Onegai! Samia-don! ("Please, Mr. Psammead!") is an animated adaptation of Edith Nesbit's novel Five Children and It, set in the rural England of The '80s. It begins with the Turner siblings (the teenaged Simon/Sil, the pre-teens Robert and Jane, and the baby Babe) finding an odd creature named the Psammead that can grant them wishes lasting for a whole day; from then on the siblings and their neighbor, a teen girl named Anne Hopkins, start living an odd life full of adventures granted by the Psammead's magic...
More than a little reminiscent of Doraemon, the series in itself had 78 episodes, was produced by TMS Entertainment (then known as Tokyo Movie), and ran from 1985 to 1986 in NHK Channel. It was broadcasted in several countries (almost all of Latin-America, Italy, France, Russia and the French part of Canada, among others), but not in the USA, with only a few fansubbed episodes available in English.
Onegai Samia-don' provides examples of the following:
- Adapted Out: Anthea doesn't appear, though Anne could be said to take up her role.
- A Day in the Limelight: Being a TV series, some episodes were more centered on one or two kids than the others. i.e., a whole and surprisingly serious one was dedicated to Anne and the Psammead alone, exploring the world behind the mirrors.
- Animesque: The series is this trope in reverse. This series is anime, but the character designs are very Western-looking, fittingly as the series takes place in England.
- Butt Monkeys: Sil and Jane tended to have their wishes backfire on them repeteadly (With Robert often being caught in the middle...)
- Canon Foreigner: Anne Hopkins was created specially for the series. Same goes to Harry, Michael, Mr. Matthews, etc.
- Commander Contrarian: Jane was the kid who disagreed the most about the wishes and prospect wishes.
- Dub Name Change: The Psammead is known as Sablotin in the French language version. Most of the other kids' names were left intact or changed only slightly.
- Fish People: One episode had Robert asking the Psammead to transform him into a merman.
- Glory Hound: Harry, a local kid who notices the odd antics of the children and tries to find out what's going on so he can reveal the reasons behind it and become famous.
- Grumpy Old Man: The Psammead was more of this than a trickster, with some dashes of Dirty Old Man in between.
- Hormone-Addled Teenager: Sil was aged up to early-to-mid teens, and showed more than one shade of this. In one episode he asks the Psammead to turn him into a clone of Anne so he could impersonate Anne and scare away a boy who was interested in her (it didn't work), and in another he was furious when the Psammead got to give Anne a kiss.
- I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: Sorta. Anne knew very clearly that the Psammead had a soft spot for her, so whenever she wanted something specific from him she'd act cutesy and super sweet to get him to do things the way she wanted.
- Love Triangle: Simon/Sil and a local rich boy, Michael, were rivals for an oblivious Anne's affections.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: The eldest boy "Sil" is actually named "Simon", but no one refers to him as such. Except in the French dub, where he is only referred to as Simon.
- Parents as People: The siblings's parents do care for them, but are very busy with work (Mr. Turner) and housekeeping/taking care of the family's baby (Mrs. Turner).
- Polar Penguins: When the kids want to go to the Arctic but the Psammead doesn't want to take them there for obvious reasons, he uses magic to recreate it without having water nearby. It obviously includes many adorable penguins.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: Cyril's name is changed to Simon/Sil since "Cyril" is quite antiquated in modern times, the siblings are given a surname ("Turner"), Anthea is Adapted Out and her in-story role is taken up by Canon Foreigner Anne Hopkins, and the setting was quite more modern.
- Setting Update: The books were set in Edwardian England, the series in the England of The '80s.
- Sibling Rivalry: Sil and Jane fought quite a bit, and Sil also was kind of a Big Brother Bully to Robert
- Sick Episode: In one episode Grandma Turner is sick, so a worried Jane asks the Psammead to send her to the Blue Coast for the day. Cue to the Psammead and Jane having to stand-in for her so people won't find out she's gone...
- Takenfor Granite: Sort-of. The Psammead once mistakenly believes that Anne wants to become a crystal statue... and transforms her into one. The Turners have to work hard to hide Anne-the-statue until the magic wears off.
- Tiny Tyrannical Girl: Jane had more than one inkling of this, being small and pudgy but very stubborn and prone to tantrums when things didn't go her way... which always sent the Psammead into fits since her tears could potentially kill him.
- Trademark Favorite Food: The Psammead had a weakness for eating car tires.
