Hana no Ko Lunlun

Hana no Ko Lunlun (花の子ルンルン), translated to English as The Flower Child Lunlun and Lulu, The Flower Angel  is a magical girl manga by Shiro Jinbo, focusing on a theme of flowers in its stories. It was adapted into an anime by Toei Animation in 1979, and the anime was greatly successful in the West, particularly in Europe and in Latin America, as well as in Japan. An edited English-language dub of a few episodes titled Angel also made this series one of, if not the first, magical girl anime works to reach the United States, well over a decade before Sailor Moon.

A movie adaptation, Hana no Ko Runrun Konnichiwa Sakura no Sono was released in March 1980.

Story
Long ago, plant spirits and fairy-like creatures lived in harmony with mankind, but gradually humans began to rise toward greed and cruelty and the plant spirits immigrated to another world they dubbed the "Flower Star". However, their legacy remained in people who truly knew the meaning of love and kindness. A talking dog and cat pair, Nubo and Cato, were sent to Earth to find one such person to find a magical flower, the symbol of the Flower Star's ruling family, so that a new ruler could ascend the throne.

In France they meet LunLun, a young orphan who lives with her grandparents who own a flower shop. In Lunlun's 15th birthday party, they ask Lunlun to join them, and she accepts. They travel all over Europe in search of the flower, helping people every step of the way.

Lunlun, Nubo and Cato are followed by a bumbling pair of villains, the selfish fairy Togenishia and her servant Boris, who want to steal the flower and rule the Flower Star. Whenever Lunlun and her friends attempt to help people, Togenishia and Boris try to get them back on the road by force, only to fail. They're also aided by Serge, a mysterious photographer who gives the people Lunlun helps packets of flower seeds which symbolize the lesson they've learned in the "language of flowers." For instance, thistles, which signify independence, when the son of a farmer vows to follow his own dreams and leave home.

These people all send flower seeds to Lunlun's grandfather, and in the end the magical flower is found growing in his garden from the kindness of all the people. The photographer turns out to be the prince of the Flower Star, but secedes the throne to his younger brother so he can live on Earth and marry Lunlun.

Lunlun is gifted at the start of the series with a magical pin from the King of the Flower Planet. This pin, when a flower is reflected in its mirror gives Lunlun a new outfit fit for the purpose, such as mountain climbing. About halfway through the series, the pin is broken when Lunlun falls from a branch overhanging a waterfall whilst trying to attract attention after being caught in the Dark Wind, Togenishia's main form of attack). Whilst she is lost in the river, a new pin is given to her in the shape of the royal crest, with the warning that if it is ever lost or broken, her life on Earth will end and she will be unable to return to the Flower Planet. The words to activate this pin are "Fu Flay Lu Fey Lora".

Notable differences
In ZIV International's feature-length English-dubbed adaptation of the series (titled simply Angel and made up of bits of various episodes) - Angel (Lunlun), Lily (Cato), Periwinkle (Nubo), the villains were Princess Wysteria and Ragweed, and the Prince was Stefan. In the two-episode release the dog and cat were named Cathy and Wendel, and the villains were named Malicia and Ivan.
 * Character name variations

In other European dub versions, Lunlun's name was easily Westernized into "Lulu," "Lily" or "Lydia," or other variations thereof.

The largest difference falls between the English movie and the original series. In the movie, Angel/Lunlun goes to Lumia where she learns she is to marry the prince. The King relents and lets her return to Earth to her family and Stefan -although you see her in the coach with a Prince who doesn't look the same as the one she was supposed to marry. In the original series, the King passes the crown to his youngest son (in the English movie you only ever see one prince), Stefan's brother.
 * English movie and original series

International titles

 * Flower Angel (English dub, U.K.; produced by Harmony Gold/Ziv International)
 * Angel (English dub, U.S.; produced by ZIV International)
 * Angel e a flor de 7 cores (Portuguese dub (Brazil))
 * Ángel, la niña de las flores (Spanish dub (Latin America))
 * Le tour de monde de Lydie (French dub)
 * Lulu, la chica de las flores or En busca de la flor magica (Spanish dub)
 * Lulu l'angelo tra i fiori (Italian dub)
 * Ейнджъл — детето на цветята (Bulgarian dub)
 * Lidia in jurul lumii (Romanian dub)
 * Лулу — ангел цветов (Russian dub)
 * Lili, a virágangyal (Hungarian dub)
 * Lulu, the Flower Girl (Indonesian sub)
 * Lulu (Filipino dub)
 * Saosan, Al Zahrah Al Jamilah (سوسن، الزهرة الجميلة) (Arabic dub)
 * Lulu i cudowny kwiat (Polish lector)
 * Çiçek Kız (Turkish dub)
 * 花仙子 (Mandarin dub)
 * Zehavit (זהבית) (Hebrew dub)
 * สาวน้อยแองเจิ้ล (Sao noi Angel) (Thai dub)