Mamotte! Lollipop (Save Me! Lollipop) is a shoujo manga series by Michiyo Kikuta, which was serialized in Nakayoshi from 2002 to 2005 and compiled into seven volumes. It was adapted as a 13-episode Anime series in 2006.
Seventh-grader Nina Yamada is eating cake outdoors with her friends and describing her perfect man (essentially an Ideal Hero) when she notices what appears to be a hard candy on her plate. She puts it in her mouth, noticing it's not particularly tasty, when suddenly some strange boys appear. In the excitement, Nina accidentally swallows the object. It turns out that the boys are trainee wizards participating in the professional wizard exam. The team of two that is in possession of the Crystal Pearl at the end of six months gets their licenses. And since Nina now has the Pearl inside her, that makes her the target of every trainee wizard around.
The first pair of wizards, Zero and Ichi, turn out to be relatively decent fellows, and decide that they will protect Nina until such time as the Pearl can be safely removed from her. A series of other wizard teams, of varying degrees of wackiness, also come after the Pearl. Hilarity Ensues.
A sequel, entitled Modotte! Mamotte! Lollipop was serialized in Nakayoshi from 2006 to 2007. It still follows the crazy adventure of Nina that is, once again, being chased by participants of another wizard exam because she, once again, swallows another crystal called Crystal Drop that is mandatory for passing the exam.
Of course, Ichii and Zero are still there to save Nina.
Tropes exhibited by Mamotte! Lollipop include:
- A-Cup Angst: Nina doesn't really pay much attention to her bust size unless someone Zero or Rokka makes fun of her about it.When Yakumo bought it up in episode 8, she did not take it well
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Nina ends up with Zero.
- Barrier Warrior: Ichi's specialty is defensive magic.
- Bedsheet Ghost: In chapter 5, Nanase and Yakumo dress up as these to scare away the others. It doesn't work on Zero and San, whom the former end up teaching how to make their own... followed by a shot of the four of them going "Boooooooooo!" that is so flippin' adorable it may cause permanent brain damage.
- Clingy MacGuffin: The Crystal Pearl does not just pass through Nina's digestive system and can't be thrown up.
- Distressed Damsel: Nina is constantly getting into trouble, and at least in the early part of the manga, she doesn't have any useful talents.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Nanase, and he takes advantage of it.
- Fountain of Youth: Rokka temporarily turns Nina into an infant. Rokka will usually do they opposite of this turning herself into an adult.
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: Nanase switches Nina and Zero's minds temporarily. The cure involves them getting "very close."
- Heavy Voice: Zura can blow up like a balloon and float. When it does this, it can still talk, but its voice is much deeper than usual.
- Japanese Delinquents: Ichi was one in his backstory, but he's a much nicer person by the time we meet him.
- Loophole Abuse: Nina is distressed to learn that there is no rule in the contest against killing human beings (i.e., her) in order to win.
- Mascot: Ryu, the Crystal Pearl that transformed into a baby-dragon at the end of the first exam.
- Not Blood Siblings: Ichi tried to invoke this on his older adoptive sister Sarasa. As he's about eleven years old at the time and she's roughly 20, it's not treated very seriously by anyone else.
- Numerical Theme Naming: All the contestants have numbers as or in their names.
- Running Gag: San keeps making Forte dress in girls' clothing.
- Saying Too Much: When San and Forte infiltrate Nina's school in an attempt to get the crystal pearl from her, San comes up with the plan to dress Forte in the girl's school uniform so they can follow Nina into the only place Zero and Ichi can't follow her: the girl's locker room. Just as they put their plan into motion and confront Nina, the latter seeing Forte in the girl's uniform causes Nina to think Forte was actually a girl and apologize for mistaking him for a boy, only for Forte to angrily correct her that he is a boy... right in front of all the girls who were questioning Nina's relationship with Zero and Ichi. Cue Forte getting chased out by all the angry girls accusing him of being a pervert.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Rokka. In her profile, under "favorite type of boy", had "Ichi-sama, of course!"
- Stuff Blowing Up: Zero's destruction specialty.
- Theme Naming: Many of the characters have Japanese or English words for numbers in their name.
- A Twinkle in the Sky: Happen a couple of times when Yakumo, Nanase , Kumi, and Toto make their getaway and when Forte and Sun Sherard are sent flying by Zero and Ichii.
- Younger Than They Look: Rokka is actually 5 years old, and uses transformation magic to look like a very curvy teenage girl.
