Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo

Title:Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo
Bewitched Agnes
Madam is a Magical Girl
The Wife is a Magic Girl
奥さまは魔法少女 (Japanese)
Overall:Rent
Keywords: , , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - JC Staff
INOUE Kikuko
Having just graduated from college, Kagura Tatsumi’s new job with a small publishing company has forced him to move to sleepy little village on the coast. While driving his moving truck through the town, he is suddenly surprised by two girls chasing each other through the air on brooms, which causes an accident. While Tatsumi tends to the younger girl who was dazed, the other girl just flys off without a word. Later at his new lodging house, he surprised to meet Asaba (Agnes) Ureshiko, the older girl who was riding a broom. Despite appearances, Ureshiko proves herself to be a very kind host, even if she is a bit of a klutz, as she helps him move into his new room. It is Tatsumi’s kindness and his work that very quickly involve him with the mysteries surrounding Ureshiko-san; of how she is married but lives alone with her Obaa-chan; how another mahou shoujo is challenging Ureshiko-san for control of the village; how cute and flirtatious Ureshiko-san is, and how she does not behave as if she were married.

Mahou shoujo from another world called “Realm” are assigned to rule for a short time over a world that they call the “Wonderland”, the world that Tatsumi calls home. Asaba Ureshiko’s turn at rule should be at an end, and the next young mahou shoujo has already arrived to replace her, but her heart is set on protecting the town and her friends from any changes that her capricious and spoilt young replacement might want to impose.


[13 TV episodes (24 minutes each). Produced by J.C.STAFF


Pictures (starting at the top)
(1) Scene from Opening Sequence
(2) Asaba Ureshiko on her broom
(3) Tatsumi helps a young witch
(4) OOPS! Tatsumi trips over Ureshiko

1:31min Series OP (Clean) - YouTube Video
Episode Details 
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Rent 8 8 8 7 8 7 AstroNerdBoy [series:1106#436]

One thing that I like to see in anime is an interesting concept. However, it isn't enough to have an interesting concept; it has to be accompanied by good writing as well. Fortunately this anime title has an interesting concept and acceptable writing.

The concept of a 26-year old married mahou shoujo ("Agnes" -- Asaba Ureshiko) is certainly a new one. Most mahou shoujo are shoujo -- young girls. As such, the rulers of the magic kingdom (known as "Realm") where mahou shoujo come from have sent in the new 6th grade girl to Earth ("Cruje" -- Kurenai Sayaka) and to "Wonderland," their name for the town that is run in secret by the current manager mahou shoujo. As such, Agnes is supposed to hand over the ring of power to Cruje, who will then manage Wonderland, including changing it to whatever form she feels like. This is something that Agnes cannot abide as Wonderlands current form was created by her mother, then kept the same by succeeding manager until Agnes took over. Agnes fears the changes that Cruje will surely inflict upon the town.

Thus, we are introduced to the two central themes of the anime -- old vs. young and new vs. old. The young vs. old theme is pretty straight forward. With the passing of control from one generation to the next, the "old" generation often will experience anxiety over the changes the young will bring. However, it is always possible that the changes will be minor, not at all (assuming the young love the way things are), or will be radical. In the end, the decisions are up to the next generation. This is something that Agnes has to learn, but Cruje also has to learn why Agnes is so attached to the town in its current form.

The next theme of new vs. old is also pretty straight forward. Here, we have the ruling council and the folks of the Realm who use Wonderland for their amusement. Indeed, there are several adult mahou shoujo who live in the town (why no men from Realm live here, I don't know). However, the Realm council aren't that pleased that Wonderland has remained as this quiet, old, Japanese town for so long. To them, it is a sign of stagnation and they want a change to have Wonderland be a sign of hope. However, while Wonderland may not have undergone a radical transformation through three managers, there are changes happening all the time such as the birth of children, the bringing of new technology to the town, etc. Just because a thing is old doesn't mean it should be thrown out.

The other interesting concept here is having Agnes married to a human (Asaba Tamotsu-sensei, a writer) and going by the human name Asaba Ureshiko. However, her marriage is in a shambles due in part to the fact that Ureshiko-san cannot kiss a man lest she lose her magic. So she has the choice of continuing as manager and protecting the people in this town or losing her magical abilities with a single kiss. The fact that Ureshiko would marry a human seems odd since she didn't want to give up the power. I was never 100% sold here, but I'll go along for the ride.

