Yū Morisawa (right) and her alter-ego, Creamy Mami (left)
That's right, the heart of a girl
Floats, rocking on the crescent moon
While she tries to find her dreams.
And when she falls in love, she does so delicately.
Falls in love. Falls in love. Falls in love.
Floats, rocking on the crescent moon
While she tries to find her dreams.
And when she falls in love, she does so delicately.
Falls in love. Falls in love. Falls in love.
—"Deikēto ni Sukini Shite", the show's opening theme
Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel (Mahou no Tenshi Creamy Mami; also known in English as Magical Angel Creamy Mami) was the first Magical Girl series done by Studio Pierrot, and aired for 52 episodes from 1983 to 1984. It's the Trope Maker for the Magic Idol Singer genre, and it became quite popular in Europe (broadcast between 1985 and 1988).
Yū Morisawa is a ten-year-old girl living with her parents in their creperie. She has a crush on her best friend, Toshio, an older boy who (unfortunately for Yū) thinks of her as a sister.
One day, Yū sees a giant boat floating in midair, which turns out to be a Flying Saucer. She gets inside the ship and meets an alien named Pino Pino, whom she helps to find his way home. In gratitude, Pino Pino decides to give her magical powers contained in a powder compact, for one year's time. He also gives her two magical kittens, Posi and Nega.
Using a Magical Incantation ("Pampuru pimpuru pam pom pum"), Yū can turn into a beautiful, purple-haired, 16-year-old version of herself. The next day, she hangs around in her new teen body form and meets Shingo Tachibana, a company manager for Parthenon Productions. He persuades Yū to sign a contract in order to be an Idol Singer. She does so under the pseudonym of "Creamy," the name of her parents' restaurant.
During a whole year, Yū/Creamy becomes a star singer, makes Toshio fall for her, makes Megumi, the former Parthenon Productions' idol, clingy and jealous, escapes plots to discover her true identity, and has a number of strange, magical, and supernatural adventures, all while continuing to attend school as Yū.
After the TV series ended, an OVA was released in 1985, where Yū is 16 (for real) and learns that Shingo Tachibana needs Creamy again. All that Yū has to do to look like Creamy now is to wear a purple wig, so she can act in a movie with Megumi.
A manga retelling from Megumi's point of view, Magical Angel Creamy Mami and The Spoiled Princess, was published starting from December 2018 in the online magazine Comic Tatan. Seven Seas Entertainment licenced Spoiled Princess in 2020, with its first volume releasing in 2021.
This show provides examples of:
- All Love Is Unrequited: Yū has a crush on Toshio, who falls for Mami after she debuts. Megumi is in love with Tachibana but he's more interested in Mami. Midori is a Hopeless Suitor to Yū.
- Ballet Episode: "Yū's Flashdance", in which Yū learns how to dance and ends up challenging the dance school's aptitude test.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: The never-ending arguing between Megumi and Tachibana (and slaps, from her) hides the fact that they like each other. Really.
- Berserk Button: Megumi, when Tachibana gushes over Mami in front of her, gets enraged and slaps him. It's a frequent Running Gag.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: Midori is big, Toshio is thin, and Yū is short.
- By the Power of Grayskull!: Yū's transformation required the phrase "Pam puru pim puru parim pompun! Pim puru pam puru parim pompun!".
- Butt-Monkey: Most of the major character tend to be this in differet ways:
- Yū is regularly insulted and put down by Toshio, the boy she is in love with. Which makes her frustrated and angry.
- Toshio, when he mistreats or belittles Yū, he often gets some comical comeuppance (or beating) by Yū herself or by Midori.
- Midori is a Fat Comic Relief and a frequent victim of slapstick.
- The other Idol Singer Megumi is usually humiliated and/or ignored because everyone prefers Creamy over her.
- Tachibana, as a Running Gag, is violently slapped by Megumi whenever he neglects her in favor of Creamy.
- Kidokoro-san, the ever bumbling manager who is trying to get into Tachibana's good graces, never does anything right and gets into unfortunate situations.
- The Cameo:
- In Episode 4 ("Top Ten Scramble"), Ryoko Mendou, the young sister of Shutaro Mendou from Urusei Yatsura appears in the top ten idol show on television as part of the lineup, before Mami starts her own show in the lineup. With her affluence and wealth, you could imagine her pulling off such a stint, but she's inevitably eclipsed by Mami as the No. 1 idol. It's quite logical given that both shows were produced by the same studio at the same time in the 80s and had the same character designer (Akemi Takada).
- It went the other way as well, as Yū and Mami both made cameos in an Urusei Yatsura episode that same year albeit with different hair coloring.
- Casting Gag: In the Latin American Spanish dub, it's not the first time we hear Cristina Hernández (Yū) voicing some magical girls.
- Catchphrase: "Pampuru pimpuru pam pom pum" used by Yū.
- Childhood Friend Romance: At first, Yū who suffers unrequited love from Toshio, but his fascination for Creamy reveals he could like Yū one day — and it indeed happens.
- Clark Kenting: Averted: It failed because Toshio accidentally witnessed Yū 's transformation. And when her secret is revealed to someone, she loses her powers, as Pino Pino warned her. Toshio helps her to find a new Magic Wand, in exchange for his memories of discovering her identity.
- Clingy Jealous Girl:
- A weird case in that Yū is jealous of herself. Specifically, she is very jealous of Toshio's crush on Creamy, who is just Yū's Sexier Alter Ego (but Toshio doesn't know it).
