Lalabel, the Magical Girl

Lalabel
Cover of the 1st DVD box
魔法少女ララベル (Mahō Shōjo Raraberu)
Genre	Magical girl
Anime television series
Directed by	Hiroshi Shidara (chief director)
Written by	Masaki Tsuji, Hirohisa Soda, Noboru Shiroyama, Tomoko Konparu, Toyohiro Ando
Music by	Taku Izumi
Studio	Toei Animation
Original network	TV Asahi
Original run	February 15, 1980 – February 27, 1981
Episodes	49
Anime television film
Magical Girl Lalabel: The Sea Calls for a Summer Vacation
Directed by	Hiroshi Shidara
Studio	Toei Animation
Released	July 12, 1980
Runtime	15 minutes

Lalabel, The Magical Girl (魔法少女ララベル, Mahō Shōjo Raraberu) is a magical girl anime television series by Toei Animation. It aired from 15 February 1980 to 27 February 1981 on TV Asahi.

A 15-minute film called Magical Girl Lalabel: The Sea Calls for a Summer Vacation (魔法少女ララベル 海が呼ぶ夏休み, Mahō Shōjo Raraberu: Umi ga Yobu Natsuyatsumi) was released in Japan on July 12, 1980.

Story

Lalabel is a magical girl who lives happily in the magic world, until the day she sees the thief Biscus stealing all the magic tools. Startled by her sudden appearance, Biscus swings his magic wand around with dismay. They fall into the human world under the influence of the wand's magic power. Unconscious, Lalabel is found by an elderly couple, the Tachibanas. They take her home, and upon finding out that she is an orphan, decide to let her stay with them. Lalabel decides to stay until she can capture Biscus. She attends school with Teko, the granddaughter of the Tachibanas, and Toko. She slowly develops a sense of humor and pathos, and finds herself falling in love. Whenever Lalabel sees Biscus performing his bad deeds, she has to stop him and writes proverbs related to the events of the day in her diary.

In the human world, Lalabel discovers fascinating aspects of human beings and finds herself happy there. In the last episode, after the last battle between Lalabel and Biscus, both magic cases are emptied of magic items and vanish, rendering both of them completely human. The villains reform and promise not to bother Lalabel or any of her friends anymore.

Characters

• Lalabel - The main character, a magical girl from the magic world. One night, while she is sleeping, her magical items wake her up, and she sees Biscus stealing two magical briefcases. After being pulled to Earth by Biscus, she is adopted by the Tachibanas and decides to stay until she returns home.
• Biscus - A very fat thief and the main antagonist. He stole two magical briefcases from the magical realm Lalabel lived in, but after being surprised by Lalabel, he transports the two of them to Earth, losing one of the briefcases in the process. While on Earth, he shacks up with a ramen stand owner, Hokiba, who is as greedy and nasty as himself. He tries to swindle people with his (stolen) magic powers while trying to steal Lalabel's briefcase. He has a grey cat as nasty and horrid as himself.
• The Tachibanas - The kind old couple who let Lalabel stay with them. Mrs. Tachibana is the typical kindly grandmother figure, and made Lalabel's signature pink dress. Mr. Tachibana is cynical and does not like magic. After Lalabel saves him from drowning, he starts to warm up to her and her magic. He is the one who comes up with the proverbs Lalabel writes.
• Teko - The granddaughter of the Tachibanas and Lalabel's friends, who lives with her grandparents due to her parents working overseas.
• Toko - One of Lalabel and Teko's friends.
• Hokiba - Biscus' sidekick.
• Tsubomi - The rich girl in Lalabel, Teko, and Toko's class. She has a snobbish attitude towards Teko and Toko and uses her privilege to get her way. Lalabel saved her from being hit by her father's construction vehicles that were ignoring a sidewalk Lalabel and her friends use to get to school.

Theme songs

The opening theme Hello Lalabel and the ending theme Mahou Shōjo Lalabel are sung by Mitsuko Horie.

External links

• Lalabel Official website from Toei Animation (in Japanese)
• Lalabel, the Magical Girl (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia