# Hime-chan's Ribbon

Hime-chan's Ribbon (姫ちゃんのリボン, Hime-chan no Ribon) is a magical girl manga series created by Megumi Mizusawa that was serialized in Ribon Magazine from August 1990 to January 1994. It was later developed into a 61 episode anime series, produced by Studio Gallop, that aired from October 2, 1992, to December 3, 1993. Hajime Watanabe's first project as a character designer was with Hime-chan no Ribbon. The manga series was collected into ten volumes in Japan, where it received a full anime DVD release. A stage musical of the show was produced in December 1993 starring the idol group SMAP. The musical was presented in three episodes, each a week apart. SMAP performed the opening theme and the three ending themes for the anime and each member appears in animated form in episode 13. Both manga and anime are currently unlicensed in the United States.

## Plot

The story is about Himeko Nonohara (野々原姫子 Nonohara Himeko), also known as Hime-chan (姫ちゃん, using the Chinese character for "princess"), an aloof, childlike, yet boasty thirteen-year-old girl who frets over the fact that she is the biggest tomboy in the school. Himeko would like nothing more than to be a proper, feminine young lady, like her older sister Aiko, so that she could approach her secret crush, Hasekura.
One night, Himeko is unexpectedly approached by a girl, who is a near-mirror image of herself, floating outside of her bedroom window. She discovers that the girl is Princess Erika of the Magical Kingdom. Erika explains that people in the Magical Kingdom have an exact counterpart in the Human World and that, in order to prove herself worthy as a princess, she must give Himeko a magical item that she has created. Himeko is allowed the use of this item, a red hair ribbon, for one year to determine whether it is useful, and consequently, if Erika will inherit the crown.
The ribbon allows Himeko to transform into anyone in the Human World for one hour. If Himeko is unable to recite the magic incantation in reverse before the hour is up, she will be trapped in that person's form for the rest of her life. She is unable to reveal the secret of the ribbon and the existence of the Magical Kingdom to anyone. If she does, her memory will be erased as punishment. Assisting her with this is her stuffed lion, Pokota, whom the ribbon brought to life. Erika will watch her in the Magic Kingdom through her crystal ball for one year, at which point the ribbon will be returned.

## Themes

In authoring Hime-chan's Ribbon, Megumi Mizusawa used themes common to magical girl manga. The concept of being able to transform into other people had been a feature of Himitsu no Akko-chan (1962).

## Characters
### Himeko Nonohara (野々原 姫子, Nonohara Himeko)

    Voiced by: Ikue Ōtani
    Himeko is the protagonist of the series. She progresses from being a tomboy at the beginning of the series to becoming a refined, feminine and mature girl by the series' end. Erika, her counterpart in the Land of Magic is an elegant princess, but warms to Hime-chan's playfulness which often lands them both in trouble with the King and Queen and Erika's magical broom, Chappy.
    Himeko had a childhood crush on the much older Hasekura-senpai, but she gradually falls in love with Daichi instead. The name Himeko means "little princess". Hime-chan's motto is "Ike! Ike! Go! Go! Jump!". (Come on, Come on, go, go, jump)

### Pokota (ポコ太)

    Voiced by: Kazue Ikura
    Pokota is Himeko's favorite stuffed animal that is only animate when Himeko is wearing the magic ribbon. He is Himeko's friend and voice of reason, often helping her out of various difficult situations. Daichi was suspicious of Pokota from the first time that he saw him and treated Pokota harshly before he could confirm that Pokota was "alive". Pokota, being a toy has no direct equal in the magic world, but he becomes close friends with a pink cat, Pink-chan.

### Daichi Kobayashi (小林 大地, Kobayashi Daichi)

    Voiced by: Yū Daiki
    Daichi is a trouble maker at Himeko's school. By chance they meet at an abandoned house that Himeko was passing by on her way to give Hasekura-senpai a good luck charm. Daichi, who kept to himself prior to meeting Himeko, begins teasing her initially because of her tomboyish behavior. Daichi warms to Hime-chan and they become friends, eventually falling in love with her. He discovers her secret about the ribbon and Pokota. The King and Queen make an exception to the rule of secrecy for Daichi and he often travels with Himeko to the Land of Magic where Camille is his exact counterpart.

