It seems that animeondvd.com is having a contest in which one can win five volumes of the Fancy Lala series. Long time readers of this blog may note that I like this series. It's a good magical girl series, but not if you're a fan of monster of the day stories or other obvious anime tricks. Instead of being a wacky story, it tries to be a good story, and succeeds, mostly. It's a good mix of fantasy elements and reality. Fantasy elements include the fact that there is magic that causes one to be able to obtain a older form anyway, and that she was discovered at all(through a very very lucky accident). Real elements involve the fact that stardom is hard work, your friends aren't going to suddenly be happy about you bailing on them all the time, and life's tough just as a little kid.

Also, the fantasy elements actually enrich the story. Many times in magical girl shows there seems to be a bit of separation. There is a part of the show where the girl interacts with her family and friends, and then there is a part where she uses her powers and there is fighting and excitement. Lala is a helper magical girl show, so her powers tend to help smooth over situations in her life, rather than to conquer an outside force.

I believe that Lala is the first helper style magical girl show in the states. This of course leads to novel misunderstandings. However, I think it's great that we have such variety now. A few years ago, the idea that a shoujo show would come out was shocking.