Akazukin Chacha

). When she and her friends are in trouble, however, her spells do work. Living on the same mountain is a boy named Riiya, gifted with enormous strength, who comes from a family of werewolves. Far away from Mochi-mochi Mountain is Urizuri Mountain where Dorothy, a well known magician, lives in a castle with her student Shiine. Shiine is a young wizard, who is adept at casting spells and barriers, as well as transformations.

The storylines of the manga and the anime adaptation are marked different: while the anime uses most of the same characters, the story of the first two seasons were invented for the television show. Most of the stories in the third season are based on the manga.

Story of the manga

Story of the anime

At the beginning of the anime, when Chacha is about to begin school, Seravi gave her a pendant called the Princess Medallion, and a magical bracelet and ring to Riiya and Shiine respectively. The Princess Medallion enables Chacha to transform into the Magical Princess, who can defeat Daimaou's minions, when she shouts the phrase "Let Love, Courage and Hope -- Magical Princess Holy Up!". However, the transformation works only if the three of them get together.

In season one, Chacha, Shiine, and Riiya attend Urara School, named after their principal Urara. The three are in Banana Class with their teacher named Rascal-sensei who wields a whip and looks strict, but is actually very kind. On the same class is Kurozukin ("black-hooded") Yakko and Orin. Yakko admires Seravi deeply and even calls him Seravi-sama. Orin is a ninja of the Momonga Clan, and good at concealing herself. Orin is probably the most truthful character in the story, she develops a crush on Shiine when they first met. Later a selfish mermaid called Marine tags along because she is interested in Riiya.

In the second season, after Chacha's weapon, the Beauty Serene Arrow, is unable to beat one of Daimaou's minions, Access, the trio began to search for another, more powerful weapon called the Phoenix Sword or Wing Kris. As they do so, Chacha discovers that her parents are the King and Queen of their land. After encountering many obstacles, they find Phoenix Sword. They then begin their quest for the Bird Shield, the third weapon that the Magical Princess must acquire to defeat Daimaou's minions. At the end of this story arc, Chacha, Shiine, Riiya, Orin, Yakko, Marine, Dorothy, and Seravi together, as the eight Holy Warriors of Love, Courage, and Hope, get inside Daimaou's castle. They defeat Daimaou, after which the castle and the kingdom changes back to its original shape and color.

In season three, the King's Crest, which is a magical artifact called the Holy Bird, is stolen by one of Daimaou's minions, Soprano. Whoever possesses the King's Crest can make the world good or evil. When Chacha as the Magical Princess fights Soprano, by accident they break the seal, allowing demons to enter their world and start devastating their land. Seravi tells them that to close the seal again, they must use things that are from gods or goddess. Because the Pendant, Bracelet, and Ring were given to them by Queen Joan, now a goddess, they sacrifice the three items to save the world. As a result, Chacha can no longer change into the Magical Princess, but her family gives her three more magical items, a magical brooch, compact, and Crescent Aurora Bracelet, which she can use to call up a boomerang which in turn brings her the items that can solve her problems. At the end of the series, Seravi settles down, engaged to be married to his former classmate, Dorothy.

Characters

Main characters

All main characters appear in both the manga and anime versions.

