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Mahou no Stage Fancy Lala
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Animation - 7.8 |
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Sound - 8.8 |
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Story - 7.4 |
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Character - 8.4 |
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Value - 8.0 |
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Enjoyment - 8.1 |
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Average - 8.1 |
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petran79 |
(2007-12-13 01:53:38) 2006-12-21 14:38:04 |
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| Average |
6.0 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| Having seen the popular Full Moon Sagashite and Kaleido Star and the less popular Ginban Kaleidoscope, it would be unfair not to give this title a look. Sure there's also Creamy Mamie, a much older and better title from what I've read, but it consists of 52 episodes and I dont have the patience to watch another 52 episode kids show. But Fancy Lala is a remake of an old OVA of 1988 so it has some elements of the 80's too. I'd be interested if some group try to fansub Yoiko anime or scanlate Yoiko manga too.
Now as far as this title goes, it has something different from the current bunch of magical girl animes. Of course I admit that some episodes were painfull to watch but overall the series never got annoying. On the contrary sometimes the pacing made me totally lose the plot of many episodes and I wondered when did an episode finish so quickly. This is the first anime that made me feel that way.
The animation was adequate for a 1998 title. The main focus was on the characters. Backgrounds (both countryside and urban) were relatively poorly animated and the crowd too. Typical animation for a kids show. But the characters animation and expression were beyond the standards of a kids show. The character interactions are one of the best I've seen for a kids show of the late 90's. The two dinosaurs are very funny and too bad they do not appear so often and in a lot of episodes they dont appear at all. But even then the other characters make the series interesting till the end. Whereas in Full Moon Sagashite none of the episodes would be interesting without the two shinigamis.
One other reason I liked the show is that it never tries to manipulate the viewers emotions to such a degree as Full Moon, Kaleido Star or Fruits Basket. Some tear jerkers are nice but dont force them out of the viewers. Instead let the characters fullfill their role and impress the viewer. Exactly this is what Fancy Lala performs excellently. And for that alone I appreciated it much more and put it on a higher level than the abovementioned shows and shows like Card Captor Sakura.
Miho is one of the best characters. The young voice actress really outperformed herself. On par with the leading voice actress of Koi Kaze.
The sound department regarding the pop songs was something I'd rather forget. Fortunately the rest of the BGM was good and guaranteed some touching moments.
The story is very simple and is rather episode oriented. No real info about the dinosaurs and the "strange man" (I was dying to know you know.....). But every independent episode was nicely constructed and directed.
The final episodes werent the typical happy ones so many magical girl animes offer, but bring the viewers back to reality. For the younger viewers the anime is aimed at, this is probably one of the best endings they can expect from a title like Fancy Lala.
Overall I'd recommend this title to those who liked Full Moon and I'd suggest to watch Creamy Mamie too, though I dont plan to watch it. Dont be fooled by the funny names, since the titles are good.
On a sidenote (you dont need to read it): I admit this title affected my braincells when I reached episode 9, so I took a break, watched Tetsuo movie, the korean movie "The Isle", the magnificent brazilian series "City of Men" and only then was I able to continue with the series. It is a nice break because now the animes I'll see are either high quality or they'll fuck with my mind, so no more Lala animes for now.
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| You know, I'm alittle sad my six year love affair with Fancy Lala has reached an end. I've been interested in seeing this anime since I was 12 (2000), and now when I'm 18 (2006), I've finally seen all the DVDs (It was licensed when I was 14 (2002). okay....I'm slow). I could always read the manga, but until that's scanlated/translated, I'm...done Fancy Lala, which is a really sad thought since in one way or another Fancy Lala has been a part of my life for so long.
So obviously, while reviewing this, I'm going to be extremely biased towards liking this. But what exactly makes it so good? On the surface, with it's cutesy theme song, it looks like the typical magical girl show, which would be pure wish fufillment - she gets to save the day, make some good friends, win her love etc. HOWEVER, THIS DESCRIPTION DOES NOT APPLY TO FANCY LALA. Right at the end of episode one, Miho comments "So, these fairies have given me the useless power to grow up" or something to that effect. Miho does not right away fall into something to do with her adult self. Nor does she have the ambition to run out and become an idol. She becomes one on a whim, and that sets the tone for the rest of the show. It shows that this is different. This show is all about the themes, which is mainly growing up, or what to do with your life - not the cutesy-ness, not the marketibility.
On that note, this show is way too weird to have had much of a following. 15% of the episodes are really childish, 80% are standard FL-style, and two are cracked out experiemental anime (and they're both on DVD 3, should you want to see them). And the ending...for the ending, I was crying. The ending is rather sad for a "kid's show". It's a devistating ending for a show I've been watching so long...but at the same time, it's so true. As embarassing as it would be to say to someone who did not understand this show, I think the ending changed my life. The staff obviously had this planned out - nothing in Fancy Lala is ever rose-colored, and the ending tells it like it is.
