Fancy Lala might be one of the most mature (for its demographics) mahou shoujo I've seen so far, only the Minky Momo OVAs are superior in this category. But this one is so cleverly structured, my rating is supposed to be 7 but because of this particular detail I gave it an 8; the whole thing is self-aware through the "sketch book" device of the little girl, and how that connects her to her familial bonds, I think at some point in the middle it'll be obvious who the Mystery Man is. I like that, it shows moral awareness and concern for children, so strangehow you could find the complete opposite even within Japanese culture itself. Notice how the folds are made (within the original ones) as childish sketches at both critical and trivial points in the narrative. But it all goes back and forth to that magical sketch book. There's no fan service and emphasis on flashy magical transformations and fights, it's always the emotional content that drives the story, rather rare for this genre.

Then again, we have the original layer or fold that might've created the whole thing, it's the "memories of time" and the whole paleobiology realm. The fact the story is anchored in something quite realistic and almost crude like that and turning it magical is worthy of praise in itself, Pigu and Mogu are probably one of few characters of this type that I'll always carry in my memory. Too adorable, I'll miss them too.

Finally, and this might be irrelevant if you don't follow me personally, but there's a cute "redhead" who take the lead in the end talking about this original layer. Mystifying.