---

            The first batch of dub names have been released. Let’s look back at my old essay and see how things turned out. Quotes from the old article will be in italics, new comments are in bold.

Part 1 - The Series Title

            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.

Update 2005 - Magical DoReMi is the English title, as expected.

Part 2 - Doremi Harukaze

            Doremi’s name has always been the same in every country where the show has aired. After all, the 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.

Update 2005 - Here’s a big shocker. Doremi’s name has been changed to ‘Dorie”. The whole pun of her name is completely erased. The ‘Do-re-mi’ pun is still a part of the title, but isn’t about the same thing.

Part 3 - Hazuki Fujiwara

            I’m pretty convinced that Toei has a list of default international character names laying around somewhere. It can’t be 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 almost 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 name for the dub, Emilie would definitely be good.

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

Update 2005 - Hazuki has been renamed ‘Reanne’. Just when I was getting used to ‘Emilie’, too.

Part 4 - Aiko 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.

Update 2005 - Aiko is ‘Mirabelle’. When I said that ‘Sophie’ was too stuffy, I had no idea how much worse it could be. Every time I think ‘Mirabelle’, I see either an old lady or Clarabelle the Cow from the old Disney cartoons.

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.

Obviously, 4Kids didn’t see that.

Earlier, I said that the ‘Do-re-mi’ pun was still part of the title. If you look at the first two letters of each character’s name, you’ll see that they are DOrie, REanne, and MIrabelle. DO-RE-MI. The pun is there, but it’s just not the same. Then again, when has 4Kids ever done anything that pleases the fans?

•          11/21/2005 - A Witch By Any Other Name...