Hey all! Just wanted to gush about this adorable doll I got last month. This isn’t an unboxing or anything since she’s been out for a while now, but I figured there might not be a lot of reviews or hands on info on her, so I thought I’d help with documenting!
If there’s any additional info anyone wants to know, feel free to comment and I’ll edit this post with it.
Late last year, Bandai announced Hana-chan in their Special Memorize line as a part of Ojamajo Doremi’s 25th anniversary. Special Memorize is a premium line aimed at adult collectors that basically makes pseudo rereleases of nostalgic toy licenses. I mean pseudo since they’re usually redesigned a bit to help justify the premium pricing. Basically, using higher quality materials, making them more show accurate, etc. The line is normally known for releasing roleplay toys like wands and transformation items, so no one was expecting a wholeass baby doll to drop. I have personally never been interested in baby dolls, but…Ojamajo Doremi is one of my all time favorite anime, and there’s a part of me that never got over the fact that I didn’t buy the American doll releases when I was a kid. Plus, I love Hana. Hana haters dni. So I didn’t care what kind of doll she was, I was getting her.
Again, this isn’t an unboxing review, but I do still have the box lying around. The plan was to scan it, but I’ve been lazy lol. But here it is if you’re interested.
And here she is! The outfit she comes in straight out of the box is her basic shirt and diaper look.
If you’re familiar with the original Hana dolls, their bodies more closely resemble regular baby dolls proportionally, so this is definitely a case where the toy was redesigned for show accuracy. She’s around 7 inches tall and is mostly hard plastic. In terms of articulation, only her shoulders can move in fairly limited motion. But I’m assuming that’s not what people are looking for when it comes to baby dolls anyway.
She comes with three pacifiers, and I highly recommend you use them because her open mouth face without them is a thing of nightmares.
Btw, before I start talking about the second outfit, I completely forgot to take pictures of her without clothes on. Honestly, there’s not much to say other than the fact that she has a speaker at the back and a power switch at the bottom. Again, if anyone really wants me to go back for pics, let me know.
Her second outfit is her iconic baby witch outfit. It’s what I’ve been keeping her in, and she is absolutely precious. The outfit itself though is weird in that the hat and base romper are well constructed, but they reeeaallly skimped out for the collar. It’s a very thin printed on fabric material, and I won’t lie that I’m a little scared that I might accidentally tear one of the balls off in the future. I was pretty damn surprised at how low quality it was given the rest of the doll and, well, this is supposed to be a premium product. Not a deal breaker by any means, but it stands out enough that I have to call them out on it.
Also, quick note: This doll is voiced. It was actually kind of a big deal when she was announced because they went out of their way to get Ikue Otani to record new lines instead of using archival clips. I brought it up already, but this is why she has a speaker and power switch. She reacts depending on how you interact and play around with her, and you could tell I clearly don’t know how you’re supposed to play with baby dolls because I was struggling to get her to speak. Kept bouncing her around only to realize “ooohhh, you’re supposed to cradle her” like an absolute genius. I just wanna be clear, I did in fact go into this with the intention of recording her, but this is a baby doll that makes baby noises and I do not live alone. Also, she’s loud. So I chickened out fast lmao.
Overall, aside from my one issue with the collar, she’s an excellent doll! I highly recommend trying to get her if you’re a Doremi or magical girl fan. The Special Memorize line also recently came out with reproductions of the Mofurun plush from Witchy/Mahou Tsukai Precure, so here’s hoping they consider bringing out more dolls and stuffies in the future. I know that there are a TON of magical girl fashion dolls I’d kill to get.