English Dub Review: Once Upon a Witch’s Death “Flowers Bloom in the Festival Night Sky”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
While preparing for the parade, Meg and Sophie meet Marie, a woman looking for the man she met a year ago.

Our Take:
The portal-opening ceremony came close to being a disaster, but Meg and Sophie were able to pull it off without any trouble.  However, just because the ceremony has concluded doesn’t mean the festival is over.  This week’s episode concludes the “Otherworld Festival” mini-arc that began in the third episode, with Meg and Sophie handling parade preparations for the festival’s last day.  But, they’d eventually discover that preparing for this occasion is the least of their problems, as they’re interrupted by a woman named Marie seeking a man she met at last year’s festival.  However, the man she met wasn’t an ordinary person.  He’s actually a wolfman named Woof who resides in the spirit realm.  Yeah, that name will definitely convince people he’s not a human-wolf hybrid.  Despite being fearful of what Marie would think of him, Woof took the chance to meet her again, thanks to Meg’s wisdom.
While the episode focuses on reuniting two lovers on a fateful night, it further emphasizes Meg and Sophie’s growing friendship and different viewpoints on magic.  While Meg is grateful to use magic to help people, Sophie still sees it as a curse after learning about Meg’s “Death Sentence” curse.  However, despite her hatred of magic, Sophie still vows to use it to bring people blessings and help Meg defeat her curse.  The episode also brought back the “tears of joy” element that has been absent since “The Apprentice Witch and the People of Lapis”, with the tears collected from Marie and Woof, who both decided to live together through a marriage contract.  While I didn’t mind some more world-building for this show, it should remind itself that Meg’s on the clock in getting at least 994 more before her year is up.  Regardless, this episode delivers a satisfying conclusion to the “Overworld Festival” arc, with Meg and Sophie’s unusually amusing chemistry as its heart and humor.