#Bottom line/Tl;dr:
Creamy Mami is a fun watch if you are interested in 80s animation and idol anime. At times it can feel a bit slow, especially when the Creamy Mami tries to reiterate its magical themes. However, this is offset by the numerous silly moments among cast members and overall fun tone. I don't think this is the best mahou shoujo series out there but it's still a fun watch.
In 2017 I discovered future funk, a genre of music featuring pitched up city pop samples. It has grown increasingly popular since then. It’s not uncommon to find faster Mariya Takeuchi songs with a slew of added effects playing over a looping clips of Lum from Urusei Yatsura on YouTube.
In fact, that’s how I became aware of Creamy Mami in the first place. Most of future funk videos loop a short gif (usually from an 80s or 90s anime) to serve as their visual element. This intrigued me quite a bit. Even though you are watching the same clip over and over, you can’t help but notice certain things about the way each sequence is animated whether it’s the art style or motion of the characters. The character designs in particular were completely different than what I was used to. Older anime has certain "charm" to it that separates it from modern anime. Even character design was quite different back then. Mami especially caught my attention because she was so pretty in comparison to the typical anime girl you might find in any currently airing series.
Creamy Mami the Magical Angel is a magical girl anime but most of the time it doesn’t really feel like one. While it is a show that helped pave the way for the mahou shoujo genre, it is quite different from something like Sailor Moon or Cardcaptor Sakura. Unlike Usagi or Sakura, Creamy Mami doesn’t always use her powers to solve problems. Instead, Creamy Mami allows its heroine transform into an older and ideal version of herself and it's through this transformation that Mami's younger self can grow and mature as a person.
Creamy Mami begins with 10 year old Yuu Morisawa. While she is playing outside one day, Yuu chances upon a spaceship only she can see. She meets an alien who grants her magical powers to use for one year. Yuu discovers that her main ability is transforming into a beautiful 16-year-old version of herself (who I will refer to as Mami during this review). The spaceship leaves Yuu with two cats (Nega and Posi) who occasionally help her use her compact to transform. Unlike Sailor Moon or Cardcaptor Sakura, Yuu doesn’t really responsibilities with these new powers (no magic cards need to be collected, no monsters need to be defeated etc.). So Yuu chooses to use her powers to do what most 3rd graders dream of: becoming an idol.
Throughout the span of its 52 episodes, Yuu can either be found working as an idol or spending time with friends while encountering supernatural phenomena. The former makes up a majority of the show which sometimes makes it seem like more of an idol show. For the most part, most of the magic used in these episodes is simply Yuu transforming into Mami. A lot of the idol episodes are fun to watch because of how silly they are. Mami’s team at Parthenon, the record company she works for, includes her spineless manager Kidokoro, her rival/colleague Megumi, and the CEO Tachibana who is eager to find ways to have Mami make the company more money. A lot of the interactions between these characters are a joy to watch, whether it’s Tachibana scolding Kidokoro for messing up one of Mami’s appointments or Megumi delivering her episodic slap-in-the-face to Tachibana for being a dolt.
The other side of Creamy Mami includes Yuu’s friends. Yuu has a crush on Toshio, her childhood friend and they often spend time together when Yuu is not working as Mami. When Toshio sees the idol Mami for the first time, he falls in love with her creating a sort of love triangle between him, Yuu, and Yuu’s second identity. A constant trope of the show is Yuu scolding Toshio for constantly fawning over Mami, who in reality is Yuu. It sounds confusing but ends up being quite the silly situation throughout most of the show.
Arguably, the episodes that feature Yuu’s friends are weaker because the focus is usually more on magic than Mami. It can be jarring at times because the show establishes Mami as more of an idol than a magical girl. These magic centered episodes include a number of things like other psychic children, a time wizard, Godzilla, and even a version of Santa who brings children dreams rather than toys. While some of these are interesting, it feels like these episodes are sprinkled in to remind the viewer that Creamy Mami is a magical girl show. Most of the time, they feel out of place. Transitioning from an idol episode to one that deals with more magic can be too sudden. The show has no clear overarching story which allows it to delve into a number of different kinds of episodes but even so, there is little to no relation between idol Mami and magic girl Mami. Some of these magical episodes don’t even have Yuu transforming into Mami at all. If Yuu does transform, in most cases no one will recognize that it was Mami who saved the day because Yuu must hide her identity.
