Fancy Lala

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. 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.

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.

Main cast

 * Miho Shinohara (篠原 みほ) / Fancy Lala (ファンシーララ)
 * 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 though her parents nor sister knows about this.
 * 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 though her parents nor sister knows about this.


 * Mogu (モグ)
 * Voiced by: Michiko Neya (Japanese), Chris Simms (English)
 * A pink dinosaur who accompanies Miho Shinohara.


 * Pigu (ピグ)
 * A blue dinosaur who accompanies Miho Shinohara.
 * A blue dinosaur who accompanies Miho Shinohara.


 * Mystery Man (不思議さん)
 * A mysterious person who gave Miho Shinohara Pigu and Mogu. He often advises Miho/Fancy Lala.
 * A mysterious person who gave Miho Shinohara Pigu and Mogu. He often advises Miho/Fancy Lala.


 * Hiroya Aikawa (相川 ひろや)
 * A popular idol, Hiroya is Miho Shinohara's love-interest, and Fancy Lala's mentor.
 * A popular idol, Hiroya is Miho Shinohara's love-interest, and Fancy Lala's mentor.


 * Yumi Haneishi (羽根石 由美)
 * 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.
 * 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)
 * (Japanese)
 * An employee at Lyrical Productions, and Fancy Lala's manager.


 * Taro Yoshida (吉田 太郎)
 * The neighbour and classmate of Miho Shinohara, they often fight (often like an old married couple), but cares about her. He is also the cousin of Miki Yumeno. He seems to have a romantic interest in Miho.
 * The neighbour and classmate of Miho Shinohara, they often fight (often like an old married couple), but cares about her. He is also the cousin of Miki Yumeno. He seems to have a romantic interest in Miho.


 * Miki Yumeno (夢野 美樹)
 * A popular idol, Miki is Fancy Lala's main rival. She is also the cousin of Taro Yoshida.
 * A popular idol, Miki is Fancy Lala's main rival. She is also the cousin of Taro Yoshida.

Supporting cast

 * Katsunoshin Asaka (朝霞 勝之進)
 * Miho Shinohara's teacher.
 * Miho Shinohara's teacher.


 * Emiko Kanno (菅野 江美子)
 * An employee at Lyrical Productions.
 * An employee at Lyrical Productions.


 * Komiyama (コミさん)
 * 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.
 * 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)
 * (Japanese)
 * A classmate of Miho Shinohara.


 * Chisa Shinohara (篠原 ちさ)
 * Miho Shinohara's older sister.
 * Miho Shinohara's older sister.


 * Mamiko Shinohara (篠原 真実子)
 * Miho Shinohara's mother, she works as a TV producer, and is often away from home.
 * Miho Shinohara's mother, she works as a TV producer, and is often away from home.


 * Yoichiro Shinohara (篠原 洋一郎)
 * Miho Shinohara's father, he works as a paleontologist, and mostly works at home.
 * Miho Shinohara's father, he works as a paleontologist, and mostly works at home.


 * Yoshio (ヨシオ)
 * An employee at Lyrical Productions.
 * An employee at Lyrical Productions.


 * Akiru Yuuki (結城 あきる)
 * (Japanese)
 * Miho Shinohara's classmate, and closest friend, she dreams of becoming an actress.

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.

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.

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.

Impact and influence
Although Fancy Lala did not achieve huge success upon release in Japan (Cardcaptor Sakura dominated the magical girl genre at the time and provided little opportunity for other magical girl anime to have much of an impact), 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 o Sagashite.

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 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. In Portugal, Fancy Lala was licensed to Canal Panda, who dubbed it into Portuguese and broadcast it from 2003 to the end of 2004.

The manga is also available in Italian.