Balala the Fairies
Balala the Fairies, or Balala, Little Magic Fairy (巴啦啦小魔仙, Bālālā xiǎo mó xian), is a Chinese magical girl metaseries created and produced by Alpha Group. Each series focuses on a group of magical girls fighting against evil and dark forces while following their ordinary lives and personal wishes. The first installment was the live-action series of the same name, which first aired in 2008.
| Balala the Fairies | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Balala, Little Magic Fairy |
| Genre | |
| Directed by | Zhou Jianji Li Sijie Li Junze |
| Starring | Mikan Liu Liao Jingxuan Huang Anyi Jony Sun |
| Opening theme | "Balala the Fairies" by A2A (AOA) |
| Ending theme | "The Happy Money Box" |
| Country of origin | China |
| Original language(s) | Mandarin |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Cai Dongqing |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Alpha Group Co. Ltd. |
| Release | |
| Picture format | 480i SDTV |
| Original release | April 12, 2008 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
| Balala the Fairies | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 巴啦啦小魔仙 | ||||||
| Literal meaning | Balala, Little Magic Fairy | ||||||
| |||||||
Currently, it is airing the third series, Ocean Magic.
Overview
Each season focuses on a group of girls, mainly Chinese schoolgirls, who are granted magical powers and talents and transform into the legendary warriors known as the "Fairies of Balala" to fight against unknown evil forces. Their strength will be contested many times until they find out. They will also gain more new items, stuff and abilities to fight evil, as the enemies get stronger from time to time.
Television
Live-action series
- Balala the Fairies (2008–2009)
- Balala the Fairies: The Mystery Note (2015–2016)
Animated series
- Balala the Fairies: Rainbow Heart (2011–2012)
- Balala the Fairies: Miracle Dance (2013–2014)
- Balala the Fairies: Finding Melody (2015–2016)
- Balala the Fairies: Over the Rainbow (2016–2018)
- Balala the Fairies: Ocean Magic (2018–2019)
Film
- Balala the Fairies: the Movie (2013)
- Balala the Fairies: The Magic Trial (2014)
- Balala the Fairies: Princess Camellia (2015)
Critical reception & Controversy
The series is praised as an advancement of Chinese animation programs. However, some critics aimed to the fact that the series is somewhat too similar to Japan's magical girl anime series, such as Pretty Cure, or in other, copied from Pretty Cure.
See also
- Chinese animation
- Magical girl
- Girls × Heroine Series
- Pretty Cure, Japanese magical girl series which has similarities to Balala the Fairies