### Hikaru Hibino (日比野 ひかる, Hibino Hikaru)

    Voiced by: Rin Mizuhara
    Hikaru attends the same class as Himeko and Daichi. She shows interest in Daichi and thinks of Hime-chan as her rival. She becomes suspicious of Hime-chan's secretiveness and she comes close to exposing Hime-chan's secret, but always is foiled at the last minute by one of Hime-chan's friends or by Hime-chan herself. Robelia is Hikaru's mirror match from the Land of Magic.

### Sei Arisaka / Sei Array (有坂 静 / セイ・アレイ, Arisaka Sei / Sei Arei)

    Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu
    Sei and his bird, Kantaro are from the Land of Magic. Sei is initially only after Himeko's magic, though after his guise of pretending to be a transfer student is revealed, he befriends Daichi and Hime-chan instead. Hime-chan does not forgive his earlier threatening behavior and rejects Sei's attempts at becoming better acquainted.

### Kouichi Hasekura (支倉 浩一, Hasekura Kōichi)

    Voiced by: Tsuyoshi Kusanagi
    Hasekura takes the same bus and is in the same grade of Himeko's older sister, Aiko, and is a senior student to Hime-chan. Hime-chan's crush goes unnoticed by Hasekura and he falls in love with her older sister instead.

### Aiko Nonohara (野々原 愛子, Nonohara Aiko)

    Voiced by: Yuri Shiratori
    Aiko is Himeko's sister. (All of the females in the family have names that end with "ko" (子)) Hasekura and Aiko fall in love which saddens Hime-chan. Aiko is treated as a role model by both of her younger sisters, particularly Hime-chan who chooses Aiko as her first ever transformation. She is also incredibly beautiful and domesticated.

### Yumeko Nonohara (野々原 夢子, Nonohara Yumeko)

    Voiced by: Chisa Yokoyama
    Yumeko is Aiko and Himeko's younger sister. Her exploits with Daichi's younger brother, Shintaro often cause their older siblings much grief.

### Shintaro Kobayashi (小林 森太郎, Kobayashi Shintarō)

    Voiced by: Minami Takayama
    Shintaro is Daichi's younger brother. He is friends with Yumeko.

### Manami Mori (森 愛美, Mori Manami) and Ichiko Kamikura (上倉 一子, Kamikura Ichiko)

    Voiced by: Katsuyo Endou (Manami) and Minami Takayama (Ichiko)
    Himeko, Manami and Ichiko are best friends. Manami claims ownership of Himeko calling her "My hime-chan". She refers to many things as being "cool" and enjoys cooking. Ichiko is referred to as Ii-chan. She is adept at archery.

### Masshi (マッシー, Masshī) and Hiroshi

    Voiced by: Chika Sakamoto (Masshi) and Masami Kikuchi (Hiroshi)
    Masshi and Hiroshi are mischievous sprites from the Land of Magic. They cause great destruction and are eventually punished by becoming Hime-chan's assistants. They provide Hime-chan new powers through new accessories other than the ribbon. Hiroshi is a fox-like sprite who has the ability to fly. Masshi does not have a fox-like tail, but looks similar and is lifted from place to place by his partner.

## Incantations

To perform magic several different incantations are recited. When Hime-chan first receives the ribbon she is told to recite "Parallel, Parallel, (person's name) ni nare". After the excitement of transformation Hime-chan dismisses Erika's important instruction to recite this incantation saying Parallel backwards, "Rurerapa rurerapa motono sugatani nare." which causes her to almost be caught as the Principal of the school forever. Pokota had to remind her of the correct way of pronouncing Rurerapa to avoid this.
| Incantation | Effect |
| Parareru parareru, (name) ni naare! | Transformation into someone else. |
| Rurerapa rurerapa, moto no sugata ni naare! | Reverts a transformation. |
| Tinka tinku, tinkuru tinkuru, futari ni naare! | Creates a clone of herself. |
| Sinka sinku, sinkuru sinkuru, hitori ni naare! | Dispels a clone. |
| Pikkori pikkora, chiisaku naare! | Reduces size of people and objects. |
| Rakoppi rikoppi, moto no ōkisa ni naare! | Returns to original size from a small state. |
| Gurande gurāji, ōkiku naare! | Enlarges size of people and objects. |
| Jīragu denragu, moto no ōkisa ni naare! | Returns to original size from an enlarged state. |
| Toppu su ōru, jikan yo tomare! | Stops time. |
| Bāsu ri ōru, jikan yo modore! | Reverses time. |
| Fūrudo i furīsu, (object to freeze) yo tomare! | Stops an object. |
| Raranpa rurunpa ronpappa, rarirurerurara, jikan yo moto ni modore! | Start objects again. |

