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Also known as "Princess Sara", "A Little Princess Sara", "Princesse Sarah" (France), "Lovely Sara" (Italy), "Sally" (Arabic-speaking countries) and "Die Kleine Prinzessin Sara" (Germany)
''Shokojo Sera'', directed by Fumio Kurokawa, is an [[Anime]] adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic children's novel, [[A Little Princess]]. Though remarkably faithful to the original text, this series is an excellent example of [[Adaptation Expansion]], expanding the novel to 46 episodes of 22 minutes each, and adding new characters and situations.
The story remains fundamentally the same: Sara Crewe, a little girl of almost nine, is the daughter of a wealthy English widower living in India. To complete her education, she is sent to a "Select Seminary For Young Ladies" in London, run by the forbidding [[Sadist Teacher|Miss Minchin]] and her kind but ineffectual sister, Amelia. Though Miss Minchin takes a dislike to her, Sara wins over most of the pupils with her kindness and her storytelling skills. Among the most important friends she makes are the [[Book Dumb|kind-hearted class dunce, Ermengarde]], the scullery maid, Becky, and the school's youngest pupil, Lottie (aged 4), who has also lost her mother and whom [[Promotion to Parent|Sara unofficially "adopts"]]. She is also a gifted pupil - especially in French, her late mother's language - which earns her the admiration of the Mayor's wife during a school inspection. The quintessential [[Alpha Bitch]], Lavinia, resents her wealth and popularity, and this gets worse when Sara learns that her father has invested in diamond mines, and replaces Lavinia as the class representative.
However, on her ninth birthday, Sara receives [[Parental Abandonment|news that changes everything...]]: the diamond mines turned out to be worthless, and Captain Crewe has died penniless of "jungle fever". Left a pauper, Sara is made to work as a servant, forbidden from associating with her former classmates, and ill-treated almost beyond endurance by Miss Minchin and Lavinia. She tries her best to remain strong and stay hopeful, even in the face of enormous hardships, but she's [[Heroic BSOD|only]] [[Break the Cutie|human,]] [[Despair Event Horizon|after all..]].
After numerous [[Hope Spot|glimmers of hope]] that all end up miserably, she is finally delivered through the agency of fate and a kindly neighbour, and reclaims her former position as the school's beloved "Diamond Princess".
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* [[After-School Cleaning Duty]]: One of Becky and Sara's many duties as scullery maids.
* [[Adaptation Expansion]]: The series adds period colour, fleshes out several key characters (Miss Minchin, Ermengarde, Lavinia), expands on some who were only mentioned in passing in the novel (Monsieur Dufarge, Aunt Eliza, Molly the cook). It also adds an important character, Sara's carriage driver [[Plucky Comic Relief|Peter]], who quite understandably has a [[Puppy Love|crush]] on her, played mostly for laughs.
* [[
* [[Alone in a Crowd]]: After Sara {{spoiler|leaves the seminary}}, she spends some time wandering around the streets of London in a daze, until she is knocked down and berated by an unfriendly passer-by.
* [[Alpha Bitch]]: Lavinia
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* [[Friendship Moment]]: This trope, alone, often single-handedly keeps Sara from [[Despair Event Horizon|sinking deep into despair.]] For examples, we have: Ermengarde refusing to betray Sara even under threat of punishment, Peter helping Sara with her arduous errands, Monsieur Dufarge giving her a book, Lottie standing up for "Mamma Sara" when Lavinia tries to take her doll away, and just about every scene involving {{spoiler|Becky}} in the middle of the series.
* [[Friend to All Living Things]]: Sara's animal friends include a parrot (who can only speak one word, "Sara") and a pony. After her fall from grace, she makes friends with several more, including a family of rats in her room, the sparrows outside her window-sill, and even the Seminary's sleepy cat, Caesar. She also successfully rescues Ram Dass' monkey, Surya, who has wandered away from his home and is out in the snow.
* [[Freudian Excuse]]: towards the end, Amelia tells Sara that one of the main reasons for her sister's [[Sadist Teacher|crappy behaviour]] is that {{spoiler|her parents died when she was a little girl. As a result, she worked as a domestic help, put herself through school as a charity pupil, and single-handedly raised and educated her little sister. She was finally rewarded for her efforts by being able to start her own Seminary - but at the cost of making her hard and avaricious.}} This knowledge probably explains why Miss Minchin is [[Easily Forgiven]] by Sara at the end.
