Hanazono Yumi is a young girl who's not too good with schoolwork, but who loves to draw pictures! In fact, Yumi-chan hopes to grow up to be a manga artist, someday! (^_^) Yumi-chan is a very good artist for her age. Of course, sometimes she doesn't use the best judgement when choosing her subjects...
For example, the day of the Flower Festival, she's entertaining the other kids by drawing portraits of the Lady Fukurokouji-san on the wall outside her mansion. As punishment, Fukurokouji-san makes Yumi-chan clean the entire wall! Yumi resigns herself to this, but is distracted in the middle of the task by a flower that Fukurokouji-san is about to destroy (it's a dandelion! ^_-)
Yumi-chan's parents run a flower shop - her father has always had a talent with plants, and has taught her to love & respect them. She takes the dandelion to a poppy field and plants it... when suddenly, she hears two voices speaking to her! The voices belong to Kakimaru & Keshimaru, two flower elves who have come to the Human World to grant Yumi-chan special powers!
The two elves give Yumi-chan a magical wand and locket made from poppy blossoms. If Yumi draws something in mid-air with her wand, and recites the phrase, "Pastel Poppuru Poppin-pa!", whatever she drew will become REAL! The magic will only last for short time... but Yumi-chan thinks this is just wonderful!
Since Yumi-chan is late to the Flower Festival celebrations, she uses her magic to create a horse. The two elves point out that a pegasus would be faster, so they "enhance" her creation. ^_^ Yumi-chan can only marvel at her new powers... she never imagined that the stuff she drew could ever become REAL!
Yumi's father has a wonderful entry for the contest during the Festival; a wonderful life-size doll wearing a pretty flowers from their shop! Unfortunately, Yumi-chan accidently ruins the doll prior to the contest. She feels terrible about this, so... she uses her magic to make another dress, and models it, herself!
Mahou No Idol Pastel Yumi was the fourth of the four famous Studio Pierrot magical girls (with Creamy Mami, Pelsia, and Magical Emi). The show first aired in 1985, and has been rerun since then. Despite the fact that Yumi-chan was the most recent of the four girls, she's also one of the hardest to find. Mahou No Idol Pastel Yumi is one of the more unique magical girl stories ever told. As you'll notice, Yumi-chan does not transform, and is not a witch - her powers are more creative and more subtle.
Yumi-chan must be very inventive with her abilities in order to resolve the various problems she faces. Also, the time limit on her magic can be very problematic - whatever solution she thinks of to solve the problems she faces must work within a very short time frame, or it won't be very effective. Another example is domestic strife - in one episode, Yumi's parents actually separate because of a fight. Yumi's mother drinks quite a bit, too. Such domestic problems are very realistic, but we never see it presented in children's programming in America, even though kids often have to deal with such problems in day-to-day life.
This is a very nice story, with many lessons for all ages. Besides, Yumi-chan is an absolutely charming little girl... heh heh, but don't let her feminine looks fool you, she's quite the tomboy! The safety of the Flower World rests in her hands... and in her heart.
|
|
|
|
