3 min. of reading
In the second verse of the theme song of “The Inenchanting Creamy”, Alessandra Valeri Manera wrote these words later sung by Cristina D’Avena
Thinking it will be enough
and it will happen immediately
A simple verse, an invitation to imagination with which every child can build their own world of reference, between reality and fantasy, to survive. These were the years of the Fininvest commercial TV networks, of the first rampant and overflowing Berlusconism, bringer of lights and shadows, but which fortunately forever cracked the Catholic-communist hood of Rai, opening passages of survival for those who didn’t want to die in a parish or in a section of the Communist Party.
In those years of all-round experimentation, Valeri Manera found himself taking care of the import of anime cartoons, to package the Italian edition. A trench in which she maneuvered in a bigoted and censorious climate, seeking and finding in the Italian language the handles for a gentle rebellion, for an under-the-radar transformation. An ability that is poorly repaid, as sometimes happens to those who seek space in nuances to trigger processes of osmosis between distant cultures, to anticipate worlds, to compose mediations, to draw horizons of freedom and gentle revolutions. To the ideological people who are always ready to point the finger at those who do not adhere to the hard and pure approach, Valeri Manera responded like this, and we with her:
Pari-pam-pum, here I am
pari-pam-pum, but who knows
Alessandra Valeri Manera left us on 20 June 2024, at the age of 67. Author of songs that have marked the childhood of entire generations, her name vibrates in the hearts of those who grew up with the voices and melodies of Cristina D’Avena. From “Cat eyes” to “The enchanting Creamy” to “It’s almost magic Johnny“, it’s still “Mila and Shiro“, “Kiss me Licia“, “Holly and Benji“, “Magical Emi“, “Evelyn and the magic of a dream of love“, “The black tulip” (also called “Star of the Seine“), “Nana supergirl“, “Memole” and many others, Valeri Manera’s words still resonate today in the memory of many LGBTIAQ+ people, in the playlists that we all save with proud nostalgia on our mobile phones, in the clubs where his theme songs are often played and sometimes even remixed to the dance rhythm.
Her career began at 23, when she was nominated responsible for children’s entertainment at Mediaset, Fininvest at the time. In this role, which he filled from 1980 to 2001was the mind behind iconic programs such as “Bim Boom Bam“, which saw the TV debut of a very young Paolo Bonolis, and “Bye bye“. Alessandra Valeri Manera discovered and valorized Cristina D’Avena, which was soon consecrated as the crystalline and complicit voice thanks to which the author marked the memory and childhood of many of us.
In the Fininvest of the 80s, even before becoming the author of the cult theme songs that we all know, Valeri Manera was also and above all involved in importing content for children, selecting them directly from their places of origin, in particular from Japan. In fact, clashing with a society that at the time required cuts and censorship.
“It was what I wanted to do my whole life,” he once said. “I worked in complete freedom and immediately brought what my vision could be“.
A censorship, his, which often mediated and sometimes obscured the queer references that the great Japanese authors conveyed through the many stories of doublings, transformations and ambiguities of gender and sex.
Often criticized in retrospect, also and above all by the LGBTIAQ+ community due to his manipulations, Valeri Manera actually managed to convey important messages, hidden between the lines of songs, stories, voices, dubbing, cartoon adaptations. It was a “resistant“, as he defines it Jonathan Bazzi in his post dedicated to her, capable of operating in a hostile context to bring anyway hope And possibility through his works.
An emotional farewell came from the publisher Yamato Video:
“Thanks to her vision and commitment, Alessandra has made the broadcast of numerous productions possible, without prejudice to nationality. We fans of Japanese series owe it to her to have enjoyed so many memorable works, which have marked the history and imagination of many generations.”
Valeri Manera was much more than an author of theme tunes and programs. She has shaped the sentimental education of entire generations, offering through her characters – sorceresses, fighters and young heroines with a fluid identity – models of courage, hope and dignity. For many of us, those cartoons represented safe havens and tools for self-reflection. As Bazzi recalls:
“I have been and will always remain Yu, Mai, Evelyn, Gigì, Bunny. I never stopped looking for my heart bracelet”
Turn and hope, the wish comes true. Goodbye, Alessandra. And thank you for always looking for a glimmer of light in the nuances of the language for us different children.
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