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: When Sara is sent to fetch the alcoholic Dr. Wilde to treat Amelia Minchin, she has to enter a seedy area where she passes several {{spoiler|"women of easy virtue"}}, almost has the {{spoiler|contents of a chamber pot dropped on her head}}, and finally finds him in a bar, where he is completely inebriated and leers at her. (In the French dub, he addresses her as ''"belle enfant"'', which borders on a pick-up line.) Not to forget that, in his drunkenness, he literally [[Squick|sleeps on her shoulder]] during the coach ride to the Seminary. Pretty heavy stuff, considering the major target audience for this series.
* [[Girl Friday]]: Becky to Sara, after the latter loses her fortune.
* [[Girl Posse]]: Jessie and Gertrude play this role as foils to Lavinia.
* [[Good Samaritan]]: Mrs. Brown, the baker, in the episode where Sara {{spoiler|finds a sixpence when she is starving. Sara then continues the chain reaction by giving all but one of her buns to a starving beggar-girl, Anne.}} Donald Carmichael, on two occasions: {{spoiler|when he mistakes her for a beggar and gives her sixpence, and later when he buys matches from her on a cold winter day.}} The dressmaker mentioned below (see [[Redemption in the Rain]]) also qualifies.
* [[Gray Rain of Depression]]: Rain is to Shokojo Sera what fog is to [[Bleak House]], and the weather symbolizes the mood of the series for most of the second half of the anime.
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* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Sara, when {{spoiler|[[Miss Minchin]] pushes her past her breaking point, causing her to leave the Seminary.}}
* [[Honor Before Reason]]: In the anime, unlike in the novel, Sara seems to fit this trope quite well, believing that - despite all her trials - she must not run away, but must remain at the Seminary and face life there. She even makes it explicit in episode 39 when she turns down Peter's offer to run away from the Seminary and stay with his family. This becomes especially poignant three episodes later, where Sara {{spoiler|is kicked out of the Seminary anyway by an irate Miss Minchin, who falsely accuses her of setting fire to the stable.}}
* [[I Will Protect Her]]: For a young boy who's not yet in his teens, Peter certainly tries hard to be Sara's knight in shining armour. Perhaps it's because he's grateful to her for having gotten him a job in the first place, perhaps it's because he's [[Puppy Love|sort of fallen for her already]], but he ''will'' help his mistress come what may. When [[Amoral Attorney|Solicitor Barrow]] comes to seize her possessions, he physically opposes this, to the point of being manhandled by James. And later, when Sara is homeless, he takes her into his home.
* [[Kawaiiko]]: Lottie falls halfway between this and [[Cheerful Child]] - she's almost deliberately cute and childlike, but it's [[Justified Trope|understandable given her age]], and when she's with Sara her behaviour seems more natural. However, her tendency to burst into tears tends to [[The Scrappy|spoil the effect]] for some. Sara explicitly refers to her as ''kawaii'' in Episode 16. Sara's doll, Emily, is also described as such by Ermengarde, and episode 5 has a, well, ''kawaii'' shot of Lottie holding Emily against her cheek.
* [[Keet]]: Donald Carmichael, though he is toned down a bit compared to his portrayal in the [[A Little Princess|novel]] (and especially the play) that this series is based on.
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* [[Ojou]]: Sara, of course. Becky and Peter continue to address her as ''Ojou-sama'' even after she loses her fortune, though she protests and tries - unsuccessfully - to get Peter to address her as just "Sara".
* [[Onee-Sama]]: Miss Minchin is always addressed this way by her younger sister Amelia, making a good example of the type 3 use (awe/fear) of this title.
* [[One-Gender School]]: Miss Minchin's Select Seminary For Young Ladies is exactly what it says. Justified in that the story is set in Victorian England, where gender-specific schools were the rule. They do have a male teacher (Monsieur Dufarge) on the staff, though.
* [[Pet the Dog]]: Amelia Minchin does this on several occasions. In the final episode, as a sign of her change of heart, Miss Minchin also holds Caesar the cat in her arms as she waves goodbye to Sara.
* [[Plucky Comic Relief]]: Peter very often serves this function.
