Magical Emi, the Magic Star is the third Magical Girl series created by Studio Pierrot, airing from 1985 to 1986.
Mai Kazuki is an aspiring magician, but her skills aren't good enough to get her into her grandparents' Magic Carat troupe. Then one day, she is visited by a mirror fairy named Topo, who gives her a magic bracelet that can transform Mai into an 18-year-old version of herself. As Magical Emi, Mai uses her magic to help people and participate in her grandparents' shows.
Tropes:
- 10-Minute Retirement: After making too many mistakes on stage, Susumu decides to quit the Magic Carat, leaving the other characters very disappointed. But not for much time, since he comes back before the end of the episode.
- Always Someone Better: A mild case, but Mai's little brother Misaki is much more gifted at magic than she is. Sometimes she gets jealous when the others praise her brother instead of her, especially since she is the one who wants to become a magician.
- Bittersweet Ending: In the end, Mai decides to give up her magic so that she can learn to become a great Stage Magician the hard way.
- Brought Down to Normal: Mai gives up her Magical Girl powers in the end. She realizes she wants to become a good Stage Magician by herself as a normal girl, without cheating with real magic.
- Butt-Monkey: Everyone have moments of this, but especially these characters:
- Kokubunji, Koganei's bumbling subordinate, is the biggest example in the series. He is always mistreated by his boss and suffers some form of embarrassment or humiliation every time he appears. Even in his two A Day in the Limelight episodes, he can't catch a break.
- The Mentor Mascot Topo is often treated like a literal punching bag by the little kid Misaki, much to his chagrin.
- Mai herself can be this, for her clumsiness, incompetence at magic tricks, and how she's often treated as Just a Kid.
- By the Power of Grayskull!: "Pulitto! Pararin Ririkaru Parapora Magikaru!"
- Cheerful Child: Misaki is a happy and hyperactive little kid who has too much energy for his age.
- Circus Brat: Mai grew up in the Magic Carat Magic Show.
- Education Papa: Mai's father believes magic is a waste of time, and also thinks that Mai should spend more time studying.
- Expy: Mai is this to Yū Morisawa, the previous Magic Idol Singer of Studio Pierrot. A short-haired, energetic, tomboyish, 10 or 11-year-old girl with parents who work as bakers in a shop, she wears similar clothes, has a celebrity Older Alter Ego, she is close with an older boy and has a bickering friendship with him (Toshio for Yū, Sho for Mai) and she also has an ugly Hopeless Suitor in the civilian form (Midori for Yū, Musashi for Mai). The primary difference between the two is that Yū's main goal is to win Toshio's heart (she envies her Older Alter Ego Creamy for being liked by Toshio, not for being an Idol Singer), while Mai's main goal is to become a talented magician like her Older Alter Ego Emi, while Sho is The Not-Love Interest to her.
- Family Versus Career: Mai's mother, Yuko, left her career as a talented magician in order to get married and start a family.
- Fat and Skinny:
- The two guys who work for Magic Carat. Akira is overweight and Susumu is skinny.
- Koganei is a Fat Bastard. His son Musashi (who is also Mai's classmate) is a skinny geek.
- Friend to All Living Things: Mai has become friends with many magical creatures, including an alien princess and a sentient doll.
- Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Topo spends most of the series in the form of a stuffed animal.
- Gratuitous English: The main theme "Fushigi-Iro Happiness" ("Mystery-Coloured Happiness")Tsuka maete MAI HAPINESU, Koi wa fushigi iro MAI HAPINESU
- Hair-Trigger Temper:
- The TV producer Koganei always gets pissed off at his subordinate Kokubunji.
- Mai herself is this. It's especially Sho who contantly makes her angry, even for trivial reasons.
- Iyashikei: The series does not build towards a dramatic climax but revolves around the daily troubles of the characters, and nostalgic, somewhat mysterious stories.
- Loves My Alter Ego: Downplayed. Sho has some interest in Emi (Mai's Older Alter Ego), but it's never used as a plot point in the series, and in general, he is more interested in the boxing, as he is an aspiring boxer. However, Mai is slightly jealous, especially when many people believe the rumor that Sho and Emi are dating.
