Balala the Fairies

Many people are familiar with the magical girls trope prevalent in the entertainment industry in Japan. Some popular series featuring magical girls include Sailor Moon, Pretty Cure, and Princess Tutu. However, fewer people may know about a popular magical girls series that emerged in China around the year 2008: Balala the Fairies (巴啦啦小魔仙). This article will examine the connections between this series and the concept of cuteness. Cute studies is a fairly new academic field, and much of the research thus far has been based on content from the U.S. and Japan. Thus, there is considerable room to further explore cute content from China. Here, I will explore the magical girls trope in China through Balala the Fairies, with a special focus on gender.

Balala the Fairies is a children’s television show created by Guangdong Alpha Animation and Culture Corporations, a Chinese multinational conglomerate company that produces animated content, toys, and other media. The company was founded by a man named Cai Dongqing (蔡东青). From its initial production to its conclusion, the Balala the Fairies franchise includes a total of three live-action television series, eight cartoon series, three live-action movies, and two musicals based on the series.

Balala the Fairies tells a story of a group of righteous and kind-hearted girls from the human world who came to the Balala Fairy Magical World by chance. They use their magical capabilities to help different magical fairy worlds stay out of trouble. The premise of the franchise is about a magical fairy called Xiaolan (小蓝, or “Shirley” in English) who travels from the Balala Magical Realm to Earth in pursuit of evil forces. However, Xiaolan soon realizes that she may not be able to defeat those forces alone, so she disguises herself as a babysitter of the other two protagonists, Meiqi (凌美琪, or “Maggie”) and Meixue (凌美雪, or “Michelle”). Along her journey, Xiaolan trains Meiqi and Meixue in their magical abilities such that they might defeat evil together one day. 

There are several tangible differences between Balala the Fairies and its Japanese magical girl counterparts. One is the fact that many Japanese magical girls television series originate from girls’ manga, while Balala the Fairies was first made into a live-action drama series (see Figure 1). Thus, there seems to be a difference in the usage of two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms between the two cultural media. Wenxin Zhang states, “Many Chinese magical girl-themed works are presented in the form of special features or 3D animated films.”[1] This choice of expression is significant because it limits the production of products plastered with images of these magical girls. (Two-dimensional characters are much easier to place on products than three-dimensional characters.) Thus, while Chinese series do give way to product merchandising, the relationship between the series and its character goods is less straightforward.

Although there has been a variety of content produced within the Balala the Fairies franchise, this article will primarily focus on a 2015 cartoon series titled Balala the Fairies: Finding Melody (巴啦啦小魔仙之梦幻旋律). This eight-episode series tells a story about how Melody (美乐蒂), a friend of the queen of the Balala Magical Fairies World, mysteriously disappears after a huge catastrophe (see Figure 2). Many years ago, there was a powerful force maintaining the tranquility of their magical world that was controlled by a group of magical musicians. One day, an intruder breaks this force in an attempt to absorb the power all to themself, causing massive destruction. In the aftermath, this powerful force breaks into many pieces during the chaos, and each magical musician takes a piece to guard and escapes to Earth. Subsequently, the main characters attempt to find clues as to Melody’s whereabouts while searching for the broken parts that make up the mysterious magical piece. This musical piece is the same powerful force that destroyed their world in the first place, and this force can either protect their world in good hands or destroy their world within a matter of seconds in bad hands. Along the way, the protagonists meet each magical musician, and they take on the responsibility to restore their world and connect all the pieces of the powerful force once again.

The main themes of Finding Melody revolve around friendship, courage, and family. Zhang explains, “Under the influence of the [Chinese government’s media] policy, there is no romance in Chinese magical girl anime, the main character's emotional development is mainly filial piety to parents, respect for teachers and classmates, and many of the plot settings are quite didactic.”[2] Because of these recurring themes, Chinese magical girls series often fail to appeal to other, broader audiences besides young Chinese girls. However, Balala the Fairies still maintains many aspects of the appeal of traditional Japanese magical girls through its celebration of girl power. Since the main characters are young fairies, there is also the theme of navigating through adolescence while protecting the Earth from dark forces. This indirectly suggests that girls and women have the power to protect the world compared to males. This view of magical girls contrasts with the idea that the genre presents a regressive message.[3] In fact, there are very few male characters in the series, seemingly flipping the typical gender roles in a cartoon series. At the same time, although portraying girls as having the power to protect the world can be empowering, this portrayal is also problematic if we consider its insinuation that women are expected to carry heavy responsibilities. Sharon Tran frames magical girls in this way when she states that “women are forced to assume the ‘double-burden’ of work and family.”[4] Magical girls protecting and saving the world is analogous to the way in which women are automatically expected to take part in a larger share of the burden when it comes to raising a family according to traditional gender roles.

Another theme that may be less positive can be seen in the ways Finding Melody depicts its villains as generally less attractive than its cute magical girl protagonists. The villains in most genres of cartoons are typically depicted in a manner that is “visually jarring,” which contrasts with Japanese magical girl nemeses who are frequently depicted as beautiful. As Kanako Shiokawa explains, the nemesis in a Japanese magical girl series is typically “infallibly stunning and beautiful (utsukushii, rather than just kirei).” In contrast to magical girls, who are imagined as cute and youthful, the physical features of the nemesis are “those of a mature woman.”[5] The tendency to depict the nemesis as lacking a cute appeal is shown in the main villain in Finding Melody, Wuyin, who is depicted in an unflattering manner. However, when the curse is ultimately lifted from her, Wuyin’s beauty is restored (see Figures 3a and 3b). In the moment that her beauty is restored, her personality likewise takes a drastic change. Thus, it could be concluded that many Chinese cartoons place a strong emphasis on appearance, linking outer to inner beauty: once the initial villain’s beauty is restored, the villain immediately becomes a character on the good side. Additionally, one may conclude that appearance itself determines whether a character is good or bad. This differs from the Japanese magical girls genre, where the villain is often depicted as beautiful but still lacks the cuteness of the main protagonist.

