Fancy Lala

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Fancy Lala

魔法のステージ・ファンシーララ
(Mahō no Sutēji Fanshī Rara)

Genre

Magical girl

TV anime

Directed by

Takahiro Omori

Studio

Studio Pierrot, Bandai Visual

Network

TV Osaka, Animax

Other networks:
Canal Panda

Original run

5 April 1998 – 27 September 1998

No. of episodes

Manga

Authored by

Rurika Kasuga

Publisher

Shueisha

Serialized in

Ribon

Original run

May 1998 – November 1998

No. of volumes

Fancy Lala (魔法のステージ・ファンシーララ, Mahō no Sutēji Fanshī Rara^?, literally Magical Stage Fancy Lala) is a magical girl anime series produced by Studio Pierrot in 1998. A two-volume manga adaptation by Rurika Kasuga ran in Ribon. The original designs were created by Akemi Takada, who worked on many of the 80's Studio Pierrot series. The anime series has been licensed for English release by Bandai Entertainment, but the manga is not available outside of Japan.

1 Plot summary
2 Characters
- 2.1 Main cast
- 2.2 Supporting cast
3 Production
4 Impact and influence
5 Internationalization
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Plot summary

One day, nine-year old girl Miho Shinohara is given two stuffed dinosaurs by a stranger. The stuffed dinosaurs come to life and present her with a magic sketchbook and pen. Within limits, and subject to varying degrees of control, she can draw in the sketchbook and bring the drawings to life. Miho can also transform into a teenage girl, whom she names Fancy Lala. Fancy Lala is scouted by Yumi Haneishi, the president of the talent agency Lyrical Productions, and begins the long road to stardom.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main cast

Miho Shinohara (篠原みほ, Shinohara Miho^?) / Fancy Lala (ファンシーララ, Fanshī Rara^?): Seiyū: Reiko Omori; A nine-year old girl, Miho dreams of one day drawing manga. After Mystery Man gives her Pigu and Mogu, they in turn give her a magical pen and sketchbook, which allow her to transform into a 15-year old girl who she names Fancy Lala. Fancy Lala is scouted by Yumi Haneishi of Lyrical Productions, and gradually follows the path to stardom.

Mogu (モグ, Mogu^?): Seiyū: Michiko Neya; A pink dinosaur who accompanies Miho Shinohara.

Pigu (ピグ, Pigu^?): Seiyū: Shinobu Adachi; A blue dinosaur who accompanies Miho Shinohara.

Mystery Man (不思議さん, Fushigi-san^?): Seiyū: Ryunosuke Ōbayashi; A mysterious person who gave Miho Shinohara Pigu and Mogu. He often advises Miho/Fancy Lala.

Hiroya Aikawa (相川ひろや, Aikawa Hiroya^?): Seiyū: Hideo Ishikawa; A popular idol, Hiroya is Miho Shinohara's love-interest, and Fancy Lala's mentor.

Yumi Haneishi (羽根石由美, Haneishi Yumi^?): Seiyū: Atsuko Tanaka; The president of Lyrical Productions, who represent Fancy Lala. She was once married to Kishi, the guitarist of Hiroya Aikawa's band, and has a son named Tappei.

Ririka Kawaguchi (川口理々香, Kawaguchi Ririka^?): Seiyū: Michiko Neya; An employee at Lyrical Productions, and Fancy Lala's manager.

Taro Yoshida (吉田太郎, Yoshida Taro^?): Seiyū: Kappei Yamaguchi; The neighbour and classmate of Miho Shinohara, they often fight, but cares about her. He is also the cousin of Miki Yumeno

Miki Yumeno (夢野美樹, Yumeno Miki^?): Seiyū: Fumie Kusachi; A popular idol, Miki is Fancy Lala's main rival. She is also the cousin of Taro Yoshida.

[edit] Supporting cast

Katsunoshin Asaka (朝霞先生, Asaka-sensei^?): Seiyū: Mitsuru Miyamoto; Miho Shinohara's teacher.

Emiko Kanno (菅野江美子, Kanno Emiko^?): Seiyū: Eiko Kanazawa; An employee at Lyrical Productions.

Komiyama (コミさん, Komi-san^?): Seiyū: Ken Narita; Komiyama is Fancy Lala's stylist. It is hinted in the last episode that he knows more about what is going on than meets the eye.

Anna Nozaki (野崎あんな, Nozaki Anna^?): Seiyū: Mayumi Iizuka; A classmate of Miho Shinohara.

Chisa Shinohara (篠原ちさ, Shinohara Chisa^?): Seiyū: Kyoko Tsuruno; Miho Shinohara's older sister.

Mamiko Shinohara (篠原真実子, Shinohara Mamiko^?): Seiyū: Yoshiko Sakakibara; Miho Shinohara's mother, she works as a TV producer, and is often away from home.

Yoichiro Shinohara (篠原洋一郎, Shinohara Yōichirō^?): Seiyū: Noboru Hoshino; Miho Shinohara's father, he works as a paleontologist, and mostly works at home.

Yoshio (ヨシオ, Yoshio^?): Seiyū: Yuji Ueda; An employee at Lyrical Productions.

Akiru Yuuki (結城あきる, Yūki Akiru^?): Seiyū: Omi Minami; Miho Shinohara's classmate, and closest friend, she dreams of becoming an actress.

[edit] Production

Fancy Lala is a complete remake of an earlier Studio Pierrot OVA titled Harbor Light Monogatari Fashion Lala Yori. It was also influenced by Mahō no Tenshi Creamy Mami, the story of a nine-year-old Japanese girl granted the power to transform who also became an idol.^[1]

[edit] Impact and influence

Although Fancy Lala did not achieve huge success upon release in Japan (Cardcaptor Sakura was on a high and leaving every other magical girl show in its wake), some of its influence can be seen in later series that also failed to achieve massive success. Examples of these would be Chance Pop Session and the more successful Full Moon.

[edit] Internationalization

Fancy Lala was licensed by Bandai Entertainment for English release in 2001,^[2] and dubbed at Blue Water Studios. The series has been released on DVD, but is only distributed in region 1 outside of Japan. The series was also aired across Animax's various international networks worldwide, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and its English-language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia.

A Filipino version was also broadcasted over ABC 5 in the Philippines. It was also licensed and dubbed for Italian release by Merak Film.^[3] In Portugal, Fancy Lala was licensed to Canal Panda, who dubbed it into Portuguese and broadcast it from 2003 to the end of 2004.