Fancy Lala
Bandai DVD
Review
by
: Matt
McConnel
There
are many genres of anime. Some appeal to the American audience
more than others. For example, there is the so-called magical
girl/boy genre of which both Sailor Moon and Ronin Warriors
are examples. These tend to do rather well in the states.
Then there is the pop idol type which details the rise of
a nobody to the heights of stardom. Up until recently, only
one had really made it to release by one of the major companies,
and this was Manga's Perfect Blue, a rather disturbing and
deprecating variation on the pop idol theme. Fancy Lala combines
these two rather disparate stocks into a very imaginative
blend. Odd at time, Lala is nevertheless worthwhile.
Miho is
a third grade student. She has a teenage sister who she is
always in the shadow of, and her parents, though loving, are
usually very wrapped up in their work. One day she has a dream,
an odd dream in which she is a girl in a primitive village
and she meets a man who is dressed in modern clothes. Then
giant dinosaurs attack the villiage and the dream ends. Coming
home from school the following day she visits a shop, and
as she is leaving there are two little toys that are clinging
to her backpack. The shop owner accuses her of stealing, but
then the man from her dream is there, pays for the dolls,
and leaves just as abruptly. The toys later reveal themselves
as fairies of a dinosaur nature from the World.
On the
surface, the story is Miho and her coping with the magic of
the pen and pad, the subtext is perhaps far more interesting.
While one is hard pressed to call Fancy Lala a coming of age
story, it nevertheless deals with much the same idea; the
series is Miho's growth into adulthood and the adult world,
albeit premature, and all the vagaries that new world contains.
The metaphor is really quite beautiful, and permeates the
story. She is constantly assaulted by the new adult world,
and while she can briefly retreat into her childhood, she
has to go back to being Lala because it is who she is becoming
and she really does like it. Who wouldn't want to wave a wand
and become a television star/model/rock star? This is perhaps
reading things a little deep, but the idea is there and does
not let go. Fancy Lala really plays off of one's, and I really
am loath to use the term, inner child.
For some
reason the show is compelling. It is a pop idol with magical
girl. Yet, it works. Somehow. The makes itself worthwhile
through an odd blend of mystery, childish charm, and honesty.
There is genuine empathy for Miho as she is thrust into an
alien world that she desires, and at the same time does not
understand.
Email
Matt, our resident anime guru, here.
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