Yu and Creamy, two faces of the same coin. We are in 1985 when it airs for the first time in Italy The lovely Creamy, one of the most successful animated series ever broadcast in our country. A cartoon that we could consider almost pioneering, which starts a series of stories that will have the protagonists of the maghette. Little Yu's life is intertwined with the fate ofidol Creamy Mami in a story made up of a thousand adventures and even some difficulties.
The enchanting Creamy: the plot
Stella Piumata and the meeting with PinoPino
It all starts when Yu Morisawa, an 11-year-old girl, sees a bright light from her window. He leaves his home running, running towards her. Arriving at her destination, she finds herself watching a huge crystal ship floating in the air. However, it is not something that everyone can see: she, in fact, is the only one to notice it. Shortly thereafter she is sucked into it and this is where she meets Pine Pine, an alien who thanks her for freeing the ark from a storm of dreams. Yu does not understand well what it means and, on the contrary, asks the little alien for explanations about the ark. He reveals that it comes from Stella Piumata: "everyone knows her before they are born." he tells her. Then, once you are born, you forget about its existence: “one of our messengers says 'Remember not to tell anyone anything'. You don't know it but the dimple between your lips is the sign he left you. " confesses PinoPino.
Yu becomes Creamy
To thank Yu for her help, the alien gives her a special gift: a magical locket which you can use for one year. The little girl therefore returns home but she is not alone: together with the medallion, PinoPino gives her a gift of two friends-helpers, Posi e Nega, aliens in the guise of two cute kittens. Only when she gets home Yu uses the medallion for the first time and discovers its power. “Pampulu pimpulu parimpampù”: thanks to this formula, Yu can transform into a beautiful 16-year-old girl.
When the next morning the girl decides to leave the house in the guise of the 16-year-old, she meets on her way a music producer who is desperately looking for a singer to fill a void on TV. Dazzled by her, he invites her to follow him with the promise of making her become a star. It is on stage that the girl then chooses her name: Creamy Mami, in homage to the crepe shop run by his parents. From that moment on it will be 'The sweetest Creamy'.
A double life
It is the beginning of the double life of our Yu / Creamy: a 10-year-old girl with her school life, friends and relationship with her parents and a successful singer, a real Japanese idol that climbs the charts. However, there is one thing that our protagonist absolutely cannot do: reveal his dual identity. This would instantly cause the medallion's power to disappear, preventing it from transforming further. This rule creates many difficulties for her: Yu is forced not only to live a double life but also to lie to parents, friends and acquaintances.
However, Yu's secret will be at risk several times. In particular, already in the fifth episode of the animated series, Duenote, la Creamy's rival, he senses that the latter and the 11-year-old girl may be the same person. So he imprisons Yuu in a cage: if Creamy does not perform that day she will have proof that it is her. However, Yu will be found by chance by her friend Midori, who will free her. Creamy will thus be able to perform but, once finished, Yu will return to the cage so as not to arouse the suspicions of the rival who, in fact, will no longer doubt her.
Creamy is discovered
But everything changes on the evening that anticipates Christmas Eve. We are atepisode 26 (half, therefore, of the series which has 52 episodes), there is the Song Festival and, of course, Creamy is one of the stars who will perform there. Toshio, Yu's best friend sees her running into the theater and, suspicious, chases her. When he sees her enter Creamy's dressing room he decides to open the door and here he catches her right in the moment of transformation. The consequences are drastic: the wand loses its powers and Creamy can no longer transform back into Yu. The girl is desperate: she cannot go home to her parents and Toshio, worried, starts looking for her everywhere.
To save her will be Posi and Nega who will find a way to get in touch with the alien PinoPino. The ark reappears but this time too Toshio can see her. He and Creamy are sucked into it and here the little alien reveals to the boy that he has a desire available that he decides to use to transform Creamy into Yu. The latter is convinced that by now her career in the role of her alter ego is over forever, instead PinoPino calls her and Toshio on the planet Feathered Star and it is here that she proposes to the boy to erase the part of his memory linked to Yu's transformation in Creamy. This would give the little girl the powers otherwise lost forever. Toshio agrees and Yu starts with his double life.
The enchanting Creamy: the ending
While the career of Creamy resumes and at important rhythms, the year granted by Pine Pine the little girl comes to her conclusion. The power granted to Yu will run out on June 30 but Creamy manages to organize for the day before a great concert, with which he will surprise his public farewell. Meanwhile Toshio, thanks to his diary, begins to remember what he discovered about Creamy and Yu the year before. Then, just before the concert, Yu and Toshio finally break up to each other their feelings.
The day of the concert arrives and, under an incessant rain, Creamy performs all her songs but, right before the last one, the ark that sucks her in arrives. PinoPino, however, allows her to perform even in her last song before depriving her, this time forever, of her powers. And it is on the notes of his debut song that, greeting everyone, announces his retirement from the scene to everyone, disappearing, in tears, in a rainbow-colored beam. The series ends with Yu e Toshio, who has now remembered everything, that they go away embraced in the rain.
