How many of you do not remember the tender Memole and her nice initials "It's Memole, my elf name is me ..." sung by Cristina D'Avena? Certainly few, at least among the thirty-year-olds, as this Japanese cartoon makes its first appearance in January 1986 on Italia 1 with the title "Memole dolce Memole" (in the original language "Tongariboshi no Memol"). Conceived by Saburo Yokoi and Yasuhiro Nagura, the series was created by Toei Animation for a total of 54 episodes of 25 minutes each, directed by Osamu Kasai and drawings by Michi Himenoito. Memole can be considered the progenitor of all those Japanese cartoons that have goblins as characters, the last of which we remember mirmo.

Memole is a small girl a few centimeters tall, characterized by a strange red hat and purple hair, belonging to the people of the Fileni from the planet Filo Filo. As they passed the earth in their mini-spaceship, they broke down with a cat's whisker getting stuck on the engine. Forced to make an emergency landing, they landed on an island in the middle of a lake and started a new life.

Here the little 243 fileni, headed by old Barba (Memole's grandfather) train themselves to face the terrible "thrill", which is the name they give to cats, as mistaking them for mice, they could hunt them. In contravention of the rules of never leaving the village, Memole and his friend Popi enter the woods aboard the owl Baobao and discover a sweet melody coming from a house. Here they find Mariel a little girl who plays the piano, but they don't dare to enter as her fearsome cat is also present. The next day they find Mariel in bed, as she is very ill and Ermelinda, her housekeeper, is crying as the doctor diagnosed the death of the child. Memole and the fileni are moved by that scene and just when it seems that the child is no longer breathing, the little filena approaches her and kisses her on the cheek, making her reopen her eyes and awaken her from a coma.

Back in the village they tell their wonderful experience, but the great boss Barba forbids the Fileni to return to that house and to have any kind of contact with human beings. A part of the Fileni is opposed to Barba's order and to resolve the issue a tug-of-war competition is held on the one hand by those in favor of contact with humans, on the other by those against. The race is won by Memole and his friends (but in reality it is Barba who makes them win), therefore they can return to their friend Mariel, not before having received a thousand recommendations, such as not to reveal to anyone where their village is located. . Memole, Mino, Popi and Piui leave for the new expedition, but this time they have to face the terrible cat Jojo, who chases them around the room. Thanks to the tricks taught by Barba, the little fileni manage to make the cat combine a lot of troubles and is forced to run away, chased by the housekeeper Ermelinda.

Memole and his friends can then jump on Mariel's bed and make her acquaintance. Naturally the little girl is a giant compared to them, who, moved by those little creatures, offers him her tasty snack. Mariel tells Memole that she is an unhappy child because she is an orphan of her mother, forced to live with the severe Ermelinda, as her father is always away for work. Memole identifies with that story and cries because she misses her parents, who remained on the planet Filo Filo, while she lives with her grandfather Barba, to whom she is very attached. Every day memole and her friends will go to Mariel to tell her the stories of the strange people of the Fileni. When Mariel has recovered from her illness, she starts to leave the house and so she meets Oscar, a handsome boy who has been hunting extraterrestrials since he found Memole's strange hat on the street.

Little Filena wants to get her precious hat back and Mariel tries to get it back, but at that moment Grazia arrives, a long-haired girl in love with Oscar, who posing as his girlfriend proves to be rude and unpleasant. Mariel manages to receive Memole da Grazia's hat, after having given her his bag, which had been given to her by Memole herself. Later Oscar's dog will be able to return the purse to Mariel, as he has been trained to smell the fileni and that bag still smells like Memole. Grazia is very jealous of Mariel and fears that Oscar might fall in love with her. Taking advantage of a moment of Mariel's absence, he goes to her house and reads her personal diary about Memole. Believing that the writing is addressed to a secret boyfriend of hers, she tears the page from the diary and shows it to Oscar, who, distraught and disillusioned, wants to leave. At this point Memole goes out in advance and introduces himself to Oscar, in order to save his relationship with Mariel. The boy's amazement and happiness are enormous, as he can finally see an extraterrestrial up close.

