Fancy Lala wraps up in the sixth volume with one heck of a surprise. I keep telling myself that I should've seen it coming; that it was blindingly obvious. Then again, it wasn't the plot finale that was surprising. It was the feeling that came from watching it. The show tries to deceive you into thinking that it's just a simple and fun mahou shoujo series about family and friends, then it shows its true colors. Needless to say, they are very, very pink.

The 23rd episode is the last bit of Chisa-and-Miho-sisterhood plot that the show has to offer. Chisa contemplates going out with a guy other than the fellow that Miho thinks she's dating. Miho gets a bit upset about this, and tries to meddle in her sister's affairs. Lala tries to meddle as well, which meets with unfriendly results. Then we move on to more show business as Lala prepares for her first concert! She's able to handle the criticism that people are throwing around that her concert is coming too early in her career, but the dance training is another story. The training is so brutal, she's not sure if she wants to go through with it. This was a great addition to the show, because nothing else up to this point has been as real a challenge to Miho's little charade.

Miho showing a mature side is both surprising and moving.	Komi does Miho's hair for her. He also gives her new hope for the future, but it's really all about the hair.

The final two episodes of Fancy Lala show some superb workmanship in almost every area. Not only does the production quality seem to improve, but the largely unresolved plot is brought to a close in a way that makes it feel like nothing else needed be said. This is remarkable, given the number of loose plot threads that the show doesn't even bother to address. After Lala's concert, which has her production company excited about her future, the unthinkable happens: Miho loses her magical pen and sketchpad! She spends the episode desparately searching for them, then asks Pigu and Mogu to try and make another. Then the unthinkable happens again. The final episode starts with Miho counting her misfortunes and the production company wondering what happened to Lala, but then Miho begins to wake up to reality again. "Fushigi-san" (Mystery Man) shows up one final time, but speaks clearly instead of spouting his usual cryptic nonsense. The final episode is wrapped up with a meeting between Miho and Komi, the man who did Lala's make-up. He recognizes an object she's carrying, and offers to do her hair for her. This discussion was the clincher for me. I remember thinking before this scene that there was no way to cleanly wrap up the show's ideas in the little remaining time, and was happy to be proven horribly wrong.

Volume six has a bit of a change in the cover art style. Instead of being very pink, the cover is very blue. It's a picture of Lala in concert garb, standing in front of a microphone. The insert has the typical episode summaries plus staff credits. The disc has a single extra again: another continuation of the various fashions that Lala models throughout the show.

I'm still not certain whether the full run of Fancy Lala is worth sitting through in order to get the full impact of the ending, but it's better to be safe than sorry. This most ordinary of magical girl programs found a way to stand out without really doing anything differently. It's possible that this happened completely by accident, but whatever the reason, I must confer a high recommendation for Fancy Lala. Even if it's only once - watch it. If possible, watch it with your family.

Video Quality: A
Audio Quality: A
Presentation: B+
Content: A
Overall: A-