One of the values that is increasingly on the rise is nostalgia. The film industry knows this and it is something we see every day in new releases. It was not going to be less in the otaku field, where we have recently seen reboots, remakes and sequels of classic series, some have even reached the Spanish billboard. After ‘Digimon: Last Evolution Kizuna’, ‘Looking for the magical Doremi’ joins the list of nostalgic titles that we can already see in streaming.
sequel? Spinoff?
The protagonists of this story are Mire, Sora and Reika, three twentysomethings in different stages of adulthood who meet by chance and discover that they have something in common: all three are fans of ‘The Magical Doremi’. From there, a friendship will emerge that begins by sharing the love for anime that marked her childhood but will go much further.
This film was released on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the original series and, as you can see, not exactly a sequel of the events that occurred at the end of the original 1999 anime, but here that story is what unites the three protagonists.
In an era where a kind of purism prevails towards “the original”, where each continuation of something pre-existing faces expectations that sometimes even exceed those that were held with its predecessor at the time, the courage of this move is striking that bets, not on stretching the gum of what we already know, but on propose something totally new that knows how to convey the same essence than the classic series.
Nostalgia well understood
The new protagonists are a success: on the one hand, perfectly represent the anime fandom, with experiences with which it is very easy to identify. The relationship that each one has with anime will easily bring back memories of when we saw it in our childhood. The way of accidentally discovering it on TV, recording the chapters so as not to miss a single one… Who hasn’t wanted to be a witch’s apprentice at some time? Who did not play to repeat the spells of the protagonists?
In addition, like ‘Digimon: Last Evolution Kizuna’, the fandom that enjoyed the original as children is now an adult and, therefore, the having some adult protagonists makes it easier for us to empathize with their situation. The main trio, although it is a mixture of traits that we recognize from the group of little witches, has its own soul and it is impossible not to end up loving them and wishing that everything goes well for them.
Although the experience gains more if Doremi’s adventures are known, since references are made and some of the emotional impact is lost if they are unknown, the tape is also accessible for those who are not familiar with the original animesince in itself it is a self-contained story about friendship, growing up, the clash between dreams and real life and the power of fiction and the legacy that it leaves in the memory of its fans.
‘Looking for the magical Doremi’ is that movie that no one had asked for and now we can’t imagine without it. A love letter to fans of the original anime, also enjoyable for newcomers. Through new characters, she manages to revive the spirit of the classic series and convey that good vibes with which Doremi always made us smile. If you missed it in theaters or want to review it, you already have it available on Amazon Prime Video, in Japanese, Spanish and Catalan.