## Episode list

| # | Title | Original airdate |
| 1 | "I've become a magician!" (Japanese: 私はマジシャンになりました！) | October 2, 1992 (1992-10-2) |
| A girl named Erika, with long blonde hair and a red ribbon, is having fun flying on a broom, among the clouds high in the night sky. When she emerges from the clouds, a large city far below her comes to view. The girl says that the view from here is great, and she cannot see that from the Land of Magic. Erika replies that she cannot help it because she had to find her copy on Earth to make the experiment with. She also advises her to take great care of herself when using the magic ribbon. |||
| 2 | "Big shock! Senpai's confession" (Japanese: ビッグショック！支倉先輩の告白) | October 9, 1992 (1992-10-9) |
| The next day, Hime-chan wakes up getting ready for school, Hime-chan gets up and grabs Pokota to wish him a good morning. But Pokota does not reply, and she realizes that is not wearing the ribbon, Then her younger sister Yumeko sneaks in and spots the cute ribbon on Hime-chan's desk. Hime-chan rushes and grabs the ribbon before her sister, and throws her out, saying she will get dressed and go very soon. Hime-chan, realizing that it was not a dream, quickly puts on the bracelet and the ribbon, and Pokota starts talking immediately. He scolds her for not remembering that she must wear the ribbon for him to be able to talk. But she hugs him hard, with tears of joy, because she was thinking she could not speak to him any more. Suddenly Hime-chan spots Hasekura-senpai in the bus passing by. Hasekura says that is nothing, besides he does not like those kind of guys at all. Hime-chan/Aiko replies, in the Hime-chan's tomboyish style, that she will beat the tar out of him next time. Hasekura is very surprised to hear her speaking that way, so Hime-chan realizes she has given in to her natural self and laughs more girl-ish-ly with embarrassment, saying that is what she would like to do. She still cannot believe she is talking that casually to Hasekura, and remembers she must give him the amulet this time. |||
| 3 | "Transformed into her Beloved Senpai" (Japanese: ノー先輩NI変身あこがれ) | October 16, 1992 (1992-10-16) |
| 4 | "Hime-chan transforms into the principal!" (Japanese: 姫ちゃんは校長に変身します！) | October 23, 1992 (1992-10-23) |
| Hime-chan is very excited for Hasekura to play the lead role in her school play. When they get to the edge of the school, they climb over the fence, but as Hime-chan is jumping off the fence, the ribbon gets caught in a tree branch and tears. |||
| 5 | "The powerful girl Hikaru appears" (Japanese: ぶっとび少女ひかる登場) | October 30, 1992 (1992-10-30) |
| 6 | "Unexpected! Daichi & Daichi" (Japanese: バッタリ!大地と大地) | November 6, 1992 (1992-11-6) |
| 7 | "The secret's revealed?!" (Japanese: 秘密がバレちゃう?!) | November 13, 1992 (1992-11-13) |
| 8 | "Transform into the Kidnappers!" (Japanese: キッドナッパーに変身) | November 20, 1992 (1992-11-20) |
