Aya to Majo

With large windows adorning its spick-and-span halls, St. Morwald's Home for Children serves as a warm refuge for displaced orphans. For 10-year-old Aya, she is perfectly content living without a normal family, especially since she has everyone at the orphanage wrapped around her finger. However, to her dismay, she is one day selected by a peculiar couple, Bella Yaga and the Mandrake.

Aya soon learns that she has, in fact, been adopted by a real witch who wanted her solely as an assistant and had not even considered being her foster mother. As if that was not enough, Aya is told the one rule she must obey at all times—never disturb the Mandrake. To win the hearts of this seemingly heartless witch and the grumpy Mandrake is no easy task; but unlike other children, Aya accepts this challenge without hesitation.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Aya Main

Hirasawa, Kokoro Japanese

Mandrake Supporting

Toyokawa, Etsushi Japanese

Yaga, Bella Supporting

Terashima, Shinobu Japanese

Thomas Supporting

Hamada, Gaku Japanese

Sally Supporting

Suzuki, Toshio Producer

Morishita, Kentarou Producer

Miyazaki, Gorou Director, Theme Song Lyrics

Kasamatsu, Kouji Sound Director

Reviews

Jan 17, 2021

Keitaro004

Recommended

This movie is receiving a whole lot of backlash for the CGI-animation (it's a TV movie with a limited budget, guys, not a cinema release) and the "dissappointing" plot, but I thought the movie was fun. Not as good as other Ghibli movies, but still entertaining the whole way through.

The movie is basically about Aya (or Earwig) getting adopted by a witch, and the witch wants to use her as a slave. Earwig has to figure out how to escape or make things better for herself, or live in torment forever.

Earwig herself is very different compared to most Ghibli protagonists. Even though she's taken advantage ... of to no end, she's never seen crying, but annoyed instead. She's also really good at manipulating people, and even though this isn't usually a good trait, it's very useful in the situation she's in. The witch is... well, basically a witch, and Mandrake is one of my favorite Ghibli characters ever. I won't spoil why, but you'll understand why when you spend some time with him. There's also a talking cat, but it's hard to talk about him without spoiling the entire movie.

The art itself looks pretty nice. The Ghibli character design looks rather generic in 3D, and even though it's pretty obvious the animation had a limited budget, the characters are still pretty expressive. Just don't expect Dreamworks/Disney/Pixar quality. The environments are beautiful though: lots of small details and very colorful. Can't say much about the music as I don't remember much of it, but the ending theme was cute.

But the most important thing: was the movie fun? Yes, I think it was. After reading the reviews here, I was expecting to keep looking at my clock so I would know when the torment was over, but I was entertained all the way through and thought the movie went by fast. Maybe too fast, especially towards the end, which was rather unsatisfying. It's like they're teasing a sequel. It's a very laid-back movie with minor drama, so don't expect the thrill other Ghibli movies have. It's more of a comedy with some drama here and there, and I'm just fine with that. But I'll say this: it's just as imaginative as other Ghibli movies are, and the characters are interesting even though they have minor development. I'll recommend this movie to all Ghibli fans, no matter how old they are. I think there's something for everyone here, as long as you don't expect too much.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Feb 1, 2021

Luubie

Mixed Feelings

Do you know Studio Ghibli? He is one of the best known names when it comes to animation, filmography and respectable staff. It is a studio that has gained notoriety with many important films for the industry and has fans all over the world. Children, youth, adults and the elderly ... Everyone who accompanies animes at some point is faced with some of his feature films produced. And of course, this is more than just merit. It was an achievement, the popularity of making animations in film format, something little seen before its creation. Today, Ghibli is known as the "best studio" by many people. ... And, in fact, he has reason to be considered a great producer. At the end of 2020, but seen by the majority in 2021, Ghibli went further, evolved his way of making films and produced his first film completely made in CGI. Aya to Majo premiered, but does the film deserve importance and Ghibli's legacy?

First, it is good to separate animation and production from the story of the film, as it is necessary to understand the reasons why the criticisms for and against exist in that title. Aya to Majo is no big deal. Basically, Ayatsuru (or just "Aya") is an energetic and mischievous girl, who lives playing games in the orphanage where she lives. She was left by her mother as a baby, but that never shook her, as she fully relies on her friends for everything. She has an important friend, Custard, in whom she has a special affection. But everything changes overnight, when a very bizarre couple decides to adopt her: Bella and Mandrake. Both have magical abilities and Bella is the couple's witch, while Mandrake does the job of being a "demon". Aya, just like anyone who would be adopted in her place would think, strange and fear the couple. But her curiosity for magic changes her relationship with the couple, especially when she becomes Bella's assistant. From there, the film is based on comedy, games and very cool and interesting mysteries.

The plot is simple and seems to follow American films from Disney and Pixar, where fantasy and the children's audience are the main objectives. It is really an art show, in view of the great effort that the staff had with this show. As much as it is only 82 minutes, Aya to Majo delivered something beyond what most expected. And this is where I want to demystify, commenting on his production.

