Fancy Lala, Vol. 1: A Star is Born (1998)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Character Design by Akemi Takada
Directed by Takahiro Omori
Series Planning by Minoru Ohno, Yuji Nunokawa, and Shigeru Watanabe

Features:

• Contains episodes 1-5
  
• English and Japanese audio
  
• English subtitles
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• lots and lots of pink. Lots. And LOTS.
• uber-cute dino-fey
• much talk of "am I cute?" and "do I look pretty?"

Rating: 7+

Anamorphic: N/A.

My Advice: Pass unless you love pink.

Fancy Lala is another entry into the field of Magical Girl Anime. This time, 9-year-old Miho, a shy child dreaming of stardom as a comic writer or media personality, meets two cute dinosaur faeries who attach themselves to her in a toy store because she can hear them. Miho's mother is a television journalist, and her father is some kind of paleontologist. Miho promises to help the faeries find their way home to the "World of the Memories of Time," and in return, they give her a magical sketchbook and pen (both appropriately pink and floofy); these objects turn her into a 15-year-old version of herself, Fancy Lala, an idol star.

Fancy Lala is about as adorable as you could want in your shoujo. Miho is good-hearted and sweet, and the faeries are cute and about as hapless as they are powerful, much like Cardcaptor Sakura's Kero. Miho wants to use her new magic for good, but can't resist working as a model/pop star. Wanting to keep her transformation power a secret even from her older sister, Miho can't quite stay out of trouble.

Miho is cute, both at age 9 and at 15. Too bad she's kind of shallow. She seems more concerned with stardom and being pretty than the help she offered the faeries or with learning to become a good woman, instead of just a pretty one. I'm not sure what values the television creators were hoping to impress upon young Japanese girls, but I'm pretty sure admiring yourself in the mirror and constantly worrying about clothes aren't some of them. Then again, a show about clothes and modeling is probably a brilliant marketing move--many girls can't resist such things, witness the success of Betty & Veronica fashion spectaculars.

The animation is good enough, if not spectacular. Miho and Lala look enough alike to be believable as the same person, yet Lala is clearly a more outgoing personality, what Miho dreams of becoming. Everyone is suitably attractive and brightly colored.

The sound quality is good as well. The voice actors do a solid job of presenting their personalities, as well as giving their characters life. Miho and Lala are good choices as leading girls; their voices aren't annoying, are clear, and convey some personality. Chisa's voice in particular reminds me of Nabiki from Ranma 1/2.

All in all, you'll probably either love Fancy Lala or hate it. If you usually like young girl's Magical Girl type Anime, such as Cardcaptors or Sailor Moon, then you'll probably like Fancy Lala. If, on the other hand, you're more the Akira kind of fan, then you might be better off skipping it. Don't let the plot holes and convenient plot devices get in your way; Fancy Lala is innocent, if shallow, fun.