Himitsu no Akko-chan

The tale of a girl and her mirror

Himitsu no Akko-chan (meaning "Secrets of Akko-chan" or "Akko-chan's Secret") is one of the first Magical Girl Manga and Anime that ran in Japan in the 1960s. This Shōjo Manga was drawn and written by Fujio Akatsuka, and published by Shueisha in Ribon magazine with a run from July 1962 ? September 1965 culminating in three volumes.

The initial Anime adaptation had a run between January 6th, 1969 and October 26th, 1970, totaling 94 episodes and becoming the second installment of Toei Animation's "Majokko" (Witch Girl) series, following on from Mahou Tsukai Sally. Directed by Hiroshi Ikeda and featuring then-unknowns Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata among its animation staff, the series aired on the NET (now TV Asahi) network. The Anime was remade twice, once in 1988-89 with 61 episodes directed by Hiroki Shibata and again produced by Toei Animation and airing on Fuji TV. The second remake ran from 1998 to 1999, again on Fuji TV, with Hiroki Shibata returning to work on the project for Toei. The '60s and '80s anime series were very popular (the original series eclipsed even its predecessor Sally in popularity), and the '90s series garnered respectable ratings as well but was cancelled early due to poor toy sales.

Last but not least, a live-action movie followed in 2012, and there was also a web-manga by Hiroshi Izawa (writing) and the artist sisters Jitsuna and Kizuna Kamikita (known as the artists for the Pretty Cure mangas) in 2016.

All incarnations of the series follow the same premise. Atsuko "Akko-chan" Kagami, is a childlike, boasty 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) is broken, and she prefers to bury it in her yard rather than throw it to the trash can. She is then contacted by either a Sharp-Dressed Man who's a servant of the Queen of the Mirror Kingdom (manga) or by the Queen of the Mirror Kingdom herself (anime); they're touched that the little girl would treat the mirror so respectfully, and gifts her with a magical mirror that allows her to transform into anything and anyone she wants, sometimes copying their abilities too...

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Tropes seen in this series include:

• Annoying Younger Sibling: Kankichi is this to Moko, especially in later series.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: In one episode of the original 1969 series, Akko-chan attempting to be sympathetic to a deaf-mute kid, Akko-chan wishes to be a deaf-mute version of herself. In a Be Careful What You Wish For, if not a really scary turn of events , after merrily prancing around in her deafened state, Akko-chan finds herself stuck with deaf-muteness: since the Literal Genie quality of the mirror kicked in, she loses her ability to enunciate words, and despite her heartwrenching attempts, the mirror refuses to acknowledge her repeated (and silent) pleas. She was ultimately changed back, but only because the magic mirror was revealed to believe Akko-chan's desire for deafness shallow and impulsive, and wanted to show her how serious it is an handicap.
• Big Fancy House: Akko sometimes lives in one, specially compared with Moko's smaller house
• Canon Foreigner: Taisho and his gang, Akko's pet cat Shippona.
• Cute Witch: Akko
• Darker and Edgier: The 1962 manga was very comical light-hearted, but the 1969 anime had a more serious and almost melodramatic tone and it sometimes used real life issues like disabilities, family problems, etc. in its stories. The '80s and '90s anime series are closer to the manga's comedic tone.
• Disproportionate Retribution: In the second, 80s series Akko-chan carelessly outs herself as a magical girl, letting everyone of his friends know about her power. The Spirit of the Mirror not only takes her magic mirror away, but also her reflected image, thus forcing her into hiding.
  • Amended when the Spirit gives Akko-chan her reflection back, along with an upgraded mirror and offers free Laser-Guided Amnesia for continuity's sake.
• Gender Bender: In the newest, 90s series Akko-chan, needing a fast and unsuspecting disguise, turns herself into a statue on a public fountain. Not without being utterly embarrassed by that, she finds out that the statue was meant to represent a male chubby cherub, and he/she was supposed to pee water in the fountain.
  • Apparently this series disregards the limitation set by the mirror in the first one about being able to express clearly another wish, since obviously statues aren't know for their speaking abilities. Or simply the most recent version of the mirror shared with his past incarnation a rather despicable attitude to inflict traumas in poor Akko-chan's psyche.
• Girlish Pigtails: Both Akko and her best friend Moko
• Gossipy Hens: Chikako aka Chi, one of Akko's younger friends.
• Gratuitous English: The 1988 anime ending theme has quite a bit. "DON'T YOU? DON'T YOU THINK SO?"
• Literal Genie: The mirror usually works this way, especially to impart An Aesop, forcing Akko-chan to formulate clear, simple wishes.
• Magic Mirror: Doubling as Transformation Trinket
• Magical Girl: A possible Trope Maker for the transforming type; she predates Cutey Honey by about half a decade (by comparison, Sally from Mahou Tsukai Sally was a "magical girl", but she just had magical powers).
• Magical Incantation: Akko has one when she transforms - "Tekumaku Mayakon, Tekumaku Mayakon" - and another when she changes back to normal: "Lamipus, Lamipus, Lululululu." These were not in the manga, but were introduced in the '60s anime and have carried over to all subsequent adaptations.
• Market-Based Title: In Italy, the three series are known as "Lo Specchio Magico" ("The Magic Mirror"; 60s), "Un Mondo di Magia" ("A World of Magic"; 80s), and "Stilly e lo Specchio Magico" (Stilly and the Magic Mirror; 90s)
  • The 1980s version was dubbed in French as "Caroline" ("Cah-roh-LEEN")
  • The first series as dubbed into Spanish as "Los Secretos de Julie" (The Spanish version of the 1969-70 ED song: "Julie, Julie, Julie es feliz...") and had the later VERY popular actress Rocío Garcel as Akko/Julie
• Master of Disguise: Akko's main power.
• Meaningful Name: "Kagami" means "mirror."
• Mistaken Nationality: In one episode, Akko-chan is attempting to copy someone who speaks English so she can talk to a lost American child. (None of the Japanese kids know anything but loan words and advertising catch phrases.) She sees an obvious Westerner, transforms into that woman and heads back...only to learn she copied a Spanish woman who knows no English.
  • Later in the episode, she finds and copies an English speaker--not knowing that he is a notorious criminal on the loose. Her attempts to bring the American child back to the kid's parents while in that form get her Mistaken For A Kidnapper.
• Mitsuko Horie: In the 1988-1989 remake, she plays Akko-chan and sings both the OP and ED songs.
• Names to Know in Anime: Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, both Toei animators at the time, worked on the 1969 series. The director of both the 1988 and 1998 reboots, Hiroki Shibata, is also a veteran of Sailor Moon.
• Older Alter Ego: Akko invoked the trope in the very first time she used her mirror by wishing to become "the Queen of the Stars". The result was her becoming a Tall, Dark and Bishoujo girl in a sparkly gown. From then on, she often transformed herself into older women or men to get her goals.
• Replacement Goldfish: In the original 1969 Akko, upon asking her mother for a school assignment, discovers to be the literal Replacement Goldfish of her stillborn, older sister, also named Atsuko.
• Shapeshifter Mode Lock: Akko-chan usually had to use the mirror to switch back as well, causing problems when she would temporarily misplace it.
• Shout-Out: The end credits of the second show has the character's reenact scenes from Hollywood movies such as Star Wars, Back to The Future, Gone With The Wind and, unsurprisingly, Indiana Jones.
• Throw It In: Screenwriter Shunichi Yukimuro came up with Akko's Magical Incantations (see above) in his rough draft of the first episode of the 1969 anime, not intending them to be used in the final version. They were, and stuck in all subsequent adaptations.
• Tomboy and Girly-Girl: Moko and Akko respectively. Akko was made considerably more tomboyish in the '80s and '90s anime series, though, to be more in line with contemporary sensibilities and with popularity trends (from The Nineties onwards, tomboyish female characters were much more en vogue than before).
  • The remakes also have more of a sitcom vibe (a la Urusei Yatsura or Doraemon) than the 1969 series, and add modern touches such as both of Akko's parents having careers (Kyouko was a Housewife early on, later she's an artist).
• Tomboyishness Upgrade The manga and 60's anime had Akko as a very girly girl, but in the later ones she's a Tomboy with a Girly Streak.
  • Siomething similar happens with Moko (who's more aggressive in later versions) and Akko's mother Kyouko (who in the two later anime goes from a Yamato Nadeshiko Housewife to a Hot-Blooded artist)
• Transformation Trinket: the mirror
• When You Coming Home, Dad?: In many versions, Akko's dad works abroad. More modern series have him more present.