Mamotte! Lollipop anime licensed by Funimation

From Anime News Network:

Funimation announced that it has acquired the Save Me! Lollipop (Mamotte! Lollipop) romantic comedy anime from the Japanese publisher Kodansha. The story centers around a girl named Nina who swallows a Crystal Pearl after mistaking it for a lollipop. Two sorcerers from another world sudden appear to claim the Crystal Pearl as part of a critical trial. The two vow to protect Nina from other competing sorcerors until one or the other can safely retrieve the jewel and win the trial.

Director Noriyoshi Nakamura (Dragon Slayer, My Santa) adapted this anime from Michiyo Kikuta's Mamotte! Lollipop manga, which ran in Kodansha's Nakayoshi shōjo manga magazine. The anime aired 12 episodes in Japan in 2006. Funimation plans to release the series in one DVD set in late 2008.

Only the first two episodes were fansubbed so I won't bother removing them from the blog.

Mamotte Lollipop, episode 2

(まもって！ ロリポップ) 2006

Nina has always dreamed of her ideal guy - strong, gentle, always willing to protect her. And by a completely odd twist of fate, she may've found two of them! After swallowing an object she thought was a complimentary sweet, two boys (and a flying car) drop out of the sky, asking her if she's seen an object known as the Crystal Pearl. The Crystal Pearl is a special, magical item needed by aspiring wizards in order to pass an exam. They must keep it and protect it for 6 months if they hope to do so, and because it's now inside Nina, Zero and Ichii (as they are known) decide to protect her for the duration.

Nina knows it probably won't be a good day when she awakens from a bad dream to see Zero sitting on her, in her bed. On the way to school (via the flying car) she is once again captured by San and Forte, only to crash to the ground from a rescue attempt on the behalf of Ichii. And just when she thinks she can breathe easy, because at least she's at peace at school, she comes to find that said protectors have transferred into her class! Ichii and Zero simply refuse to leave her side, going so far as to occupy any seating next to her, and carrying her by the arms from place to place. This causes quite a stir among her peers, especially the female ones. Rumors, such as engagement, shoot through the halls. Nina is quite miserable.



During all of this, San and Forte watch from a tree, and come up with the idea to disguise themselves as students (well, San does). They plan to confront Nina in the girls bathroom. Nina eventually ends up there in order to calm down - she almost fell down the stairs in a fit of frustration and anger, only to be saved by Ichii. She wonders if he is the shadow protecting her in the bad dream she'd had that morning. San and Forte enter, and Nina points out that Forte is a boy, leading to an angry mob chasing the magic examinees out.

But Nina isn't out of the clear. San takes the chaotic opportunity to chase her to the roof with her evil "Air Fish," however, Zero is soon there to save her. He injures himself in the process, declaring that he's decided to protect Nina. Ichii eventually shows up and their combined magic defeats the other magic team. All is well again, save for the property damage. At the end it is decided that Zero and Ichii will live in a conjured apartment, in her closet, in her room, to keep a watchful eye on things.



Urgh... so cheap, so cliche. Even the music has this kind of weird muffle to it. It could be the source that the fansubbers used, it could be how it is.

Mamotte Lollipop, episode 1

(まもって！ ロリポップ) 2006

Nina has always dreamed of her ideal guy - strong, gentle, always willing to protect her. And by a completely odd twist of fate, she may've found two of them! After swallowing an object she thought was a complimentary sweet, two boys (and a flying car) drop out of the sky, asking her if she's seen an object known as the Crystal Pearl. The Crystal Pearl is a special, magical item needed by aspiring wizards in order to pass an exam. They must keep it and protect it for 6 months if they hope to do so, and because it's now inside Nina, Zero and Ichii (as they are known) decide to protect her for the duration.

Because this episode is simply chaotic, I am not going to attempt to summarize everything. We'll just do something else. In episode one we are immediately introduced to the cocky, blue-haired Zero (who tries to STRANGLE Nina to get the pearl out!), and calm, brown-haired Ichii, along with a strange looking dragon mascot (I have not seen him in the manga, he probably shows up later). Zero is ticked about the whole situation, but Ichii says it can't be helped. Then we meet San and Forte (can you already see the play on numbers?) on a flying owl. Unlike our pretty boys, they don't think it's wrong to go so far as to MURDER someone to get the pearl. Nina is kidnapped by them (they keep her tied up with a really cheap looking CG snake), but this doesn't last. After a MALE version of a henshin sequence (I've only ever seen this ONCE, and that was Tuxedo Kamen in Sailor Moon), Zero and Ichii save the day and blast the second team away (literally). Nina thanks them, decides they are the princes from her dream, and gets into a "stretch my face" fight with Zero.



Mamotte Lollipop is, at best, average. It's pretty generic. The creator must've grabbed all the cliches she could find out of a bag, and ran with it. Even the character designs are nothing special and don't show much creativity. The animation is really cheap looking in some parts (they used a few sequences several times). It kinda reminds me of The Wallflower (poor Wallflower), or even Kirarin Revolution (although this show makes Kirarin look like Vision of Escaflowne).

Maybe it'll get better, but right now I don't have anything to go on. I don't like to give up on an anime one episode in, so I'll plug on for awhile.