Akazukin Chacha

Akazukin Chacha

Cover of the first volume
赤ずきんチャチャ
Genre Comedy, Magical girl, romance
Manga
Written by Min Ayahana
Published by Shueisha
Demographic Shōjo
Magazine Ribon
Original run 19912000
Volumes 13
Anime television series
Directed by Hatsuki Tsuji
Studio Gallop
Network TV Tokyo, ABS-CBN
Original run January 7, 1994 June 30, 1995
Episodes 74
Original video animation
Directed by Hatsuki Tsuji
Studio Gallop
Released December 6, 1995 March 6, 1996
Runtime 30 minutes
Episodes 3

Akazukin Chacha (赤ずきんチャチャ Akazukin Chacha, lit. "Red Riding Hood Chacha") is a shōjo manga series by Min Ayahana. It was serialized by Shueisha in the manga magazine Ribon from 1991 and 2000 and collected in 13 bound volumes. The series follows the adventures of a fumbling student magician named Chacha, who habitually wears a red hooded cloak, as she seeks the truth about her family and defend the kingdom against its enemies.

Akazukin Chacha was adapted into an anime television series by Gallop, first broadcast on TV Tokyo in 74 episodes from 7 January 1994 to 30 June 1995. This was followed by a sequel OVA series of three episodes released between 6 December 1995 and 6 March 1996. In 1998, Cartoon Network aired an English dub of the Akazukin Chacha anime in Southeast Asia and Mandarin-speaking countries.

In 2011, two new one-shot manga titled Akazukin Chacha N were published in May 2011 and January 2012 issue of Cookie. Akazukin Chacha N became a monthly series in 2012. This version of the story takes place in modern-day Tokyo.[1]

Story

Akazukin Chacha is the story of a young magical girl named Chacha. She lives in a cottage on Mochi-mochi Mountain with Seravy, her guardian and teacher, who is the fictional world's greatest magician. Chacha is clumsy in casting her spells, frequently mistaking homonyms, she summons spiders (kumo (蜘蛛) in Japanese) instead of a cloud (also kumo ()). When she and her friends are in trouble, however, her spells do work. Living on the same mountain is a boy named Riiya, gifted with enormous strength, who comes from a family of werewolves. Far away from Mochi-mochi Mountain is Urizuri Mountain where Dorothy, a well known magician, lives in a castle with her student, Shiine. Shiine is a young wizard, who is adept at casting spells and barriers, as well as transformations.

The storylines of the manga and the anime adaptation are markedly different: while the anime uses most of the same characters, the story of the first two seasons were invented for the television show. Most of the stories in the third season are based on the manga.

Story of the anime

At the beginning of the anime, when Chacha is about to begin school, Seravy gave her a pendant called the Princess Medallion, and a magical bracelet and ring to Riiya and Shiine respectively. The Princess Medallion enables Chacha to transform into the Magical Princess, who can defeat Daimaō's minions, when she shouts the phrase "Let Love, Courage and Hope -- Magical Princess Holy Up!". However, the transformation works only if the three of them get together.

In season one, Chacha, Shiine, and Riiya attend Urara School, named after their principal Urara. The three are in Banana Class with their teacher named Rascal-sensei who wields a whip and looks strict, but is actually very kind. On the same class is Kurozukin ("black-hooded") Yakko and Orin. Yakko admires Seravy deeply and even calls him Seravy-sama. Orin is a ninja of the Momonga Clan, and good at concealing herself. Orin is probably the most truthful character in the story, she develops a crush on Shiine when they first met. Later a selfish mermaid called Marine tags along because she is interested in Riiya.

In the second season, after Chacha's weapon, the Beauty Serene Arrow, was unable to beat one of Daimaō's minions, Access, the trio began to search for another, more powerful weapon called the Phoenix Sword or Wing Kris. As they do so, Chacha discovers that her parents are the King and Queen of their land. After encountering many obstacles, they find Phoenix Sword. They then begin their quest for the Bird Shield, the third weapon that the Magical Princess must acquire to defeat Daimaō's minions. At the end of this story arc, Chacha, Shiine, Riiya, Orin, Yakko, Marine, Dorothy, and Seravy together, as the eight Holy Warriors of Love, Courage, and Hope, get inside Daimaō's castle. They defeat Daimaō, after which the castle and the kingdom changes back to its original shape and color.

In season three, the King's Crest, which is a magical artifact called the Holy Bird, is stolen by one of Daimaō's minions, Soprano. Whoever possesses the King's Crest can make the world good or evil. When Chacha as the Magical Princess fights Soprano, by accident they break the seal, allowing demons to enter their world and start devastating their land. Seravy tells them that to close the seal again, they must use things that are from gods or goddess. Because the Pendant, Bracelet, and Ring were given to them by Queen Joan, now a goddess, they sacrifice the three items to save the world. As a result, Chacha can no longer change into the Magical Princess, but her family gives her three more magical items, a magical brooch, compact, and Crescent Aurora Bracelet, which she can use to call up a boomerang which in turn brings her the items that can solve her problems. The rest of the series are based on the first 5 volumes of the manga. At the end of the series, Seravy settles down, engaged to be married to his former classmate, Dorothy.

