Sally the Witch

Sally the Witch

Sally, the Witch (Mahōtsukai Sally) in 1966
魔法使いサリー
(Mahōtsukai Sarī)
Genre Magical girl, Comedy
Manga
Written by Mitsuteru Yokoyama
Published by Shueisha
Demographic Shōjo
Magazine Ribon
Original run July 19661967
Volumes 1
Anime television series
Directed by Toshio Katsuta
Hiroshi Ikeda
Studio Toei Animation
Network NET (later TV Asahi)
Original run 5 December 1966 30 December 1968
Episodes 109
Anime television series
Sally the Witch 2
Directed by Osamu Kasai
Studio Toei Animation
Network TV Asahi
Original run 9 October 1989 23 September 1991
Episodes 88
Anime film
Directed by Osamu Kasai
Studio Toei Animation
Released 10 March 1990
Runtime 27 minutes

Sally the Witch (魔法使いサリー Mahōtsukai Sarī) is the first anime magical girl of what eventually become a genre in Japan. Due to its characteristics, may be considered the first anime shōjo as well.[1]

Story

Sally is the witch princess of the Magic Kingdom who longs to visit the mortal realm — presumably to make friends of her own age. One day, by mistake Sally teleports to the "mid world" (Earth), where she uses her magic to fend off a couple of burglars menacing two schoolgirls. Immediately befriended by her new acquaintances — tomboyish Yoshiko Hanamura (known affectionately as "Yotchan") and girly Sumire Kasugano — Sally decides to stay on indefinitely, leading to mischief. As with Samantha Stevens in Bewitched, Sally tries to keep her supernatural abilities secret, assuming the role of a human child.

In the final episode, Sally's grandma informs her she must return to the Magic Kingdom. Before leaving, Sally tries to tell her friends about her origins, but no one will believe her. Then her elementary school catches on fire, and Sally uses her magic to put it out. Her powers thus exposed, Sally's time to leave has finally come. She waves farewell to her friends, and returns to the Magic Kingdom.

Being so popular in Japan, mostly the same way as classic Hanna-Barbera characters are in America, a second series was produced 20 years later. The second series continues a few years after the original ending, and finishes with the Original video animation Sally the Witch: Mother's Love is Eternal, in which, at the end, Sally finally becomes the ruler Queen of the Magic Kingdom, but worries about leaving her friends behind.

Characters

Names are in Western order, with the family name after the given name.

Release

The first 17 episodes of the original 1960s TV series were filmed in black and white, and the remainder of the series was filmed in color, making it one of the earliest color anime. Black-and-white and color versions exist of the opening animation sequence.

A movie/TV special was made called Sally the Witch: Mother's Love is Eternal, which was the finale to the second series.

Episode list

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
# Title Original air date
1 "Here Comes the Cute Witch"
"Kawaī Majo ga Yattekita" (かわいい魔女がやってきた) 
December 5, 1966
2 "Sally's Caretaker"
"Sarī no Orusuban" (サリーのお留守番) 
December 12, 1966
3 "Here Comes Santa Claus"
"Santakurōsu ga Yattekita" (サンタクロースがやってきた) 
December 19, 1966
4 "The Superb Academy"
"Suteki na Gakuen" (すてきな学園) 
December 26, 1966
5 "The Kidnapping Group is a Great Excitement"
"Yūkaidan wa Ōawate" (誘拐団は大あわて) 
January 2, 1967
6 "The Ultra Grandmother"
"Urutora Bāsan" (ウルトラ婆さん) 
January 9, 1967
7 "Good Morning, Mr. Burgular"
"Konnichiwa Dorobō-san" (こんにちは泥棒さん) 
January 16, 1967
8 "The Magical Picnic"
"Mahō no Pikunikku" (魔法のピクニック) 
January 23, 1967
9 "Papa Is a Temperamental Person"
"Papa wa Otenkiya" (パパはお天気や) 
January 30, 1967
10 "Dreaming to Tomorrow"
"Ashita ni Yume o" (あしたに夢を) 
February 6, 1967
11 "Where Have Your Tears Gone?"
"Namida-kun wa Doko ni iru" (涙くんはどこにいる) 
February 13, 1967
12 "Prince of the Alley"
"Yokochō no Ōji-sama" (横丁の王子様) 
February 20, 1967
13 "A Malicious Test"
"Ijiwaru Tesuto" (いじわるテスト) 
February 27, 1967
14 "The Dream and the Specter"
"Yume to Rūrei" (夢と幽霊) 
March 6, 1967
15 "Number 0 Magical Subway"
"Mahō no Chikatesu Zero Gōsen" (魔法の地下鉄0号線) 
March 13, 1967
16 "The Troublesome Freeloader"
"Yakkai na Isōrō" (やっかいな居候) 
March 20, 1967
17 "Sally and the Princess"
"Sarī to Ōjo" (サリーと王女) 
March 27, 1967
18 "Papa is a Fake"
"Papa wa Nisemono" (パパはにせもの) 
April 3, 1967
19 "The Tomboy Drives"
"Otenba Doraibu" (おてんばドライブ) 
April 10, 1967
20 "Sunday's Gift"
"Nichiyōbi no Okurimono" (日曜日のおくりもの) 
April 17, 1967
21 "I Love my Mama"
"Daisuki Mama" (大好きママ) 
April 24, 1967
22 "The Cute Poppies"
"Kawaī Popī" (かわいいポピー) 
May 1, 1967
23 "Bow-wow Rebellion"
"Wanwan Sōdō" (わんわん騒動) 
May 8, 1967
24 "The Mysterious Specter Superintendent"
"Nazo no Yūrei Kanchō" (謎の幽霊館) 
May 15, 1967
25 "Grandfather's Birthday"
"Ojīchama no Tanjōbi" (おじいちゃまの誕生日) 
May 22, 1967
26 "The Magical Balloon Trip"
"Mahō no Fūsen Ryokō" (魔法の風船旅行) 
May 29, 1967
27 "The Cute Angel Comes Down"
"Kawaī Tenshi ga Futtekita" (かわいい天使が降って来た) 
June 5, 1967
28 "The Dreamful Ballerina"
"Yume no Barerīna" (夢のバレリーナ) 
June 12, 1967
29 "Implying Mistakes"
"Shippai Darake" (失敗だらけ) 
June 19, 1967
30 "The Mischievous School"
"Itazura Gakkō" (いたずら学校) 
June 26, 1967
31 "The Witch's Happiness"
"Majo no Shiawase" (魔女のしあわせ) 
July 3, 1967
32 "Sally of the Beach"
"Umibe no Sarī" (海辺のサリー) 
July 10, 1967
33 "Sally's Flower Bride"
"Sarī no Hanayome-san" (サリーの花嫁さん) 
July 17, 1967
34 "The Treasure of the Sea"
"Umi no Takaramono" (海の宝物) 
July 24, 1967
35 "The Specter Girl"
"Yūrei Shōjo" (幽霊少女) 
July 31, 1967
36 "Handshaking the Lion"
"Raion to Akushu" (ライオンと握手) 
August 7, 1967
37 "Tokyo Manga Avenue"
"Tokyō Manga Tōri" (東京マンガ通り) 
August 14, 1967

