Episode 1: Elaina, The Apprentice Witch
Wandering Witch: The Journey Of Elaina Episode 1 Review – Best In Show
In Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina Episode 1, “Elaina, the Apprentice Witch,” Elaina loved reading about witches. Those stories awoke a wander lust in her, and she begged her mom to let her travel the world. Maybe suspecting this would dampen her drive, Elaina’s mom said she’d need to become a witch first, so little Elaina poured herself into the task. She was so good at it that she passed the exams to become an apprentice at the very young age of 14. So young, in fact, that none of the town witches were take her on. Dejected, she overheard her mom and dad talking about the unusual Stardust Witch who had taken up residence in the nearby forest. Can Elaina convince this witch to be her teacher? And if she can, will that witch actually teach her anything?
Episode 2: The Land of Mages
Wandering Witch: The Journey Of Elaina Episode 2 Review – Best In Show
In Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina Episode 2, “The Land of Mages,” Elaina made her first stop in the Land of Mages. At first, she was elated to find that the entire city had been designed around the needs of mages. Since witches were at the pinnacle of the mage hierarchy, she was treated very kindly wherever she went. That changed when Saya crashed her broom into Elaina. Though no one was hurt, Elaina realized she’d lost her brooch, the symbol of her office. Now her status was in doubt, and she couldn’t find a place to stay! Will she be able to find her brooch? Just how does a witch go about replacing a lost brooch? And why is Saya so desperate for Elaina to tutor her to pass the apprentice witch exam?
Episode 3: The Girl as Pretty as a Flower / Bottled Happiness
Wandering Witch: The Journey Of Elaina Episode 3 Review – Best In Show
In Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina Episode 3, “The Girl as Pretty as a Flower / Bottled Happiness,” we get two vignettes in one episode. In the first, Elaina encounters a beautiful red-haired woman sitting alone in a field of flowers. She asked Elaina to deliver a bouquet of those flowers to anyone in the next town. The townspeople’s reactions were unexpected. In the second, a young man flags down Elaina and talks to her about the bottle in which he has captured random happiness. He intends to share it with the young woman he’s in love with. What Elaina discovers of their circumstances, and guesses about their consequences, is forbidding.
Episode 4: The Princess without Subjects
Wandering Witch: The Journey Of Elaina Episode 4 Review – Best In Show
In Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina Episode 4, “The Princess Without Subjects,” Elaina, at the end of a long day of flight, approached a magnificent walled city. However, even at a distance, she could see it had been ravaged, and recently, too. Thick, black smoke rolled from buildings. Too far away from another city to reach it before full dark, desparate to find lodging for the night, Elaina found that the castle in the center of town stood intact. Entering it, she found a beautiful woman named Mirarosé, who had amnesia. She only had a letter explaining that a terrible monster had ravaged the city, and it only came out at night — and that Mirarosé was a princess. What had happened to her memories? Would Elaina help rid the kingdom of the terrible, fire-breathing monster outside? And just why was Mirarosé, a princess, so good at baking bread?
Episode 5: Royal Celesteria
Wandering Witch: The Journey Of Elaina Episode 5 Review – Best In Show
In Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina Episode 5, “Royal Celesteria,” Elaina arrives in the city Celesteria, which has a high population of mages and witches. At first, she really enjoyed site-seeing. The city had beautiful architecture, and there were mages everywhere. There were street performers, mail men on brooms, even broom taxis! She came upon an ornate school, and on closer examination, saw it was the Royal Academy of Magic. Delighted, she let herself in. A guard immediately stopped her. He relented when he saw her witch’s broach, then reluctantly told her she had to have authorization. Disappointed, she took to the skies, only to be blocked by two younger mages. They asked — with forced politeness — if she would follow them, no questions asked. She would not. She suddenly realized she was surrounded by dozens of them, who tried to seize her.
Who were these people? Why did they want to abduct her? And what was she going to do about it?
Episode 6: The Land of Truth Tellers
Wandering Witch: The Journey Of Elaina Episode 6 Review – Best In Show
In Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina Episode 6, “The Land of Truth Tellers,” Elaina visited a kingdom with a strange blessing. Or was it a curse? No one in the country could tell a lie! Elaina found it strangely silent inside, which, in retrospect, was probably to be expected. She tested the spell by trying to say that she was ugly. Of course, she couldn’t tell such a lie! She met a woman who couldn’t speak even if she wanted to. Using paper and pencil, she asked Elaina if she was the witch from the United Magic Association. She wasn’t, and the other woman went away, dejected. Why was the woman looking for the United Magic Association? What was the deal with this country? And would Elaina just leave things be and leave?
