REVIEW of:
 Fancy LaLa

     As a magical girl show, I would have to say this one is quite different. Miho Shinohara is a third grader in Japan. One day, she goes to a toy shop and finds two similar dinosaur-like dolls. When she turns her back on them, she hears them talk and immediately looked at them finding nothing special. So she decides not to buy the dolls and puts them back onto the shelf. A while later, she leaves the store, but the clerk stops her and says that she is shoplifting. And without a doubt, the two dinosaurs were stuck to her backpack, their little paws clenching tightly onto her backpack. Of course she does not want them and tries to pull them off but only fails. That's when a mysterious man with glasses and a hat comes up to the storekeeper and pays for the two dolls. Miho then says that she does not want it, but the man just says that she would be better off keeping the two dolls. Then on the way home, she realizes that she had seen the man in one of her dreams. Who was he? And what did he mean when he said that she would be better off with the two stuffed dinosaurs. . . .   - Sasami

-Quick Scale- (click here for the details on scoring)
  10 = EXCELLENT!!
   5 = Average
   0 = TERRIBLE!!

Kiwi-san
(info)
Sasami-san
(info)
Ari-chan
(info)
Artistry 7 10  
Character
Development
6 9  
Clarity 5 9  
Plot &
Storyline
6 8  
Style 6 8
Comments Don't let the Overall score of 6 fool you, I enjoyed this anime very much. But if you're looking for something revolutionary or ground-breaking, this just isn't it. The plot is fun and involving, but nothing new. I do like the characters, though. Pigu and Mogu (the two dinosaurs) are always fun to watch, though I can't see how anything could eat that much. Heh. And the mysterious man that keeps popping up is also intriguing. And , of course, just keeping up with both of LaLa's lives is also neat. Watch how LaLa handles her childhood life in school etc. and then watch as she tries to advance her professional career... it is perhaps a little unbelieveable at times (sometimes she acts more "grown-up" than I would expect from a kid) but nothing major. I haven't watched *too* far into the series, but from the later episodes (around 10 or so) it starts to get a little repetitive... perhaps a more substantial plot is involved in later episodes which I haven't seen, which would be nice. On the whole, I would have to agree with Sasami-san about LaLa being different from most magical girl shows... it is. And it is well done, too... If you enjoy light anime, nothing too heavy or too involving, then I say that LaLa is worth your time. Uhh...another one. Yup, you heard me another magical girl anime series. If I got a buck from every magical girl anime shows, I'd be really rich by now. Anyway, Fancy Lala, as you guessed, is another magical girl show. However, this one is quite different from the rest of the other magical shows. In the "ordinary" magical girl shows, the girls usually have magical powers which they may transform themselves and use their magical powers to destroy their enemies. But in Fancy Lala, it's well. . . . kind of different. Instead of using magical powers to transform and destroy enemies, Lala, the main character can transform herself to become several years older than herself. Because of this I thought that this made this magical girl different from all the other ones.

As for the plot, very very original and as well as funny. And once in a while even a bit of mystery, a rarity in magical girl shows! The art was also very good. I really enjoyed the way how the personalities were very fitting for the people as well as the realism of how they acted when they're emotions changed. For example, when a character was embarrased, their cheeks would turn red. Typical drawing right? Well, even more than that. I also noticed that the character's shoulders slightly drooped, their eyes would be slightly smaller, and their speech would be stuttered or impaired. From this, I believe the people that wrote made this put a lot of effort into just paying attention to the little details.

With such details in the art, a definite plus was the character development making the characters even better and much more realistic. This show, as far as I have seen, has no contradictory charateristics. In fact, this is the type of show where the more you watch, the more you learn about the characters. For example, after just watching several episodes, I was beginning to get a feel for the characters and pretty soon I could even guess how the characters would act in different situations based on past experiences. Although some of the characters reactions could be predicted, that did not spoil anything nor did it make the shows boring. Every once in a while something new or surprising would happen allowing you to learn even more about the characters. Without a doubt, the characters in Fancy Lala are definitely well developed, almost like real life models drawn in anime style.

All together, Fancy Lala is something I would recommend to as many people as I could. The storyline came together perfectly with a easily understood plot. Along with that, the plot every once in a while has some new and surprising events making this story almost unpredictible. This is a must get, even if you dislike most magical girl shows. In fact, it may actually change your mind about these types of shows. Why? Well, because this show is so different from other magical girls shows which are all really the same except the characters and details are different. Instead of just killing monsters every episode without a real plot, there is actually a DEFINITE and SIGNIFICANT storyline in this series. Afer just watching several episodes, I actually began to unconsciously relate the some of the events in this story to real life situations. Also, it gave me that urge where I wanted to keep watching episode after episode nonstop. Anyway, unless you're really one of those people who'll fall asleep if you aren't watching something with action all the time, this series is a must see.

 
OVERALL 6 9  

TOTAL OVERALL RATING = 8- (7.5)

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