Sally, the Witch
Encyclopedia
, is the first magical girl
genre anime
in Japan
. This may (even more broadly) be the first shōjo
anime as well. The first magical girl manga
was Himitsu no Akko-chan
but it took longer to be adapted into an anime. Both series deal with henshin
style transformation
s (such as Sailor Moon
), but neither is the first anime to feature this. Another henshin magical girl anime that aired between the two anime was Princess Knight
.
Sally was also one of the first ongoing anime series produced. The series was originally black and white when it began production, but later started producing episodes in color.
The first 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 Missus is a Witch").
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 Italy (Sally la Maga), French-speaking Canada (Minifée), Poland (Sally Czarodziejka – the Polish version was based on the Italian version) and South America (Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, as La princesa Sally).
A second Mahōtsukai Sally anime, also made by Toei, aired for 88 episodes on Japanese TV from 1989 to 1991, and also 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.
Notable features this anime established in the mahō shōjo genre:
These features still influence the magical girl genre in today's anime.
mischief in the best Japanese tradition. As with Samantha Stevens in Bewitched
, Sally tries to keep her supernatural abilities secret, assuming the role of a human child.
programs, particularly the concept of a magical princess relocating to the human world (as in Mahō Tsukai Chappy, 1972, and Majokko Megu-chan
, 1974).
– The main character of the series. Sally is the daughter of the Witch-King, and therefore princess of the Witch-World. Yumeno means "dream field" but is a homophone to "in a dream" in Japanese. – one of Sally's best friends in the mortal realm. A stereotypical animated tomboy, Yoshiko is probably the first of her kind to appear in a magic-girl anime. Sally usually refers to her as "Yotchan". – another of Sally's human friends. Sumire is the archetype "girlie" girl so common in Japanese animation today; probably the inspiration for the dozens of cutesy side-kicks that would follow. - Sally's magical, shape-changing assistant. Assuming the form of a five year old boy, Kabu poses as Sally's younger brother.
A movie/TV special was made called "Sally the Witch: Mother's Love is Eternal", which served as the finale to the 2nd series.
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."
Magical girl
belong to a sub-genre of Japanese fantasy anime and manga. Magical girl stories feature young girls with superhuman abilities, forced to fight evil and to protect the Earth. They often possess a secret identity, although the name can just refer to young girls who follow a plotline involving magic...
genre anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. This may (even more broadly) be the first shōjo
Shojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...
anime as well. The first magical girl manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
was Himitsu no Akko-chan
Himitsu no Akko-chan
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 manga, printed in 1966...
but it took longer to be adapted into an anime. Both series deal with henshin
Henshin
is the Japanese word for "transformation," literally meaning, "to change or transform the body." This word is primarily used in manga, anime, and tokusatsu dramas for when a character transforms into a superhero. usually have a "henshin call", a catchphrase which they recite when they transform...
style transformation
Transformation
-Mathematics:* Transformation * Transformation * Integral transform* Data transformation * Transformation matrix-Natural science:* Phase transformation, a physical transition from one medium to another...
s (such as Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon, known as , is a media franchise created by manga artist Naoko Takeuchi. Fred Patten credits Takeuchi with popularizing the concept of a team of magical girls, and Paul Gravett credits the series with "revitalizing" the magical-girl genre itself...
), but neither is the first anime to feature this. Another henshin magical girl anime that aired between the two anime was Princess Knight
Princess Knight
is a Japanese manga that ran through four serializations from 1954 to 1968, as well as a 1967 Japanese children's animated series. It was dubbed into English and brought over to Western audiences in 1970, where it was called Choppy and the Princess. In 1973, this series was dubbed in Portuguese and...
.
Sally was also one of the first ongoing anime series produced. The series was originally black and white when it began production, but later started producing episodes in color.
The first manga series was drawn by Mitsuteru Yokoyama
Mitsuteru Yokoyama
was a Japanese manga artist born in Suma-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo. His personal name was originally spelled , with the same pronunciation. His works include Tetsujin 28-go, Giant Robo, Akakage, Babel II, Sally, the Witch, Princess Comet, and adaptations of the Chinese classics Outlaws of the Marsh and...
in 1966, and was, according to Yokoyama, inspired by the American sitcom, Bewitched
Bewitched
Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...
(known in Japan as Oku-sama wa Majo, or "The Missus is a Witch").
The anime series was produced and aired from 1966 to 1968 in Japan by Toei Animation
Toei Animation
Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Co., Ltd. The studio was founded in 1948 as Japan Animated Films . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was reincorporated under its current name...
. Unlike Yokoyama's Tetsujin 28-go
Tetsujin 28-go
is a 1956 manga written and illustrated by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who also created Giant Robo. The series centred on the adventures of a young boy named Shotaro Kaneda, who controlled a giant robot named Tetsujin 28, built by his late father....