| 9 | "In a pinch! The Erased Memory" (Japanese: ピンチ!記憶が消される) | November 27, 1992 (1992-11-27) |
| 10 | "I Like You More than Pork Buns" (Japanese: 肉まんよりも君が好き!) | December 4, 1992 (1992-12-04) |
| 11 | "Ribbon in danger!" (Japanese: リボンがあぶない!) | December 11, 1992 (1992-12-11) |
| 12 | "You said you loved me" (Japanese: 好きだっていったのに) | December 18, 1992 (1992-12-18) |
| 13 | "The arrival of SMAP" (Japanese: SMAPがやって来た) | December 25, 1992 (1992-12-25) |
| 14 | "Powerful Hikaru's great guess" (Japanese: ぶっとびひかるの名推理) | January 8, 1993 (1993-1-8) |
| 15 | "Pokota's SOS from a snowy mountain" (Japanese: ポコ太雪山からSOS) | January 15, 1993 (1993-1-15) |
| 16 | "Hikaru's insight" (Japanese: ひかるは何でもお見通し) | January 22, 1993 (1993-1-22) |
| 17 | "What! I can't change back" (Japanese: エッ!変身がもどらない) | January 29, 1993 (1993-1-29) |
| 18 | "I prefer your smiling face" (Japanese: 君には笑顔がにあってる) | February 5, 1993 (1993-2-05) |
| 19 | "Lots of chocolate" (Japanese: チョコレートがいっぱい) | February 12, 1993 (1993-2-12) |
| 20 | "The idol is trouble" (Japanese: アイドルはたいへんだあ) | February 19, 1993 (1993-2-19) |
| 21 | "Run for your dream" (Japanese: 夢に向って走れ!) | February 26, 1993 (1993-2-26) |
| 22 | "Go go Granny" (Japanese: GOGO おばあちゃん) | March 5, 1993 (1993-3-05) |
| 23 | "Goodbye to my first love" (Japanese: 初恋にさようなら) | March 12, 1993 (1993-3-12) |
| 24 | "Welcome to the land of magic" (Japanese: 魔法の国へようこそ) | March 19, 1993 (1993-3-19) |
| 25 | "Let's go my unrivaled Papa" (Japanese: それゆけボクの無敵パパ) | March 26, 1993 (1993-3-26) |
| 26 | "The magnetic female transfer student" (Japanese: 気になる彼女は転校生) | April 2, 1993 (1993-4-02) |
| 27 | "The story of Daichi's first love!?" (Japanese: 大地の初恋物語!?) | April 9, 1993 (1993-4-09) |
| 28 | "Hime-chan's justice!" (Japanese: 仁義なき姫ちゃん!) | April 16, 1993 (1993-4-16) |
| 29 | "Hearts tied by a distant promise" (Japanese: 心をつなぐ遠い約束) | April 23, 1993 (1993-4-23) |
| 30 | "Pokota! Run for your love" (Japanese: ポコ太!愛のために走れ) | April 30, 1993 (1993-4-30) |
| 31 | "Cookies for Mother's Day" (Japanese: 母の日にクッキーを) | May 7, 1993 (1993-5-07) |
| 32 | "Hikaru! Daichi & the shocking kiss" (Japanese: ひかる!大地と衝撃キス) | May 14, 1993 (1993-5-14) |
| 33 | "Easy Going Kamilu" (Japanese: お気楽カミルに大迷惑) | May 21, 1993 (1993-5-21) |
| 34 | "Don't give up! The soft-boiled teacher" (Japanese: 負けるな!半熟先生) | May 28, 1993 (1993-5-28) |
| 35 | "Be careful with the puppy Pochi" (Japanese: 迷犬ポチにご用心!) | June 4, 1993 (1993-6-04) |
| 36 | "Hasekura-sempai! Youthful travels" (Japanese: 支倉先輩!青春の旅立ち) | June 11, 1993 (1993-6-11) |
| 37 | "The day the hideout disappeared..." (Japanese: 隠れ家がなくなる日…) | June 18, 1993 (1993-6-18) |
| 38 | "Mischievous fairies causing big trouble!!" (Japanese: いたずら妖精 大騒動!) | June 25, 1993 (1993-6-25) |
| 39 | "Trap of the sweet hotcakes" (Japanese: ホットケーキは甘い罠) | July 2, 1993 (1993-7-02) |
| 40 | "Big plans for a confused friendship" (Japanese: ハチャメチャ友情大作戦) | July 9, 1993 (1993-7-09) |
| 41 | "The little lovers" (Japanese: 小さな恋人たち) | July 16, 1993 (1993-7-16) |
