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Melmo's mother, who died suddenly in a traffic accident, sends her daughter Melmo miracle candies (a red candy and a blue candy). Melmo eats the candies and transforms into a baby, an adult, and various animals other than humans. She overcomes various crises and grows into a true adult.
00:20This film, Mysterious Melmo, tells the story of Melmo, a young girl who receives miracle candies from her mother in heaven after she dies in a traffic accident. Using the miracle candies, she and her two younger brothers overcome various crises and survive.
00:40Now, let's take a look at this work.
00:43The Mysterious Melmo was originally written by Osamu Tezuka and aired for a total of 26 episodes between 1971 and 1972.
00:57The story begins one night when a woman is walking down the sidewalk when she is hit and killed by a motorist who suddenly appears in front of her.
01:07Miraculously, the woman who was supposed to have been hit by the car is unharmed and is guided by a stranger to another world.
01:18The woman, or Watari Hiromi, who has no idea what is going on, is informed that the place is heaven and that she has died, and they have a conversation.
01:27However, when he realized that it was not a lie, he appealed to the gods in heaven about the fate of the three children he had left behind on earth.
01:39The gods then tell her that they will grant her one wish other than being brought back to life, and she begs to be able to help her children become independent adults, even if only temporarily, so the gods decide to give her the Miracle Candy.
01:55Meanwhile, Hiromi's children on the ground below are to be taken in by a relative who hates children, Momo, but her eldest daughter, Melmo, who misses her late mother, refuses to go with them and sheds tears alone.
02:10Then their mother in heaven appears and tells them that the brothers will live strong lives together from now on. She gives them miracle candies to use in times of trouble, explaining that one blue candy will make them 10 years older and one red candy will make them 10 years younger.
02:29He then tells her that he will not tell anyone about Candy's secret and returns to heaven.
02:38Melmo is sad to say goodbye, but when she actually drinks the candy she was given, she experiences aging and rejuvenation just as her mother had said.
02:50After her experience, Melmo grows up using candy and pretends to be her dead mother to drive away her child-hating relative.
02:59After that, Melmo, who still doesn't fully understand how to handle candy, gets caught up in a commotion when her younger brother Miyako steals some candy.
03:10Melmo faces many difficulties, such as when her youngest child, a baby named Touch, accidentally eats candy and turns back into a fertilized egg.
03:20After this, Melmo, who doesn't know much about the world or things around her, begins to struggle with the difficulties of life.
03:29Although she knows everything about the Miracle Candy, Mattisha Waregarasu acts as Melmo's guardian.
03:36He watches over the Melmo brothers and gives them the knowledge they need to live, and helps them.
03:43Melmo grows up step by step with her siblings.
03:50Now, let me introduce the main characters.
03:56Watari Melmo is the protagonist of this story, a third-grade elementary school girl. Her father is expensive and she lives in a single-parent household, so after her mother dies in an accident, she ends up raising her two younger brothers.
04:09Using the miracle candy given to him by his mother in heaven, he was able to transform into various ages and ecologies, including babies, young people, old women, and even animals, saving his two younger brothers and people in need from danger.
04:25Watari Toto is Melmo's younger brother, a kindergartener, who at first does not seem to understand very well that their mother has died.
04:36Later, he accidentally eats both a blue and a red candy at the same time, which causes him to transform into an amphibian frog.
04:46Shocked, Melmo tries to turn her back into a human, but she is unable to easily take in solid food or liquids, so she ends up living as a frog in a goldfish bowl for several months, but eventually she turns back into a human by inhaling vaporized candy.
05:07Watari Touch is Melmo's baby brother, and in the first episode he accidentally eats a blue candy and turns into an adult wearing a diaper, and then he eats a red candy and turns into a fertilized egg.
05:21There are also several scenes throughout the film where he mistakes his brother Toto, who has turned into a frog, for a toy and plays with him instead of a doll.
05:29Dr. Waregarasu was a doctor from a small country, but he hated the dictatorial government of his country and wanted to emigrate to Japan. While he was setting up and running a committee,
05:41After meeting Melmo and learning all about her, including the secret of the Miracle Candy, she becomes a parent figure to Melmo and her friends.
05:49In the play, in addition to general common sense, she teaches Melmo a variety of knowledge on behalf of her late mother, such as how the body works, the birth of life, and about animals.
06:01Watari Hiromi is Melmo's mother. She is hit by a runaway on her way home and dies, but she prays to God in heaven, who makes her a miracle candy and gives it to Melmo.
06:17It seems that Melmo and her friends continue to watch over her from heaven, and in the final episode, there is a touching scene where she makes a final promise to the gods.
06:27Melmo's aunt takes advantage of the death of her mother, Hiromi, and tries many times to get her hands on the fortune Hiromi left behind by taking Melmo and her siblings in, adopting Miyako, or even kidnapping Melmo and her siblings, but all of her attempts are foiled when Melmo eats a miracle candy.
06:48Miracle Candy is a candy produced in heaven. It comes in blue and red varieties, and one candy will age or rejuvenate you by 10 years. However, it is difficult to control the amount consumed, and if too much is consumed, a baby can be transformed into a fertilized egg. Therefore, there are many scenes in the play where the candy is scraped off to adjust the amount consumed.
