It is a second of magical woman historical past, proper there on display: in episode forty-six of Fairy princess Minky MomoWithin the unique 1982-83 tv sequence, Momo is hit by a truck and dies. Leaving apart the query of whether or not that is Truck-kun’s first sufferer or not, this is a vital occasion in anime historical past. Later, magical woman tales could possibly be darkish, whereas due to Momo’s loss of life – Nurse Angel Ririka couldn’t have realized his twist that led to 1995, Sailor Moon and the opposite Sailor Guardians had not been capable of get well from their a number of deaths between 1992 and 1997, and definitely these of 2011 Magi Madoke’s magical woman could not even have existed with out it Minky Momo‘s forty-sixth episode. And lest you assume this type of kids’s leisure was restricted to Japan (heaven is aware of, the 1981s Distinctive was emotionally devastating), it is price noting that Eighties kids’s programming world wide could possibly be darkish; have a look for instance My Little Pony: Escape from Midnight Fort (1984) and each theatrical Care Bears movies; in 1986, the Bears infamously resurrected the useless with the ability of caring. However even put into context, Minky MomoThe loss of life of the sequence remains to be a surprising occasion in a somber episode, and maybe the explanation why the identify of the sequence is acquainted even right this moment.
Whereas earlier installments might need represented you with the letters w, t, and f, this set of sixteen has a grimmer tone. Episode thirty-three has a personality considering and trying suicide, and episode thirty-seven raises the specter of her Earth mother and father getting divorced. Then episode thirty-eight ups the ante significantly: the plot follows the story of two highschool sweethearts who’re separated when Sara strikes away. Shortly after she leaves, the truck she is using in falls off a snowy cliff, killing her. She turns into a wandering snow spirit, who can’t be along with her lover in any season besides winter, and even then she is invisible to him. Momo helps them spend a short while collectively, and she or he does get tears of pleasure, however the couple’s time is fleeting, as Sara should transfer on to the following life. Whereas in episode forty-two Momo by accident virtually begins a warfare, it is handled with the sequence’ standard silliness. On the identical time, Sara’s story is handled significantly, foreshadowing Momo’s downfall.
The foreshadowing is definitely on full show. Along with the loss of life themes and Sara’s truck-based ending, we additionally be taught that Momo’s earthly mom is the daughter of completely not-Al Capone, making a backdrop primarily based on felony violence. This enables the present to indulge in additional gangster-based episodes, which leads us to episode forty-five, the place Momo loses her magic. Or reasonably, she loses her pendant and Minky Stick, and never simply because the chain breaks, as occurred in an earlier case: her pendant is hit by a gunshot and shattered. On the identical time, the criminals additionally shoot and kill Peter, a person who helps Momo, capturing him proper earlier than her eyes. It is an astonishingly violent flip for a present aimed toward little ladies, and Momo’s despair and frustration shine via.
The notorious loss of life episode drains her feelings. Momo is aware of she’s now caught on Earth, albeit along with her animal companions, and she or he tries to make the perfect of it – the episode has her getting dressed and going to highschool, the primary time she’s ever been there. There’s nothing creepy or itchy about it; The scenes the place she places on her shirt, which we viewers in 2024 know is the final time, are supposed to evoke a way of silent loss as we mirror on how she’s only a common woman now. We see her doing quite a lot of extraordinary issues till her loss of life. Whereas it was extra to stay it to the toy firm pulling sponsorship of the sequence, we are able to nonetheless learn the episode for instance displaying that with out her magic, Minky Momo just isn’t who she was. Even her loss of life, during which a toddler is pushed out of the truck, reveals how she will be able to not be everybody’s magical princess, bringing pleasure and desires into the world. She’s only a twelve-year-old woman and ultimately she will be able to’t do something anymore.
The episode is extremely effectively put collectively. The sound design is especially hanging, with a silence following Momo’s scream till an ambulance siren sounds, whereas toys are displayed on the road. In a match of symbolism, a toy ambulance is stopped by a wood block, signifying the futility of the actual ambulance’s makes an attempt to avoid wasting the woman. Colour additionally disappears from the scene because the ambulance is stopped, and a number of other minutes are filmed in black and white, together with her earthly mother and father and animal mates all standing at her grave. Whereas there may be debate as as to whether or not it’s age acceptable (each then and now), it’s all very effectively completed.
Whereas this episode understandably consumes most of our consideration – and encompasses every part some individuals know in regards to the sequence – these episodes are notable in a number of different methods. Chief amongst them is the sheer quantity insert songs; there’s one in virtually each episode over forty, they usually’re all subtitled, which is very good as a result of the theme songs aren’t. There are additionally moments of gorgeous animation which are a reduce above what the present normally presents; a dance scene throughout episode forty-three, which presents Momo a short-lived romance, seems very spectacular. The present additionally continues to make enjoyable references, with Momo at one level reworking into ‘Scarlet Queen’, a feminine model of Osamu Tezuka‘S Black Jack, and her mysterious thief character returns alongside Lupinne in a really weird Santa-based story. (Santa, for what it is price, seems like a cross between Santa Claus and Rudolph the Pink-Nosed Reindeer.) Momo’s transformation additionally will get a little bit of a shake-up in a single occasion, along with her Earth mom bumping into her midway, leading to in each of them turning into hard-boiled detectives, a gag that the present will get a variety of mileage out of. It stays a variety of enjoyable… till abruptly it is not anymore.
Fairy princess Minky Momo just isn’t over but. There are virtually twenty extra episodes to go, filling the time between her rebirth and the top of episode forty-six, which reads like a finale. However that is the place the sequence earns its place in anime historical past and units a precedent that different magical woman reveals will observe. Even when you do not care in regards to the style, it is price a minimum of watching episodes forty-five and forty-six to see why Mami needed to die in PMMM, as a result of that is the place the toll of being a magical woman or abruptly dropping your powers is established. Is it price it for Momo? The present itself appears unsure, torn between the worth of a traditional human life along with her desires and the sheer weight of her loss of life due to her misplaced magic.
