended up thinking they did a pretty ok job with the CGI, it looks like the characters and some ...

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Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Aya to Majo Episode 1 Discussion tsubasalover - Dec 30, 2020	44 replies	by Titadou »» Mar 9, 11:43 AM
Is this coming to Netflix? MrYandereFan26 - Feb 5, 2021	2 replies	by bluefire35 »» Oct 14, 2021 3:29 AM
Why is duration 1 minute? Zestiria - Jan 23, 2021	1 replies	by Supercuecaaa »» Jan 26, 2021 9:31 AM
New information about the movie azertz99 - Jun 18, 2020	14 replies	by MichaelJackson »» Dec 27, 2020 9:22 PM

Aya to Majo

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