Sally the Witch

***Sally the Witch***, also known as ***Sunny the Witch***, is one of the popular anime magical girls of what would eventually become a genre in Japan. Due to its characteristics, it may be considered the first shōjo anime as well; while titles such as *Himitsu no Akko-chan* predate *Sally* in manga form, the *Sally* anime predates *Himitsu no Akko-chan*'s, which came out in 1969.

## Story

Sally is the witch princess of the Magic Kingdom who longs to visit the mortal realm, presumably to make friends 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 Earth 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.

* **Sally Yumeno** (夢野サリー, *Yumeno Sarī*) (Voiced by: Michiko Hirai (1966 series), Yuriko Yamamoto (1989 series)) The main character of the series. Sally is the daughter of the King, and therefore princess of the Magic Kingdom. *Yumeno* means "dream field" but is a homophone to "of a dream" in Japanese; her full name, spoken in the Japanese name order, sounds similar to "Sally of dreams".
* **Yoshiko Hanamura** (花村よし子, *Hanamura Yoshiko*) (Voiced by: Midori Kato) One of Sally's best friends in the mortal realm. Yoshiko is a tomboy. Sally usually refers to her as "Yotchan."
* **Sumire Kasugano** (春日野すみれ, *Kasugano Sumire*) (Voiced by: Mariko Mukai (1st) Nana Yamaguchi (2nd)) Another of Sally's human friends, she has a girly personality in contrast to Yoshiko.
* **Cub** (カブ, *Kabu*) (Voiced by: Sachiko Chijimatsu) Sally's magical, shape-changing assistant. His first appearance was a crow before Sally's Dad sent him to Earth to retrieve her. 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: Tonkichi (花村トン吉, *Hanamura Tonkichi*), Chinpei (花村チン平, *Hanamura Chinpei*), and Kanta (花村カン太, *Hanamura Kanta*)** (Voiced by: Masako Nozawa) Yoshiko's kid brothers. Incorrigible boys adept at landing themselves in trouble.
* **Poron** (ポロン) (Voiced by: Fuyumi Shiraishi) 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."
* **Daimaō** (大魔王, *Great Magical King*) (Voiced by: Kosei Tomita) Sally's paternal grandfather. An original character to the anime. He also wears a horned hairstyle similar to Sally's Dad. He has a magical horned staff, which Poron stole to cause mischief with Cub and the Hanamura triplets on Earth.
* **Sally's Dad** (サリーのパパ, *Sarī no Papa*) The ruler of the Magic Kingdom. 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*.) He wears a distinguished horned hairstyle.
* **Sally's Mom** (サリーのママ, *Sarī no Mama*) (Voiced by: Mariko Mukai (1st) Nana Yamaguchi (2nd)) Queen of the Magic Kingdom. She's friendly, modest, a dutiful wife and a devoted mother, holding firmly the head of the King. She appears to be always knitting. Her name was **Cima** (シーマ, *Shima*) in the original manga.

## 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.