Studio Pierrot, the production company behind popular anime like Naruto, Bleach and Tokyo Ghoul, premiered their brand-new animated show Magical Sisters LuluttoLilly this April. This is the sixth installment in the Pierrot Magical Girl Series, coming 28 years after the studio’s last magical girl anime effort, Fancy Lala. In a recent interview with Oricon News, Yohei Fukui, anime producer at Studio Pierrot, talked about where LuluttoLilly fits in the long history of the genre, and how it distinguishes itself as a uniquely Pierrot magical girl show.
With Magical Angel Creamy Mami as its most recognized title, Pierrot’s Magical Series was a big definer of the genre in the 80s. But as the genre has evolved throughout the decades, with intense battles, stories of tragic fates, and even horror twists becoming commonplace, LuluttoLilly deliberately opts for maintaining the studio’s flagship magical girl style, adapting it for a Reiwa-era audience.
As Fukui explains, Studio Pierrot took the time to explore these new possibilities while also not breaking the “no battles allowed” rule which has been laid out for all of their other previous magical girl shows. He also hopes that the new anime will come as a change of pace among the information-packed media of the 2020s. Interestingly enough, the anime also seemed to be a breath of fresh air for Studio Pierrot’s staff, who have for a long time worked on many popular action and battle-heavy anime.
“Our company has produced numerous works like Naruto and Bleach that lean heavily into battles, but this time, the producer in charge [of LuluttoLilly] was like, I’m so tired of battles (laughs). In the current day and age when it’s easy to get tired from informational overload, we felt that there is a need for an anime with a tender and soothing worldview. Instead of an anime that you have to watch with your eyes glued to the screen, we wanted something you can casually watch while you unwind,” Fukui explains.
Being the studio’s first new title in almost 30 years, Fukui admits that a lot of pressure and expectations are being put on the studio. “However, we were also determined to show the world Pierrot’s magical girls once again, among the many magical girl works out there.”
Related articles:
