Hayami Pelsia is an 11-year old girl who has had a very unusual childhood - she grew up on the Saranghetti plains in Africa! As a little girl, she made friends with twin boys, Riki and Gaku, whose grandfather also raised Pelsia. Now, they are all moving back to Japan so that Pelsia can live with her adopted parents. Pelsia is excited, but also very sad. She has lots of animal friends on the Saranghetti, especially Simba, her pet lion, and she doesn't want to say good-bye to all of them. During the plane trip back to Japan, something very mysterious happens - suddenly, the plane seems to hit a pocket of bad weather, and Pelsia finds herself in a strange place filled with bubble-spheres and snowflake crystals! Pelsia-chan isn't really scared - she has a natural curiousity, and an adventurous spirit (after all, she grew up on the Saranghetti! ^_^)
However, she IS rather surprised when three little kappas appear and introduce themselves as GeraGera, MesoMeso, and PuriPuri (PuriPuri is a girl-kappa ^_^). They explain to Pelsia that she's in the land of "Lovely Dream", the source of dreams for all people. The "bubbles" are actually the raw stuff that creates dreams! She's even more surprised when a ethereal figure appears before her - it's the Fairy Queen, ruler of Lovely Dream!
|
|
|
|
The Fairy Queen gives Pelsia a magical hairband - when Pelsia says "Papuriko!", the hairband will produce a magical wand! The wand will allow Pelsia to use the magic "Energy of Love" to transform into older, alternate identities when she recites, "Peruku Love-rin, Kuru Kuru-rin Kuru!", as well as do some other small magics. The Queen explains that Lovely Dream needs strong Love Energy like Pelsia's to survive; it is slowly freezing into ice crystals as people forget love.
The Queen noticed Pelsia's Love Energy because of her strong feelings for Gaku and Riki - naturally, she has a huge crush on both of them. The two boys love Pelsia very much - she's their little sister! However, they never notice how much more she cares about them, and she could NEVER tell them her feelings.
As Pelsia learns to use her magical abilities, she makes a very disturbing discovery - the twins like her alternate identity! Actually, they like her alternate self a LOT! This isn't too unusual, since they are the most popular boys at school, too.
Of course, since Riki has a girlfriend named Sayo, this attention isn't necessarily healthy. Sayo-chan packs quite a punch, and isn't opposed to clobbering Riki when she catches him looking at other girls! The truth is, though, that Sayo-chan is very fond of Riki, and can't really bear the thought of being without him. She's a nice girl - just don't get her mad at you! ^_^
Mahou No Yousei Pelsia was he second of the four famous Studio Pierrot magical girl shows of the mid-80's (along with Creamy Mami, Magical Emi, and Pastel Yumi) and was first broadcast in 1984. It has been rerun many times since then. Despite this, Pelsia is perhaps the least well-known of the four girls. I think this is a shame, because Pelsia is one of the most unique magical girl stories ever created, and one of the most touching. For one thing (as you can see) Pelsia has more mascots than any other majoko I've ever seen! She needs them, too - she has many problems to resolve, and she needs all the help she can get.
Pelsia-chan must struggle with helping other people as well as her own problems, plus complications that arise from her magic. She suffers several identity crises during this story - just who IS she, anyway? This is the question that Pelsia must answer... and it's the same question that plagues most adolescents.
Mahou No Yousei Pelsia reveals its secrets slowly. The story has a tendency to "sneak up" on the viewer. In fact, it uses many of the standard mahou shoujo elements from different perspectives, but it does it in such a way that you won't be aware of it while you are watching - it only occurs to you if you reflect upon what you just saw. This is one of the trademarks of a very well-written story... it makes us think, and feel. Pelsia will touch your heart.
