Sally the Witch

Sally is the princess of the "Land of Magic" who, one day, decides to move to the "Human World" (Earth), despite facing reluctance from her parents, the King and Queen. There, she immediately befriends two schoolgirls – the tomboyish Yoshiko Hanamura and girly Sumire Kasugano – as she assumes the role of a human child and lives on Earth. She is soon joined by Cub, a resident of the Land of Magic, who requests to stay with Sally, and assumes the role of Sally's younger brother. The first episode of the anime differs quite a bit from the initial chapters of the manga. There, after being scolded by her mother and reflecting on how bored she was, Sally decides to run away the "Human World" and explore, where she soon meets Yoshiko and Sumire after following them from a mall. The three soon become friends after fending off a couple of burglars thanks to the assistance of Cub (sent by the king to bring Sally back home), as Sally then decides to stay and live on Earth, alongside Cub staying with her to avoid the king's wrath. Shared between the manga, the original anime adaptation and its sequel, Sally tries to keep her magical abilities a secret as she attempts to live the life of a human child, leading to mischief. In the final episode of the anime, Sally's grandma informs her she must return to the Land of Magic. Before leaving, Sally tries to tell her friends about her origins, but no one will believe her. 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 Land of Magic. ==Characters==

• (Voiced by: Michiko Hirai (1966), Yuriko Yamamoto (1989)): The main titular character, Sally is the daughter of the King and the Queen, being princess of the Land of Magic. • (Voiced by: Midori Kato (1966), Teiyū Ichiryūsai (1989)): One of Sally's best friends in the mortal realm who is a tomboy. • (Voiced by: Mariko Mukai (1966), Nana Yamaguchi (1989)): One of Sally's human friends who acts girly in contrast to Yoshiko. • (Voiced by: Sachiko Chijimatsu): Sally's magical, shape-changing assistant. He is a servant of the king and is sent by him in the anime to retrieve Sally and bring her home. Assuming the form of a five-year-old boy, Cub poses as Sally's younger brother. Cub is mischievous, usually playing pranks on Sally and friends or triggering unpredictable situations. However, his level of mischief has been on par with the Hanamura Triplets and Poron. • The Hanamura Triplets: , , and (Voiced by: Masako Nozawa): Yoshiko's kid brothers. • (Voiced by: Fuyumi Shiraishi): An original character to the anime. She is a little witch girl who appears in the later part of series. Selfish and rather lovable, she frequently casts spells she cannot reverse, such as shrinking herself down to mouse-size and being unable to "grow up". • (Voiced by: Kosei Tomita): Sally's paternal grandfather. An original character to the anime. He also wears a horned hairstyle similar to Sally's father. He has a magical horned staff, which Poron stole to cause mischief with Cub and the Hanamura triplets on Earth. • : The pompous ruler of the Land of Magic who dislikes humanity on principle. • (Voiced by: Mariko Mukai (1966) Nana Yamaguchi (1989)): The friendly Queen of the Land of Magic who was previously known as in the original manga. ==Release==

Written and illustrated by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Sally the Witch, was serialized in Shueisha's monthly Ribon magazine from July 1966 to October 1967. It was originally titled Sunny the Witch, before being changed as Sony owns the trademark to "Sunny". The series was inspired by the American TV sitcom, Bewitched (known in Japan as Oku-sama wa Majo, or The Missus is a Witch). ==Anime==

Episode list Sally the Witch (1966–1968) Mahōtsukai Sally runs half hour per episode and has 109 episodes. Sally the Witch 2 (1989–1991) The second season runs half-hour per 88 episodes. ==Legacy==

Metropolitan Books author Robert Jay Lifton stated that Sally Yumeno "has long been one of the most popular of all manga and animation characters". In December 1994, police found a pamphlet at the headquarters of the Aum Shinrikyo cult which included a song titled "Sarin the Magician", a parody of the opening song of Sally the Witch with the lyrics changed to refer to the poison known as "sarin" which Aum Shinrikyo used during the attempted assassination of judges in a case against the cult in June 1994 and later in March 1995 when it carried out a terrorist attack on the Tokyo subway. Lifton said that Sally "was undoubtedly a prominent figure in the childhoods of leading Aum members." ==References==