Toshio, Yu and Creamy: a love triangle
If magic is the cornerstone of this cartoon, what keeps the story standing and makes it so compelling, giving twists, is the relationship that is created between Yu / Creamy and Toshio Otomo. The boy is 14 years old, he is a great friend of little Yu but, when he sees Creamy for the first time, he loses his head for her. He will become her first fan, following and supporting her at every concert. This infatuation will spark Yu's jealousies, even if she is Creamy herself. Even though he is convinced that he is in love with "that angel" who is Creamy Mami, Toshio's priority always remains Yu. He is by her side in difficulties, he runs to her whenever he needs it.
When, while shooting a film, Toshio bacia Creamy (and it will therefore be Yu's first kiss), viewers seem to have lost all hope for the couple of friends. Instead, everything finds a turning point towards the end: in reality Toshio matures ever stronger feelings towards Yu and, when he begins to feel jealousy seeing her alongside other male friends, he realizes that that feeling is love. In the final episodes comes the reciprocal love declaration.
The enchanting Creamy: manga and curiosity
THE MANGA - Let's start by saying that, unlike many other anime series, The enchanting Creamy was not born as a transposition of a manga. The cartoon was born, in fact, as an original project created by Studio Pierrot. In the wake of the success of the anime, it was decided to launch in parallel with the creation of the manga dedicated to this, published in Japan in the magazine Carol and written by the same author of the TV series, Kazunori Itō.
OAV, SPIN-OFF E CROSSOVER - In addition to the manga, the success of the cartoon subsequently led to the creation of a spin-off of four OAVs - The Return of Creamy, Creamy Mami: Lovely Serenade, The Long Goodbye, Creamy Mami Song Special 2: Curtain Call - but even real crossovers. The birth and attention to Creamy Mami led Studio Pierrot to focus on the world of wizards. From there the arrival of characters like Magica Emi or Sandy with a thousand colors who will find Creamy in some crossovers.
I NOMI - Unlike what often happens in the Italian transposition of Japanese anime, in The Enchanting Creamy almost all the names of the characters have remained the original ones. To undergo changes were the names of Megumi Ayase, rival of Creamy, who became Duenote Ayase, and also of the president of Parthenon Production, Shingo Tachibana, who became Jingle Pentagramma.
PINOPINO AND THE PROMOTION OF THE IDOL - Perhaps one of the most curious things about The Enchanting Creamy is what lies behind its creation. The anime, in fact, was born from Studio Pierrot commissioned by the giant of toys Bandai who needed to 'promote' the series of alien puppets "PinoPino" remained unsold in 1981. But that's not all: Creamy's fate is actually linked to that of a true idol. In fact, the cartoon was also born to promote the singer Takako Ohta, who in Japan was the voice actress of Creamy and, therefore, she was the one who sang acronyms and songs in the TV series.
Creamy's theme song and songs
The Italian abbreviation takes the name of the cartoon, The enchanting Creamy, and is sung by Cristina D'Avena.
These, however, are the songs that the protagonist sings during the anime broadcast in Italy:
- Tell me that you love me dearly
- Delicate Lipstick
- Without Other Love
- Beautiful emotion
- In Pajamas
- Creamy Mami at Yu
These are not all the songs in Creamy's repertoire but only those performed in the Italian version of the anime.
The characters
Yū Morisawa / Creamy Mami - the protagonist of the series. A 10-year-old girl in her original version, a beautiful idol in her counterpart.
Toshio Ōtomo - 14-year-old boy, childhood friend of Yū and a big fan of Creamy Mami.
Midori Kisaragi - Toshio's best friend and classmate, he is in love with Yu.
Posi e Nega - two small aliens from the Feathered Star planet. They become Yu's inseparable friends and helpers as two kittens.
Pine Pine - a small alien from the planet Feathered Star who gives Yuu magical powers.
Natsume Morisawa - Yū's mother, she runs the Creamy Crêpe creperie with her husband.
Tetsuo Morisawa - Yū's father.
Shingo Tachibana - in Italy Jingle Pentagramma, president of Parthenon Production, Mami and Megumi's music label.
Megumi Ayase - in Italy Duenote Ayase, Creamy's colleague and rival.
Hayato Kidokoro - manager of Mami and Megumi.
You are eager for a little more 80s nostalgia? We recently ventured into the adventures of the three thieves featured in Cat eyes, in the troubled history of Lady Oscar, between Sorgenti Maledette with Ranma 1 / 2, among the thousand messes of Doraemon e Nobita, among the sporting challenges of Holly and Benji e Mila and Shiro. But also a lot, more!
Creamy Mami (Vol. 1)
- Ito, Kazunori (Author)
