Mahou Tsukai Sally

"Mahari kumaha rita yanbara yan yan yan"--intro to the opening theme.

Sally the Witch (or Mahoutsukai Sally) is thought to be one of the earliest examples of Magical Girl Manga and Anime.

The manga was written and illustrated by Mitsuteru Yokoyama (of Gigantor fame), and is said to have been influenced by the American Sitcom Bewitched (which was hugely popular in Japan at that time). It was published by Shueisha in Ribon magazine, running from 1966 to 1967 and culminating in a single volume. The heroine was originally named Sunny, but was changed to Sally to avoid a copyright infringement lawsuit from auto manufacturer Nissan.

The work was adapted to an anime, which was directed by Toshio Katsuta for the studio Toei Animation for air on NET (later TV Asahi) and included a young Hayao Miyazaki among its animators. Originally running from 1966 to 1968, the series included 109 episodes and was the first series in Toei and TV Asahi's original "Majokko" (Witch Girl) pantheon, which continued through 1981 and also included Himitsu no Akko-chan, Majokko Meg-chan and Hana no Ko Lunlun among others. A sequel to the original anime, titled Sally the Witch 2, was produced later by studio Toei Animation under director Osamu Kasai. It ran on TV Asahi between 1989 and 1991, with 88 episodes. An animated film for the series was also created by Toei Animation in 1990 during the run of Sally the Witch 2. Both series have been dubbed and broadcast internationally in several Western countries, with the '60s series airing in Canada (in French) circa 1970 under the title Minifee and thus being the first magical girl anime to reach North America; however, neither has had an official English release.

The series follows Sally, princess of the 'witch world' Astoria (no, not that one). One day she teleports to mid-world (Earth) to make friends. She quickly makes two new friends, Yoshiko Hanamura and Sumire Hasegawa, as she uses her magic to scare off a criminal menacing said girls. The series consists mostly of the episodic misadventures of Sally and friends (including her Magical World companions, Cab and Poron, who pose as her siblings) as she faces the world and a plethora of problems it has in store for her, with the help of magic.

The first 17 episodes of the original anime were created in black and white. After this, the series transitioned to colour, making Sally the Witch one of the first full-colour animes. The monochrome episodes were omitted when the series was dubbed for international distribution (i.e. Italy and Quebec).

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Tropes seen in this series include:

• Adult Child: Sally's magic teacher, Sherry. She reaches Too Dumb to Live extremes when she reverses the age of Sally's neighbor and is slated for execution because, when she did it, she broke one of the cardinal laws of the Magical World: not interferring directly to change a human's destiny.
• An Ice Person: Sally's best friend from the magical worlds, Selene the Ice Princess.
• Bittersweet Ending: The original series finishes with Sally exposing her secret identity to save her school when it catches fire, then having to wipe her friends' memories and return to Astoria. The second series re-takes it from there, with Sally having to re-make her human life from scratch and start training on her own to become The High Queen when it's time.
• Cute Witch: Sally. She sometimes has to use her powers in a more Magical Girl Warrior way in the second series, though, specially when dealing with Karen.
• Dark Magical Girl: In the 1989 version, Sally gains a rival in one of these: the embittered, emotionally broken Karen, daughter of her dad's old enemy. Obviously, she has a Heel Face Turn when defeated.
• Ear Worm The opening theme music has been one for generations.
• Everything's Better with Princesses: Sally and Selene.
• Healing Hands: Subverted. Sally is not a healer, so if she needs to heal people, she must either follow quests (first series - one one of the Hanamura triplets is seriously injured, and she has to go searching for the cure) or learn special and complicated spells (second series - she has to combine Elemental Powers to even think of healing a young dancer's leg before a special performance).
• Fallen Princess: Karen, which makes her a Dark Magical Girl after her Jerkass father and her are kicked out of Astoria for the first's actions. Sally's adoptive brother Cab turns out to be a Fallen Prince too, as the son of the Royal Couple of the destroyed Gold and Silver Kingdom, entrusted to the custody of Sally's parents when he was a newborn.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Sumire, before she befriends Yoshiko and Sally. A whole episode of the 1989 series focuses on the possibility of her being sent off to a Boarding School and losing her friends.
• Make Me Wanna Shout: Sorta. When Poron gets upset and starts screaming and crying out loud, she loses control of her magical powers and things start getting weird.
• Missing Mom / Promotion to Parent: Yoshiko had to act as caretaker for her triplet younger brothers as her widowed father worked long and odd hours as a taxi driver.
  • Sally also gets one when her adoptive siblings Cab and Poron go to live with her. In fact, a whole episode in the second series is dedicated to Sally trying to hide this when it's time for Yamada-sensei to talk to her parents. The Royal Couple shows up later in human disguises and convince the teacher that they're the "workaholic but caring" type (which they are, just... not the way he expects). It works.
• Mundane Utility: Once in a while Sally used her powers for housework. One 1989 episode has her getting in trouble for it, and the punishment involves an Evil Twin.
• Names to Know In Anime: Masako Nozawa voices the triplets in the original version, and Kenji Utsumi voices the King. Sumire is also voiced by Midori Kato, who is best known for voicing the title character in Sazae-san, a role she is still playing over half a century later.
  • 1989 series: Yuriko Yamamoto (Sally), Aya Hisakawa (Sumire), Maria Kawamura (Sally's friend Azami), Miki Ito (Karen), Minori Matsushima (Shelly), Chieko Honda (Kabu), Kumiko Nishihara (Poron), Yusaku Yara (the King), Chiyoko Kawashima (the Queen), Hiromi Tsuru (Selene), Sumi Shimamoto (Sumire's mother).
• The Ojou: Sumire is the "kind and quiet, almost Yamato Nadeshiko" type. Azami is more of the "bossy and spoiled, but not evil" one.
• The Other Darrin: The producers of the 1999 Toei Majokko PlayStation game, Majokko Daizenshuu: Little Witching Mischiefs, sought to use as many of the original anime voice actors as possible. Sadly, this was not possible with Sally's original seiyuu, Michiko Hirai, who had died in 1984; thus, Yuriko Yamamoto reprised her role of Sally from the '80s/'90s anime for the game. (The original voice actors for Kabu (Sachiko Chijimatsu) and Poron (Fuyumi Shiraishi) were available and did participate, though Shiraishi has since passed away.)
• Overprotective Dad: Sally's father, sometimes.
• Parents as People: Mr. Hanamura loves his four kids and they love him back, but he can't be with them a lot due to work, and he often apologizes to Yoshiko for having to give her a Promotion to Parent. The Hasegawas are rather doting and caring to Sumire, but sometimes they don't seem to really understand her feelings.
• Plucky Rebellious Princess: Sally, and how. While she doesn't openly rebel against the Magical World itself, she is NOT likely to change her mind when her parents confront her on something.
• Precocious Crush: In the second series Poron gains one on Yamada-sensei, Sally's Cool Teacher. Who is Happily Married, and his wife is just about to give birth. Whoops.
• Star-Crossed Lovers and Puppy Love: In an episode of the 1989 series, Yoshiko falls in love with a gentle and free-spirited boy named Koutarou, who happens to be a genie of the weather. Yoshiko also is gravely sick and almost dies, so Koutarou has to leave so the cold weather will go with him and she'll get better.
• Strong Family Resemblance: The five Hanamuras look a LOT alike. Six, if we include the Missing Mom (we get to see a photo of her)
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Yoshiko and Sumire. Karen and Sally. Sally and Selene.
• Visual Pun: One of the openings has the cast in a South Seas setting so that Sally (or "Sarii") can be seen in a sari.
• Witch Species
• World's Most Beautiful Woman: Sally's mother is specifically mentioned to be this. So much that, when she was a young princess, a Vain Sorceress put her into sleep, and Sally's dad had to give her a True Love's Kiss to save her. Hm, where have we seen this, huh? Little did the Queen know, the Witch would later return and try her hand at getting revenge, now targetting Sally and a bunch of human girls...
• Yamato Nadeshiko: Both Sally and her Hot Mom. Also, Selene.