Akko-chan's Got a Secret!: The Story of the Dancing Girl of Izu

**Akko-chan's Got a Secret!: The Story of the Dancing Girl of Izu** ( ひみつのアッコちゃん 伊豆の踊子物語 ) was a live-action TV special aired on February 9, 1987, as part of Fuji TV's weekly series *Monday Dramaland*. It was the third and final Fujio Akatsuka work to be sourced as part of the program.

## Overview

Atsuko Kagami (Saori Yagi) is a seemingly ordinary high school girl, but can in fact transform into whatever she wants with the help of a magic mirror. Unfortunately, one day her mirror is broken while in a fight with villains from the Mirror Country, but this comes with the unusual effect of splitting her into three of herself.

In hopes of regaining her true state, Akko hears from the Man from the Mirror Country of a legendary hot spring in Izu that "shines just like a mirror" that can fix her problem if she and the other two were to immerse themselves in it. Thus, she and her other halves travel to a ski resort there in hopes of resolving the strange matter. When her travel expense money is stolen by the villains there, she must work at the ski resort and falls in love.

### Alterations

* Akko's age is raised from being 10 to being a high school girl, to align with the casting of the much older Saori Yagi (as well as the other two idols present as her duplicates).
* Moko, Kankichi, Taisho, and other characters usually associated with the series do not appear to exist in the plot (and if they do, being that there is no video footage or anything to discern who else is involved, may be rather minor)
* Akko's father, rather than being absent or being a ship captain (as in the 1969 anime), is the manager of a Chinese restaurant.
* Rather than a Mirror Spirit, this special does bear some small degree of faithfulness by reverting Akko's mentor to being the Man from the Mirror Country.

## Characters

### Atsuko "Akko" Kagami

(アッコ)

Our heroine. She falls in love with the young innkeeper Jun Yuki during her stay in Izu, but they eventually wind up having to part when all is said and done.

### Jun Yuki

(結城純)

A young man who works part-time at his parents' inn. He winds up meeting Akko and her duplicates and becoming very charmed by their presence, and is broken up when the singular Akko must leave by ferry in the end, chasing after it to see her off.

### Yuki

(ユキ)

One of Akko's two other halves created by the damage of her mirror.

### Sayaka

(さやか)

Akko's other duplicate created by the split.

### Akko's Father

A man who manages a Chinese restaurant. As with the stereotypical depictions of Chinese and any related people at the time, he ends his sentences in "Aru".

## Production Staff

* Original Work- Fujio Akatsuka
* Director- Takashi Sukeda
* Screenplay- Tetsuji Moriyasu
* Music- Yuzo Hayashi
* Theme Song Performance- ONYANKO CLUB ("No More Pretend Love")

### Cast

* Atsuko Kagami- Saori Yagi
* Yuki (Akko duplicate #1)- Shinobu Horie
* Sayaka (Akko duplicate #2)- Mami Otsuka
* Jun Yuki- Motoki Masahiro
* Additional Roles- Nobuo Tsukamoto, Masako Motai, Kawai Okada, Katsunobu Ito, Ben Hori, Junichiro Okura, Makoto Kakeda, Yukihide Kurobe, Hiroko Ishiyama, Masahiro Yoshihara, Junji Nishimura, Hiro Oikawa, Hiroshi Tatsumi, Rena Fujii, Hiromi Kurosawa, Yoshiko Otsu, Koichi Kase, Terry O'Brien

Due to the lack of detailed information on the rest of the plot and staff, as there has been no home video release, it is currently unknown what roles the rest of this cast can be assigned to. It is known that Akko's father as well as the Man in the Mirror Country exist in this story, but no details on what other characters may be involved.

## Trivia

* Of the known actresses for Akko in the special, only Saori Yagi continued on in her career ; Mami Otsuka (Sayaka) retired from acting and idol entertainment in the early 1990s, while Shinobu Horie (Yuki) sadly passed away from cancer in 1988.

## External Links

* Brief write-up at Monday Dramaland fansite (Japanese)