First of all I must say that I'm not into maho-shoujo series, that's why Fancy Lala was a big discovery for me. It's oriented on mature themes and not some almighty little girls what's common in such type of animes. Fancy Lala is definitely among underrated shows. It's not a wonder if we take first, misleading episode into consideration. At first I thought about dropping it too, but fortunately I haven't.
Story: The story envolves around girl called Miho.With help of magical dinosaurs she posseses power to transform into teenage beauty. We see adult problems from 9-year-old girl's point of view. She is able to carry out both Idol job and at the same time remain normal school girl. The story is a big development for Miho, we see her handling different situations. It's just irresistable not to love that excellent character. A weak girl grows into one of the strongest female lead.
What I don't like about story is that we don't really get any explanations about those magical powers, how did those dinosaurs appear or disappear. However it doesn't really matter. Those dinosaurs serverd their purpose and that's the main thing.
Characters: One of the strongest thing in Fancy Lala is the character development. Every one of them is flashed out very well and their problems never feel out of place or contrived. I mostly loved how they facialy expressed everything and not with some generic dialogues. Obviously Miho is the stand out. I was blown away with her behavior after Lala's disappearing by the end of the series. How a little girl feels guilty and apogoizes to the agency members. That moment was very well-done. It's the result of the whole build-up. Yea, Miho has grown up!
Art/Ost: Great animation. It really helped out with expressing those emotions. Also the character design is simple and appealing. Transformation sequences look average as well. Same must be said about the ost, which is propitious to the subtle drama moments.
This is my first anime review. That in itself is a testament to the degree to which I'm impressed by this series. Don't be fooled, as I was, by the rather mundane description. I've seen nothing else, anime or otherwise, so simultaneously fun, touching and slightly profound. I really enjoyed with it and especially the ending which was truly fair and original.