Granted, I watched this show out of order - I watched DVD 2, 4, 3, 5, 6 (end), 1 (the order I got them cheap off ebay) - but even I can see that this show was a cut above the rest - it's brilliant timing (by that I mean it knows when to focus on Miho, when to focus on Chisa, when to make a crazy episode etc.) and character maturation carried it through even the most cliche terrain.
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| This series easily ranks among the most surprising anime experiences I`ve had. I got into it thinking I would get the same fluffy fun that made Wedding Peach and Saint Tail huge hits in my books, what I got was so much more than that. Fancy Lala is fun and quite fluffy at times but it is balanced out impressively well with more mature themes such as longing, loss, growth, time and family. It actually didn`t hit me until the very end, once I could picture the series as a whole in my mind I could see how well executed it was!
The animation for this series is very good for the most part. There are times where unevenness occurs; however as it is quite rare it looks good and professionally made overall.
The character design is simple and appealing, the backgrounds do get repeated but the bright colours and the quality of the drawings do not make it a drag. Thankfully, other than a few background getting repeated here and there this series relies on new footage.
There are transformation sequences but as this is not a "monster of the week" series, they are few and far between.
The sound is easily the most enjoyable part of the series. Miho/Lala`s voice actress pretty much sings all the main vocal tracks and she does it amazingly well. It feels like a Pop Idol competition (appropriate here) where the singers actually GET INTO what they are singing about. Some of the other voice actors also get a chance to shine with original tunes that suit their voice like a glove. Miho/Lala`s voice actress was 14 at the time of recording the series and she brings that childish yet completely infectious tone to every song and every line she delivers. She is easily the standout performer here but the support given is almost just as good.
The story has an interesting premise as it is not about chasing demons. Rather, Miho uses her powers to live out her dream of becoming an idol(Lala).
We insightfully get to see what the team behind a star go through to help their client make it to the top. This really gets the series going and makes for one of the most interesting ideas to happen to Mahou Shoujo in a long time (I`ve heard of the show`s similarities with Creamy Mami but having not seen the latter, I can`t really draw comparisons.)
The pace of the story does slow down towards the middle though as a more human approach is taken to develop Miho`s relationships and the kinks of her double life. When I first saw the show I thought it was a bit of a shame that they took that approach. But as the last episodes hit me, I could understand what they were building to and how appropriate and how well-executed the story was.
This anime has one of the most heartfelt and subtle endings I have seen in a long long time (Think Haibane Renmei). I was not expecting it to end the way it did at all, and it was all the better for it. A truly original and satifying ending that many series fail to deliver is given here.
I could go on for days about the great characters. This is because they ARE the driving force behind the show. Everyone of them is explored really well in the timeframe and they come out as coherent human being, not carboard cutout. Miho is obviously the stand out, she never appears inappropriate a character for her age and, her flaws and wishes just play with her childishness and responsibilities satisfyingly. The secondary cast is also excellent as their problems never feel out of place or contrived.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and I am dying to see it again. This is a real gem in my collection. I would recommend it to anyone who is mahou shoujo inclined. Ones who aren`t fans of the genre will find something to their liking here as there is no "monster of the week" premise that plagues most shows of its genre. A high recommendation from me.
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| As others have said, Fancy Lala does bear some striking resemblance to Full Moon so Sagashite. However, the similarities are quite superficial. While the latter focused on the music industry and Full Moon’s career, the former focused on the real life of Fancy Lala – two sides of the same coin, one might term it. The latter is more poignant and is told in the more archetypal plot trajectry (exposition, climax, etc); Fancy Lala takes a more laid-back approach and seems to not care much about Lala’s career, which is only appropriate as, unlike what the main summary implied, Miho wanted to be famous as a manga artist, not as an idol, something that she got involved with by pure chance.
Overall, I really enjoyed that Fancy Lala didn’t try to emulate the Full Moon story. This one had a heart of its own, borne out of Miho’s sweetness – her actions throughout the anime really reminds one just how simpleminded and naïve a child can be while surrounded by adults who may not act according to that black-and-white logic. Despite that, though, Miho is a precocious child, more empathetic and mature than many of her peers, something shown by the easy way she interact with the adults when in her 15-yrs old Lala persona. That combination of maturity ensconced in childish logic is Fancy Lala’s charm, something that everyone from Taro to Hiroya to Ririka is not immune to. Miho is probably one of my most favourite anime characters for that very reason. She’s sweet and charming without being obnoxiously cloying, mature without being too adult-like, and most of all, she doesn’t have an annoying or unbelievable voice. Miho/Lala’s VA is utterly believable as a 9-yrs old child jeering at Taro and a 15-yrs old idol singing pop songs. In fact, when I first heard the OP & ED songs, I cringed, not because the songs were bad but because I was listening to something unclassifiable as anything but bubblegum pop.
All the other components to this anime were also quite lovely. Personally, I rather enjoy the cutesy, semi-old school shoujo drawing style that this anime employs, so I didn’t have a problem with the animation. (In fact, despite the animation being nothing spectacular, I gave this a 7 simply because I enjoy this particular style of drawing.)