* [[Plucky Girl]]: Becky. In the initial episodes, before Sara loses her fortune, she is portrayed as more of a victim, and grateful for Sara's kindness. Once Sara is reduced to servant status, Becky actually becomes the tougher of the two, and is an invaluable support to her former mistress.
* [[Puppy Love]]: Peter has got it bad for Sara, and they certainly make a cute couple in episode 19.
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* [[Princess for a Day]]: Halfway through the series, the Mayor's wife - who was charmed by Sara's French skills in an earlier episode - announces her intention to visit the Seminary again, and mentions her desire to see Sara again in her letter. As Miss Minchin is counting on her for financial support, she dare not tell her the truth about Sara - and reluctantly agrees to let her take her place in class for one day, wearing clothes kindly lent her by Ermengarde, during which she movingly reads out a slightly bowdlerized version of Baudelaire's ''L'Etranger''.
* [[Promotion to Parent]]: Sara becomes Lottie's "mamma" in Episode 5. At the very end, {{spoiler|Mr. Carrisford}} becomes Sara's new father in all but name.
* [[Redemption in the Rain]]: Brutally subverted. Sara goes out in pouring rain to try and get Lavinia's ruined dress cleaned, and succeeds thanks to a kindly dressmaker. However, on returning, Lavinia {{spoiler|[[Wounded Gazelle Gambit|falsely accuses her of having ruined the dress out of jealousy]]}}, and she is further ill-treated, leading to her falling {{spoiler|almost fatally}} ill.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Two, to classic fairy tales. Early on in the series, Sara narrates the story of Cinderella to her classmates, and an obvious parallel is drawn between her and Becky, which [[Cinderella Circumstances|extends to Sara herself]] later on. "[[The Little Match Girl]]" is referenced by a character in the middle, and when Sara decides to {{spoiler|leave the Seminary after being falsely accused of arson}}, she becomes a match-seller herself. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by Donald Carmichael in episode 43: "Say, Mama... that girl really became the match girl!" In a lesser example, Sara names her pony Jump, which is the name of Dickon's pony in Burnett's other great work, [[The Secret Garden]].
* [[Shown Their Work]]: This series does an excellent job of recreating London circa 1885, complete with realistic social, historical, and even geographical material.
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* [[Take That]]: Sara endures constant humiliation and degradation at Lavinia's hands, but eventually triumphs through hard work, sheer strength of character, {{spoiler|and good fortune via a [[Deus Ex Machina]]}}. Lavinia ends up crushed and, unable to swallow this, returns to her home country - ''America'', where her father has made a fortune. ''In oil''. It's hard to believe this was unintentional, as the setting is British and all the other pupils are implicitly British; the original novel makes no mention of Lavinia being American, and most of the characters of all other nationalities (Indian, French, British) are portrayed sympathetically - even Miss Minchin has her [[Freudian Excuse]] and an overt [[Pet the Dog]] moment at the end. To take this further, it's tempting to see Sara's story arc as an allegory for post-World War II Japan, which would explain why she often shows [[Yamato Nadeshiko]]-like traits. Also see [[Earn Your Happy Ending]], above.
* [[Teacher's Pet]]: Lavinia is a straight example: Miss Minchin adores her, because she's wealthy and defers to her. Subverted with Sara - Monsieur Dufarge likes her because of her impeccable French accent, but she's kind to the other students, plays with them and tells them stories, and never gets more than grudging admiration from Miss Minchin - which soon turns to hatred.
* [[Tender Tears]]: Though they're all strong characters, Sara, Becky and Ermengarde all show their sensibility at various points in the show exactly in this manner. Miss Amelia cannot contain hers either, in the episode where {{spoiler|Miss Minchin cruelly returns Sara's unread letters to her father.}}
* [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]]: Miss Minchin receives a ''memorable'' one from her sister Amelia in the next-to-last episode. This also counts as a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]].
* [[The Reveal]]: "Sara, I am your {{spoiler|dead father's best friend, and have recovered his lost fortune several times over. And it's all for you."}}
* [[The Storyteller]]: Sara. She is beloved by all the younger girls in the Seminary, as well as Becky, for this.
* [[Turn the Other Cheek]]: Sara does this throughout the series, but most spectacularly at the end where she not only returns as a day-scholar to Miss Minchin's Seminary, even though Miss Minchin has made her life hell for months, but {{spoiler|makes a ludicrously high donation}} to the seminary.