- Megumi doesn't understand why Creamy seems more loved than her, both by the public and by Tachibana.
- Corporal Punishment: Yū is punished with spanking by her mother a few times when she misbehaves.
- Crossover:
- In the OAV, Creamy meets/fights against magical girls such as Emi, Persia, Pastel Yumi, or Minky Momo.
- As of 2016
, we can add PriParanote to the list.
- Cryptid Episode: There's one episode based around a sea monster.
- Dub Name Change: In the French dub, Toshio was named Charlie, Posi and Nega became Sinon and Sissi, while Tachibana and Megumi became Jingle and Chantal, but Yū/Creamy kept her name and nickname.
- '80s Hair: Creamy's poofy, purple hair is one of the best examples of this trope in anime.
- Enforced Method Acting: In-Universe - One episode has Creamy being gaslighted into investigating an apparent murder, which leads to her being unwittingly casted into acting for a horror movie.
- Evil Twin: In one episode, Creamy's reflection escapes a mirror and starts posing for nude photos and signing autographs with her left hand.
- Friend to All Living Things:
- On an animal show, Creamy Mami is the only actress who can befriend a bear.
- Mamoru, the kid from Hokkaido who transfers into Yū's class mid-series.
- Hall of Mirrors: In one episode, Yū uses her Transformation Trinket in a mirror house. The reflections generate another Creamy Mami of the completely opposite personality.
- I Coulda Been a Contender!!: Yū's mom was an aspiring idol in her teenage years and helped her friend through a singing audition. Kubo, the talent scout, signed her on for a number of auditions but she had Performance Anxiety and called it quits and she left Kubo without a trace. Yū's mom later reunites with Kubo and invites him to dinner with the family after the singing audition Yū withdrew herself from to be Creamy Mami, who was one of judges in the audition.
- Idol Singer: In Japan, at least back in the 80's they often began when they are 16, and lasted one year, however in the years since Creamy Mami, this has changed with some idol groups lasting close to 10 years nowadays.
- Invisible Backup Band: Creamy has this effect as part of her Magical Girl powers, which is how she ended up with a career as an idol singer.
- Loves My Alter Ego: Toshio, at first, is dismissive of his childhood friend Yū, but is madly in love with her Older Alter Ego Creamy. At least, until he realizes they are the same person.
- Magical Incantation: "Kanon" after taking the miniature wand out of her magical compact, which allows it to grow large enough to hold in her hands. Afterwards, she says the words "Pampuru pimpuru pam pom pum" (sometimes twice) in order transform into Creamy Mami.
- Magic Idol Singer: The Trope Maker. 10-year-old Yū is given magical powers by a friendly alien, which she uses to age herself up to a 16-year-old and is roped into becoming an idol. She decides to keep using her magic to be an idol, under the alias Creamy Mami.
- Magic Wand: It pops out of her powder compact when the transformation is on.
- Meaningful Name:
- Posi seems to look on the positive side of things, while Nega seems to have a negative view of everything.
- Megumi's French dub name, Chantal, is derived from the French verb chanter, meaning "to sing." * Mentor Mascot: The two alien cats Posi and Nega.
- Mentor Mascot: The two alien cats Posi and Nega are talking kittens who are there to help Magical Girl Yū.
- Older Alter Ego: Yū is 10 years old, Creamy is at least 16.
- Plucky Girl: Yū. The space-cats even comment on how fearless she is.
- Retired Badass: Yū's mother used to be the leader of a biker gang. Yū's father was also a member of the biker gang her mother had led and the romance between them blossomed from there.
- The Rival: Megumi has a one-sided rivalry with Creamy, who simply ignores Megumi and is not even trying to compete with her. But Megumi always loses anyway.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss:
- Toshio and Yū are old friends who bicker like a married couple.
- Megumi literally slaps Tachibana when she gets angry at him, but there's also some Ship Tease between the two. Megumi is in love with him and, despite Tachibana's crush on Creamy, it's implied he has some feelings for Megumi too.
- Spin-Off: Magical Angel Creamy Mami and The Spoiled Princess, a manga series that retells the story from Megumi Ayase's point of view. It goes into more detail regarding her relationship with Tachibana, her rise as an idol, and her reaction to being usurped by Creamy Mami.
- Super Mode: Makoto, the psychic boy strikingly resembles a Super Saiyan (a kid Vegeta, if you will) when he uses his psychic powers while angry. His form could be considered an early prototype of a Super Saiyan in anime, prior to its introduction in Dragon Ball 8 years later.
- Tomboy: Yū has Boyish Short Hair and a lot of energy, much to the chagrin of her mother.
- Touched by Vorlons: Yū gains her power in the form of a powder compact after helping an alien, Pino Pino, find his way home.
- Transformation Sequence: Yū has a static one featuring strobe lights and golden rings all around her body, after which she quickly grows into Creamy Mami.
- Transformation Trinket: A magic wand in the early shows; and then a star-shaped ring when the wand is lost.
- Weirdness Censor: Only Yū is able to see the spaceship, or to talk with the two space-cats.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: In the last episode's credits we see what happened to the characters after Mami's final concert: Mamoru went back to Hokkaido, Midori started dating another girl, Megumi and Tachibana get engaged, Snake Joe and his wife have a baby, Yū finds two new kittens that look similar to Nega and Posi and in a Time Skip Yū and Toshio watch over their kids while they play.
