- Cinderella Monogatari
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Cinderella Monogatari シンデレラ物語 Genre Romance TV anime Directed by Hiroshi Sasagawa Music by John Sposito Studio Tatsunoko Network NHK Original run April 4, 1996 – November 1, 1996 Episodes 26[1] Cinderella Monogatari (シンデレラ物語) is a TV anime series based on the Cinderella story. The series comprises 26 episodes.
Contents
Plot
The story begins with the departure of the father of Cinderella for a long business trip. Unfortunately, she was then left alone with her stepmother and two stepsisters, Catherine and Jeanne, who are bitterly envious of her beauty. Afterwards, things change for Cinderella; she ends up handling all the chores in the house, forced to live in a small room in the attic of the villa.
Fortunately, Paulette, her Fairy godmother, watched over her, secretly removing troubles that Cinderella faced in various situations as well as giving her the gift of being able to communicate with animals. Cinderella soon befriended four little friends who aided her whenever possible: Patch, a cute dog, Chuchu and Bingo, two clever little mice and a little bird named Pappy.
During one of the few occasions when Cinderella is able to go into town (she is virtually segregated at home to cope with household chores, while her stepsisters are out having fun), she meets a strange young man who only identifies himself as a friend of Prince Charles. The girl initially does not trust him and calls him a liar repeatedly. However, Cinderella does not know this guy is none other than Prince Charles himself, who, unwilling to stay at the castle to take lessons from his tutor, sometimes runs under the disguise of Alex, his great friend.
This marks the beginning of many adventures, including hunting, betrayal and conspiracies of the palace, that feature the Prince, almost always in disguise, Cinderella and her stepmother, who hopes to marry one of her two daughters to the best royal ball of the city, the Prince Charles. But in the end, Cinderella discovers the true identity of the boy to whom she called a liar several times and is distraught and desperate; how will she make up for what she said to the Prince?
Meanwhile, the King is organizing a big royal ball, to which all the unmarried girls of the area are invited, so that his son Charles can find a woman to marry. Even Cinderella was invited, but her stepmother tore up her invitation.
The Fairy Godmother, always ready to help Cinderella with her magic wand gives her a beautiful gown with the beautiful glass slippers: Cinderella can now go to the ball, but must return before midnight hour when the magic is completed.
This time, Cinderella is to be incognito at the ball; Prince Charles does not recognize that the beautiful princess who appeared out of nowhere was the companion of many adventures. But come midnight, Cinderella is forced to flee, losing a shoe on the staircase of the building. The Prince was fascinated by the mysterious girl, desperately searching house to house, to find her. It was proclaimed that the person who's feet fit into the shoe would become the bride of the Prince.
And thus after many difficulties, Cinderella was proved to be that girl and was brought to the palace. On the day of the marriage, Duke Zaral had something else in mind. He gave poison to the Prince in his drink and kidnapped Cinderella. He took her to top of the Clock Tower and forced the King, Charles' father to give up his kingdom in lieu of Cinderella since his son was no more.
Suddenly Prince Charles, who did not really die, appeared with the palace guards. He explained that he had already known about Zaral's plan and acted accordingly.
A fierce battle ensued between Zaral and the Prince. Atlast Zaral fell from the Clock Tower. Cinderella and Charles were married and lived happily ever after.