, the series never received a U.S. broadcast, but was aired in Italy (Sally la Maga), French-speaking Canada (Minifée), Poland (Sally Czarodziejka – the Polish version was based on the Italian version) and South America (Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, as La princesa Sally).
A second Mahōtsukai Sally anime, also made by Toei, aired for 88 episodes on Japanese TV from 1989 to 1991, and also 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.
Notable features this anime established in the mahō shōjo genre:
- The heroine must keep the secret of her magic. If she reveals the secret, she will be punished.
- When heroine uses magic, she needs her magical phrase and an enchanted object like a baton (Sally's magical phrase is "Mahariku Maharita Yanbarayan," a phrase with as much meaning as "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-BooBibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" is a novelty song, written in 1948 by Al Hoffman, Mack David, and Jerry Livingston. It was introduced in the 1950 film Cinderella, performed by actress Verna Felton....
" (from Disney's CinderellaCinderella (1950 film)Cinderella is a 1950 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "Cendrillon" by Charles Perrault. Twelfth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film had a limited release on February 15, 1950 by RKO Radio Pictures. Directing credits go to Clyde Geronimi,...
) - A magical servant follows a heroine in a mundane world.
- Two sub-heroines of tomboyTomboyA tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered in many cultures to be the...
and girly girlGirly girlGirly girl is a slang term for a girl or woman who chooses to dress and behave in a traditionally feminine style, such as wearing dresses, blouses and skirts, and talking about relationships and other activities which are associated with the traditional gender role of a girl.-History:The term is...
are established as the heroine's sidekicks.
These features still influence the magical girl genre in today's anime.
Story
Sally is the princess of the "witch world", Astoria, who longs to visit the mortal realm - presumably to make friends her own age. One day, Sally teleports to the "mid world" (Earth), where she uses her magic to fend off a couple of burglars menacing two young 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 various kinds of shōjoShojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...
mischief in the best Japanese tradition. As with Samantha Stevens in Bewitched
Bewitched
Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...
, Sally tries to keep her supernatural abilities secret, assuming the role of a human child.
The final episode
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 out the fire. Her powers thus exposed, Sally's time to leave has finally come. She waves farewell to her friends, and returns to the Magic Kingdom. The 2nd series ended with the movie/TV special "Sally the Witch: Mother's Love is Eternal", in which Sally becomes queen of the witch world, but worries about leaving her friends behind. As with most Japanese cartoons of the period, Mahōtsukai Sally's main strength lays in its strong characterizations and detailed continuity. The basic storyline would be incorporated into many later Mahō ShōjoMagical girl
belong to a sub-genre of Japanese fantasy anime and manga. Magical girl stories feature young girls with superhuman abilities, forced to fight evil and to protect the Earth. They often possess a secret identity, although the name can just refer to young girls who follow a plotline involving magic...
programs, particularly the concept of a magical princess relocating to the human world (as in Mahō Tsukai Chappy, 1972, and Majokko Megu-chan
Majokko Megu-chan
is a magical girl anime series. The manga was created by Tomo Inoue and Akio Narita, while the 72-episode anime series was produced by Toei Animation between 1974 and 1975. This series is considered an important forerunner of the present day magical girl genre, as the series' characterization and...
, 1974).
Characters
Names are in Western order, with the family name after the given name.– The main character of the series. Sally is the daughter of the Witch-King, and therefore princess of the Witch-World. Yumeno means "dream field" but is a homophone to "in a dream" in Japanese. – one of Sally's best friends in the mortal realm. A stereotypical animated tomboy, Yoshiko is probably the first of her kind to appear in a magic-girl anime. Sally usually refers to her as "Yotchan". – another of Sally's human friends. Sumire is the archetype "girlie" girl so common in Japanese animation today; probably the inspiration for the dozens of cutesy side-kicks that would follow. - Sally's magical, shape-changing assistant. Assuming the form of a five year old boy, Kabu poses as Sally's younger brother.
- The Hanamura Triplets: , , and – Yoshiko's kid brothers, typically incorrigible Japanese boys adept at landing themselves in trouble. – A little witch girl who appears in the later part of series. Saucy, selfish and rather lovable, she frequently casts spells she can't reverse, such as shrinking herself down to mouse-size, then being unable to "grow up". – Sally's grandfather, the ruler of the Witch-World. A pompous blowhard who dislikes humanity on principle, he nonetheless has a good heart where his daughter is concerned (a quality shared with Endora from Bewitched).
Production
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. Both 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 served as the finale to the 2nd series.
Reception
Robert Jay Lifton, author of stated that Sally Yumeno "has long been one of ther most popular of all manga and animation characters".In December 1994 police found a pamphlet at the headquarters of Aum Shinrikyo
Aum Shinrikyo
Aum Shinrikyo was a Japanese new religious movement. The group was founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984. The group gained international notoriety in 1995, when it carried out the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway....
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."