* - A young blonde girl practicing magic with her teacher Seravi, but she is not very good at it. She is friends with Riiya and Shiine and is trying to find her past. anime voices|Masami Suzuki
* - A young boy with great strength and equally great appetite has the ability to transform into a white wolf at will. He is constantly fighting with Shiine over Chacha's affections and he dislikes Seravi. anime voices|Shingo Katori
* - Left to Dorothy as a baby by Access,his father, he was raise as a wizard and he also enjoys housework. With Chacha and Riiya's help he was reunited with his parents. anime voices|Noriko Hidaka
* - Chacha's magic teacher and guardian. He was formerly captain of the Royal guards and escaped with Chacha when Daimaou attacked the castle. anime voices|Toru Senrui
* - Shiine's magic teacher, dreamed of becoming the greatest magician of the world. She defeated Pikapon, thus earned the title of greatest magician for only a few minutes because Seravy accidentally hit Dorothy over the head with a huge bouquet of flowers he conjured (to congratulate her) thus earning him the title of greatest magician of the world. Dorothy angrily turned her curly blond hair pink and straight as retaliation because Seravi wouldn't fight with his "beloved Dorothy". anime voices|Junko Otsubo, later Miina Tominaga
* - In the manga, Daimaou is an agreeable magician with the appearance of a rock-and-roll singer and is a great manga fan. He is the father of Heihachi and is later revealed to be the birth father of Seravi. In the concluding chapters of the manga, he takes in a despondent Riiya and teaches Riiya seduction techniques he can use to win Chacha back. In the anime, Daimaou is the story's antagonist, a demon who wishes to conquer the land and devastate it. A long time ago, Daimaou turned the King and Queen to stone statues. The father of the King, Grand King Genius, sacrificed himself to trap Daimaou inside the castle using a barrier of crystals that formed a spirit shield. Daimaou has to send his minions to do his nasty works for him.
* - Seravy's Doll who he holds very dear. She is the image of Dorothy when she was younger. anime voices|Junko Otsubo, later Miina Tominaga
* - A girl that can transform into a mermaid, she is in love with Riiya. anime voices|Tomo Sakurai
* - A girl in Chacha's magic class, she is in love with Seravi. She specializes in potions and wears a black hood outfit. anime voices|Mayumi Akado
* - known in the English dub as Suzu. She is a small but nimble ninja who has a crush on Shiine. anime voices|Noriko Namiki
* - Principal of Urara School. She wears a pink dress and her eyes are very big. anime voices|Sumi Shimamoto
* - Teacher of Banana class. He has long hair which he ties with a yellow bow. He loves to whip his students into shape but is an emotional guy too. anime voices|Taiki Matsuno
* - She is a substitute teacher who can make snow appear. anime voices|Miina Tominaga
* - Teacher of Apple class. He can grow roses on his hair when he is excited and has thorns growing all over his body. Chacha and Teacher Barabaraman won a three legged race using a combination of Seravi's potion and Chacha's Assistance Boomarang. anime voices|Tsutomu Kashiwakura
* - Teacher of Orange class. She was classmates and rivals with Teacher Rascal when they were younger. She actually likes Teacher Rascal very much and hates it that he's nice to everyone but her. anime voices|Chieko Honda
* - Shiine's father and charged with finding the King's Crest.
* - Dorothy's younger brother, but he usually dressed as a woman and has a crush on Seravi.
* - Mad scientist, creator of Nyandabar.
* - A bald wizard constantly mocked and wants to beat Seravi in a magical duel ever since Seravi beat him. Chacha, Riiya, and Shiine-chan call him Tono because of the hairstyle Seravy gave him.
* - anime voices|Rika Matsumoto
* - Principal of Momiji School

Manga-only characters

* - Yakko's grandfather.
*
* - Riiya's elder brother.
*
* - Yakko's younger brother.
* - Orin's younger brother.
* - Marin's younger sister.
* - Chacha's younger sister.
*
*
*
*
* - Popy's younger brother.
*

Anime-only characters

* - The magical girl alter-ego of Chacha. anime voices|Masami Suzuki
*
*
*
*
* - The pheonix chick Chacha protected from Yordas. Piisuke becomes the Pheonix Sword, but reverts back to being a chick when the three magic items are sacrificed.
* - Chacha's grandfather and Seravi's teacher.

Anime adaption

The original manga is light-hearted, comedic story.Fact|date=October 2008 The anime adaptation is darker, and while it uses most of the same characters, it introduced a number of changes.Fact|date=October 2008 The Magical Princess and her story of the first two seasons are only in the anime, and Daimaou was recast as the main villain. Access was also changed, from a bumbling antagonist to a more omninous villain. How Saravi came to be Chacha's guardian changed from, in the manga, a chance finding her wrapped in a cocoon on a tree to his actively saving her from the castle just before it falls.

Reception and influence

"Akazukin Chacha" is referenced several times in the manga and novel series "Death Note". In the manga, L describes "Akazukin Chacha" as one of his favorite manga series.Fact|date=October 2008 In the novel "Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases", "Akazukin Chacha" is mentioned several times, and that volumes four and nine are missing from a collection is a vital clue to the case.cite book | first=Nisio | last=Isin | authorlink=Nisio Isin | title=Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases | publisher=Viz Media | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-4215-1883-1 | chapter=chapter 2 | pages=pages 58–63]

The English dub of the anime aired on Cartoon Network Asia in 1998 has been criticizedWho|date=October 2008 for its transliterations. For example, the Magical Princess's "Beauty Serene Arrow" was rendered as "Magical Sylene Arrow" and her "Bird Shield" as "Band Shield".

