Hana no Ko Lunlun
Hana no Ko Lunlun, translated to English as The Flower Child Lunlun and Lunlun, The Flower Angel, is a magical girl anime by Toei Animation, focusing on a theme of flowers in its stories. It was directed by Hiroshi Shidara and written by Shiro Jinbo. It was greatly successful in the West, particularly in Europe and in Latin America, as well as in Japan. An edited English-language dub of a few episodes titled Angel made this series one of, if not the first, magical girl anime works to reach the English-speaking market in the United States and Canada, well over a decade before Sailor Moon.
A theatrical short film, Hello Cherry Country, was released in March 1980.
In 2009, William Winckler Productions produced two all-new English-dubbed movie versions edited from the original series titled Lun Lun the Flower Girl and Lun Lun the Flower Girl 2. Producer William Winckler, known for Tekkaman: The Space Knight, wrote, produced and directed the English films, which are seen on broadband in Japan.
A Chinese-Japanese sequel produced by Tencent Video and Toei Animation's Shanghai branch is in production. It was originally announced as a remake.
Story
Long ago, plant spirits and fairy-like creatures lived in harmony with mankind. Gradually humans began to rise toward greed and cruelty, and the plant spirits immigrated to another world they dubbed "Flowern", but their legacy remained in people who truly knew the meaning of love and kindness. A talking dog and cat pair, Nouveau and Cateau, were sent to Earth to find the "flower child" to find the "Seven Color Flower" — the symbol of Flowern's ruling family — so that a new ruler can ascend the throne.In France they meet Lunlun Flower, a tomboyish and outspoken young orphan who lives with her paternal grandparents who own a flower shop. Lunlun's late mother turns out to be a descendant of the Flowern people, making her the "flower child." Nouveau and Cateau ask Lunlun to help them find the magical flower, and she accepts. The trio tour all of Europe in pursuit of the bloom while offering assistance to those they encounter.
Lunlun, Nouveau and Cateau are followed by a pair of villains: the selfish Togenishia and her servant Yavoque, who want to steal the flower and rule Flowern. Whenever Lunlun and her friends attempt to help people, Togenishia and Yavoque try to get them back on the road by force, only to fail. They are aided by Serge, a mysterious photographer who gives the people a packets of flower seeds which symbolize the lesson they have learned in the "language of flowers". For instance, thistles, which signify independence, are given when the son of a farmer vows to follow his dreams and leave home. Lunlun develops a crush on Serge due to his kindness, and he is implied to like her back.
The people that Lunlun helps send flower seeds to Lunlun's grandparents and tell them about their amazing granddaughter, and in the end, the magical flower is found growing in his garden, saving it from destruction after an attack from Togenishia. The photographer Serge turns out to be the prince of Flowern, and he confirms that he loves Lunlun and asks her to be his queen. Lunlun rejects his proposal, however, since she loves Serge with all of her heart but does not want to live on Flowern. Serge cedes the throne to his younger brother so he can live on Earth with Lunlun.
At the start of the series, Lunlun is given a magical pin from the King of Flowern. This pin, when a flower is reflected in its mirror, gives Lunlun a new outfit for an activity, such as mountain climbing. About halfway through the series, the pin is broken when Lunlun falls from a branch overhanging a waterfall while trying to attract attention after being caught in the Pollen Storm. While she is lost in the river, a new pin is given to her in the shape of the royal crest, with the warning that if it is ever lost or broken, her life on Earth will end and she will be unable to return to Flowern. The words to activate this pin are "Fleur Fleur Fleur."
Main characters
;Lunlun;Cateau
;Nouveau
;Serge
;Togenishia
;Yavoque
;Lunlun's Grandmother
;Lunlun's Grandfather
International titles
Lulu The Flower Angel Flower Angel Angel Lulú, la Chica de las Flores or El Misterio de la Flor Mágica Ángel, la Niña de las Flores Angel, a Menina das Flores Angélica Le tour de monde de Lydie Lulu l'angelo tra i fiori Ейнджъл — детето на цветята Lidia in jurul lumii Лулу — ангел цветов Lili, a virágangyal Lulu, the Flower Girl Lulu Ronron the Flower Angel Saosan, Al Zahrah Al Jamilah Lulu i cudowny kwiat Çiçek Kız 꽃천사 루루 花仙子 זהבית สาวน้อยแองเจิ้ล Angel, das Blumenmädchen- ''Angel''
English-language versions
Initially, ZIV International acquired the series for the U.S. in 1980. At least the first four episodes were dubbed into English, with a new theme song and score by house composer Mark Mercury. In this incarnation, the characters were renamed to Angel, Cathy, Wendal, Melicia and Ivan. The episodes were then packaged into one presentation in 1981, which aired on HBO and was released on videocassette by Media Home Entertainment as Angel and by Family Home Entertainment as Flower Angel. The first two episodes of the ZIV dub were released on DVD as part of the Fairy Tale Adventures compilation from TCG Direct in 2009.In 1985, ZIV licensed their rights to Harmony Gold, who released a feature-film length condensation of the series with another new dub cast and music score. Again, the characters were renamed, this time to Angel, Lily, Periwinkle, Princess Wysteria, Ragweed and Stefan. The episodes that were featured in the film were episodes 1, 7, 24, 29, 49 and 50. The 37th episode was also covered but it was only the intro to coincide with the beginning events of the 49th episode. The ending was rewritten to change Stefan 's true identity.
This film was not released in America, but received multiple VHS releases in the UK.