11/21/2004 - A Witch By Any Other Name...

    It's long been a practice for companies to change the names of characters when bringing anime to television. This has mostly died out, but 4Kids still continues using it. In this essay, I'll examine the name changes that Ojamajo Doremi has gone through in other countries and what 4Kids can learn from it. But, mostly, this is my opinions on the names that have been used in foreign dubs.

Part 1: The Series Title

Japan	France	Germany	Spain	Italy
Ojamajo Doremi	Magical Doremi	Magical Doremi	Magical Doremi	Magica Doremi

    In every country that Doremi's been imported to, the series name has been changed to Magical Doremi. The title was created by Toei (the makers of Doremi) to be used internationally. At the risk of sounding like a heretic, I really don't mind this change all too much. The Japanese word pun of 'Ojamajo' is almost impossible to translate into another language.

4Kids Version: It has been confirmed that they'll be using the title 'Magical Doremi.'

Part 2: Doremi Harukaze

Japan	France	Germany	Spain	Italy
Doremi Harukaze	Doremi Harukaze	Doremi Harukaze	Doremi Harukaze	Doremi Harukaze

    Doremi's name has always been the same in every country where the show has aired. After all, her name is an important pun that sets up the whole musical motif. I've heard a rumor that it's required for companies who license Ojamajo Doremi to keep Doremi's name the same.

4Kids Version: I'm 99.9999999~% sure that Doremi will still be named Doremi. Her last name is up in the air, though.

Part 3: Hazuki Fujiwara

Japan	France	Germany	Spain	Italy
Hazuki Fujiwara	Emilie Fujiwara	Emilie Fujiwara	Emilie Fujiwara	Melody Fujiwara

    I'm pretty convinced that Toei has a list of default international character names laying around somewhere. It can't be a coincidence that Hazuki is called Emilie in almost all the languages Doremi has been translated into. We also see this pattern with other characters. The odd man out is Italy, whose dub uses musical puns for all the character names. As for how I feel about the name Emilie, I like it pretty well. It fits rather well with Hazuki's intelligent, quiet personality. I want her to always be Hazuki, of course. Still, if I had to choose a different dub name, Emilie would definitely be good.

4Kids Version: Nothing has been said about Hazuki's name.

Part 4: Aiko Senoo

Japan	France	Germany	Spain	Italy
Aiko Senoo	Sophie Senoo	Sophie Senoo	Sophie Senoo	Symphony Senoo

    Like I said, Toei's got to have a list. I'm not quite as keen on Sophie as I am on the other character names. It seems a bit stuffy for tomboy Aiko; but it's not a horrible name. If it was me, I'd have gone with Alix or Alexis.

4Kids Version: Nothing has been said about Aiko's name.

Part 5: Onpu Segawa

Japan	France	Germany	Spain	Italy
Onpu Segawa	LouLou Segawa*	Nicole Segawa	Nicole Segawa	Lullaby Segawa

    * Name changed to "Nicole" starting in the second season.

    Isn't it lovely how I can just cut and paste a name into several different cells? Saves me a lot of typing. Another decent dub name. Well, Nicole is, at least. LouLou is rather silly; I'm glad France changed to the standard name later on. The international version misses out on a musical pun by changing the name. 'Onpu' is the Japanese word for a musical note.

4Kids Version: Nothing has been said about Onpu's name.

Part 6: Momoko Asuka

Japan	France	Germany	Spain	Italy
Momoko Asuka	Mindy Asuka	N/A	N/A	Mindy Asuka

    What's this? An Italian Doremi name that's not a musical pun? Mo~tto!! was dubbed much later, though, so there might have been a change of staff. The name for Momoko follows the old fashioned "find a Western name that sounds similar" pattern. Can't say that Mindy is a bad choice. The N/As are for countries that haven't dubbed far enough for Momoko to appear.

4Kids Version: Nothing yet, which is isn't surprising considering that Momoko doesn't show up until Mo~tto!! (Season 3)

Part 7: Pop Harukaze

Japan	France	Germany	Spain	Italy
Pop Harukaze	Bibi Harukaze	Bibi Harukaze	Bibi Harukaze	Bibi Harukaze

    We have reached the one dub name I can not stand. Bibi is just not a good name. What would I choose instead? I'd probably add a "py" to the end of her name to make "Poppy." It's the name of a flower, so it's Westernized without really changing that much.

4Kids Version: Nothing has been said about Pop's name. Just please don't let it be Bibi!

Part 8: Hana-chan

Japan	France	Germany	Spain	Italy
Hana-chan	Flora	Hanna	???	???

    Hana-chan's name has been dubbed two different ways. In Germany, it was simply given a Western spelling. In France, however, Hana-chan's name was changed to Flora, in order to preserve the pun (Hana means flower.) I rather like the way France handled it, although I'm not especially fond of the name Flora. Maybe a different floral name could be used. Wasn't Hana-chan born from a rose? It's been awhile since I've seen that episode. Rose would be a good name, I think.

4Kids Version: I don't expect any news until they announce that they're dubbing Ojamajo Doremi # (Season 2.)

    In conclusion, while I prefer the original names, there are some good names that have already been used in other countries' versions. Hopefully, 4Kids sees that too.

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