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Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Wandering Witch - The Journey of Elaina
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L'Imperatore
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Still waiting for the OP ans ED to appear on Spotify. Kadokawa could be stingy sometimes.
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3495 Location: Back stateside |
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I gave this one two episodes just because everyone raved about it so much and I was still just bored out of my mind. Not because the stories are necessarily dull but because the heroine is a total non-entity to me. From what I've heard they moved it up to start in media res and I don't think that worked for me, I just feel no connection to the girl who's already overcome her worst trials and is now just flying around for fun.
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Electric Wooloo
Posts: 315 |
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The world is messy and I don't expect every story to have a feel good ending, but it just seems that Elaina's actions (or lack of action) in episode 3 contradicts the teaching and encouragement she gave in episode 2.
I still quite enjoyed episode 3, and I don't expect her to solve every problem she comes across, that's not the purpose of her journey, but I hope her support of Saya in EP 2 wasn't just a cynical "giving this girl some kind words and my hat is the best way to get my brooch back so I'll do it that way." I think so far I want more full episode stories and fewer 10 min stories for this show. Give us some more of each situation so I can better understand Elaina and her thoughts on each matter. |
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ChurchChills
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The issue I have with comparing this to something like Kino or Mushishi is there was a limit to what either of them could do. Both Kino and Ginko are skilled at what they do but they're not super powerful.
The fact that Elania has tons of magical power and no restrictions on using it and then decides to not help in either situations feels lazy both on her part and just the writing in general. It's not like she made an attempt but was rebuffed by some law or rule of the land, she just went "Oh well, that sucks" and dipped. You have the ability to improve the situation! Do something! At least try to do something! |
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5511 |
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I was really disappointed the flower story in episode 3 felt so undercooked since it had a good story concept, but then it just shocked me in that "wait, this is ONLY the first half?" I really thought that story would be the entire episode, not attached to another more fleshed-out disturbing story.
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Punch Drunk Marc
Posts: 1750 |
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Magic can't improve everything, and in some cases it might make it worse. Elaina isn't trying to change the world, she's just travelling and observing it. Sure she COULD do more, but she doesn't necessarily have to and its not wrong that she chooses not to. |
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Florete
Posts: 381 |
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The opposite, actually. They moved it around to go chronologically. Episode 1 is in the middle of the first volume. Episodes 2 and 3 are the first 3 chapters of the novel. Last edited by Florete on Fri Oct 16, 2020 6:54 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Seagloom
Posts: 298 |
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It will be interesting to see how Elaina is perceived over time. I wrote in response to a news update awhile back that I considered Elaina a "bit of an ass". If anyone feels uncomfortable with her approach to events in episode three, I can only say prepare yourself for further disappointment. Even in stories where events turn out well, she will occasionally act in ways that may turn some viewers off.
A paragon of humanity she is not. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3495 Location: Back stateside |
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That would have been even worse.  I guess this one just isn't for me, won't bother you all with my dislike anymore.
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24141 |
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I kinda dug episode 3 because in both cases, the "resolution" was unexpected for me. I wouldn't want a steady diet of Elaina of sitting around and doing nothing but observe Things That Suck, but every now and then is fine. But damn, gurl really loves herself...
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BodaciousSpacePirate
 Subscriber Posts: 3019 |
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I think my problem with it is that we've have plenty of anime/manga wizard stories, such as Witch Hat Atelier, that show us young witches who see injustice, want to fix it, but can't fix it because they're explicitly not allowed to by their "wizard code" or some other setting-intrinsic reasons. Yeah, they have unlimited power, and we know that they want to use it, but the story shows us why they can't, and what effect that impotence (for lack of a better term) has on the witch's psyche. They also show us older wizards who have been beaten down, weathered, or become disillusioned by years and years of restrictions on their abilities to act, and sometimes even rebel witches who form antagonistic magical societies based around the rejection of artifically-imposed restrictions on the ability of wizards to use magic to interfere. Here, though? What am I supposed to learn about the society that Elaina comes from when she doesn't intercede? Is her inaction going to have any long term impact on her character or development as a witch that will inform her decisions in future episodes? I just don't think I have the interest or energy for a show that raises these issues in an apparent attempt to make the audience feel sad about the plight of a little girl, and then hand-waves it away because there's only a few minutes left in the episode by saying that it's "not the protagonist's place" to fix the problem, before moving on to another topic I'm supposed to be sad about the following week. I have plenty of other shows I can watch that make me feel sad without making me feel disappointed. |
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DJGoodNews
Posts: 22 |
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About the second story I almost agree. I still don't like that she doesn't even try to improve things, but whatever, that's an episode of Star Trek I've seen many times before. I know how it ends. Picard has to convince somebody they can't change an entire culture and they'll only divide people by trying. It takes them 40 minutes to figure out that if all it took to remedy the problem was one person with empathy, they'd have solved it a long time ago. In the first story she's not dealing with some clash of cultures though. A force of nature is murdering people, and based on what we've seen of her powers, she surely has the means to help stop it. At the very least she could make an attempt, or I dunno, inquire at all. Ask a single question. "Hey, do you need an imune person to like, burn these poisonous flowers so your children have a chance to grow old? And that's the least she could do since, you know, she gets somebody KILLED. She might not have done it intentionally, but her actions lead to a person's death, she shows no remorse, throws up deuces and flies off. Also, she seems really full of herself? Correcting the slave girl for not thanking her politely enough? Yuck. If I wanted to watch stories about rude people being ignorant about the plight of foreigners, and refusing to stand up to injustice, I've got like 200 years of American history I could read instead. |
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings
Posts: 1032 |
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I think it should be made clear that, even if Elaina herself doesn't do anything, her and the narrative aren't totally neutral on the situation. It's pretty clear she very much does not like the situation in front of her, although I suppose it's a fair argument that it makes her complete passivity even worse and less understandable.
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Vanadise
 Posts: 531 |
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I really want to like this series -- I love the concept and the aesthetic is gorgeous -- but I felt pretty off after the first episode and the third one has really cemented that. If Elaina is supposed to be the protagonist of this series and we're supposed to agree with her sense of morality, I'm really not feeling it. Even in episode 1, the moral of the story is basically, "Abuse is ok if it's done out of love," which is... eeeh.
I get that the tone the series is going for is basically "Kino's Journey but with witches," but it worked there because Kino is a much more dispassionate character. Kino doesn't get attached to people, doesn't display strong emotions, and tries to stay out of situations that don't involve them... but Kino is still capable of taking decisive action when they see a way to help people who deserve it or giving people a way to help themselves. Elaina, despite being a much more emotional person, seems much less inclined to help other people even when she could easily do so, and that makes her come off as a bit of a sociopath. |
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lossthief
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 1440 |
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That's not what she was doing? She was telling Nino she doesn't have to apologize and that somebody helping her even in a small way isn't something she needs feel guilty over. |
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