Mischievous Twins: The Tales of St. Clare's (おちゃめなふたご ―クレア学院物語― Ochame na Futago: Kurea Gakuin Monogatari) is a 1991 Japanese anime created by Tokyo Movie Shinsha (now known as TMS Entertainment). It was originally broadcast on Nippon Television from January to November 1991, ending at 26 episodes. It was directed by Masaharu Okuwaki.
The anime is based on the St Clare's books by UK children's author Enid Blyton.
Based primarily on the first two books of the series, it follows much the same plot. Patricia "Pat" and Isabel O'Sullivan are two of the best students at their school, but receive a shock when their father announces that they'll be attending school at St. Clare's.
Pat and Isabel are stunned to hear this, because they love their old school and everything about it. Disgruntled, they attend, while being hostile to the rules and their fellow students.
To their surprise, they actually find out they like St. Clare's, despite initially being against the idea, and they're welcomed amongst their fellow first formers, who are all Ragtag Bunch of Misfits in some way or another. Pat and Isabel fit right in, and what begins is an unforgettable school year.
Contains examples of:
- Adapted Out: Since it's an adaptation of a six-book series with loads and loads of characters, many characters are excluded from the adaptation, Most notably, Alma, Carlotta, Prudence and Erica.
- All Just a Dream: In one episode, Patricia and Isabel go exploring the ruins of an old castle. Inexplicably, they get transported to the olden times of King Arthur, and witness Lancelot save Guinivere. It later turns out to be a dream, but Patricia and Isabel question how two people can have the same dream.
- American Kirby Is Hardcore: The original book was called St. Clare's, while the anime adaptation is called Mischievous Twins: The Tales of St. Clare's. While the title is true to an extent (both Pat and Isabel are eager Trolls), Pat is the more hot-headed one while Isabel drops the "mischevious" bit halfway into the series.
- Animated Adaptation: Of the St Clare's series by Enid Blyton; she passed away two decades before the anime's creation.
- Birthday Episode: Two times.
- On Janet's birthday, the girls throw her a surprise party in the middle of the night.
- A few days before the twin's birthday, they have a fight and give each other the silent treatment. They make up just in time to celebrate their birthday together.
- Britain Is Only England: In the final episode, it's confirmed the series takes place in England because the girls go to London.
- Boarding School: St. Clare's is a boarding school for British girls, and as expected of most British schools it teaches French and has a large sports community.
- Canon Foreigner:
- Jimmy, Rita, Madeleine, Joan and Colin.
- The anime also adds a slew of male teachers, which wasn't a thing in the original books since St. Clare's was a One-Gender School.
- Lancelot and Guinevere.
- Creator Provincialism: Inverted. The anime is based on a book by a British author with no Japanese characters/settings.
- Culturally Sensitive Adaptation: In the book, many characters repeatedly made fun of Alma Pudden for being fat (even justifying it in-universe by saying it was "not malicious"). In the anime, not only is Alma Adapted Out, but one episode focuses on a dieting craze taking over the school, which Patricia and Isabel are horrifed at and reject. The diet is so severe that when an important swimming match comes up, most of the girls can barely function.
- Engrish: In the episode where Allison tries a dieting craze, her and the other girls are reading a book that says "calory". That should have been the first sign it shouldn't have been trusted.
- Everyone Has Standards: The girls love playing pranks, but when Ms. Kennedy is startled by a firecraker and leaves the class in tears, they realize they've taken it too far. They run after her to comfort her and ask her to stay.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: Madeleine and Hillary are blondes. One is a popular Alpha Bitch, the other is the Student Council President. Both have nasty attitudes, but Hillary has a Hidden Heart of Gold.
- Flowers of Femininity: One of the anime's posters features the two girls surrounded by tulips, shrubberies, roses and daisies amongst other types of flowers.
- Food Porn: In one episode, the girls throw a party for Janet's birthday, and we get a lot of beautiful shots of her birthday cake, jam, pie, mini-biscuits and all sorts of sugary sweet items. See here
◊. - Foreign Culture Fetish: Colin is British, but adores Native American culture so much he dresses up as an Indian, feather hat and all, and starts playing rambunctiously. He then climbs the school roof and begins crying because he's scared of heights until a teacher brings him down.
- Gorgeous Period Dress: Guinevere wears a fancy ballgown and her knights are all dressed in shining armour.
- Gratuitous French: St. Clare's teaches French as a second languagenote , and both Patricia and Isabelle are very fluent in the language. St. Clare's also has the French teacher, Mademoiselle, who doesn't speak English that well and tends to speak in her native language.
- Happy Ending: In the final episode, Pat and Isabel are selected to go to London and give a speech that's held annually, but they don't know what to put. They decide not to worry, because a school like St. Claire's will certainly help them mature and face all of life's obstacles. They end up realizing that this could be their speech, and get a standing ovation.
- Lighter and Softer: The anime lacks many of the mean-spirited moments from the book, like everyone agreeing Alma deserves to be bullied and the girl's tendencies to be heavily judgmental.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: In one episode, Janet learns how to read tarot cards and gives her classmates palm readings. She tells Isabel that she will have a bad fate. That night, Isabel dreams that St. Clare's is on fire, with the horses also being affected. Janet is a Troll, so she may have done it on purpose, but still...
- One-Gender School: St. Clare's is exclusive to female students, though it has some male teachers.
- Phenotype Stereotype: Since this is set in Britain, many characters have blue eyes and reddish-brown hair.
- Precious Puppies: In one episode, Katherine finds a shot puppy. The other girls think he's adorable and Squee over him.
- Promoted to Parent: Gladys' dream was to compete in the Olympics as a marathon runner and fulfill her father's Dying Dream; unfortunately she's forced to work at the school's kitchens to support her mother and two little brothers.
- Setting Update: The original books were written in 1940, so they presumably take place there. However, the anime is explicitly stated to take place in the 1920s.
- Weight Loss Salad: One episode centers around Allison getting hooked on a dieting fad and insisting the other girls try it too. The book she's reading advises girls to abstain from eating their school-provided meals in favour of small amounts of greens.