Media

Manga

"Akazukin Chacha" was written and illustrated by Min Ayahana. It was serialized in 94 chapters by Shueisha in the manga magazine "Ribon" from 1991 and 2000 and collected in 13 bound volumes.Ann manga|id=2857. Accessed 2007-02-19.] The series was reissued in 2006 in a nine-volume "library edition" with new covers.

Graphic novel list/header
OneLanguage = yes
Width=50%Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 1
RelDate = February 1993
ISBN = 4-08-853650-9
Summary = Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 2
RelDate = October 1993
ISBN = 4-08-853694-0
Summary = Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 3
RelDate = May 1994
ISBN = 4-08-853732-7
Summary = Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 4
RelDate = October 1994
ISBN = 4-08-853759-9
Summary = Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 5
RelDate = March 1995
ISBN = 4-08-853786-6
Summary = Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 6
RelDate = August 1996
ISBN = 4-08-853810-2
Summary = Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 7
RelDate = March 1996
ISBN = 4-08-853846-3
Summary = Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 8
RelDate = January 1997
ISBN = 4-08-853897-8
Summary = Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 9
RelDate = January 1998
ISBN = 4-08-856059-0
Summary = Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 10
RelDate = December 1998
ISBN = 4-08-856115-5
Summary = Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 11
RelDate = November 1999
ISBN = 4-08-856174-0
Summary = Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 12
RelDate = May 2000
ISBN = 4-08-856205-4
Summary = Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 13
RelDate = September 2000
ISBN = 4-08-856226-7
Summary =

Anime

The series was adapted as an anime television series by Nihon Ad Systems and Studio Gallop. The series was direct by Shoki Tsuji with music by Osamu Tezuka and Toshihiko Sahashi and character designs by Hajime Watanabe. The opening theme was nihongo|"Kimi-iro Omoi"|君色思い, performed by SMAP during the original broadcast and Shoko Sawada on the DVD release. There were three ending themes: nihongo|"Egao ga Sukidakara"|笑顔が好きだから by Shoko Sawada for episodes 1–31, nihongo|"Chacha ni Omakase "|チャチャにおまかせ by Masami Suzuki, Tomo Sakurai, and Mayumi Akado for episodes 32–56, and nihongo|"Welcome to the Magical School"|ようこそマジカル・スクールへ|Youkoso Majikaru Sukuuru e by Masami Suzuki and Magical Study for episodes 57–74.cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=539 | title=Akazukin Cha Cha (TV) | publisher=Anime News Network | accessdate=2008-10-02]

The series was first broadcast on TV Tokyo in 74 episodes from 7 January 1994 to 30 June 1995. In 1998, Cartoon Network aired an English dub of the "Akazukin Chacha" anime in Southeast Asia and Mandarin-speaking countries.

OVA

The television series was followed by a three-episode sequel OVA series, also produced by Nihon Ad Systems and Studio Gallop. These were released between 6 December 1995 and 6 March 1996. The opening theme for all three episodes was "Make Me Smile" by Yuki Matsuura and the ending theme was nihongo|"Negai wa Hitotsu"|願いはひとつ also by Yuki Matsuura.cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2056 | title=Akazukin Cha Cha OAV | publisher=Anime News Network | accessdate=2008-10-02]

The OVA series depicts the efforts of the elite Momiji School as they try to find out why the greatest witches and wizards in the world come from Urara School. A psionic named Popy-kun is sent to infiltrate the school, but things will not prove too easy when Chacha and friends try to befriend Popy-kun instead.

Stage musical

A musical version of "Akazukin Chacha" was performed in Hakuhinkan Theater in Tokyo from December 1994 to August 1995, during the broadcast of the anime.

Games

"Akazukin Chacha" was adapted as a series of video games:

* "Akazukin Chacha" (Game Boy, TOMY, 1995)
* "Akazukin Chacha" (Super Famicom, TOMY, 1996)
* Akazukin Chacha: Osawagase! Panic Race! (PC-FX, NEC Home Electronics, 1996)

References

External links

* [http://www.tcp.com/~doi/chacha/ Akazukin Chacha Online Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Harbor/2150/my_anime/acc/acc.html Kayin's Anime Area - Akazukin Chacha] - A very good fansite, formerly known as Kayin's ACC Archive.
* [http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Shrine/4690/Acc/ Akazukin Chacha Fansite]
* [http://filipinodub.blogspot.com/ Akazukin Chacha Tagalog Blogsite]