Tonde Buurin

Tonde Buurin is one of the most unusual Magical Girl Shows out there. It began its run in September of 1994. It is the story of a girl named Kokubu Karin. She is your usual Magical Girl junior high school student that is incredibly cheerful, friendly, and of course, a clutz. Karin has very bright red hair that she wears up in a ponytail. The curly end of the pony tail, as well as the wisps around her ears give her a pig-like appearance, reminiscent of a curly pig’s tail.

As is the custom with Magical Girls, Karin is given her Magical Items by a being from another world. In Karin’s case, the being is also her talking pet, Ton-chan. Ton-chan is a floating yellow pig with a little red bow-tie. Ton-chan gives Karin a Magical Compact that, along with the appropriate magical words (“Ba Bi Bu Be Buurin!”), will transform her into the Magical Girl Tonde Buurin.

However, here is where things take a big turn away from the standard Magical Girl setup. Instead of an older version of herself, or some fantastically costumed heroine, Karin turns into Buurin, a large pink flying Pig! It is Buurin’s mission to fly around saving people, a la Superman. Not only does Karin get the Magical Compact, Ton-chan also gives her this seashell-type thing that dispenses pearls. After each good deed she does, Karin will receive a certain number of pearls. When she manages to collect 108 pearls, she will gain the ability to transform out of her pig-girl form, and into any other magical girl form she wants. This part of the deal Karin likes, and she works hard to help people out so she can eventually be a super-cute Magical Girl like those she sees on TV.

Karin must keep her secret identity a secret, which can be a difficult thing, considering her father is a news photographer whose main goal seems to be to take pictures of/interview Buurin. Also, Karin has a major crush on the class all-around-nice-guy-great-athlete, Mizuno Kouichi. He seems to be Buurin’s biggest fan!