| 42 | "UFO camp" (Japanese: キャンプでUFO!) | July 23, 1993 (1993-7-23) |
| 43 | "Sunrise at the pool" (Japanese: プールでドッキリ!) | July 30, 1993 (1993-7-30) |
| 44 | "Hikaru's "doesn't get it" summer vacation" (Japanese: ひかるの懲りない夏休み) | August 6, 1993 (1993-8-06) |
| 45 | "Memory of a first love" (Japanese: 初恋メモワール) | August 13, 1993 (1993-8-13) |
| 46 | "Hasekura sempai...goodbye" (Japanese: 支倉先輩…さようなら) | August 20, 1993 (1993-8-20) |
| 47 | "Summer vacation without Daichi" (Japanese: 大地のいない夏休み) | August 27, 1993 (1993-8-27) |
| 48 | "Mom's the target" (Japanese: 狙われたおかあさん) | September 3, 1993 (1993-9-03) |
| 49 | "Heart baton run amok" (Japanese: ハートタクトで大あばれ) | September 10, 1993 (1993-9-10) |
| 50 | "Small Hime-chan's huge mistake" (Japanese: スモール姫ちゃん大失敗) | September 17, 1993 (1993-9-17) |
| 51 | "A ribbon's promise" (Japanese: リボンの約束) | September 24, 1993 (1993-9-24) |
| 52 | "Farewell Pokota?" (Japanese: ポコ太とお別れ?) | October 1, 1993 (1993-10-01) |
| 53 | "Love stories are hard" (Japanese: ラブストーリーはつらいヨ) | October 8, 1993 (1993-10-08) |
| 54 | "Minami fights for kendo" (Japanese: 愛美の剣道一直線) | October 15, 1993 (1993-10-15) |
| 55 | "Himeko's noisy love lecture" (Japanese: 姫子のドタバタ恋愛講座) | October 22, 1993 (1993-10-22) |
| 56 | "Memory playback" (Japanese: 思い出プレイバック) | October 29, 1993 (1993-10-29) |
| 57 | "A little premonition of love" (Japanese: ちょっとだけ恋の予感) | November 5, 1993 (1993-11-05) |
| 58 | "Take me to my future" (Japanese: 私を未来に連れてって) | November 12, 1993 (1993-11-12) |
| 59 | "Many goodbyes" (Japanese: さよならがいっぱい) | November 19, 1993 (1993-11-19) |
| 60 | "I love Daichi!" (Japanese: 大地が大好き) | November 26, 1993 (1993-11-26) |
| 61 | "Land of Magic in an Uproar" (Japanese: 魔法の国は大騒動) | December 3, 1993 (1993-12-03) |

## Music

Opening Themes :
| # | Transcription/Translation | Performed by | Episodes |
| | Egao no Genki | SMAP | All |
Ending themes :
| # | Transcription/Translation | Performed by | Episodes |
| 1 | Bura Bura Sasete | SMAP | 1-31 |
| 2 | Hajimete no Natsu | SMAP | 32-53 |
| 3 | Kimi wa Kimi da yo | SMAP | 54-61 |

## Reception

Jennifer B from THEM Anime reviews stated that Hime-chan's Ribbon is "a fun, cute series that's worth watching if you like magical girl shows" and "Hime-chan herself is a likable character". Andrew Sheldon from Anime-Meta Review felt that "The writing is well done, has a great sense of character and can be touching". Kelly Mayback from the Anime Cafe: A Parent's Guide to Anime described it as "an EXCELLENT series to use when exploring Japanese culture".

## Remake

In 2009 the series was remade, with manga creator Shiho Komiyuno penning the series. Hime-chan no Ribon Colorful premiered in the October 2009 issue of Ribon, the same magazine that the original series ran in. Differences between the two series included the setting being moved to modern day as well as the character of Pokota being replaced by a shape changing Princess Erika.