Episode 7: The Wall Etched by Travelers / The Grape-Stomping Girl
Wandering Witch: The Journey Of Elaina Episode 7 Review – Best In Show
In Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina Episode 7, “The Wall Etched by Travelers / The Grape-Stomping Girl,” Elaina made two stops on this week’s leg of her journey. First, she intended to visit a town that she’d read about with her mother. The town had been divided by a wall, and a witch that looked very much like Elaina had dispensed wisdom to ease political tensions. But another witch had accidentally upset the balance. What will Elaina find when she arrives? In the second stop, Elaina visited a village that competed economically for wine domination with the village next door. The other village had a secret marketing weapon, and the village elder wanted Elaina’s help. Can he convince to her sign up? What could he possibly offer her?
Episode 8: The Ripper
Wandering Witch: The Journey Of Elaina Episode 8 Review – Best In Show
In Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina Episode 8, “The Ripper,” Elaina traveled to a new city that seemed pleasant enough, but it had an unusual trait. There were dolls everything. Not just here and there or displayed in windows. They were everywhere. Pronouncing it “creepy,” she sat down to eat lunch and overheard a witch named Sheila questioning the townsfolk about a series of apparent murders. Everyone was quite worked up about it, but none of their testimonies matched. Not descriptions of the suspect or even the the crimes themselves. Will Elaina stick around to help Sheila solve the mystery? Why can’t anyone agree what happened? And what’s with all the dolls?
Episode 9: A Deep Sorrow from the Past
Wandering Witch: The Journey Of Elaina Episode 9 Review – Best In Show
In Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina Episode 9, “A Deep Sorrow from the Past,” Elaina found herself in a new country with two problems: She was starving, and she was broke. So, when she saw a flyer asking for a witch to help with an “ultra” short assignment, she jumped at the chance! Estelle, the hiring witch, explained that she just needed help for a little while, and the fee would be a huge bag of gold. Elaina, immediately suspicious, asked for more details. She learned that Estelle had developed some specialized magic and needed help to execute a mission to save a friend. Should Elaina accept such a huge payment for what appears to be a simple assignment? What kind of magic did Estelle have to create? And why is does the whole scheme scream “sketchy?”
Episode 10: The Two Teachers
Wandering Witch: The Journey Of Elaina Episode 10 Review – Best In Show
In Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina Episode 10, “The Two Teachers,” we take a trip down memory lane to when Fran and Shiela were Niké’s apprentices. As well as mortal enemies. Niké took on a job to root out a gang of thieves named the Curios Company in the town Qunorts. Somehow, the gang had tools capable of disarming the local witches and mages. The gang also mounted an anti-mage propaganda effort that painted magic users as tools of the devil. Niké, wanting to teach her apprentice to work together, gave the job to Fran and Sheila. Can the two overcome their mutual animosity to work together? Or will they sabotage each other’s work — and risk capture and death at the hand of the Curios Company?
Episode 11: The Two Apprentices
Wandering Witch: The Journey Of Elaina Episode 11 Review – Best In Show
In Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina Episode 11, “The Two Apprentices,” Saya arrived in Qunorts on a mission for Sheila: deliver a magic box to the United Magic Association branch office. To Saya, the mission was routine, so she didn’t take any special precautions. Unfortunately, the leader of the resurgent criminal gang called the Curio Company set her sights on Saya. Can Saya escape her wily clutches? Meanwhile, Elaina also arrived in Qunorts. Excited by the prospect of visiting some of the sites made famous by her favorite book, Elaina stared in the window of a particularly famous restaurant. Unfortunately, she didn’t know she was being watched. Will she realize it in time?
Episode 12: The Everyday Tale of Every Ashen Witch
Wandering Witch: The Journey Of Elaina Episode 12 Review – Best In Show
In Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina Episode 12, “The Everyday Tale of Every Ashen Witch,” Elaina arrived in a new country that advertised that within it, all of her dreams would come true. Intrigued, wishing fervently that she were rich, Elaina entered. She did not at all expect to see cloudy representations of all of the countries she’d visited before. Confused, she entered the castle she remembered as belonging to Mirarosé. There, she yet another surprise: she met herself. Specifically, she met a bespectacled, more intellectual version of herself. What was going on here? How many Elainas were in this country? And what did they want from her?
Ok we really need to accept that the series end with a bang and left us excited and curious for another season. I can’t believe all amazing anime are coming to an end…! Loved your post!
I’d love another season. I haven’t heard anything, and I can’t find audience numbers, but I hope it’ll get a new season. The ending sure left it open!
I’m glad you enjoyed the post!