Himitsu no Akko-chan

Himitsu no Akko-chan (ひみつのアッコちゃん) is a pioneering magical girl manga and anime that ran in Japan during the 1960s.

The manga was drawn and written by Fujio Akatsuka, and was published in Ribon from 1962 to 1965. It predates the Mahōtsukai Sunny (whose name became Sally in the Mahōtsukai Sally anime) manga, printed in 1966. However, that title is the first magical girl anime as Himitsu no Akko-chan was not broadcast until 1969.

The original anime ran for 97 episodes from 1969 to 1970. It was animated by Toei Animation and broadcast by TV Asahi (then known as NET). It has been remade twice, in 1988 (61 episodes, featuring Mitsuko Horie in the role of Akko-chan and singing the opening and ending themes) and in 1998 (44 episodes). Two Akko-chan movies were made in 1989 and five were created between 1969 and 1973.

Some sources state that, like Sally, Akko-chan was also inspired by Bewitched.

Basic plot
While each remake has small differences, the basic premise is always the same.

Atsuko "Akko-chan" Kagami (known variously as "Stilly," "Caroline," or "Julie" in Western versions of the anime) is an energetic elementary school girl who has an affinity for mirrors. One day, her favorite mirror which was given to Akko by her mother (or in some versions, by her father, as a present from India) is broken, and she prefers to bury it in her yard rather than throw it to the trash can. In her dreams, she is contacted by a spirit (or in some cases the Queen of the Mirror Kingdom) who is touched that the little girl would treat the mirror so respectfully and not simply throw it away. Akko-chan is then given the gift of a magical mirror and taught an enchantment that will allow her to transform into anything she wishes.

1969

 * Akko - Yoshiko Ōta
 * Moko - Sumiko Shirakawa
 * Taisho - Hiroshi Ōtake
 * Shosho - Sachiko Chijimatsu
 * Kankichi - Akiko Tsuboi
 * Gammo - Junko Hori→ Mariko Takigawa
 * Chikako - Hiroko Maruyama
 * Goma - Kōko Kagawa→ Junko Hori
 * Papa - Ichirō Murakoshi
 * Mama - Reiko Senō
 * Sato-sensei - Osamu Ichikawa
 * Moriyama-sensei - Naoko Takahashi→ Kōko Kagawa
 * Narration - Shun Yashiro

1988

 * Akko - Mitsuko Horie
 * Moko - Kazuko Sugiyama
 * Taisho - Yoku Shioya
 * Shosho - Katsue Miwa
 * Kankichi - Noriko Uemura
 * Gammo - Noriko Tsukase→ Yūko Mita (took over role due to Tsukase's death partway through production)
 * Chikako - Keiko Yamamoto
 * Goma - Noriko Tsukase→ Chie Satō
 * Papa - Banjō Ginga
 * Mama - Yoshiko Ōta
 * Sato-sensei - Masaharu Satō
 * Moriyama-sensei - Kyōko Irokawa
 * Shippona - Naoko Watanabe
 * Dora - Masaharu Satō
 * Mirror Queen - Eiko Masuyama
 * Kio - Shigeru Nakahara
 * Gentaro - Kazumi Tanaka

1998

 * Akko - Wakana Yamazaki
 * Moko - Kikumi Umeda
 * Taisho - Takuma Suzuki
 * Shosho - Satomi Kōrogi
 * Kankichi - Harumi Ikoma
 * Gammo - Junko Takeuchi
 * Chikako - Keiko Yamamoto
 * Goma - Yasuhiro Takato
 * Papa - Ken Yamaguchi
 * Mama - Miina Tominaga
 * Sato-sensei - Hiroki Takahashi
 * Moriyama-sensei - Ai Nagano
 * Shippona - Ai Nagano
 * Mirror Queen - Mitsuko Horie

Foreign distribution
Largely unknown in the English-speaking world, Himitsu no Akko-chan enjoyed a good deal of success when it was exported to the European market in the 1980s. In fact, all three Akko-chan series have been screened on TV in Italy.
 * Lo specchio magico (Italian, first series)
 * Caroline (French, second series; pronounced "Cah-ro-LEHN")
 * Los secretos de Julie (Spanish language version shown in Latin America, second series)
 * El Secreto de Akko (Spanish version shown in Spain, third series)
 * Un mondo di magia (Italian, second series)
 * Stilly e lo specchio magico (Italian, third series) - In series three, as in series one, "Stilly" is the Italian name for Akko-chan.
 * Czarodziejskie zwierciadełko (Polish, first series)