Flower Witch Mary Bell facts for kids

Flower Witch Mary Bell
Mary Bell, Tambourine, and fairies
Quick facts for kids 花の魔法使いマリーベル (Hana no Mahōtsukai Mary Bell)
Genre	Drama, Magical girl
Anime television series
Directed by	Tetsuya Endo
Produced by	Chiyo Okazaki (TV Setouchi), Tomoyuki Taguchi (Big West), Masaru Umehara (Ashi Productions)
Written by	Takao Koyama, Hideki Mitsui
Music by	Takako Ishiguro
Studio	Ashi Productions
Network	TV Tokyo
Original run	February 3, 1992 – January 18, 1993
Episodes	50 (List of episodes)
Anime film
The Key of Phoenix
Directed by	Tetsuya Endo
Studio	Shochiku, Toho, Ashi Productions
Released	August 8, 1992
Runtime	43 minutes
Anime film
Mary Bell's Traffic Safety
Directed by	Tetsuya Endo
Studio	Ashi Productions
Released	February 15, 1993
Runtime	13 minutes
Anime film
Mary Bell's Fire Prevention: What to Do When an Earthquake Occurs
Directed by	Tetsuya Endo
Studio	Ashi Productions
Released	February 15, 1993
Runtime	11 minutes

Flower Witch Mary Bell (花の魔法使いマリーベル, Hana no Mahōtsukai Marī Beru) is the fourth and last magical girl anime by Ashi Productions. The fifty-episode series first aired in Japan from 1992 until 1993. It has also been broadcast in Hong Kong, South Korea, Italy, Taiwan, China, France, Poland, Thailand, and in most Arab countries. The series was adapted as a theatrical film and two educational films. The DVD version was released on March 20, 2004.

Overview

Many other magical girls are primary-schoolers or middle-schoolers, but Mary Bell looks like a preschooler (although she is actually about 500,000 years old). She is a "native" magical girl just like Minky Momo and Sweet Mint, other magical girls by Ashi Productions from the same period. However, she is not a princess. The operatic approach is notable, each main character has his or her own leitmotif, and they sometimes sing instead of speaking, like a musical.

Story

Yuuri and Ken are two siblings living in the port town of Sunny Bell, where their parents have recently moved and set up a flower shop. They read a book, the Mary Bell Picture Book, borrowed from their neighbor Rose, which is a story about two children who get lost in the forest and are helped by a magical girl named Mary Bell. The children wish aloud that Mary Bell was there to help their parents' struggling flower shop. Suddenly, the titular character appears in front of them, introduces herself and her Seelie Court partner Tambourine, and agrees to help them with magic.

Over the course of the series, Mary Bell, Ken, Yuuri, a dog named Ribbon, and a cast of supporting characters go on adventures in both Sunny Bell and the Flower Magic World, Mary Bell's home.

The series finale involves the Holy Tree of the Flower Magic World coming to Sunny Bell in order to take away all of the plants on Earth, as it believes is necessary to prevent humans from harming them. Mary Bell and the townspeople are able to convince it not to do this, and Mary Bell decides to stay on Earth and encourage people with magic, even though her goal (to collect the dreams of humans by helping them) has already been completed.

Main characters

Mary Bell is the central character of the show, she helps children or others when they are trying to do something. A little girl, Yuuri, her younger brother, Ken, and Ribbon, a puppy, are the ones who first met Mary Bell. Other three children, Vivian, Bongo, and Tap, frequently appear too.

Mary Bell (マリーベル, Marī Beru) Voiced by: Chieko Honda

A "floral magician" from the Flower Magic World (花魔法界, hanamahō-kai) who looks like a little girl, but actually is about 500,000 years old. She uses both (ordinary) magic and flower magic. She is a fairies' friend, but is not a fairy herself. Her catchphrase is "Just leave it to Mary Bell!" (マリーベルにおまかせよ!, Marī Beru ni omakase yo!)

Tambourine (タンバリン, Tanbarin) Voiced by: Chika Sakamoto

Mary Bell's "magical companion." He is from the seelie court, and also about 500,000 years old.

Yuuri (ユーリ, Yūri) Voiced by: Satomi Koorogi

Mary Bell's friend. Her exact age is unknown, but apparently between six and ten.

Ken (ケン, Ken) Voiced by: Ai Orikasa

Yuuri's little brother. About five years old.