Characters

Main characters

All main characters appear in both the manga and anime versions.

Manga-only characters

Anime-only characters

Anime adaption

The original manga is light-hearted, comedic story. The anime adaptation is darker, and while it uses most of the same characters, it introduced a number of changes. The Magical Princess and her story of the first two seasons are only in the anime, and Daimaō was recast as the main villain. Access was also changed, from a bumbling antagonist to a more omninous villain. How Seravy came to be Chacha's guardian changed from, in the manga, a chance finding her wrapped in a cocoon on a tree to his actively saving her from the castle just before it falls.

See the list of Akazukin Chacha episodes for details on individual episodes.

In popular culture

In the novel Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases, Akazukin Chacha is mentioned several times. Rue Ryuzaki mentions that he loves Akazukin Chacha (Shiine in particular) and notices that volumes four and nine are missing from a collection, which is a vital clue to the case.[2]

In the manga City of Dead Sorcerer detective Kim calls the elusive murderer Crimson Robe several times Chacha, while stating that he's a fan of Akazukin Chacha.

Media

Manga

Akazukin Chacha was written and illustrated by Min Ayahana. It was serialized in 94 chapters by Shueisha in the manga magazine Ribon from 1991 and 2000 and collected in 13 bound volumes. The series was reissued in 2006 in a nine-volume "library edition" with new covers. The manga was re-serialized in 2012 under a new title, "Akazukin Chacha N", which is set in modern-day Tokyo, Japan.[1] The manga was licensed for publishing in Taiwan by Da Ran Culture.

No.Release date ISBN
1 February 1993ISBN 4-08-853650-9
2 October 1993ISBN 4-08-853694-0
3 May 1994ISBN 4-08-853732-7
4 October 1994ISBN 4-08-853759-9
5 March 1995ISBN 4-08-853786-6
6 August 1996ISBN 4-08-853810-2
7 March 1996ISBN 4-08-853846-3
8 January 1997ISBN 4-08-853897-8
9 January 1998ISBN 4-08-856059-0
10 December 1998ISBN 4-08-856115-5
11 November 1999ISBN 4-08-856174-0
12 May 2000ISBN 4-08-856205-4
13 September 2000ISBN 4-08-856226-7

Anime

The series was adapted as an anime television series produced by TV Tokyo and Nihon Ad Systems and animated by Gallop. The series was direct by Shoki Tsuji with music by Osamu Tezuka and Toshihiko Sahashi and character designs by Hajime Watanabe. The opening theme was "Kimi-iro Omoi" (君色思い), performed by SMAP during the original broadcast and Shoko Sawada on the DVD release. There were three ending themes: "Egao ga Sukidakara" (笑顔が好きだから) by Shoko Sawada for episodes 1–31, "Chacha ni Omakase " (チャチャにおまかせ) by Masami Suzuki, Tomo Sakurai, and Mayumi Akado for episodes 32–56, and "Welcome to the Magical School" (ようこそマジカル·スクールへ Youkoso Majikaru Sukuuru e) by Masami Suzuki and Magical Study for episodes 57–74.

The series was first broadcast on TV Tokyo in 74 episodes from 7 January 1994 to 30 June 1995. In 1998, Cartoon Network aired an English dub of the Akazukin Chacha anime in Southeast Asia and Mandarin-speaking countries. Additionally, the series has aired in Hong Kong (ATV network), Philippines (ABS-CBN, Cartoon Network and Hero TV).

OVA

The television series was followed by a three-episode sequel OVA series, also animated by Gallop. These were released between 6 December 1995 and 6 March 1996. The opening theme for all three episodes was "Make Me Smile" by Yuki Matsuura and the ending theme was "Negai wa Hitotsu" (願いはひとつ) also by Yuki Matsuura.

The OVA series depicts the efforts of the elite Momiji School as they try to find out why the greatest witches and wizards in the world come from Urara School. A psionic named Popy-kun is sent to infiltrate the school, but things will not prove too easy when Chacha and friends try to befriend Popy-kun instead.

Games

Akazukin Chacha was adapted as a series of video games:

References

  1. 1 2 "Red Riding Hood Cha Cha Manga Returns as Monthly Series". Anime News Network. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 2013-04-07.
  2. Isin, Nisio (2008). "chapter 2". Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases. Viz Media. pp. 58–63. ISBN 978-1-4215-1883-1.

External links

Preceded by
Hime-chan's Ribbon
(10/2/1992 - 12/3/1993)
TV Tokyo Friday 18:00 Timeframe
Akazukin Chacha

(January 7, 1994 - June 30, 1995)
Succeeded by
Nurse Angel Ririka SOS
(7/7/1995 - 3/29/1996)
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