Additionally, as one may guess from the title Finding Melody, music plays an important role in the Balala the Fairies franchise. Throughout the entirety of the franchise, there have been three prominent theme songs: “Balala the Fairies” (巴啦啦小魔仙) by 大小Ann (A2A), “Happy Fulfillment” (快乐的扑满) by Littang Shao (邵丽棠), and “Magical Melody” (魔法旋律) by 大小Ann (A2A). The theme songs typically open the show, thus providing a first impression of what the show will be about. From reading the lyrics of all these theme songs, we can infer some similarities. These include the mentioning of some type of sweet food, such as chocolate or strawberries. For example, the first song “Balala the Fairies,” contains the lyrics “一看到巧克力 特别是草莓 我知道我无能为力,” which translates to “Once I see chocolate, especially if there is strawberry, I know there is nothing that I can do [to stop myself from eating it].”[6] In the second song “Happy Fulfillment,” the lyrics “勇气在积蓄 来源就是你 每一块分享的巧克力” translate to “Courage is being built up, the source is from you and every single piece of chocolate that we share.”[7] Finally, in the last song “Magical Melody,” the lyrics “我还是喜欢巧克力 别当我 贪吃鬼” translate to “I still love chocolate but don’t say I am a glutton.”[8] These lyrics all involve sweets because sweet food is closely connected with the concept of magical girls in China. In this context, sweet food symbolizes the main character’s cuteness as a foodie, and because chocolate is a popular gift during the romantic holiday Valentine’s Day, a budding desire for romance.

The final point this article will examine is one of the controversies surrounding Balala the Fairies. A tragic event surrounding the 2008 live-action drama series concerned the young actress Jony Sun (孙侨潞), who portrayed the character Meiqi in the live-action movies (see Figure 4). On New Year’s Day of 2021, news was spread about Sun’s passing. Her death was later confirmed by her mother on Weibo, a widely used social platform in China. It turned out that the 25-year-old actress had been sick with “smile depression” due to cyberbullying from Chinese netizens criticizing her acting in the live-action movies. In China, “smile depression” is a type of depression that many associate with celebrities. It is when someone externally smiles or seems happy all the time but is actually suffering from depression. This resulted in the young actress excessively consuming alcohol to alleviate the negative emotions she was feeling from reading public criticism of her work. Unfortunately, on that day in 2021, she consumed more than her body could handle and passed from a sudden heart attack.[9] This tragedy is worth mentioning in light of the appalling difference between Sun’s public and private worlds, and how cuteness played a role in concealing her mental health struggles. Despite acting as a cute character in the drama series and seemingly having a happy life, Sun suffered from depression on the inside. Thus, while the young actress was acting cute in a utopian fantasy world, she in reality endured great criticism from Chinese netizens for failing to meet their cute standards.

Overall, Balala the Fairies can be viewed as a generally pleasant television show for young girls to watch, one that teaches the value of strong friendships and courage. At the same time, there are more political and darker aspects to it, just like the cute aesthetic itself. Balala the Fairies also shows how the magical girls genre has taken new and interesting forms in China, pointing to the relevance of cute studies to cultures beyond those of the U.S. and Japan.

Published: 5/11/2026

Notes

[1] Wenxin Zhang, “Inspiration from the Development of Japanese Magical Girl Animation,” Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences 4 (2022): 146.

[2] Zhang, “Inspiration from the Development of Japanese Magical Girl Animation,” 146.

[3] Attia Altaf, Qasim Mahmood, and Zarmina Gul, “Sweet Girls and Tough Boys: An Analysis of Gender Representations in Children’s Cartoon Shows,” Journal of Asian Development Studies 12, no. 3 (September 2023): 1129.

[4] Sharon Tran, “Kawaii Asian Girls Save the Day! Animating a Minor Politics of Care,” MELUS 43, no. 3 (Fall 2018): 24.

[5] Kanako Shiokawa, “Cute but Deadly: Women and Violence in Japanese Comics,” in Themes and Issues in Asian Cartooning: Cute, Cheap, Mad, and Sexy, ed. John A. Lent (Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1999), 104.

[6] 蘇果汁, “巴啦啦小魔仙 主題曲,” June 9, 2019, 3:15, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57qyw17fP9c.

[7] Do tien linh, “[Promotional] 邵丽棠 - 快乐的扑满 [Balala the Fairies],” February 18, 2021, 2:20, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEGy0HGotJk.

[8] 蘇果汁, “魔法旋律 (巴啦啦小魔仙之音符之迷主題曲 . 巴啦啦小魔仙之夢幻旋律主題曲),” May 13, 2015, 2:54, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoD1ZegG2XA.

[9] 神秘旅人 , “《巴啦啦小魔仙》演员孙侨潞离去：年仅25岁，生前遭受网络暴力,” Sohu, March 29, 2023, https://www.sohu.com/a/660594121_121386977.