Let's get one thing straight: I don't really care for the Magical Girls genre of anime. SAILOR MOON isn't my thing, and neither is SAINT TAIL. But I really enjoy AKAZUKIN CHACHA ("Li'l Red Riding Hood ChaCha"). Partly I think it's a guilty pleasure, like eating Ghiradeli chocolate, or, if you believe those commericals, "Frosted Flakes."
CHACHA is the story of a young witch, ChaCha, who lives with her master Seravi on Mt. Mochimochi. She is young and impressionable, and not the brightest of students. In addition, her magic never seems to work quite right. A lot of the jokes are based on puns. For example, the word "hana" can mean "nose" or "flower." So, when ChaCha asks for a bouquet of "hana," she gets noses instead of roses.
Seravi is not without his own quirks. He carries around a doll named Elizabeth that he talks to. She talks back to him (via Seravi's ventriloquism), often issuing comments that are too nasty (and funny) for Seravi to say directly. On a rival mountain lives Dorothy, whom Seravi used to love. But, according to Seravi, she got mean and her hair turned red, so now Seravi spends most of his time putting her down--usually through Elizabeth--which only makes Dorothy madder.
The other two main characters include Riiya, a werewolf who comes from a family of giants and is very strong; and Shiine, a young wizard apprenticed to Dorothy. Riiya and Shiine-chan (as he prefers to be called) both have feelings for ChaCha and tend to bicker a lot. ChaCha, meanwhile, is totally unaware of their feelings for her.
Other characters include: Black-hooded Yakko, who is ChaCha's self-proclaimed rival because she is in love with Seravi and can't stand the fact that Chacha lives with him; Marin the mermaid, who has a crush on Riiya but doesn't know that he turns into a wolf cub, so she is often confused; and Orin, the ninja who quietly develops a crush on Shiine.
They all attend the magical school, and most of them are in Class Banana, with the whip-wielding high-strung Rascal Sensei as their teacher. The school is run by--or perhaps continues to run in spite of--Urara Encho, the ditzy principal who is always wandering around singing to herself. (This character is voiced by Shimamoto Sumi, the same woman who gave Kyoko and Nausicaa voices.) In a bizarre turn of events, she is one of the most powerful characters in the show. In one episode, with just a few slaps of her dainty hand she made short work of a monster that had ransacked the school and terrorized her students.
The villains are usually hysterical creations as well. Some examples are: a cat professor who has a giant mecha named Nyandabar Z, a baby Frankenstein, a vain vampire named Kyuu-chan (from Kyuuketsuki, which means 'vampire'), and a bizarre version of the three little pigs.
With all these strange characters, nothing short of chaos (and comedy) can result. But there is also more to this story. The Evil Daimaoh (Demon Lord) wants to see ChaCha dead, because she is the only one who can thwart his plan to take over the world. Because he is imprisoned in his castle by a magic barrier, he must send minions to do this work for them.
In the first episode, Seravi gives ChaCha the princess medallion, which, with the help of two of her friends, enables her to transform into Magical Princess, who has the power to defeat Daimaoh's evil forces. Magical Princess is essentially a more grown-up ChaCha with a few nifty weapons. So, while Magical Princess is nearly unbeatable, ChaCha must always remember to transform; the fact that it takes herself, Riiya, and Shiine to complete the transformation sometimes complicates things.
AKAZUKIN CHACHA is able to walk the line between outrageous humor, oftentimes specializing in terribly bad puns, and a quest show with a continuing story line. Late into the television series, the 'quest' part of the show ends and subsequent episodes become more episodic. As the story progresses, ChaCha and the others lose some of their innocence, but certainly not any of their comedic value.
This show is not of Miyazaki quality. The animation is a little above average in places and a little below in others, but the writing is consistently funny and the stories are entertaining. It makes me laugh, which is what a comedy is supposed to do. One cautionary note: a lot of the humor derives from puns, so knowledge of the Japanese language will enhance enjoyment. There is also plenty of slapstick to keep the viewers entertained, however, so Japanese is not essential to watching this show.

--Charles McCarter