* [[Villainous BSOD]]: Miss Minchin has a particularly protracted one in the next-to-last episode. First, when she visits Mr. Carrisford's house and sees Sara restored to princess status, she is reduced to near-incoherence and makes her way home in a daze. On returning home, she receives a [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|lecture from her sister Amelia]] that reduces her to tears, and finally leads her to admit that she's been a [[Baka|fool]] to act the way she did.
* [[Wide-Eyed Idealist]]: Played completely straight with Sara, though it doesn't end as badly as it usually does.
* [[Yamato Nadeshiko]]: Sara is a very good example of a [[Yamato Nadeshiko]] in training, even if we allow for the disparity in cultures. [[Sumi Shimamoto|It's in the seiyuu.]] To wit: she's kind, docile, obedient to authority, and humble despite her great wealth - and she continues to display all those traits even in the worst sort of adversity. She also looks the part, except for the short hair.
=== The 2009 drama has examples of ===
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* [[Adult Child]]: Emiko is a cheerfully childish woman who still sleeps with a stuffed animal, in contrast to her stricter and colder sister.
* [[Affably Evil]]: As the series continues, we see that both [[Dean Bitterman|Director Chieko]] and [[Rich Bitch|Maria]] have [[Hidden Depths]] and despite treating Seira horribly, they aren't entirely irredeemable.
* [[Aloof Ally]]: Kaori openly expresses disgust at the way Maria treats Seira and is the only one who actually stands up to Maria and can get away with it. However, she expresses more of an interest in why Seira puts up with Maria than actually wanting to help her.
* [[Alpha Bitch]]: Who else but Takeda Maria, the counterpart of Lavina?
* [[Big Brother Instinct]]: Despite Kaori saying her family aren't close, her older brother comes in to visit her.
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* [[Bumbling Dad]]: To the surprise of many, Maria's father is this.
* [[Catch Phrase]]: Seira often says that "all girls are princesses". It means much to her because her deceased mother used to say it as ''her'' catch phrase.
* [[Childhood Marriage Promise]]: According to Kaito's friend Yukari, he promised her this when they were kids.
* [[Cute and Psycho]]: For most of the time, Director Mimura Chieko is [[The Stoic|calm and cool]] as a cucumber. However, when Seira (or when she's reminded of Seira's dead mother) appeals to her [[Berserk Button|in a wrong way]], she utterly snaps and begins shrieking and slapping said victim (usually Seira).
* [[Daddy's Girl]]: Seiri is close with her father, after her mother had died when she was very young.
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* [[Distaff Counterpart]]: Kaito is essentially Becky. Only male.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: Mimura Chieko had quite a grudge against Seira's mother. But since Seira's mother is dead, she would just it out on the next closest thing: her daughter. It doesn't help that Seira acts almost identical with her mother.
* [[Doting Parent]]: Seira's father dotes and spoils her, but in a subversion, she is [[Spoiled Sweet]].
* [[Drowning My Sorrows]]: When she is insulted by her sister or feeling depressed, Emiko has a few rounds and starts to ramble angrily about her dominating sister.
* [[Dude, She's Like, in a Coma]]: Both Seira and Kaito do this to each other. While waiting for the train, Seira [[Sleep Cute|falls asleep]] and Kaito simply kisses her on the forehead. And before Seira left the school, she gives Kaito a kiss on the cheek.
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** Maria as Juliet fumbles her lines briefly in the [[Romeo and Juliet]] play. Which reminded Director Chieko of how she messed up her lines when she acted as Juliet. We find out that {{spoiler|Seira's mother was originally suppose to be Juliet, but fell sick and Chieko had to take her place last minute. And Chieko knew that her performance was nothing compared to Seira's mother's would-be performance.}} Similar to how most people knew Seira was the better choice for playing Juliet compared to Maria.
** Similar with the above example, Seira was re-enacting Juliet's part on stage after the performance had long ended. Her actions and expressions were exactly like her mother's. {{spoiler|Even their circumstances were similar, as Seira was denied the role and Seira's mother was sick and both of them perform Juliet's role secretly}} Also how Chieko had accidentally stumbled upon their performances is quite similar.