The quality of the anime is above many other content that we see year after year, released on Japanese TV. This is a good thing, since movies and anime in television format with this quality are quite difficult to have. Even with the improvement and refinement of art and setting techniques, whether in drawings or in CGI, many shows are hampered by the time they have to make an episode, or deliver a finished scene. Shingeki 4 is a current example that faces these difficulties and has a strong and negative reception from a portion of fans, where the effort of an entire team is being literally disregarded, as if it were easy to make more than 30 thousand frames per episode. Exhaustion and psychological pressure are fundamental problems that need the attention of the industry. Aya to Majo apparently managed to reverse this negative picture of animes and delivered an excellent experimental work. It's a new chance for all studios and streaming platforms to make anime more innovative. CGI can be good, art can overcome with time and anime can use it as a new method of work and professionalization.

Going back to the film, what bothered me was neither of the two topics presented, but a lack of structure to keep the show interesting. Aya and Bella practically occupy the entire anime and their daily lives are the central focus. In addition, Mandrake raging is also well used. But, I felt that the lack of a better text and of development harmed the show itself, since it was, for the most part, weak. I don't know if it's just an opinion of my own, but I expected Aya's birth mother to appear in some more natural way, which it didn't. The anime also did not have a purpose, because the childishness and function of the story is just an attempt to convince the target audience that everything presented is cool and pleasurable. Of course, it is a show for children, I am not the target of the production for that very reason, but I hoped that Studio Ghibli would further improve this determining factor. Incidentally, the direction also did not know how to make a finale very well, nor did it improve during the scenes. It was just a fun that got tired, it was repetitive and that will be very little remembered by the otaku.

Overall, Aya to Majo is a decent film. It does not lack visual qualities and it is really deserved praise for its production. But aesthetics and history didn't go together this time. The anime does not entertain the most diverse in this type of media, nor will it mark generations, like Totoro and Chihiro. It is a pity, as its influence has the potential to reform the industry. However, the film has a quality that I liked. Children's comedies are things I really appreciate and like a lot. Congratulations to Ghibli, for doing a show like this. The studio brought the main essence easily and remained one of the most important organizations in the history of anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jan 16, 2021

Sahil_K_Chandio

Not Recommended

I already had low expectations from this movie since it was being directed by Goro Miyazaki and mainly because it abandoned the old incredible Ghibli art style but this movie was way worse then what I was expecting. The trailers had given me a bit of hope and I thought that maybe this movie might turn out to be decent but no!

Art(6/10): I was very disappointed and lowkey pissed when I saw they were not doing this movie in the original art style but I ended up thinking they did a pretty ok job with the CGI, it looks like the characters and some ... of the environments are made with clay at times but overall the movie looked fine and I was happy to see that they animated the Ghibli faces and facial expression pretty damn well for a CGI movie. I just hope that they never do this style again and always make movie with hand drawn anime style! Every moment in the movie I was thinking to myself this would have looked awesome if they made it the original way.

Story(1/10): The story in this movie really is dreadful, it is super bland and generic. All that happens in the movie is that the protagonist gets adopted by a witch and you can predict everything that happens after that since its so basic. Also the movie way to quickly when I finished the movie I had to double check if that was it and yes it was.

Characters(3/10): There is close to no character development in this movie, every character is bland and boring and the main protagonist doesn't even feel like a Ghibli protagonist hell this entire movie doesn't feel like a Ghibli movie and the cast also is very very bad. The only character that had some development was Mandrake and even his development was very generic and predictable.

Enjoyment(2/10): I didn't enjoy this movie at all I hated it, I thought the animation was ok and they nailed the faces pretty well but it didn't feel like a Ghibli movie I was waiting for it to end. It was so boring that I even started yawning, If you are a 6-7 year old kid you might enjoy this movie but I dislike it a lot and I absolutely will not recommend this to anyone! Well at least we have the final Hayao Miyazaki movie to look forward to that will most likely be an awesome film!

Verdict: Don't watch it terrible movie, uninteresting and bland characters and animation that feels like clay at times. I would rate this at best a 4/10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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Here are the North American anime, manga, and light novel releases for April Week 1: April 6 - 12 Anime Releases Aya to Majo (Earwig and the Witch) Blu-ray & DVD...read more

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	Poll: Aya to Majo Episode 1 Discussion tsubasalover - Dec 30, 2020	44 replies	by Titadou »» Mar 9, 2024 11:43 AM
	Is this coming to Netflix? MrYandereFan26 - Feb 5, 2021	2 replies	by bluefire35 »» Oct 14, 2021 3:29 AM
	Why is duration 1 minute? Zestiria - Jan 23, 2021	1 replies	by Supercuecaaa »» Jan 26, 2021 9:31 AM
	New information about the movie azertz99 - Jun 18, 2020	14 replies	by MichaelJackson »» Dec 27, 2020 9:22 PM