Mariel is now cured and has to say goodbye to the country cottage, as she has to move to the city to continue her studies in boarding school, so she has to leave Memole who, desperate, promises to follow her everywhere. Mariel and Oscar stage a small deception against Memole to ensure that the little filena remains with her grandfather and his people, as the city would represent a serious danger for her. All this will be explained to her through a tape recorder, which Memole will listen to after their departure and so she will understand that the deception was only for a good purpose. In the city, Mariel's situation becomes complicated due to the presence of Grazia, who puts her in a bad light in front of her classmates, accusing her of stealing her boyfriend. Fortunately, Memole arrives, who as promised has also followed her into the city always aboard the owl Baobao. To meet Mariel, he takes refuge in the backpack of a rebellious child who has run away from home. Memole, however, decides to run away from that brat as she is irritated by his behavior. Unfortunately for her, the boy meets Mariel who, moved by her story, hosts him in the college, to take care of him. However, the perfidious Grace notices that child and immediately informs the director of the boarding school, who expels her from school. Sad and heartbroken, before leaving Mariel takes refuge in the room where she finds a piano and starts playing them, drawing the attention of Memole who is nearby. The two friends can then hug each other and hear her qualities as a pianist from a music teacher, she is readmitted to school.

Mariel and Memole can therefore live together, but soon little Filena feels nostalgia for her grandfather and his friends. The grandfather, in turn, thinks of recording his voice on the tape recorder and sending it to him by post, but Baobao, carrying and fileni, is attacked by a bird of prey, which, while preventing the aggression, drops the precious tape recorder. Luckily, he is found by truck drivers who take him to a radio station, where his grandfather's voice will be broadcast by wire. Just at that moment Memole turns on the radio and is filled with emotion and happiness in hearing the voice of her grandfather. After having spent several adventures with Mariel and having distinguished herself for her great generosity, Memole has the opportunity to return to her people, as the Christmas holidays have arrived and Mariel must move back to her country house. Upon her arrival there are Popi with the baobao owl waiting for her, who take her back to the village where she can hug her grandfather again. The Fileni have also built a large boat so that Oscar and Mariel can come and visit Memole in the village on Christmas Day. But for that evening Ermelinda invited Grazia to their house to celebrate the anniversary and Mariel, she cannot accept the invitation. So little Arsenio, the gentleman thief fileno sneaks into Mariel's house and makes the electricity disappear, so that the Fileni can take Mariel and Oscar to them, without anyone noticing their absence. To welcome Mariel and Oscar on the shore of the lake they find a magnificent Christmas tree all lit up, with fileni wishing a Merry Christmas to the incredulous and happy boys.

The Fileni are homesick for their planet Filo Filo and ask Imagilia, the sorceress who predicts the future, if they will be able to return one day to hug their relatives. The sorceress heralds a short-term departure. Meanwhile, the holidays are over, Mariel returns to the college, but during the journey, the car where Grazia was traveling, suffers an accident and the girl, banging her head, loses her memory. The departure for the boarding school is therefore postponed and Mariel and Oscar prefer to be next to Grazia, who is in bed due to the serious accident. Memole will also remain next to Grazia and will even manage to make her become good, even when the young woman regains her memory and therefore will be reconciled forever with Mariel. However, Grazia is still in love with Oscar and confesses to the boy, who in the past has done various wrongdoings against Mariel, to get her away from him. Oscar is very angry about this declaration, but thanks to Memole the two will become friends again more than before.
After this episode a trste story happens for Memole, as his grandfather Barba falls ill with leukemia and requires a transfusion, with his own blood type. The only one who has the same is the phileno musician Niki, who at this moment is wandering through the woods, in the company of his flute. The fileno is traced thanks to a child who had listened to his sweet melodies, so his grandfather can receive the transfusion and thus recover from the serious illness. Niki reveals that she has met some fileni, coming from Filo Filo who have arrived to bring them back to their planet, therefore Barba announces the event to the whole population. The spaceship will be waiting for them at the foot of the Alps and it will be Grazia to help them in their departure. Unfortunately Mariel's health conditions worsen, also due to the regret of Memole's departure. Mariel therefore cannot leave the house, so Oscar and Grazia organize a show where all 243 fileni disguised as puppets, keep Mariel at her bedside. But Memole seeing his friend dying, bursts into tears thus revealing her identity. Memole and all the Fileni will therefore decide to postpone their departure for Filo Filo, to stay next to Mariel, who will recover from her illness for the good news.

All characters and images of Memole dolce Memole are copyright Toei Animation. they are used here for cognitive and informative purposes.