Some of you may be wondering why all the fuss for a single TV show? Aren't there better ones? What is it about this one show that justifies spending so much time and energy on it? Of course, there are my personal preferences- I love the magical girl genre. Often they have so much potential, but get bogged down in formula- monsters of the day, frilly costumes, half-baked romantic plots. To see a gentle sweet show that knows where it is going, and pulls out the best of the genre was a real experience for me. This was in 2000, I believe, so I hadn?t seen Prêtear. That show is also exemplary, using magical girl trappings to share a powerful story with the audience. However, that show has bishounen, so the fan girl brigade should be yapping about it shortly.

The real charm of Fancy Lala is not in the magical trappings, but in the story of a girl. She's a normal school girl, a bit shy. She has believable problems- a boy at school bugs her, appearing in front of the whole class scares her, a girl is a bit mean to her. The writers did well in not trying to make Miho a role model. She may be a 'genki' (i.e. cheerful, healthy) young girl, but that doesn't stop her from being a bit frivolous and shallow. Her daydreams are simple- fame, a date with Hiroya Aikawa, maybe shopping with 2000 yen. I can really see a child with such dreams. When making a show about young children, the worst thing to do is to forget what it was like to be a child. Everyone will kill me for this, but this is one of the reasons I don't like Card Captor Sakura as much as most people do. It's a fantasy within a fantasy. All Sakura's friends are squeaky-clean kids, with none of the mischief and interplay of Lala's kids. Tarou and Miho bicker, Akiru-chan worries about acting in the nude, and Anna makes snide remarks. I get the feeling that childhood has not been forgotten here.

The fantastic element is also dealt with well. Lala becomes an unlikely idol, but this element is pretty down to earth. In Creamy Mami, there?s one TV appearance and that's it- she's a star. Of course, Mami is more of a magical and comedic show to Lala's more realistic take on idoldom. Sure, it's not a documentary on the careers of idols, but for a young audience, this is pretty nice. Hard work is required to become an idol- there's time away from friends, power struggles, and fierce competition- you can hardly catch a cold in that business.

Did I mention the relatabilty? There is a reason that many magical girl shows use an 'airhead' archetype. It's short hand for 'she's a normal girl, not an invincible hero, relate to her' It can be done well, like Usagi in SM- sure she was a bit airheaded, but her other qualities such as a warm heart and a caring spirit more than made up for it. There are multitudes of bad examples- one-dimensional girls who have nothing going for them outside of a superficial layer of cute. The genki girl is also an archetype, but by being fleshed out, Miho transcends the archetype, much like Usagi. Maybe her struggles aren't epic, but they don't leave her as a cipher either.

Of course, I like the quiet warmth of the show also. So many shows seem to need to push their gimmicks in your face, trying to be the show with the most maids or explosions or non-sequitors. Fancy Lala seems to have a bit more confidence in its material, magical girl or no. Even the gimmick part works within the show; by showing us how people relate to both Miho and Lala- the differences reveal their character in a realistic manner. This show is about character, so it has a strength that others lack as they get hung up on diversions.

Lala also goes to the heart of the genre, where it derives its' strength. It's about growing up, not just in the transformation of adolescence but in other ways too. I?m reminded of a scene in episode ten, I believe. Komi-san is brushing Lala's hair and talking about how during a girl's adolescence, there is a period in which she is wondering about things she can no longer remember. This whole scene really underlined the special feelings of a girl becoming an adult. That's really what this show is about- through Lala, Miho gets to become an adult, but since this is wish fulfillment, she also gets to go back and be a child again. It's the strangeness of being both at once that gives us our story. Most all shoujo stories are about this sensitive period in a girl's life when she's becoming an adult. Sure, they cover it with monsters of the day and bishounen, but at their heart that's they are about. This show has heart to go on for miles, and that's why I love it.