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!!! WARNING! THIS ESSAY CONTAINS SPOILERS !!!

            From all the anime that 4Kids has acquired, Doremi is clearly the most “kiddy” (for lack of a better word) one. There is little to no violence in it, zero blood, zero gore, and very little stuff that can be deemed inappropriate by a censor. One might think that we may hope for a good dub, however, 4Kids is known for treating nearly all of the anime they get like dirt. One-liners inserted in scenes where there’s supposed to be silence, background music changed for no reason, name changes that are pointless... the list is endless.

            So what is going to happen to Ojamajo Doremi? We don’t know. No one knows as of yet. We could expect another Yugioh, or hope that 4Kids will do things right and make Doremi a great dub. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.

            Let’s start with the music. Let me tell you beforehand that if 4Kids changes the score, the anime isn’t even worth watching. That simple. Why? Well, Doremi does something that not too many anime (and cartoons and TV shows in general) do. Music that actually goes with the action. When the girls transform into witches, the tune that is heard is produced be their wands and brooches, it’s not just background since they hear it too. Messing with that would be overkill.

            As for content... well, there’s nothing that needs to be removed overall, but there are clearly some episodes that will not be overlooked by the censors.

Episode 7:

            There’s a whole sequence in this episode involving Pop desperately in need for a bathroom on her way home from school. Doremi uses her magic to make a washing machine appear so Pop can wash her clothes. Since it’s potty humor, I doubt 4Kids will retain this.

Episode 10:

            This episode will probably be rewritten, if not skipped. It features many references to schools in Japan and how kids are not allowed to work if they are minors.

Episode 19:

            Unless 4Kids skips this episode (which would be stupid since it’s the seconds part of a two-parter), I can think of one scene that will definitely be removed: Hazuki being aimed with a gun to her face by one of her kidnappers. The part where she gets violently shaken might be removed as well, but that can’t be done without making the scene look sloppy. I hope they don’t mess with Doremi and Aiko trying to make money with their magic, that’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen...

Episode 31:

            I doubt this episode will be left untouched. It features one of Doremi’s classmates (forgot who) trying to mail a present to a friend in Mongolia. Since this episode can’t be skipped (it has a key moment of the series) 4Kids will probably edit and redraw everything to make it look that they are mailing the present to “the other side of the US”, or wherever the show takes place.

Episode 36:

            No, there’s nothing objectionable about this episode. I’m mentioning it because it’s my personal favorite, and 4Kids better not mess up with it, unless they get really picky about the scene where Doremi, Hazuki and Aiko share a bed (it’s not what you’re thinking, you perv!) Considering the subtle reference to Looney Tunes in this episode, expect the title to have some goofy, “looney” pun in it, like “Winner by a Fairy”, or “There They Go-Do-Do!”

Episode 43:

            This episode is considered a classic, but I wouldn’t be surprised if 4Kids turns it into “just another episode”. This episode revolves around Doremi’s classmate Reika Tamaki, and it tells the story about how she became such a spoiled brat. The reason why the episode is so liked is because it made a lot of fans (myself included) to like Reika, as she was a very unlikable character prior to this episode. There are two crucial scenes Reika gets slapped by her father in the face. My best guess is that 4Kids will edit the scenes so the slap is “heard but not seen” (that would probably be a lot worse since an off-screen slap looks and sounds a lot more painful, at least IMO). We could hope for an uncut scene, but I wouldn’t hold my breath, and cutting the scenes out would ruin the pacing of the episode. Maybe they’ll just skip the whole episode.

            That’s mostly what I can think of, but expect a lot more changes and edits, I haven’t talked about the name changes, or the location of the series. With 4Kids, everything is entitled to change.

            Or maybe they’ll give us a good dub for once! Nah...