Mahô shôjo tai Arusu (2004– ) User Reviews

Believe in yourself

[szab1 · 8/10 · 3 May 2016]

Tweeny Witches is clearly meant for children, probably for eight to ten years old - and in that aspect its story is very well crafted and uses the hero's way trope, effectively adapted for a child protagonist.

Alice wants to be a magician and one day she ends up in a twisted magical land where warlocks and witches are fighting a never ending battle - until their whole world seems to fall apart. Only Alice and her friends can save the realm. The magical journey is a typical setup (from Magic Knight Rayearth and Escaflowne to Twelve Kingdoms and many others), but this time the message is clearly aimed at children.

The young heroine must deal with an unknown world (initiation) and has to save this magical world in order to be able to return to the human realm (so her childhood self must be protected and integrated in order to face adolescence); eventually she will have to save her family (offsprings outgrowing their parents) with the help of friendship and wit. The answers are genuinely universal and to my greatest amusement the whole setup is not very typical to Japanese animation.

The animation and the artwork is beautiful - neither typical japanimation, nor the the American school; when it's not trying to cut corners (with lackluster transitions or weird camera angles) then with its flat coloring and strong curves it resembles Art Nouveau posters and drawings. It is understandable why this TV series is not very popular, but it's coherent and well crafted, probably children can enjoy it much more than grown up reviewers.

The filth wont come off....

[papaya49 · 1/10 · 7 January 2009]

I (like im sure others) thought this was supposed to be a great series. When I started it I thought "Ok its a rough start, it will get better." That was the first mistake I made and soon after realized it was actually the second mistake since the first was putting it in the DVD player in the first place. The whole theme of the Anime is ridiculous which I can sometimes stomach if the animation is great. In the case of this series though the animation is very weak mixed with a plot and theme that is just useless. Its main theme is to believe in yourself, stick by those you love, and love everyone....great, its been done before and way better. The plot is save the magical universe...i say why bother! The animation is awful....Its shaky in places and nonexistent in some time laps scenes. They use cheap computer animation when they got lazy that would shame any animator. Towards the end of the series you almost loose track of what is going on since the main characters start wavering between what they are supposed to be doing. Scenes start to loose all since of objective and true meaning. The characters just seem to be screaming about nothing or standing up for a belief/value that they just suddenly decided they had to start screaming about. If your like me and can not stop a show or movie in the middle of something...then don not start this show...it will only leave you with a sour taste in your mouth.