Persia, the Magic Fairy (魔法の妖精ペルシャ) is an anime created by Studio Pierrot, airing from 1984 to 1985. It was the second of Studio Pierrot's Magical Girl works, after Magical Angel Creamy Mami. It was succeeded by Magical Star Magical Emi, Magical Idol Pastel Yumi and Fancy Lala.
11-year old Persia is an energetic young girl who grew up alongside animals in the Serengeti plains of Africa. She's Japanese, but has lived in Africa for as long as she can remember, and one day, she is suddenly recalled back to Japan by her parents.
Twins Riki and Gaku Muroi bring Persia to Japan with them, where she lives with a couple who own a grocery store. During the return flight to Japan, Persia finds herself in the "Lovely Dream," the land where dreams are born and grow. The Fairy Queen appears before Persia in the form of a butterfly, and explains that the Lovely Dream is in danger, requesting Persia's help.
She gives Persia a magical golden headband which reacts to the word "Papurikko". With it, Persia can conjure a magic baton which bridges her world and Lovely Dream, as well as transform into an older self by saying "Perukko Raburin Kurukuru Rinkuru".
Tropes:
- '80s Hair: Persia's wild blue mane and the Muroi twins' mullets.
- Adaptation Deviation: Believe it or not, in the original manga, there was no magic involved, and the Magical Girl elements are entirely original to the anime.
- Adaptational Name Change: The series changes many character's names from the original manga:
- In the manga, Persia was raised by a zoologist named Dr. Yasogami. In the anime, he was a scientist named Dr. Goken Muroi.
- Dr. Yasogami had two sons named Akira and Fudo (Akira Fudo?). In the anime this was changed to the grandsons Riki and Gaku.
- Adjective Noun Fred: In Japanese, the series is called Magical Fairy Persia.
- Africa Is a Country: Persia was born and raised "in Africa", hence her Wild Child behaviour. It does specify that she was brought up in the Serengeti plains (which is East Africa), but that can mean multiple different countries. It is also said that Persia is more inclined to "African culture" instead of her parents' Japanese culture.
- Aliens Speaking English: Or, more accurately, Fairies Speaking Japanese. Despite being entirely from other worlds, they communicate with Persia perfectly and even the Transformation Trinket given by the Fairy Queen is activated by Persia speaking Japanese.
- Alternative Foreign Theme Song: The Italian OP is sung by, you guessed it, Cristina D'Avena.
- Artistic License: Africa (or at least the part where Persia lived in) is portrayed as a place where people dress in lioncloth (think like the cavepeople from Ryu the Cave Boy).
- Betty and Veronica:
- Persia falls for both of the Muroi brothers - the sensetive kuudere Gaku, and the loud and confident Riki.
- To Gaku, Persia is the Veronica (a Wild Child raised by African animals) while Yuyuko is the Betty (an average schoolgirl who's hyperfeminine by nature). In a twist of this trope, the Betty is the bitchy one.
- Birthday Episode: Episode 42 focuses on Yuyuko's birthday, where it's revealed that she was born on March 3, 1971.
- Bittersweet Ending: Persia is forced to give up her powers for good, but is able to meet with her magical friends one last time.
- The Cameo: In Episode Three, the crowd of people in front of the TV include Megumi, Tetsuo and Shingo from Magical Angel Creamy Mami.
- Denser and Wackier: The manga was much darker, with Persia's backstory being that she was an orphan raised by a lion until Dr. Yasogami found her. In the anime, Persia is more or less a Tarzan parody with how she dresses and loves being around animals.
- Dream Land: Lovely Dream is a magical world populated by fairies, but it's at risk of being frozen over, hence the Fairy Queen choosing Persia to collect love energy for them.
- Gender Bender: If Persia fails to collect love energy for Lovely Dream, the Fairy Queen will turn Riki and Gaku into girls, amongst other punishments.
- Gotta Catch 'Em All: The Fairy Queen sends Persia with three kappa back into the regular world with the mission of collecting love energy to thaw the frozen Lovely Dream.
- Gratuitous English: The land of the fairies is called "Lovely Dream", in spite of the fact that they all speak Japanese.
- Human Popsicle: The Other half of Riki and Gaku's fate if Persia fails or is discovered.
- Love Triangle: Persia has a crush on both the Muroi siblings. Yoyoko like Gaku, to the point she names her stuffed animal "Gaku-san" after him. You can imagine she's not very warm towards Persia.
- The Masquerade: Lovely Dream exists in the same dimension as ours, but ordinary muggles can't see it and Persia can only see it because she's The Chosen One.
- Muggle Foster Parents: The Hayami family are oblivious to the fact that their daughter is an ass-kicking fairy half the time and think she's just an unusual, quirky child.
- Our Fairies Are Different: The fairies live in a land called Lovely Dream, where dreams are made. They have magic that allows them to do almost anything, and can apparently transfer it to humans like Persia.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Vampires here are portrayed as suspectible to Persia's magic attacks. Though, vampires don't get the same level of focus as fairies do here, and only one shows up in the entire series (episode 28).
- Phenotype Stereotype: Played straight with the Muroi twins, who have dark, thin, neatly trimmed hair and pale skin. Persia, however, is stated to be Japanese but has blue hair and blue eyes.
- Pity the Kidnapper: An escaped fugitive tries to take Persia hostage after breaking into her house. He ends up in tears, begging to be taken back to jail just to get away from her.
- Shout-Out:
- Episode 5 revolves around a pair of female wrestlers named Oscar and André.
- Persia's lion is called Simba.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Meso Meso, a male kappa, wears a red bowtie, while Puri Puri, the female kappa, carries a pink purse.
- Thematic Naming: The kappas are called Gera Gera, Puri Puri and Meso Meso. All of their names are 2-syllables each and repeat their name twice.
- Trapped in Another World: In the first episode, after the plane crash, Persia ends up in Lovely Dream, the land of the fairies. She is then given the Fairy Queen's favour as The Chosen One and asked to save their world from freezing over.
- Transformation Sequence: In the opening, we see Persia using her magic baton to activate the star on her headband and become a fairy.
- Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: Persia follows this formula to the T, but being the Wild Child she is, being in school and battle actually isn't that different for her.
- World of Technicolor Hair: Persia herself has blue hair (despite being Japanese), and many other characters have bright and vivid shades. Her Older Alter Ego is a case of Otherworldly Technicolour Hair.