Rose (ローズ, Rōzu) Voiced by: Naoko Kyoda (adult); Chisa Yokoyama and Kumiko Nishihara (childhood)

A nice, old lady, who believes in fairies. She lives alone (with her dog, Ribbon) next door to the Mary Bell flower shop. She is the actual owner of the in-anime Mary Bell Picture Book. When Mary Bell first appeared, Yuuri and Ken were not ready to believe that she was the real Mary Bell, whereas Rose, when she met Mary Bell, immediately told her, "I always wanted to meet you, Mary Bell. I am a big fan of yours." Children usually call her "Grandma Rose".

Ribbon (リボン, Ribon) Voiced by: Kotono Mitsuishi

Rose's dog, often mistaken for a female due to the bow in his hair.

Remi (レミ, Remi) Voiced by: Sakiko Tamagawa

The mother of Yuuri and Ken.

Takuro (タクロー, Takurō) Voiced by: Kenichi Ono

The father of Yuuri and Ken, and the owner of the Mary Bell flower shop.

Another neighbor, living in the house next to Grandma Rose's. A crusty and stubborn old man, who doesn't like flowers, until the last three episodes (episodes 48, 49, and 50).

Bart's nephew, living in Bart's house. He looks about twenty years old. When he was a little child, he got lost and helped by fairies. His friends didn't believe him and called him a liar. Since then, he keeps trying to capture a fairy to prove that he told the truth. He is a "fairy hunter" and so Mary Bell's and fairies' enemy (at least at first).

Bart's granddaughter, living in his house. She is about the same age as Yuuri. She is realistic, and does not believe in fairies at all (at least at first). She is mean to Mary Bell (at least at first).

A friend of Vivian's. who has a crush on Yuuri.

A friend of Vivian's.

One of the local policemen.

Bra's partner.

A news reporter implied to be originally from North America who works at the local television station.

A local professor.

Mary Bell's father. In the human world, he is known as a genius magician. He is always calm and has a gentlemanly personality. His magical spells are "Paparin, Berlin, Lan Lan Run".

Mary Bell's mother. In the human world, she is named as a genius chef called "Fairy Sweet Maker", and Rose and Remi are also her fans. While she and her husband are traveling all over the world, they are inspiring dreams.

Magical spells are "Mamarin, Berlin, Lunrunlun".

Anime

The TV series was planned and produced by TV Setouchi, Big West, and Ashi Productions. It was directed by Tetsuya Endo, with series composition by Takao Koyama and Hideki Mitsui (both from Brother Noppo). The animation directors include Masashi Hirota, Kōichirō (新羽高一浪), Yuriko Chiba, and Kouji Fukazawa. These four supervised about 80% of the 50 episodes. The true identity of "Kōichirō" is unknown and people do not even know how to read his family name, but it is widely believed in Japan that "Kōichirō" is a pseudonym of Takeshi Ito, who later worked as an assistant animation director on Cowboy Bebop: The Movie and Tactical Roar.

Episodes

Fifty episodes were broadcast from 3 February 1992 to 18 January 1993.

Soundtrack

Mary Bell to Utaō!
Soundtrack album by Michiyo Nakajima, Chieko Honda, etc.
Released	July 17, 1992
Genre	Anime OST
Length	64:24
Label	Pony Canyon

The soundtrack album, Let’s Sing with Mary Bell! (マリーベルと歌おう！, Mary Bell to Utaō!) was released on July 17, 1992.

Track listing

Internationalization

Floral Magician Mary Bell has been released in some other countries and areas, as:

• In Cantonese (Hong Kong), "Nifty Fantasy-Magic Little-Flower-Fairy" (俏皮幻法小花仙) on TVB Jade.
• In Mandarin (China Mainland), "Nifty Little-Flower-Fairy" (俏皮小花仙).
• In Korean, "Floral Fairy Mery Bell" (꽃의 요정 메리벨) on VHS released by Samjin Enterprises, and "Floral Angel Mery Bell" (꽃의 천사 메리벨) on MBC.
• In Italian, Mary Bell on Mediaset.
• In Polish, "Fairy from the Land of Flowers" (Wróżka z Krainy Kwiatów) on Polsat 2 and others.
• In Arabic, "Adventurers of Nagham (Melody)" (مغامرات نغم, moghamarat nagham (mo'3amarato na'3am) [1]) on Spacetoon and various TV regional channels across the Middle East.