History and legacy

Sally the Witch was one of the first ongoing anime series produced.[2] The series was originally in black and white but due to its success, later episodes were produced in color. The anime series was produced and aired from 1966 to 1968 in Japan by Toei Animation. Unlike Yokoyama's Tetsujin 28-go, the series never received a U.S. broadcast, but was aired in other several countries under different names. In Italy (Sally la Maga), French-speaking Canada (Minifée), Poland (Sally Czarodziejka — based on the Italian version), México and South America (Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru) as La princesa Sally. Depending on the country, she's called Princess, Magician or Witch.

A second Sally the Witch anime, also made by Toei, aired for 88 episodes on Japanese TV from 1989 to 1991. It was released in French (Sally la Petite Sorcière), Italian (Un regno magico per Sally), Polish (Sally Czarownica), Spanish (Sally la Brujita) and Russian (Ведьма Салли). The 1989 series is a sequel to the original, in which an older Sally returns to the human world, reunites with her old friends, and embarks on a new round of magical adventures.

The main strength of Sally the Witch lays in its strong characterizations and detailed continuity. The basic storyline would be incorporated into many later magical girl tv anime shows and manga, particularly the concept of a magical princess relocating to the human world. Toei animation reutilized the same concept in Mahō Tsukai Chappy, 1972, and Majokko Megu-chan, 1974, but later become a recurrent basis for the magical girl theme, with later unrelated characters such as Sailor Moon, or even foreign productions such as Lolirock or Star vs. the Forces of Evil using the same base plot.

Other media

The first Sally manga series was drawn by Mitsuteru Yokoyama in 1966 and was, according to Yokoyama, inspired by the American sitcom, Bewitched (known in Japan as Oku-sama wa Majo, or The Miss is a Witch).[1][3] The manga was used as basis for the original anime series.

In popular culture

Author Robert Jay Lifton stated that Sally Yumeno "has long been one of the most popular of all manga and animation characters."[4] In December 1994 police found a pamphlet at the headquarters of Aum Shinrikyo which included a song called "Sarin the Magician," a parody of the theme song of Sally the Witch. Lifton said that Sally "was undoubtedly a prominent figure in the childhoods of leading Aum members."[4]

In 2015, the Japanese idol girl group Angerme released a new updated upbeat dance version of the original anime opening from the first series.

References

  1. 1 2 Patricia Duffield (October 2000). "Witches in Anime". Animerica Extra Vol 3, No.11. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  2. (Japanese) "Kinema Junpō Bessatsu: Dōgaō vol.2: Super Majokko Taisen" (キネマ旬報別冊 動画王vol.2 スーパー魔女っ子大戦) Kinema Junpōsha, July 14, 1997. p. 21.
  3. (Japanese) "Super Majokko Taisen" p. 18-21 and 26.
  4. 1 2 Lifton, Robert Jay. Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism. Henry Holt and Company, 1999. First Edition. p. 185. ISBN 0-8050-5290-9.

External links

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