W.I.T.C.H.

W.I.T.C.H. Water, fire, earth and air — Guardians, unite! Genre: Fantasy Adventure Comedy Action Magical Girl Running Time: 22 minutes Country: France United States Release Date: December 18, 2004 – December 23, 2006 Network(s): Jetix (international) France 3 (France) ABC Kids ABC Family Toon Disney (United States) Created by: Elisabetta Gnone Alessandro Barbucci Barbara Canepa Distributed by: Buena Vista International Television Starring: Kelly Stables Candi Milo Kali Troy Christel Khalil Liza del Mundo Seasons: 2 Episodes: 52

W.I.T.C.H. is a French-American animated series produced by SIP Animation based on the Italian Disney comic-book series of the same name. It premiered on Toon Disney's Jetix block in the United States on December 18, 2004 and also aired on Jetix channels across the world.

Why It Rocks

1. Amazing anime-esque animation.
2. An easy to follow storyline adapted from the first 2 W.I.T.C.H. story arcs (Season 1 was adapted from The Twelve Portals, and Season 2 was adapted from Nerissa's Revenge.)
3. Likable and colorful characters, each with their own distinct personality and powers/abilities.
   • The main protagonist Wilhelmina "Will" Vandom is the tomboyish leader of the Guardians of the Veil and the owner of the Heart of Kandrakar/Guardian of Quintessence. She's sensitive towards the feelings of others and has a short-temper. Originally Will's powers primarily revolve around activating the transformation into Guardian form and sealing portals. However, in the second season Will fully gains her own elemental ability of quintessence, the fifth element, which grants her electrokinetic and life-granting abilities. In addition, Will is able to communicate with electrical appliances. Her only love interest and boyfriend throughout the series is Matt Olsen.
   • Irma Lair is the Guardian of Water whose ability allows her to control water, and in the second season, the power of mind control. Irma acts as the series' comic relief, providing witty dialogue and remarks, which is often a source of irritation for Cornelia. Irma is appointed as the station manager of Sheffield Institute's radio station, she titles her radio segment Lair on the Air. Unlike the other Guardians, Irma does not have a boyfriend despite her affection for Andrew Hornby and the unrequited attention from Martin Tubbs.
   • Taranee Cook is the Guardian of Fire, able to create and manipulate fire, and in the second season, she has the ability to telepathically communicate with the other Guardians. Taranee is dedicated to her schoolwork, and often uses her intellect to defeat enemies. Her boyfriend is Nigel Ashcroft, whose social circle initially causes mistrust by Taranee's parents.
   • Cornelia Hale is the Guardian of Earth granting her the ability to control earth and plants[10] and in the second season, she gains the power of telekinesis. Cornelia is vain and haughty, and is often a foil to Will. But she begins to warm up to her eventually, throughout the series. She is best friends with Elyon Brown, later revealed to be the missing Princess of Meridian. Cornelia becomes romantically involved with Caleb. His duties in Meridian later cause a rift in their relationship.
   • Hay Lin is the Guardian of Air which enables her to control air, and also become invisible in the second season. Her paternal grandmother, Yan Lin, was the previous Guardian of Air and introduced the new Guardians to their roles. Hay Lin is of Chinese descent and her parents own the Silver Dragon, a Chinese restaurant, where Hay Lin works part-time. Hay Lin enjoys art and is a free spirit. Despite her original distaste for dating, Hay Lin becomes infatuated with Eric Lyndon who eventually becomes her boyfriend.
4. The show features a diverse cast of characters.
   • On top of that, while the art style doesn't completely resemble to anime, the Asian characters (such as Hey Lin) and Caucasian characters (such as Will), have features to differentiate them from each other compared to most anime.
5. Good music by SIP Animation composers Alain Garcia and Noam Kaniel. The European intro theme sung by Sabrina is also quite cool as well.
6. Good range of voice artists voice both the main characters and supporting characters.
7. The show doesn't shy away from dark and sad scenes (like when Matt and Shagon beat the girls up). Which is something that you don't often see in shows like this.
8. It doesn't mean to give "The Fairly Odd Parents" a run for it's money because of the magic material these two of the 2000's have.

Bad Qualities

1. While more proficient and faithful compared to Code Lyoko and Winx Club, as mentioned above, the show doesn't fully resemble anime.
2. The second season can get way too complex for some viewers and it sometimes doesn’t flow.
3. It was planned to get a third season but it never materialized.
4. Even though the girls were great characters they somehow act as if they were LGBTQ type of characters. And is inappropriate at times.
5. Only three of their voice actresses did a terrible job voicing them by making the voices sound forced to be deep, nasily congested and rather scratchy.
6. Even though "Z is for Zenith" was a great finale it ended the series on a cliffhanger due to bad ratings.

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