Motto! Ojamajo Doremi: Kaeru Ishi no Himitsu

To my tastes, this film is extremely pretty, much more so than the previous Sharp film. Some of the visual elements remind me of Casshern Sins. There's an occasion wonky 3D environment, but it looks mostly great, even for Doremi standards. And honestly this film is pretty much an excuse to see the Doremi cast well-animated, in a pretty environment, and in HD. That said, the presentation is the most significant element here. Structure wise the film is a bit of a mess. The pacing feels bizarre at many points. Some scenes feel weird and focused on for too long, yet major plot points aresprinted through. And this plot is not particularly memorble compared to the show, it's like the show knows the plot isn't super significant. The whole thing with the girls wanting to sit on the grandfather's lap was weird. Everyone was so excited to despite the fact they barely new Doremi and Pop's grandfather. When Aiko explains her memories that caused her to be scared of the grandfather and feels better after simply telling Momoko this, I actually thought this was because she didn't want them to worry about her, and this was hinting at a further plot point because of the exaggeration of her relief, but nope, she's fine now. One great thing about the Doremi series is it's ability to transition between comedy and drama basically seamlessly, but they did not pull that off in this film. There's a segment where everyone's enjoying dinner, Aiko is now feeling comfortable with Doremi's grandfather and suddenly it's revealed he will die soon, and everyone bursts into tears. It felt quite unnatural. The soundtrack is mostly the same as the show. The closing song was nice, which I think is original. Despite all my criticism, I liked this, likely because I really enjoy the Doremi series, and it being very aesthetically on-point.

The Secret of the Frog Stone is a supplement "extra episode" to the series as was Sharp's movie last year, though this case is not plot-relevant. It's a pretty interesting take on the existence of Witch Frogs and puts into perspective the length of time passed since the former Queen's reign, as well as interpretations on historical Japan. I thought the masks were really significant, as masks frequently hide emotions and can be read as a sign of adhering to traditional behavior on a surface level, as well as dealing with various factors such as love. I enjoyed the connections to Aiko's parents and theheartwarming ending as well; this was a great addition to the story, as was the tale of lovers. I found it interesting that making masks was used traditionally and reflective of a time period where harsher circumstances were in effect. It's a shame that there was minimal detail for the lovers, but Doremi's actions to help them unite towards the ending were well-done. Unfortunately, the movie is frankly a bit vague on the actions and references traditional Japanese lore, which could be a turnoff for some viewers looking for a quick story. The movie doesn't really give the viewer enough time to get invested in (or learn about for that matter) Japanese legends and as a result, it can be intimidating. I like the idea, but hopefully something less obscure can be done, unfortunately. The ending is also incredibly morbid and depressing, popping up out of nowhere and leaving things on a sad note for no real reason. 4/10.

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