YMMV / Hello! Sandybell

• Base-Breaking Character: Some fans hate Sandybell because of her eager and child-like nature, as well as her tendency to easily forgive terrible people like Jirobi and Kitty.
• Broken Base: For Italian fans, it's which dub is better - the first Rai one or the Mediaset one. Many fans prefer the original Rai one and dislike the changes made by the Mediaset (for example, Never Say "Die", even though Rai allowed that one even if they also censored the series). They also made the change of having Cristina D'Avena sing the Italian theme song (instead of Le Mele Verdi), who is a base-breaking figure in her own right.
• Common Knowledge:
  • The dog's name is "Oliver", not "Tambour". Even sites like MyAnimeList, to this day, make this mistake. This misconception stems from the fact that Tambour is his French-dub name and the anime was popular in France.
  • Hello! Sandybell never had a manga. That doesn't stop actual, published novels from claiming otherwise.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Alex/Kitty make up the vast majority of shipping fanfiction.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • In Cuba, many fans of Hello! Sandybell are also fans of Voltes V because they aired around the same time slots on the channel Cubavisión.
  • Swedish fans of Hello! Sandybell tend to also be fans of other anime titles released in Sweden during the 80s since they were all dubbed by the same company, most notably Starzinger (which uses the exact same voice cast as Hello! Sandybell) and Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin. These three titles are sometimes cited as a trifecta of sorts among older Swedish anime fans, not dissimilar to how 00s' shounen fans had "The Big Three".
  • After the Revolution in Romania, anime started airing in the country, and there were three major ones that were a Gateway Series for young Romanian viewers: Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon and Hello! Sandybell.
  • As a whole, fans of Hello! Sandybell are also fans of Candy♡Candy.
• Gateway Series: For many Europeans (notably Romanians and Swedes) into anime.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff:
  • The anime was very popular in France, where it was known as Sandy Jonquille, though not to the level of giants like Candy♡Candy.
  • In Italy, not only was it Adored by the Network on both Rai and Italia 1 during The '80s, in September 2018 Italia 1 fully marathoned the series.
  • It was very popular in Sweden, as it was one of the first anime to ever be licensed and dubbed there. It helped shape an entire generation's view of the medium. Even mentioning the name brings a wave of nostalgia amongst older Swedes.
  • The anime was huge in Hungary, so much that after it's initial airing in 1994 it received another broadcast in 1998. Even googling the anime's name will lead you to many Hungarian-language sites.
  • The show is very popular in Mexico and Cuba. Mexicans even have their own knock-off comic series, "Las Aventuras de Sandybell".
  • Thanks to Superlative Dubbing, the anime was beloved in Arab countries, particularly Syria. Most Syrian children who grew up in The '80s are familiar with the Arabic-dub theme song. The anime is such a significant part of Syrian culture that even The Pianist From Syria mentions it.
  • It is also adored in Romania, where it is a household name. It aired there during The '90s, and the French dub was used.
  • It is also very popular in Greece, which could be because the last arc of the anime is set there.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Mark breaking off his Arranged Marriage to Kitty. In the Swedish dub, their voice actors are married.
  • Ricky Kentle◊ resembles a certain Italian plumber.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Comparing Ricky to Mario because of his clothes.
  • The Latin American fandom calls the vehicle seen in the OP the "Sandymobile".
  • Because of Mark's Vague Age, some fans (particularly the Latin American fandom) call him "a pedo" for his attraction to Sandybell. In Rayo Confuso's review of the series, he puts a PNG of Pedobear in the background to represent Mark. This becomes funny since in the show, the Countess says Mark is too young to get married.
  • The infamous scene where Alec slaps Kitty, for Crosses the Line Twice factor.
• Moe: Sandybell herself, with her kind and cheerful personality, i.e. absolutely adorable.
• Narm Charm: The final scene of the anime. Linda and Mr. Ronwood sit inside the Sandybell Van, while Charles, Oliver and the neighborhood kids sit on top and Sandybell and Mark sit together. The van starts driving, and inexplicably, it's lifted off the ground and begins flying in mid air, and the camera pans to showing the van flying in front of the sun, before the words The End show up at the bottom of the screen.
• Periphery Demographic: It's a show aimed at little girls, and has amassed a following of male fans for being comfy Sweet Dreams Fuel with an engaging plot and fair share of shocking moments.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat: A subset of the fandom pairs Sandybell with Alec, appreciating how he warmed up to her after initially finding her annoying, and prefer it to Sandybell/Mark. They're not happy that Alec eventually ends up with Kitty.
• Spiritual Successor: Has one in Ashita no Nadja - both anime are about an innocent, cheery blonde haired blue eyed girl travelling all over Europe finding their long-lost family using nothing but an Orphan's Plot Trinket, though Sandybell is more focused on the adventures made along the way.
• Superlative Dubbing: The Arabic dub. Here's the theme song, if you're interested.
• Sweet Dreams Fuel: Everything about it, from the flowery scenery, the soft music and the upbeat tone regarding it's characters makes for this.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: The latter half of the anime focuses on criminal gangs, kidnappings, murders, Dark And Troubled Pasts and all sorts of harsh themes. Some of the content was so graphic that the Italian dub cut it out, but many other international dubs (such as the Hungarian, Latin American Spanish, French and Arabic) didn't. That being said, the Gray And White Morality displayed by most characters keep things from getting too dark and depressing.
• The Woobie:
  • Sandybell started off as a happy child, but after her father died her life took a turn for the worse. To make matters crueller, Mark runs away from home at the same time. She's left with no friends (except Oliver) in London and repeatedly encounters dead ends in her search for her mother, but despite this, she's endlessly heroic and selfless. Ultimately, it is Sandybell's drive for sacrifice that unintentionally leads her to her mother.
  • Mark undergoes some heavy breaking. His parents die in a car accident (and it's even speculated if it was an accident, because a lot of signs point to them being Driven to Suicide as a result of losing their wealth), he becomes homeless, and his once Wide-Eyed Idealist nature is broken. He sorely misses Sandybell, who inspired him to be free-spirited no matter what, and constantly thinks of her as he sleeps on the streets.
  • Alec grew up with a drug addict father, who repeatedly took out his anger on him, his mother and his sister. Alec had to forge his path with barely any support because his family was poor as a result of him spending all their money to buy them.