In the beginning, it is exactly what you'd anticipate. Then it blindsides you with something unexpected. The show reveals itself to be a thoroughly depressing, tonally maligned 'journey' driven by a narcissistic main character through a nihilistic and morbid world. It always left me anxious, nauseous, frustrated, and sometimes all of the above. If you want to draw meaning from suffering, it needs to be natural and purposeful. The Journey of Elaina manufactures pain to give the audience catharsis, but there is never a satisfying conclusion to relieve the pent up emotions it conjures. At the end of each chapter, we're gifted dubious life lessons from the self-absorbed main character. She should figure out her emotional deficiencies before waxing philosophical like she's Aristotle.
In the first episode, Elaina studies to become a witch. She passes the sorcery exam at 14 years old, then seeks to become a witch's apprentice. After being rejected by the witches nearby, her parents send her to Fran. A secluded witch. Elaina is a very vain person. She obnoxiously praises herself at least once an episode. Her arrogant monologues go like this, "Who is the beautiful girl wearing a brooch that signals her status as a witch, whose ashen hair flutters in the wind, shining so much with beauty and talent that even the sun's eyes squint involuntarily? That's right, it's me."
What a humble person. The way she talks about herself borders on narcissism. You're a child prodigy. We get it. Outside maybe the first episode, I have no reason to believe Elaina is as wonderful as she pretends to be. Her motivations are money, free food, a place to stay, and being praised for her beauty. She travels for the sake of traveling, there's no depth to her. It's clear right away that she should be the main selling point of the series. She'll make or break the show for you.
I tried to like Elaina at first, she is an interesting person to analyze. Make no mistake, she has next to no character development and no growth whatsoever; however, her cruel actions and lack of empathy are confounding. I always wondered what her endgame would be. Would she finally have a character arc? Or would the entire show be a series of disjointed stories? (It was the latter) It's hard to feel any empathy towards Elaina when she's so arrogant, and her travels are either silly or comically morbid. Among her exploits is a visit to a place where slavery is legal, a town of strange people obsessed with dolls, and a bandit infested village that hunts witches.
In the very beginning, she talks about her life as a child, reading a book about a traveling witch. She dreamed of being her. And that's it. The fictional witch's adventures were probably more exciting than what we got. The only memorable stories are the ones with gratuitous gore and depressing premises. On multiple occasions, children are beaten and bloody. One of them stands, and calmly tells us how her parents abused her. For what? They aren't trying to portray mental illness realistically. I wish, but it instead devolves into dumb laugh-inducing shock horror. The author is incapable of writing serious dialogue. He barely has a grip on his story's tone. His ineptitude caused the trainwreck that is episode 9. Watching it was like witnessing someone get shot—you can't look away. I felt corrupted, violated, by such a morally bankrupt display of self-masturbatory edgy writing. How on Earth could anyone think this is deep?
Often the show tries to be something it's not. I don't feel the world is an exciting place to explore, partly because there's almost no world-building. The only aspect which connects every chapter is cynicism. Seemingly everyone in this world is evil. In this show, people are either thieves, liars, swindlers, child abusers, or murderers. Even the kindest character, Saya, comes uncomfortably close to being a "psychotic lesbian" because she persistently loves Elaina. It's like the author grew up getting bullied, lied to, cheated on, then fired from their job, so they decided to write a book about how much people suck. And I agree with you; people do suck, but if you want to tell a story about it, make it purposeful. When a series about adventuring doesn't make me want to go on an adventure, it's troubling.
Frequently, this anime gets compared to Kino's Journey. I thought Kino's remake was ok, but the original (from what I've seen and read) is fantastic. I see the similarities. The Journey of Elaina reminds me of Kino because each setting explores flaws and morality in society. Such as if liars or murder are should be illegal/legal. Or what would happen if slavery was legal. They're not quite the same. Elaina's themes are more superficial and sometimes preachy, but they're told through complicated metaphors and wordy dialogue.
In contrast, Kino gives us information without much talking and filters through a bias due to Kino's moral compass. Kino allows us to draw conclusions ourselves. Kino empathizes with the people they encounter. If they see someone suffering, they will help. Although they don't sacrifice their life, they do put themself in danger for others/to stay true to their moral compass. But Elaina doesn't have much of a moral compass. She only intervenes if she has something to gain, like money, a free meal, or a place to stay. If her beauty is insulted, she retaliates. Her motives are less relatable or admirable, in my eyes, at least. I think some of these issues were due to a poor adaptation—I haven't read the light novel, so I can't say that for sure. You directly access the characters' thoughts in a light novel, and the author can easily exposit information. The anime may have struggled to get that information on screen. At some point, I'm going to read the light novel, and then I'll have a better idea of if it's a problem with the source material or the adaptation itself. Even with the sparse information given on screen, there are worthwhile observations to be made.
At first, it may seem self-obsessive; women can receive confidence from gazing at themselves in a mirror, ignoring cultural beauty standards or intrusion of the male gaze. Staring at oneself can be a way to take power back, especially in a society that tells women that their external appearance matters. In some cases, society says appearance matters more than anything else. To look in the mirror and love yourself for who you are is healthy, in moderation. This logic applies to men as well. By observing your emotional expressions in a mirror, you condition yourself to be more comfortable. Becoming aware of your own emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and expectations is a necessary first step toward acceptance and self-compassion. Elaina's self-obsession doesn't stem from her insecurities or cultural expectations; in fact, she is a prisoner to them. When confronted with other beautiful women, or men who question her beauty, she becomes enraged rather than indifferent. Not only is she self-obsessed, but she also cares too much about what others think of her. Narcissists tend to have overinflated yet fragile egos that easily pop, like a hot air balloon poked by a pen. One could argue that Elaina feels insecure because the witch society hated her, but that falls apart when you realize they rejected her simply because she is special. Supposedly passing the test at only 14 made the other witches "envious" of her, which only inflated her ego more. Elaina has another prominent sign of narcissism—a lack of empathy.
On her journey, when Elaina briefly stops at a town, she avoids becoming connected with anyone or anything. She has a non-interference rule—influenced by her mother's guidance. Even if someone is suffering, she won't bother. It's not because she lacks the strength to help. Her magic is powerful, and she's rarely in danger. To rationalize abandoning people in need, Elaina says, "Just because you are doing something for someone else doesn't make it right." If this sounds like a shitty excuse, I agree. If someone is dying on the side of the road, do you call an ambulance or drive away? You'd help, of course. But she wouldn't. Elaina just cops out and says "not helping was the right thing." At least Elaina acknowledges she's preachy, but that doesn't stop her from being a jerk. As she flys away, she ponders her actions. Then pushes the thoughts out of her mind and continues onward. Nothing lost, nothing gained.
If that's something you want, feel free to watch this. The art, animation, and music are great. It's one of the best-looking anime of the season. If nothing else, watch it for the aesthetic. Although most of it is fluffy slice-of-life and silly short stories, it is always cynical. If you don't like morbidity and negativity in your fiction, I understand if you'd opt for something else. Nowadays, if I want to remember that the world sucks, I'll just turn on the news.