** As Romi throws a temper tantrum, Seira gathers her up in her arms and hugs her until she calms down. When {{spoiler|Aran-sensei was a child}} and had gotten lost, Chieko was the one doing this to him.
* [[The Fool]]: Emiko, who is this and [[The Ditz]]. She cannot make a decision on her own, letting her sister run everything and despite having good intentions, she does nothing to help Seira, who she knows is suffering.
* [[Friend to All Children]]: Seira was the only person who was able to calm Romi's tantrum and after that, Romi followed her around like a little puppy.
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* [[Heartwarming Orphan]]: The orphaned Seira brings out many [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|moments of heartwarming]], even in the face of despair and loneliness.
* [[Hope Spot]]: Maria told the chef, his wife, Kaito and Seira that they will be participating in the play with them. Almost immediately, Seira hopes that she would be able to play Juliet, the role she always dreamed of playing, despite knowing Maria hates her. And Maria doesn't disappoint, cruelly slamming her back to reality by giving her an offstage role, not even allowing her to appear in the play. Another character lampshades this, showing disgust at how cruel Maria was to do it to Seira.
* [[Hot Dad]]: Seira's father. Many of her classmates point out how dreamy and handsome he looks.
* [[Hot Mom]]: Seira's mother. And Seira herself when she adopts Romi.
* [[Hot Teacher]]: With Tanabe Seiichi playing a French teacher, we all knew this was going to happen.
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** The chef and his wife treat Kaito and Seira quite cruelly, bullying and snapping at Seira on the first day of work, not even offer any condolences that she just found out her father was dead. And in their first appearance, when Kaito hopefully expresses the desire to go to high school to study, they merely laugh in his face and tell him that it's better if he gives up. They continue to do this for the rest of the series.
* [[Like Father, Like Son]]: Seira is like her mother in so many ways, all of which annoy the school director very much, as she had went to school with her mother.
* [[Love Triangle]]: Emiko likes Aran-sensei who's more interested in Chieko. And later, we get Kaito's old friend getting jealous of his and Seira's relationship.
* [[Meido]]: Seira is forced to wear this after she loses her fortune and has no money.
* [[Nakama]]: It would have been quite lonely and depressing for Seira if it wasn't for Kaito, the two mice and Masami helping her.
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* [[Promotion to Parent]]: After Romi decides that Seira will be her new mother after her real mother died.
* [[Rich Bitch]]: Maria, Maria, Maria. Even when her kind father wanted to visit her at school, she directly told him not to and also renamed herself, so she wouldn't have the name that her father had gave her.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Like the anime, Seira reads "[[Cinderella (novel)|Cinderella]]" to a few children in the first episode, foreshadowing the parallel between herself and Cinderella. She even tells the children listening that even if things look bad now, they willl turn out for the better.
* [[Sibling Yin-Yang]]: Friendly, naive Emiko to strict, calculating Chieko.
* [[Slow Clap]]: Kaori mockingly does this to Maria, mentioning how the only reason why Aran-sensei left her the job to greet the French teacher who was coming to the school was because Seira wasn't there.
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* [[Taking the Bullet]]: Not as dangerous as a real bullet, mind you, but still very traumatic. Maria and the rest of the class were throwing tomatoes at a submissive, humilated Seira. When Seira's friend Masami was bullied into throwing the last tomato, Kaito comes in last second to take the hit instead and spare Seira of being hit by her own friend.
* [[Tastes Like Friendship]]: After Seira returns to her room after a long day's work with minimal food, her friend Masami often comes by at night, sneaking in food for her.
* [[Tempting Fate]]: One of the last things Seira says to her father is for him to promise not go to anyplace dangerous.
** And after Seira gets kicked out from the school for not looking after the school, Maria remarked that it ended too soon and it was a boring ending. Of course, if you've read the [[A Little Princess|original book]], you know it's far from over and not boring in the least.
* [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]]: Kaito's friend Yukari, who Kaito is not interested in.
* [[Used to Be a Sweet Kid]]: Surprisingly, Mimura Chieko was this, particularly towards {{spoiler|a young Aran-sensei.}} In fact, when she was younger, Chieko wanted to be the Director of the school so she could teach girls who are less fortunate.
* [[Wealthy Ever After]]: After having her assets unfrozen, along with being adopted, Seira is wealthy once again.
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