Fancy Lala, known in Japan as Fancy Lala, the Magic Stage (魔法のステージ・ファンシーララ), is a magical girl anime series produced by Studio Pierrot in 1998, following an OVA released in 1988. 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 Studio Pierrot series of the 1980s. The anime series was licensed for English release by Bandai Entertainment with a dub produced in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada by Blue Water Studios which was owned by Ocean Productions in Vancouver. This was the last magical girl anime Pierrot produced by Pierrot prior to Tokyo Mew Mew in 2002.

Plot summary

One day, a 9-year-old elementary schoolgirl named Miho Shinohara is given two stuffed dinosaurs by an unnamed stranger. The stuffed dinosaurs come to life and they 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. One day, Lala is scouted by Yumi Haneishi, the president of the talent agency Lyrical Productions, and begins the long road to stardom.

Characters

Main cast

Supporting cast

Production

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

Harbor Light Story Fashion Lala Yori

The original OVA was very different than the final series, being a retelling of Cinderella. In it, the heroine, Miho, a little girl who dreams of being a fashion designer, lives with her aunt and three cousins while her father is away on business. The aunt, who runs a dress shop, exploits Miho's dependence and makes her perform deliveries on her bike, while spoiling her own daughters. Of the three, the two oldest are cruel and mock Miho's dreams, but the youngest is nice to her. A local disco is holding a contest to find the next "Disco Queen." Miho is too young to enter, but decides to design a dress for her cousin. When the aunt finds out, she rips up the dress. After everyone leaves, two fairies take pity on Miho and transform her into "Fashion Lala," a sixteen-year-old blonde, so she can enter the contest herself. While performing, Miho's outfit changes into her previous designs, and it seems that she wins. At the end, she returns to a happy life with her father and her two oldest cousins apologized to Miho for being cruel to her and mocking her dreams for no reason. The heroine being named Miho and the two fairies, as well as the concept of an "evil cousin", were the only things retained for the final series.

Episode list

Internationalization

Fancy Lala was licensed by Bandai Entertainment for English release in 2001, and dubbed at Blue Water Studios. The series has been released on DVD, but is only distributed in region 1 outside Japan.