Magical Play


Magical Play is a Japanese original net animation directed by Hiroki Hayashi featuring character designs by Kiyohiko Azuma. It was webcast from November 16, 2001 to May 3, 2002, totaling twenty-four episodes. The magical girl satire was later compiled into four half-hour episodes and released on four DVDs. A 3D OVA episode was released on December 29, 2001.
There are two manga adaptions of this series. One is drawn by Yoshitaka Yoshino and the other is by Yukimaru Katsura.
ADV Films announced the licensing of the show on April 7, 2003 and has released a two disc DVD complete set.

Plot

Padudu is a girl who travels to Sweetland, from her own land, Sea Heaven. Once there, she competes with many others, in ranging from winning simple contests to fights. These earn them 'Hanamaru', which are simple designs from a stamp. When enough are collected, the girl gets the right to become a Magical Girl on earth.

Story

The story begins with Padudu, a girl from the aquatic land Sea Heaven, who has been traveling trying to collect Hanamaru. She accidentally interrupts a fight between Pipin and another combatant. Pipin defeats her opponent. As Pipin jumps up and down in celebration, Padudu suddenly falls on top of and incapacitates her. An elderly judge declares Padudu as the winner of the contest and awards Padudu with a Hanamaru. A frustrated Pipin accuses Padudu of stealing her Hanamaru and declares Padudu her lifelong rival. Although at first she seems to hate Padudu for 'stealing' her Hanamaru, over time, they develop a good relationship.
As Padudu and Pipin travel together, they meet an older girl, who is also trying to become a Magical Girl and has already collected many Hanamaru. Her name is MyuMyu, and she eventually joins the duo.
Every once in a while, they meet Nonononn, a criminal who is on the run, and it is revealed she is from Sea Heaven. They are usually intrigued by her presence, and Padudu wants to be friends with her. Unlike the others, she does not join the group and continues on her own. It's revealed she used to travel with Queen Purilun, and they both tried together to become Magical Girls but, at one point, they took separate paths. A running gag is that it is usually Nononnon's fault for getting Padudu arrested by Ketchup and Mustard.

Magical Play 3D

Magical Play 3D is an OVA that retells the Magical Play story. Magical Play 3D is noticeably more serious and violent than the original series. Padudu is captured and taken to jail by Ketchup and Mustard. Coincidentally, Nonononn is her cell mate. The keeper of the jail, Cofy, beckons them to fight her and her 'sister' panther, Panpan. Nononnon and Padudu end up killing Panpan, and Cofy is shot dead. Afterwards, Purilun is shown looking over her city.

Major characters

; Padudu
; MyuMyu
; Pipin
; Nonononn
; Purilun
; Zucchini
;Ketchup & Mustard