Now add to the mix the recent college grad (Kagura Tatsumi; I'm pretty sure he's a college grad) who's taken a job at a small publishing firm within the town and rents a room at the home where Ureshiko-san and "Baasan" (a woman old enough to be a grandmother) live. Being a former athlete and a nice guy combined with Ureshiko-san's own loneliness due to her seperation from her husband (who's having an affair), it is no wonder that she would be attracted to Tatsumi-san. Her being a nice, attractive, "traditional" girl explains Tatsumi-san's attraction to her. From this, we have the romance.

Most of this is done rather well, hense my lengthy writing on the subject. There were a few flaws though. As I said, I never truly understood how Ureshiko and Tamotsu got married in the first place. The anime gives an explaination, but considering Ureshiko's reluctance to give up being Agnes combined with her reluctance to be straight forward with the man she fell for, I just couldn't quite buy them getting married. This element carried over somewhat with the Ureshiko-Tatsumi romance.

I didn't like how the writer made certain plot twist. They came off as just an excuse to stir the pot a bit. Also, I felt the final episode was WAY to sappy for my tastes. I also got a little annoyed at the lack of clothing change. Animators are really getting lazy to have the people wear the same clothes day after day.

Finally, we have the orgasmic henshin sequences. Being that this mahou shoujo title was targeted at the otaku crowd rather than the shoujo crowd, the henshin sequences are usually more ecchi in nature. This one takes the cake with both Agnes and Cruje not only getting naked during the transformation, but going all orgasmic as well (sans the orgasmic sound effects). I found this completely outrageous and uncalled for.

Bottom line: While this was a very enjoyable anime, the flaws and final episode were enough to knock this from a "Buy" to a good "Rent."

Last updated Tuesday, May 02 2006. Created Saturday, April 29 2006.

Buy 9 9 9 9 10 loplop [series:1106#1797]
Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo was one of the big surprises of the summer season. When I first heard of the show, it first reminded me of the 1960’s U.S. Television Series, Bewitched. But I'm happy to say that it turned out to be a very different type of show. I am not a fan of magical girl anime, but I really enjoyed this one. It was nice to see a show that was as character driven as much as it was. Personally, I did not find the fan-service offensive but it was repetitive. Other than a couple of places where stock footage was used with out checking for continuity, I have no complaints.

The quality of the Seiyuu cast in this show is outstanding. Inoue Kikuko, who best known for the voice of Mizuho from Onegai Teacher & Belldandy from AA! Megami Sama has just the right voice for the lead female character, Asaha Ureshiko. Kishio Daisuke, who has voiced such characters as Chitose from Happy Lesson and Suginami in Da Capo, does a great job as Kagura Tatsumi, the main male character.

I had already rated this a buy after 9 episodes and the last 4 only confirmed that fact. This is one that I will recommend it to anybody, even if they don't really care for magical girl anime that much. Overall very good production from JC Staff and excellent Seiyuu performances makes this a definite buy when it comes out on R1 disks. Along with Suzuka, this was one of the summer anime season's nice surprises. It will most likely end up on my top 10 list for 2005 as one of this year’s best.

Last updated Tuesday, September 27 2005. Created Friday, September 02 2005.
Rent Forbin [series:1106#1573]
Drama : Low
Comedy : Med
Action : Low
SciFi : High
Ecchi : Med/High

What happens when a Magical girl grows up and gets Married. But her power is tied to the number of kisses she gives a man (less is better). Well you have this show. It's funny especially when her 'replacement' shows up and tries to get the ring of Power off her hand.

The animation is good (Something JC Staff is noted for) and the transformation scenes are VERY ecchi (With clothing) and the story shows a great sadness that underlies the whole reason why Agnes is still the 'Manager' of this town.

The OP looks just like the OP for Maburaho, even the ending looks just like it. Well it is from the same Production company.

This SHOULD be a buy, the drama is very nice and the comedy is very funny. Why isn't it? Because of the Ecchi change scenes. After the first 4 times you get very tired of it and the 12 episode makes a MAJOR mistake in the animation. Too bad, it's a Extremely high rent but not quite a buy.

Last updated Monday, September 26 2005. Created Tuesday, August 09 2005.

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Official Japanese Series Web Site http://www.mahousyoujo.com/

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