What's Mama4

To Avoid Misunderstanding...

This is a story of the ten-year-old girl who became a mama.

In 1992, this anime series was aired by Nihon-TV network in Japan. Its title was "Mama wa Shogaku 4-nensei", meaning "Mama is a 4th Grader". (In Japan, a 4th grader kid is 9 or 10 yrs old)
It's called "Mama4"(Mama-yon) for short.

But why a nine-year-old mama? If you don't know, let's see the reason. Here are some examples...

  1. She had to take care of her brother or sister at home without her father or mother. (like Akachan to Boku("The baby and I"))
  2. She had to take care of her relative's baby.
  3. She had to take care of a baby who came from another world.
  4. A baby was born to nine-year-old girl. (It's impossible!!)
  5. This is a story of a nine-year-old girl named "Mama." :-)
  6. A son or a daughter met his/her nine-year-old mama using time machine. (like Back to the Future)
Now, guess which is the correct answer...

The Story

I'm Mizuki Natsumi, a 4th grader of elementary school.
The baby who came suddenly in the stormy night
was mine called Mirai-chan
who slipped in time from 15 years in the future!
Dad and Mom have gone to London,
and auntie Izumi who lives with me hates babies.
It's really hard for me alone!
But I decided to nurse Mirai-chan
until she can go back to the future.
Because...MIRAI-CHAN'S MAMA IS ME!

(From "Mama wa Shogaku 4-nensei - This is Animation Special" / Published by Shogakukan)

...That's the summary of the story.

I had seen the title several times at the newspaper, but at the first time I didn't notice. (But the other day I finally noticed and searched why. This is why I began watching Mama4.)
Many girls like playing house, so when seeing from their view, the "Mama" is a mama as a role, not real mother. I did think so, indeed. I never imagined that many misunderstood - the "Mama" might be pregnant! Never, never!

But it's the girls' way of thinking, isn't it? - When a little girl says, "I'm a mama," she usually means "a mama as a role" or "an 'adopted' mother." In the literature "A Little Princess," for example, Sara says 'I will be your mamma,' to Lottie, but it never means that Sara is Lottie's real mother! (Incidentally, the chapter ends with the words, "And from that time Sara was an adopted mother.")

By the way, the music is also excellent. The accompaniment of the closing theme song "Kono ai o mirai e (This Love for the Future)" is based on a Mozart piano sonata(K545). Please listen to the song with nice arrange if you have a chance!

Mama4's Mysteries

- At first "Mama is a 4th Grader" was planned as a TV drama. Mizuki Arisa was going to be the heroine. But the plan had changed and aired as a TV animation...
Do you know why? If you know, please tell me.

- Natsumi in the future said that she knew everything that happened in 1992 (story 50:"Time slip no asa [The morning when time slip happens]"), but it didn't seem that she really knew all. For example, Natsumi in the future said that she was looking for her diappeared baby. It's really funny...

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