Floral Magician Mary Bell

Many other magical girls are primary-schoolers or middle-schoolers, but Mary Bell looks like a preschooler (although she is actually about 500,000 years old). She is a "native" magical girl just like Minky Momo and Sweet Mint, other magical girls by Ashi Productions from the same period. However, she is not a princess. The operatic approach is notable, each main character has his or her own leitmotif, and they sometimes sing instead of speaking, like a musical.

Yuuri and Ken are two siblings living in the port town of Sunny Bell, where their parents have recently moved and set up a flower shop. They read a book, the Mary Bell Picture Book, borrowed from their neighbor Rose, which is a story about two children who get lost in the forest and are helped by a magical girl named Mary Bell. The children wish aloud that Mary Bell was there to help their parents' struggling flower shop. Suddenly, the titular character appears in front of them, introduces herself and her Seelie Court partner Tambourine, and agrees to help them with magic.

Over the course of the series, Mary Bell, Ken, Yuuri, a dog named Ribbon, and a cast of supporting characters go on adventures in both Sunny Bell and the Flower Magic World, Mary Bell's home.

The series finale involves the Holy Tree of the Flower Magic World coming to Sunny Bell in order to take away all of the plants on Earth, as it believes is necessary to prevent humans from harming them. Mary Bell and the townspeople are able to convince it not to do this, and Mary Bell decides to stay on Earth and encourage people with magic, even though her goal (to collect the dreams of humans by helping them) has already been completed.

Mary Bell is the central character of the show, she helps children or others when they are trying to do something. A little girl, Yuuri, her younger brother, Ken, and Ribbon, a puppy, are the ones who first met Mary Bell. Other three children, Vivian, Bongo, and Tap, frequently appear too.

Mary Bell (マリーベル, Marī Beru) Voiced by: Chieko Honda

A "floral magician" from the Flower Magic World (花魔法界, hanamahō-kai) who looks like a little girl, but actually is about 500,000 years old. She uses both (ordinary) magic and flower magic. She is a fairies' friend, but is not a fairy herself. Her catchphrase is "Just leave it to Mary Bell!" (マリーベルにおまかせよ!, Marī Beru ni omakase yo!)

Tambourine (タンバリン, Tanbarin) Voiced by: Chika Sakamoto

Mary Bell's "magical companion." He is from the seelie court, and also about 500,000 years old.

Yuuri (ユーリ, Yūri) Voiced by: Satomi Koorogi

Mary Bell's friend. Her exact age is unknown, but apparently between six and ten.

Ken (ケン, Ken) Voiced by: Ai Orikasa

Yuuri's little brother. About five years old.

Rose (ローズ, Rōzu) Voiced by: Naoko Kyoda (adult); Chisa Yokoyama and Kumiko Nishihara (childhood)

A nice, old lady, who believes in fairies. She lives alone (with her dog, Ribbon) next door to the Mary Bell flower shop. She is the actual owner of the in-anime Mary Bell Picture Book. When Mary Bell first appeared, Yuuri and Ken were not ready to believe that she was the real Mary Bell, whereas Rose, when she met Mary Bell, immediately told her, "I always wanted to meet you, Mary Bell. I am a big fan of yours." Children usually call her "Grandma Rose".

Ribbon (リボン, Ribon) Voiced by: Kotono Mitsuishi

Rose's dog, often mistaken for a female due to the bow in his hair.

Remi (レミ, Remi) Voiced by: Sakiko Tamagawa

The mother of Yuuri and Ken.

Takuro (タクロー, Takurō) Voiced by: Kenichi Ono

The father of Yuuri and Ken, and the owner of the Mary Bell flower shop.

Bart (バート, Bāto) Voiced by: Tomomichi Nishimura (adult); Kappei Yamaguchi (childhood)

Another neighbor, living in the house next to Grandma Rose's. A crusty and stubborn old man, who doesn't like flowers, until the last three episodes (episodes 48, 49, and 50).

Jito (ジート, Jīto) Voiced by: Yasunori Matsumoto (first voice); Kōji Tsujitani (second voice)

Bart's nephew, living in Bart's house. He looks about twenty years old. When he was a little child, he got lost and helped by fairies. His friends didn't believe him and called him a liar. Since then, he keeps trying to capture a fairy to prove that he told the truth. He is a "fairy hunter" and so Mary Bell's and fairies' enemy (at least at first).

Vivian (ビビアン, Bibian) Voiced by: Akiko Yajima

Bart's granddaughter, living in his house. She is about the same age as Yuuri. She is realistic, and does not believe in fairies at all (at least at first). She is mean to Mary Bell (at least at first).

Bongo (ボンゴ, Bongo) Voiced by: Chie Satō

A friend of Vivian's. who has a crush on Yuuri.

Tap (タップ, Tappu) Voiced by: Kotono Mitsuishi

A friend of Vivian's.

Bra (ブラ, Bura) Voiced by: Kōzō Shioya

One of the local policemen.

Nopo (ノッポ, Noppo) Voiced by: Chō

Bra's partner.

Maggie Edelweiss (マギー・エーデルワイス, Magī ēderuwaisu) Voiced by: Sayuri Ikemoto

A news reporter implied to be originally from North America who works at the local television station.

Professor Sherbour (シェルボー教授, Sherubō kyōju) Voiced by: Takuzo Kamiyama

A local professor.

Papa Belle von Decasse (パパベル・フォン・デカッセ, Papaberu fon dekasse) Voiced by: Shō Hayami

Mary Bell's father. In the human world, he is known as a genius magician. He is always calm and has a gentlemanly personality. His magical spells are "Paparin, Berlin, Lan Lan Run".

Mamabel von Decasse (ママベル・フォン・デカッセ, Mama beru fon dekasse) Voiced by: Sumi Shimamoto

Mary Bell's mother. In the human world, she is named as a genius chef called "Fairy Sweet Maker", and Rose and Remi are also her fans. While she and her husband are traveling all over the world, they are inspiring dreams.

Magical spells are "Mamarin, Berlin, Lunrunlun".

Floral Magician Mary Bell is influenced by Mary Poppins or Mary Poppins (film), or both. The protagonists of Mary Bell Picture Book are Jane and Michael, the same names that appear in Mary Poppins.

The TV series was planned and produced by TV Setouchi, Big West, and Ashi Productions. It was directed by Tetsuya Endo, with series composition by Takao Koyama and Hideki Mitsui (both from Brother Noppo).[1] The animation directors include Masashi Hirota, Kōichirō (新羽高一浪), Yuriko Chiba, and Kouji Fukazawa. These four supervised about 80% of the 50 episodes.[2] The true identity of "Kōichirō" is unknown and people do not even know how to read his family name, but it is widely believed in Japan that "Kōichirō" is a pseudonym of Takeshi Ito, who later worked as an assistant animation director on Cowboy Bebop: The Movie and Tactical Roar.[3][4]

Soundtrack

Mary Bell to Utaō!
Soundtrack album by Michiyo Nakajima, Chieko Honda, etc.
Released	July 17, 1992
Genre	Anime OST
Length	64:24
Label	Pony Canyon

The soundtrack album, Let’s Sing with Mary Bell! (マリーベルと歌おう！, Mary Bell to Utaō!) was released on July 17, 1992.

• Official website
• Floral Magician Mary Bell (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Hana No Mahoutsukai Mary Bell (Henshin: The Mahou Shoujo Genre) - fansite
• Hana no Mahōtsukai Mary Bell (in Japanese) - fansite