We arrived at the end of August with a new appointment of Anime Breakfast with a very popular and very popular cartoon in the 80s/90s: It’s almost magic Johnny
We have reached a new appointment of Anime Breakfast at the end of August and we are accompanied by a light, fresh and much loved anime, it is almost magic Johnny, which in the original version bears the title of Orange Road. On this cartoon we would like to start with a question “raise your hand who wasn’t in love with Sabrina?”, but the protagonist is the adorable Johnny and Sabrina is his beloved friend and co-protagonist, so it’s good to go in order first. Let’s start from the fact that this cartoon is much loved and that the animated and male version can be compared to a Bridget Jones: because our Johnny is just like Bridget, a tender bungler who mixes an adolescent infatuation with magical powers.
Teenage Bridget Jones in Magic Sauce | Anime Breakfast: It’s almost magic Johnny and a lot of nostalgia
An anime that can therefore be placed in the category of the lightest and most noncommittal ones, which if it were a film it would be a rom-com or if it were a book it would be those romance novels to read under the umbrella by Sophie Kinsella or similar authors. In this outline, however, there is no shortage of a pleasant, well-structured anime with many characters and which at the time was not afraid to turn what we were used to seeing into the feminine to the masculine. In other words, a sentimental drama led by a fifteen-year-old teenage protagonist who combined the typical feelings of someone who is in love at that age and doesn’t know how to properly qualify his feelings.
The plot tells how Johnny moves to a new city with his father and two sisters after they are once again forced to flee due to the improper use of magical powers by the sisters. Johnny also has these powers and once he arrives in the new city, he meets Sabrina, with whom he falls in love and his best friend Tinetta. Here a typical love triangle is established, which becomes central to the entire narrative.
Sabrina, charismatic co-star | Anime Breakfast: It’s almost magic Johnny and a lot of nostalgia
Next to Johnny, as we mentioned at the beginning of our breakfast, there is Sabrina, one of the most loved characters ever by the public: Sabrina is beautiful, has thick hair, is intelligent and has a rather calm character, especially compared to her best friend Tinetta. She and Johnny are well blended together, but they struggle to understand each other especially when it comes to feelings. Johnny will arrive at a serenity with Sabrina right at the end of the anime, after various vicissitudes which mainly concern Tinetta. Although he has always been in love with Sabrina, he is still very fascinated by the exuberance of his best friend, to the point of having an affair with her.
Lots of complaints | Anime Breakfast: It’s almost magic Johnny and a lot of nostalgia
Like any self-respecting anime aired in Italy, the broadcast of It’s almost magic Johnny was also massacred by censorship, readjustments and cancellations of entire episodes. As for Rossana and Little heart problems, also in this case, the original title has been changed and many aspects concerning feelings have been censored. There are deleted nude scenes and deleted episodes that are still part of the storytelling world of Japanese anime culture, where one dares where in everyday society one cannot.
Despite this, it can be said that the understanding of this anime remains fluid and manages to be well appreciated despite the many censorships. However, there have been more recent broadcasts, such as the one on Italia 2 in 2020 in which the anime was broadcast in its entirety, as it should be.
A soul of the heart
Overall, however, it can be said that this anime is an anime of the heart, in the sense that it has remained in the hearts of all the audience and makes us go back over the years with a lot of nostalgia. It should be aired more often, just considering it a light-hearted rom-com title like many prime-time rom-coms can be. And you, were you a fan of It’s almost magic Johnny? Let us know what you think in the comments and we’ll meet next Sunday for a new breakfast together!
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