07:16Also, if you consume a certain amount of each of the blue and red candies at once, you will be able to transform into animals other than just mammals, such as fish, macropods, and butterflies.
07:30Additionally, initially, the number of candies did not decrease even when used, but after six months of use, the gods decided that the number would decrease in proportion to the number used.
07:46As an aside, it is said that the name Wataru Melmo comes from Wataru Hiromi in Apollo's song, and Melmo comes from Metamorphose, which means transformation.
08:01Also, when the series first began serialization in children's magazines such as Shogaku Ichinensei (First Grader), the title was originally Mama-chan, but when the anime was commercialized, the name Mama was already a registered trademark, so it was changed to Mysterious Melmo.
08:21Additionally, this work was Japan's first anime about sex education, and it dealt with themes such as the dignity and mystery of life, including explanations of sex education in the style of a picture book.
08:37With these goals in mind, when this work, Tezuka Productions' first animated television series, began airing, it received positive reviews and positive feedback, but it ended up being discontinued due to the fact that Sazae-san was being aired on the other channel.
08:54Later, in 1998, a revised version was released with some changes to the content and new voice actors and music, and in 2000, a television drama starring Yoshino Kimura, Yasufumi Terawaki, Jun Fubuki, and others was aired as part of the Tezuka Osamu Theater.
09:19Now, it's finally the final episode.
09:21One day in heaven, the gods decide not to replenish the two remaining miracle candies, causing Melmo's mother to cry and plead for the best, but her wish is dashed when the miracle candies contain a device that will have a huge impact on Melmo and her family's future.
09:46Then, as her final request, Melmo's mother begs to be able to see Melmo one more time, and the gods promise that their final wish will be granted someday.
09:59Meanwhile, Melmo is feeling anxious as there are only two candies left, but when her boyfriend Jiro invites her to his birthday party, she gladly accepts his true identity.
10:12Meanwhile, at Melmo's house, our teacher Russ is waiting for her to come home, and after Melmo gets home, our teacher Russ tells her about how a revolution has taken place in his own little country, and that it has become a free country.
10:27Furthermore, medical activities had stagnated in his homeland, which had been devastated after the revolution, and at the request of his best friend, he announced that he would be returning home immediately.
10:40However, Candy has almost died, and Mr. Russ is worried about leaving his three young children behind. He suggests to Melmo that they go to a tiny country together, but Melmo is troubled and unable to give an immediate answer.
10:58A few days later, Melmo takes her two younger brothers to Jiro's birthday party, but Touch starts to get fussy, so when she tries to leave, Jiro's mother calls her back.
11:12He then meets Jiro's parents, who unexpectedly ask him if he would like to be adopted into their family.
11:21Melmo is surprised, but her younger brother Miyako also agrees, so Melmo and her friends accept the proposal.
11:31A few days later, at the airport, Melmo and her friends tearfully see off their teacher Russ as he returns to his tiny country, but 15 years have passed since then.
11:42Now grown up, Melmo marries Jiro and becomes pregnant. The day finally comes for her to give birth, and Melmo is taken to the delivery room at the hospital.
11:53In front of the delivery room, her husband Jiro sits anxiously in a chair, when Jiro's mother, the now-adult Miyado, and Touch rush over and, at the same time, the sound of a baby crying is heard from the delivery room, and a healthy baby girl is born.
12:12A few days later, Miyado brought me a letter from our teacher Russ, and when I opened it, in addition to congratulating him on the birth of the baby, it also contained a letter about his memories of attending Melmo's wedding and about the time the house was renovated in the past.
12:32After reading the letter, Melmo is overwhelmed with gratitude to her teacher, Mr. Russ, but another year passes as she continues to struggle with her busy days and raising her child.
12:47One morning, after seeing Jiro off to work as usual, she returns to the baby's room and witnesses the baby swallowing a miracle candy that had been stored in a box.
13:00While Melmo is upset, the baby grows rapidly due to the effects of the candy, and for some reason becomes Melmo's mother.
13:12It is the reunion with Melmo that God had promised her, and Melmo bursts into tears and embraces her mother, but her mother tells her that this reunion will only last one minute.
13:25After that, the two embrace in silence for a while, but when the time comes, the mother says goodbye, puts the last miracle candy in her mouth, and Melmo returns to her original baby form.
13:39The program ends with Melmo holding the baby on her lap, thinking of her mother in heaven, knowing that this time their separation is for good.
13:52Now, let's take a look at Melmo and her friends' daily lives.
13:58Let's take a look at Melmo and her friends' daily lives.
14:28Let's take a look at Melmo and her friends' daily lives.
14:58Let's take a look at Melmo and her friends' daily lives.
15:28Let's take a look at Melmo and her friends' daily lives.
15:58Let's take a look at Melmo and her friends' daily lives.
16:28Although it has some advantages over Showa-era anime, am I the only one who feels that there are fewer works, especially TV anime, that can move you to tears?
16:40What do you all think?
16:42Well, that's all for now. See you next time. Bye.
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