- Magic Idol Singer: Although Emi is a Stage Magician rather than an Idol Singer, her story still follows the Magic Idol Singer template. She even dabbles in Idol Singer territory by combining her magic shows with musical accompaniment.
- Magicians Are Wizards: The whole plot revolves around this. Mai's whole family are Stage Magicians and she wants to become one too, but she's not talented enough, so she turns to real magic in order to succeed with her stage magic.
- Mentor Mascot: Topo is a mirror fairy who gives powers to Mai and also serves as her mentor.
- Nerd Glasses:
- Susumu wears glasses and is portrayed as a wimpy and dorky character.
- Mai's classmate Musashi is a younger example, but he is also a nerd who wears glasses.
- Non-Human Sidekick: Topo is doubly so, since he's a mirror fairy inhabiting the body of a purple flying squirrel plushie.
- Older Alter Ego: Mai is a young girl while as Emi she is an 18-year-old girl.
- Naked First Impression: Or rather, panty shot first impression. When Sho and Mai first meet, he points out that her strawberry-print undies are showing. She responds by kicking him in the shins.
- Power Dyes Your Hair: Mai has brown hair as civilian and teal hair as Magical Emi.
- Precocious Crush: Downplayed. It often implied that Mai has a crush on the 17-year-old Sho Yuki, but it's never clear is she likes him this way, and they are Like Brother and Sister at the end of the day.
- Satellite Character: Akira never has an episode focused on him, despite being a regular. The series has a lot of main characters, including Mai/Emi, her family, all the members of the Magic Carat (including Yukiko, Akira, and Susumu), the Mentor Mascot Topo, the male lead Sho, Kokubunji, Koganei and his son Musashi, and all of them have a Day in the Limelight at some point, except for Akira. The closest thing he gets is sharing some scenes with Yukiko and Susumu.
- Stage Magician: Mai belongs to a family of them.
- Mai's grandparents are leaders of a troupe called Magic Carat. Mai's Older Alter Ego Magical Emi will join them and make them famous, thanks to real magic.
- Mai's mother used to be one, but she left her career for her family.
- Mai herself would like to become a magician in the future, but now she is not very good at it.
- Even Sho is the son of famous magicians. Sho himself is quite good at magic trick and often helps Mai's grandparents, but his real dream is to become a boxer.
- Stay in the Kitchen: When Mai gets a bad grade in home economics, everyone tells her that she needs to improve because a woman is supposed to become a housewife when she is older. Mai doesn't like the different treatment of men and women in the society, and understands how it's difficult to live up to women's expectations. This series was made in the The '80s, obviously set in Japan.
- Super Wrist-Gadget: Mai wears her Transformation Trinket on her wrist.
- Tagalong Kid: The main character Mai is a child who often hangs out with her grandparents' Magic Carat troupe, but she is more a honorary member because of her lack of magic skills. Everyone also believes her to be the only one who can contact "her friend Emi" to participate on their show, as they are obviously unaware that Mai and Emi are the same person.
- To Be a Master: Mai's dream is to become a great magician.
- Transformation Sequence: Mai has one with lots of bubbles and wand-waving, where again the actual transforming part is quite brief.
- Transformation Trinket: Mai has a bracelet that produces a magic wand. With the wand, Mai can transform herself into Magical Emi.
- Victory Is Boring: More like Phlebotinum-Aided Victory Is Boring — When Mai wins a magic contest as Magical Emi, the victory feels empty and unfulfilling because she only won thanks to her Magical Girl powers, which feels like a cheat. This leads to her decision to relinquish her powers.
- Vitriolic Best Buds:
- Mai and Sho. Despite the frequent teasing, and Mai often getting upset at Sho's behavior, they are still portrayed as close friends, and Sho sees Mai as a little sister.
- Koganei usually yells at his subordinate Kokubunji and treats him badly, but deep down, they seem to care for each other, somewhat.
- Whole-Plot Reference: Episode 16 is one to Duel, with the twist being the driver of the truck menacing the main characters being a big fan of Emi's and wanting her autograph.
- Wizarding School: Mai's grandparents run a small school for young magicians.
- Women Prefer Strong Men: Sho is popular with girl also because of his boxing skills. This doesn's apply to Mai's crush on him, because she likes Sho but hates boxing.