Themes
English Title Japanese Title Position Vocalist Used For Love Plus Love Ai Purasu Ai (愛プラス愛) Japanese Opening Judy Ongg eps. 1-26 Newborn Love [生まれたての愛] Japanese Ending Judy Ongg eps. 1-26 Episodes
# Title Original airdate 1 "I want to Become a Splendid Young Lady"
(素敵なレディになりたい)April 4, 1996 Cinderella's father goes away on a long voyage, leaving his daughter in the care of her stepmother and two stepsisters. She is banished to the attic, and then forced to do the menial chores of the household while her stepmother and stepsisters are out enjoying themselves. Luckily, Cinderella is assisted by her little animal friends: Patch, an appealing puppy, Chuchu and Bingo, two clever little mice and a little bird named Pappy. 2 "The Flowers From my Dream"
(シロツメクサの夢)April 11, 1996 Jeanne and Catherine decide to become participants in the Flower Queen contest. Cinderella follows them to the city to see their show while her pets assure her to do all the house work. She promises to return by the time her Mother and sisters come back. While returning home she crosses paths with a young man who chases her up to the river. He returns her the key which had fallen in the their encounter. 3 "The Mysterious Boy"
(あこがれの王子さま)April 18, 1996 Cinderella and her stepsisters go shopping in the city, and while she waits outside the shops, weighted down by the packages, she once again runs into the young man she had met the day before. The young man (prince Charles) reveals that he is the fencing partner of the Prince, which Cinderella finds hard to believe. Jeanne overhears the conversation, after which her stepmother orders her to invite him as a guest the next day. 4 "The Horse"
(素敵な私の王子さま)April 25, 1996 While Cinderella is out looking for Alex, she runs into Charles. Cinderella thinks he is just a liar and avoids him. On her way home, Cinderella’s pets remind her that her stepmother has ordered to come positively with the page. As her situation worsens, the fairy godmother comes to the rescue using her magic to change a horse into Charles. Cinderella hurries home with the Charles, but soon after they get there, the spell wears off and the prince turns back into the horse. Charles saves her from this chaos and reveals his true name. 5 "A Dream Meeting"
(夢のような出会い)May 2, 1996 When they learn that the prince plans to go hunting, Cinderella’s sisters and stepmother decide to have a picnic in the same woods . However,when they then arrive in the middle of the woods, a storm breaks and a sudden gust of wind blows Jeanne’s hat off her head. Cinderella and Jeanne attempt to try and catch the hat but they fail. As Jeanne wanders about in the bushes, she is mistaken for a bear by Charles and Alex; in the nick of time, Cinderella finds Jeanne saving her from being shot as a bear. The prince realizes then that Cinderella is the same girl he met in the city. # Title Description 6 Mystery of the Vineyard When Cinderella's stepmother jealously sends Cinderella to the royal vineyard to pick grapes (a punishable offense) because Cinderella can dance better than both Jeanne and Catherine, the unknown thief of the royal vineyard turns out to be Charles, dressed as a page. Cinderella is caught instead, however, because Charles runs off with the grapes, and suffers a set-up for downfall by her step-mother. However, Charles hears about Cinderella's plight and confesses, thus salvaging Cinderella's reputation.
7 False Fortuneteller A boy dresses up as an old man and pretends to tell people fortune so that he can earn enough money to survive. Cinderella's stepmother asks Cinderella to fetch the fortune teller but when the fortune teller asks for payment the stepmother gives away Cinderella's moms doll. Cinderella goes out to find the fortune teller and ask it back but instead she discovers his secret.
8 The Magic of a Smile A circus is being set up at the castle. Cinderella meets a talented girl called Mary, but Mary has stage fright. While wandering through the town, Cinderella tries to think of ways to help Mary when she bumps into Charles. She takes Charles to where Mary is practicing and tells her to pretend he's Prince Charles, if she can perform in front of him then she will get over her stage fright. Charles tells her about a special ritual the prince does does when he gets nervous, Mary does this too.
9 There's Something Strange About That Boy Cinderella is told to go pick some roses in the forest. Prince Charles learns that two of his teachers have been replaced because they were sick and old; Alex then finds out that their tutor was fired. Charles chases Zaral out of the palace because he suspects something. Cinderella sees that Charles is chasing Zaral and decides to follow. Zaral tells his henchman to go capture Charles, Cinderella pushes a big rock off the cliff and is captured instead. She hears Zaral talking about his evil plot to over-run the king.
10 Sad Violinist 11 For a Fantastic Love Story 12 Pleased to Meet You, Prince 13 The Way of Love... Isabel Runs Away 14 Prince Charles's Secret 15 Two Charles 16 The Prince and House Work 17 Kindness of a Small Heart 18 Disturbing Painter 19 Let's Get Rid of Those Bandits 20 Traveling Towards Happiness 21 Memories of My Mother 22 Cinderella's in Danger 23 Eliminate the Prince 24 Invitation to the Ball 25 Shoe of Happiness 26 Happy Marriage See also
- Cinderella, the classic fairy tale by Charles Perrault
References
Works by Hiroshi Sasagawa Gatchaman (1972) · Demetan the Frog (1973) · Tekkaman (1975) · Time Bokan (1975) · Paul's Miraculous Adventure (1976) · Ippatsu Kanta-kun (1977) · Yatterman (1979) · The Blue Bird (1980) · Beast King GoLion (1981) · Tokimeki Tonight (1982) · Ox Tales (1987) · Wowser (1988) · Cinderella Monogatari (1996) · Speed Racer X (1997)Categories:- Anime series
- Anime of 1996
- Romance anime and manga
- Tatsunoko Production
- Shōjo manga
- Cinderella adaptations
- NHK shows
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