I personally found myself enjoying episodes where Yuu spends time performing as Mami and wishing that episodes with these magical elements were over sooner. This is because Creamy Mami sets the tone early on when it establishes Mami's career as an idol. I wish that Creamy Mami was more consistent in the direction it wanted to take Mami and her magic. However, that isn’t enough to detract from the watching experience in my opinion. Much like the idol episodes, these parts of the show that feature Yuu’s friends gives them some development at times which makes them more likable. By the end of the show, you can’t help but really like a lot of the minor characters.
Where Creamy Mami shines is when it does the unexpected. Some episodes are rather dark in comparison to the more light hearted ones. One episode has Yuu and her friends exploring an abandoned ship and almost drowning. The episode makes you believe that they are truly going to die. Another has a TV crew filming Mami without her knowing and creating many scary instances (such as crashing a truck into a phone booth she is using, almost killing her) in order to create an immersive horror film.
Then there is the conflict Yuu has with her secret identity. At one point, Yuu loses her powers and for a brief period, she is unable to turn back into her younger self. It’s a moment of realization and horror for both her and the viewer. She is afraid to return home leaving her nowhere to go because she is does not want to reveal her identity as Mami. Yuu is also constantly lying to her parents in order to stay out late for work and throughout the show, she hates having to hide this. Keep in mind that Yuu is still mentally 10 years old, even after transforming in to 16-year old Mami. The fact that she can deal with this identity crisis as a third grader is impressive and largely due to her experiences as the idol Mami with responsibilities quite different than what she is used to.
Yuu is one of Creamy Mami’s greatest strengths. Yuu is incredibly kind and can be quite mature for a 3rd grader. This shows while she is working as Mami. Throughout the show, Mami meets fans every episode and she is nothing but kind to them. One of my favorite episodes has Mami meeting a former jazz pianist who is unable to pay due to psychological trauma. With the use of her magic, she is able to help him play the piano once more. Towards the end of the show, Mami realizes that the 1 year deadline where she will no longer have her powers is near and begins to make arrangements for her retirement despite the backlash from the press and her staff at Parthenon.
But even with her powers, Yuu is not unstoppable. One episode features Mami riding a helicopter that flies through a magic storm, sending her to an unknown planet. When she tries to escape, Yuu’s magic fails to work causing her to break down crying. It’s moments like these that remind us that the beautiful Mami is also a young girl who is still trying to figure things out. In fact, there are many instances where Yuu’s powers fail her, forcing her to find other ways of dealing with her problems. In the helicopter episode, it’s not Yuu’s magic but her connection with Toshio that saves her. Yuu realizes that she truly cares for Toshio, despite being jealous of his obsession with Mami. It’s almost as if Yuu’s transformation into Mami allowed her to realize this. When Yuu transforms into Mami, she steps into the world of adulthood and experiences a multitude of things that she can keep as Yuu when she no longer has her powers. To think that Yuu’s magic not only physically transforms her but mentally as well throughout the show is rather neat. It’s a different take than what I’m used to on the whole transformation trope of the mahou shoujo genre.
Finally, I’d like to address the presentation of Creamy Mami. Since watching future funk videos, I’ve developed a fascination with older animation and Creamy Mami satisfies that curiosity of mine. Yes, the animation is dated as Creamy Mami released in 1983 but it has a lovely art style. I love taking screencaps of anime when I watch and I’ve taken countless ones during my watch of Creamy Mami. Another thing worth mentioning is the music. If you enjoy idol anime, don’t expect a wide variety of idol music. For the first 20 episodes or so, Mami sings one song only (the OP to the show) and later she adds a few more songs to her repertoire (which include the various ED’s). I didn’t mind this at all, in fact I love all the music that Takako Ota recorded for Creamy Mami.
Creamy Mami is more than just your typical mahou shoujo anime. It takes the trope of transformation and applies it to the mental aspect of its main heroine. It’s amazing to see how much Yuu is really capable of throughout the span of 52 episodes. She meets many different people, changing them for the better in more ways than one. I am usually hesitant on picking up shows longer than 25 episodes for fear of getting burned out. Despite some pacing issues, I still think Creamy Mami is worth it. For me, the main draw to this show was watching Yuu grow as a person through Mami and her interactions with her friends and family. Occasionally, Creamy Mami surprised me giving me more than I expected. If you are interested in mahou shoujo or older anime in general, I recommend giving Creamy Mami a shot!