The characters, despite there being mostly children, were all enjoyable and fun. I especially liked Hiroya and how every female character seemed taken with him in one way or another, but he, being the charming man that he was drawn to be, was taken with Fancy Lala, showing that innocence can be very eye-catching. The one character I have some issues with is Fushigi-san, who is still a mystery to me. I appreciate when things are left up to me to interpret, but I felt that taken too far in Fushigi-san, whose role was never fully explained and whose purpose only got murkier after we see him try to give Pigu & Mogu to Chisa.
That brings me to my last point: the losing of the magic and therefore Lala. I’m still confused as to why the magic was lost. I had anticipated it, had thought it would relate to Miho growing up somehow, but in the end, I felt like I didn’t really get that from the ending. I know that Komi-san hinted at it, but I felt it an insufficient allusion. It took something away from the powerful ending, though still leaving something quite heartrending in Miho finally realizing that she is Lala and Lala is her.
As a whole, I would totally recommend this anime to anyone who likes shoujo, honest-to-goodness shoujo. It is an utterly charming story that many leave a few loose ends but still manages to be incredibly poignant.
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Poom |
(2005-08-03 02:12:18) 2005-08-03 02:11:13 |
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Light heart shoujo anime.
Story evolve around Mihou and her adult magical form Fancy Lala. Things really goes slowly, mostly they show us the living life of Mihou(kid) and people around her. This is the first time that they give us no objective or goal to looks forward too. Since there's nothing to watch you just keep watching waiting for some cool moment or someone to found out the big secrect. Sadly enoung they make us wait, some people might give up and drop the series.
But if you like slow-pace let's say CCS or if you really a mahou-shoujo girl fan you might like it otherwise prepare for some slow-ness in it.
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Fancy Lala is a really light hearted and fun anime, that could almost be classed as a "magical girl" anime, with transformations and cute pets, but no villans or imminent destruction of the earth scenarios!
It's just a sweet story about a young girl who gets the chance to use magic and what unfolds, is the tale of how she chooses to use that gift. It's heartwarming and very sweet, with a fun storyline, nice tunes and a perfect shoujo ending ^_^
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Luminaria |
(2004-05-09 17:15:34) 2004-05-09 17:14:33 |
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| Fancy Lala was somewhat of a mixed bag for me. A combination of mahou-shoujo and music, lala doesnt really hit on either category that well and instead, takes a more day-to-day route of miho's school adventures. Depending on what you like, or what you plan on getting out of this anime, that could be perfectly fine for you, however, I was expecting more of the music industry side of the story then what we're given.
There's only a few episodes where we really get to see Lala do what she does best, singing and modeling. Like I said before, the vast majority of the episodes follow Lala's real self, the 10ish year old Miho and her two magical dragons doing every day things from playing in a baseball game to taking a trip to the grandparents house. The last 10 or 15 minutes of the last episode has probably the most powerfull segment of the show, and one that makes the trip worthwhile, as miho is given a new perspective on what lala was to her, and who she is to her now. It's kind of sad to say that I enjoyed the end of the show the most, not so much becasue it ended, but because they finaly made a part of the show worthwhile.
Perhaps I was expecting to much out of Lala going into it, as I was quite taken by Full Moon wo Sagashite, but the whole time i watched this i was hoping that we'd start to follow lala's career more then they show provides.
Quality wise, the animation is nice with character desings by KOR's Takada Akemi. The music is upbeat and Miho's VA is very belivable.
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Myclamyra |
(2004-04-23 20:46:57) 2004-04-23 19:57:43 |
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Summary: Personal top 20, A very under-rated anime.
Personal Score: 8.7/10
The anime came out about the same time Clamp's Card Captor Sakura did. When the two were compared, of course, CCS has better graphics and appeal, and became more popular.
Nevertheless, Fancy Lala is pretty good anime on its own. Yes, it was designed to be cute and innocent and leave smiley faces on 6 year old kids. But what I like best of FL is its attention to day-to-day details, and making it "interesting". The only other anime that came to mind that uses such technique is Seikai no Monshou.
It has striking resemblance to Creamy Mami and other transformation-based shoujo anime. However, unlike Creamy Mami and Full Moon wo Sagashite, Miho's voice (Ohmori Reiki) is quite unique. You can actually imagine her songs being pop music, unlike the other animes of the same genre.
A very refreshing experience overall, very true to its mahou shoujo roots. The ending is quite acceptable. I highly recommend this anime for people who do not have mahou shoujo indigestions.
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Although, I personally love Full Moon more than this show. This show is so CUTE. I really love it. It has such cute characters, and I love pigu and Mogu. But, it's not EXACTLY like Full moon as Gagii-chan said, although the two are VERY familiar. Fancy Lala, has more maho shoujo appeal, rather than a sentimental drama, as Full Moon is. But that's just my interpertation, everybody sees things differently. Anyhow, the whole show, has a very "Genki" feeling to it, with the bouncy J-POP themes, costumes, and maskots(Pigu and Mogu). Anyhow, this is a great anime for the family, it appeals to a wide range of children, making it a lot of fun to watch. ^^
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