Hello everyone, today we have an interview to do with that episode of Star Detective Precure which loudly shouted in your face “This is set in 1999.” I am talking of course of the episode where there was a collaboration with Ojamajo Doremi.
What, were you expecting an episode with Anna and Mikuru watching Manchester United lift their fifth Premier League title? Or an episode exposing the fact that Luluka is watching this cool new TV show about a sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Or Kurea observing the fact Timor-Leste voted for its independence from Indonesia? Or Jett-senpai randomly interrupting a battle between the Precure and the Phantom Thieves because he really wants to sing Bosnia and Herzegovina’s new national anthem?
Anyway, let’s listen to the words of the present(-ish) day with Star Detective Precure Producer Masaya Aramaki and Ojamajo Doremi Producer Hiromi Seki talking about the collaboration. They sadly do not talk about how they really want me to write new Precure episodes after coming up with all these excellent ideas. I know you’re all just as disappointed as me.
Let’s have a pop at reading this one then!
Translation by “nui”, Editing by me. Star Detective Precure! x Ojamajo Doremi: A First Collab Full of Love and Respect. Published on mantanweb in October 2026.
Original Link: https://mantan-web.jp/article/20261018dog00m200041000a.html
Star Detective Precure! x Ojamajo Doremi: A First Collab Full of Love and Respect.
Producers Masaya Aramaki and Hiromi Seki Talk About the “Doremi Love” Poured into the Direction
Episode 39 of the 23rd instalment in the popular Precure series, Star Detective Precure!, titled “An Ojamajo Halloween♪” aired on October 25th on the ABC TV and TV Asahi networks. As you can probably guess from the title, it was a crossover with the hit anime Ojamajo Doremi.
Even though both Ojamajo Doremi and the Precure series are produced by Toei Animation and air during the same Sunday morning (Nichiasa) block on the same network, this was actually their very first collaboration. But Episode 39 wasn’t just a simple crossover. Every little detail was meticulously crafted, making it a collab completely overflowing with love and respect for Ojamajo Doremi. We sat down with Toei Animation producers Masaya Aramaki from Star Detective Precure! and Hiromi Seki from Ojamajo Doremi to hear what went on behind the scenes.
“Doremi” is all about getting the point across intuitively and directly
Ojamajo Doremi first started airing in February 1999 and ran for four seasons up until January 2003, including Ojamajo Doremi Sharp, Motto! Ojamajo Doremi, and Ojamajo Doremi Dokkaan!. It was followed by Ashita no Nadja from February 2003 to January 2004, and then the very first Precure series, Futari wa Precure, kicked off in February 2004. So for the Precure series, Ojamajo Doremi is essentially its Nichiasa “senior.”
Star Detective Precure! and Doremi have completely different worlds, character designs, and proportions. For this collaboration, they set it up so that Doremi is a super popular anime broadcasting in Makotomirai City, where Star Detective Precure! takes place. The actual Doremi characters don’t physically appear, but the four girls from the CUREtto Detective Agency dress up as them.
Yoshimi Narita, who wrote the script for the collab in Episode 39, has been working on the Doremi series since Ojamajo Doremi Sharp and has also written scripts for the Precure series.
Masaya Aramaki: Having Yoshimi Narita and series composer Isao Murayama on board for the scenario was a huge deal. Narita totally gets the vibe from back then, so we were able to dive right into production super smoothly.
Hiromi Seki: When I heard Yoshimi Narita was writing the script, I thought, “Oh, thank goodness.” Having to explain roughly 200 episodes of Doremi from scratch to a new writer would have been terrifying (laughs). She worked really hard to remember things from over 20 years ago as she wrote it. Right from the plot and scenario stages, we were able to bounce ideas off each other, saying things like, “What if we do this?” or “We could try it this way.”
Having Hiromi Seki, who knows Doremi better than anyone, join the project was also huge.
Aramaki: The ideas we got from Seki instantly brought out that classic Doremi feel. We respected Doremi so much that we ended up packing in way too many explanations, making the dialogue a bit convoluted. But she would tell us, “It’s totally fine to cut this part,” and it all came together beautifully.
Seki: I told them, “Don’t over-explain things. Just throw in a gag and push through, and you’ll be fine.” Doremi isn’t a show that relies on long, procedural explanations. It’s all about keeping a good tempo. We had to make this with the assumption that the kids watching Star Detective Precure! basically haven’t seen Doremi before. Instead of overwhelming them with info, getting the point across intuitively and directly definitely hits home a lot better for kids. Since the old days, Doremi has always followed a basic “laugh and cry” pattern where we make them laugh in the A-part, introduce the drama halfway through, and make them cry in the B-part. I think this collab nailed that pattern perfectly.
Luluka and Onpu somehow share a similar vibe
The lineup of Anna dressing up as Doremi, Mikuru as Hazuki, Luluka as Onpu, and Kurea as Aiko is absolutely perfect too.
Aramaki: We started by deciding on Anna and Mikuru, but honestly, it was a unanimous decision right off the bat. When we were trying to figure out how to approach the rest, we realized that Onpu and Luluka coincidentally share a similar sort of vibe. So we actually started by doing some design tests with Luluka to get a feel for the collab.
Seki: It’s true, Onpu and Luluka are probably the easiest characters to sync up. Onpu made her first appearance in Episode 35 of Doremi. Since the Star Detective Precure! collab is Episode 39, if Doremi is airing in their world, Onpu would already be on the show. It was just a coincidence, but the timing worked out perfectly.
They also released a special collab illustration drawn by Doremi character designer Yoshihiko Umakoshi, showing Cure Answer meeting Doremi.
Aramaki: The quality was off the charts from the very beginning, which really blew me away. She blends in so cutely.
Seki: We handed Yoshihiko Umakoshi the character reference sheets for Precure and asked him to draw it. You can really see his signature style shining through, especially in how he “captures things through form” and “omits unnecessary lines.”
Direction that carries on the “Doremi” legacy
A lot of the staff actually grew up watching Doremi. This episode was crafted with a ton of love and respect by the “Doremi generation” of creators.
Aramaki: I’m from the generation that watched Doremi, and so are storyboarders Hazuki Omoya and Hana Shinohara. We all re-studied the show and poured our respect into making this.
Seki: Looking at the storyboards seriously made me emotional. The scene where they fly through the sky on brooms was exactly like the styles of the directors from back then. They studied it so thoroughly that I could clearly tell, “Oh, this part is Junichi Sato,” “This is Takuya Igarashi,” or “This is Shigeyasu Yamauchi.” Even with the little butt-wiggling pose, I felt so nostalgic and thought, “Tatsuya Nagamine used to do that all the time!” It almost brought me to tears. Even the transformation sequence follows the classic, traditional order, even though kids today probably wouldn’t mind whatever order they transform in. On top of that, the two storyboarders are named Hazuki and Hana. It might just be a coincidence that they share names with Doremi characters, but it still gave me goosebumps.
It was a collab truly overflowing with “Doremi love.” The passion that Seki Hiromi and her team poured into Doremi was perfectly passed down, wrapping up with a final scene that is sure to get Doremi fans hyped.
Aramaki: Right from the scenario stage, the whole staff had this shared vision of, “Let’s end it with that specific shot.” We were only able to carry on that legacy because Hiromi Seki and her team built such an amazing foundation. I just have so much gratitude for them.
Episode 39 turned out to be an episode where the passion of creators across generations really paid off. It’s bound to be a deeply memorable crossover for all the fans who have loved Sunday morning anime for so many years.
