Fancy Lala: Bits and Pieces

In the shadow of Cardcaptor Sakura lies a maho-shoujo series called "Fancy Lala" [1]. Unless you've had a strong dose of shoujo in the past, I recommend staying away from this series. Otherwise, please read on.

The TV series opens in the neolithic era where a young girl meets a strange middle aged man and then escapes an attack from a pair of towering saurian monsters. The attack becomes dream for a dreamy third grader named Shinohara Miho. She draws manga and dreams of fame. In an early scene, Miho buys screen tone, which is cut out and glued to a drawing as shading. The young protagonist also bears an uncanny resemblance to Fukuzawa Yumi from "Maria-sama ga Miteru" or Mihama Chiyo from "Azumanga Daioh".

Miho & Lala

Miho meets the strange man from the neolithic era again and receives a pair of plush toys as a gift. Once home the plushies come to life and give the girl a magical board that can create clothes for her and transform her into her older alter ego Fancy Lala. Lala is discovered in a fashionable sector of Tokyo by a talent agency and begins her adventures in the world of show business.

My first, second, and third reason for watching this series were (ranked in order of importance)

1. TAKADA AKEMI
Lala again

2. TAKADA AKEMI
Ayukawa Madoka from "Kimagure Orange Road"

3. TAKADA AKEMI
Painting called Moon on her Pierrot website

Her character designs captured a following during the eighties with "KOR" and "Maison Ikkoku". Her depictions of women are often beautiful, sometimes sensual [2], but always evocative. In "Patlabor", her designs brought the misfits of the SVII to life.

As for the series itself, the first episodes are spent setting up the series. While they look quite good, the plot and dialogue do not stand out. The end is open and leaves the audience with a sense of loss. The middle episodes have some gold nuggets.

During a publicity shoot, Lala's gay make-up artist [3] tells her that adolescents on the cusp of growing-up can become sensitive to what they loose by leaving childhood behind. A later episode explores this idea when she remembers a teddy bear that she discarded as a child. These scenes are directed at the adults and contrasts Miho the child and Lala the grown-up. They remind me of the theme of growing-up in Pokemon, when Ash let Pikachu choose whether he wants to evolve to his next stage or not. There are other instances when Ash bucks the conventional wisdom other trainers and let his Pokemon grows-up the way that they wanted, which is a metaphor for children growing-up. In both series, the moments were sparse, but welcome.

The clock episode, the student teacher, and some of the other episodes display noteworthy animation with creative camera angles and direction. However, the overall series does not rise much beyond have good scenes and episodes to appeal to a larger audience. If you want to see old school character designs and animation, this is a good one to check out. Give this one a pass otherwise.

As a side note, the Italian opening [4] is ridiculously good.

[1] summary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fancy_Lala
[2] As opposed to the loli trends that are in demand these days.
[3] I am not making Komi-san up.
[4] The Italian versions are sung by Christina Avena.

Ashita no Ou-sama (Tomorrow's King)

The fan group Wingtip Cafe recently translated Yachi Emiko's "Ashita no Ou-sama". This work dates from 1996 [1] and follows a Japanese Literature student Sasaya Yuu. Yuu is a country bumpkin and stands out from her modish classmates. The story starts out when Yuu sees a live theater production for the first time, which ignites her passion for drama.

The art work is distinct from most of the character designs put out today, but doesn't feel dated. The author also has a great eye for detail. Yuu wears neat and conservative clothes. She also uses the postal system [2] instead of credit cards. I've read up to volume 1 chapter 3, which is all that's out, and this is a well paced and well drawn series with an appealing main character.

My older brother made some observation, which I am fleshing out.

1. There parallels between Yuu and Kitajima Maya from "Glass Mask" [3]. Yuu is a hick [4] and Maya starts out as dirt poor. Her mother is a helper at a noodle shop in the Yokohama Chinatown. During the early part of "Glass Mask", they board in the upper level of the noodle shop. Both young woman are strangers in a strange land in modern Tokyo.

Maya's passion for drama ignited when she saw a professional production of "La Traviata". Yuu similarly started by going to the theater. Yuu also shows an uncanny talent for drama, though she is more of a theoretician to Maya's acting talent. With their passion ignited both women also take the next step toward acting: joining a troupe. Both naive women stumble, uninvited and derided, at the doorstep of major troupes.

The structures of the stories sharply diverge as Yuu helps out at a small amateur troop. It seems to be more modest than Maya's frontal assault on the national stage in "Glass Mask".

They also come into the acting world cold and attempt to apply to experience acting troops that are way out of their league. Where Maya is discovered by the mysterious Tsukikage, Yuu starts out modestly in a small acting troupe.

The parallels are noticeable, but do not detract from the story. As an outsider, it is actually refreshing tag along with a fellow outsider into Tokyo college life.

2. "Ashita no Ou-sama" is also a throwback to mangas when shoujo heroines strove for a non-romantic goal like contemporary shounen heroes. More shoujo stories seem like Lovely Complex, where Risa pursues Otani and gives little thought to her own future. In "Glass Mask" and "Swan" [5], the passionate protagonists pursue their life dreams.

Compare this to "Fushigi Yuugi" (FY) and "Marmalade Boy" (MB), where the boy pursuit takes up most of the story. In Saboten no Himitsu", the main character changes her entire appearance to attract a boy and the pursuit takes up most of the story.

This theme of pursuing a goal (versus a guy) also marks the NHK anime series "Princess Nine" (baseball) and "Twin Spica" (astronaut). The trials usually leads to a stronger and distinct female lead than say Miaka (FY) or Miki (MB) and is a refreshing change of pace. My brother has a harsher opinion of the contrast.


I almost skipped this manga, because of the strong parallels to "Glass Mask". The similarities don't detract from "Ashita no Ou-sama", which stands well on its own two feet. I look forward to reading more of this quality work.

= = = =

[1] http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=11368

[2] Before the reforms being rolled out by the Diet in 2007, the Japanese postal system also stored and transferred money like Western Union and private banks in America. This will be broken into several companies, including what will become one of the largest banks in the world.

[3] Miuchi Suzue's classic manga that started in the '70s about girl who gave up everything to be an actress. http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=260

[4] Since Yuu is so out of touch with fashion, she is probably from inland Tohaku (think Kikuchi Yume from Someday's Dreamers). Shikoku is another area with a hick reputation, but is associated with fishers and the sea, which do not appear in Yuu's background.

[5] Ariyoshi Kyoko's manga about an aspiring ballet dancer. This also from the 70s. It is released by CMX. http://www.dccomics.com/cmx/?action=on_sale&i=2419