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.
