Mahō no Mako-chan

Mahō no Mako-chan
魔法のマコちゃん; (Mahou no Mako-chan)
Genre	Magical girl, Romance, Fantasy
Anime television series
Directed by
Music by	Takeo Watanabe
Studio	Toei Animation Toei Company Toei Doga
Original network	TV Asahi
Original run	2 November 1970 – 9 September 1971
Episodes	48
	Anime and manga portal

Mahō no Mako-chan (魔法のマコちゃん, Mahou no Mako chan, lit. Magical Mako) is a Japanese anime series by Toei Animation. The story is loosely based on the 1837 Hans Christian Andersen tale "The Little Mermaid". The series has been dubbed into various languages including French, Spanish, Polish and Italian. It is also often known as Mako the Mermaid, Mako-chan’s Magic, Syrenka Mako and Magical Mako-chan.

Mahō no Mako-chan aired in 1970 via Nippon Educational TV (NET), which is now TV Asahi.

Plot[]

Mako (her name is sometimes romanized as "Maco" or "Makko", and is changed to "Ginny" in the Italian version) is a mermaid and the youngest daughter of the Dragon King. She longs for the human world despite it being forbidden by her father. One stormy night, she saves a human boy from a wrecked ship and falls in love with him. Mako makes a deal with the sea hag and is transformed into a human high school girl with the condition that she can never be return to being a mermaid. With the magical pendant called the "Life of A Mermaid", Mako meets many people and experiences many things as she learns what it means to be human, while searching for the young man she saved.

As a human, Mako is taken in by the strict old man, Mr. Urashima. Urashima is a strict zoologist, who lost his daughter many years ago. He lives next door to two mischievous twins, Taro and Jiro, who become enamored with Mako. By episode 3, Mako is enrolled in the local high school, Karatachi Academy. There she makes friends, including Haruko and Bancho, and becomes the rival of the rich-girl, Tomiko Tomita. Early on in the series, Mako has a couple of encounters with the young man she saved, known as Akira Shigeno. Akira is a bit of a drifter, constantly taking new jobs, and never stays put in one place. Although Akira is trying to find the "mermaid who saved his life", Mako is unable to confess her true identity.

Two years pass until Mako and Akira meet again. It is during this meeting that he begins to suspect Mako was truly the person who saved him on that fateful night. As Mako and Akira grow closer, the Dragon King is confronted by God, who is furious that his daughter is in the human world. God orders the King to return Mako to the sea. He refuses, and is punished. Onboard a cruise, Akira tells Mako he doesn't clearly remember the person who saved him, but comments that her scent is similar. Eventually he asks her to grab his wrist, and realizes she was in fact the person who saved him. Meanwhile, God unleashes his wrath, erupting a volcano, which nearly kills Mako, Akira, and her classmates. Mako tearfully renounces her love for humanity and Akira, throwing herself into the sea. God's fury is calmed, and the Dragon King is released, using his power to cease the calamity. Akira and Mako are briefly reunited, her father watches on with happiness.

Sometime after that, Akira quits his job aboard the cruise ship, and Mako loses contact with him. She later finds him working as a racing driver. Mako is upset to see Akira has changed so much, becoming vain and only caring about money and fame. Akira insists he's still the same person, but she can't believe it. During this time, a gorilla escapes from a zoo and wreaks havoc nearby. Unable to use her magic, Mako is saved by Akira, who is unfortunately injured while fighting off the gorilla. As he lays dying in the hospital from his injuries, Mako tries to use her pendant to save him. Her father intervenes, saying the "Life of A Mermaid" cannot save a human life. Heartbroken, Mako throws herself into the ocean, swimming to the sea bottom. She intends to die the same time as Akira. Their spirits meet together, and Akira asks who exactly she is. Mako replies, "I'm Mako. A human born from foam, and returning to foam in order to love you". The Dragon King goes to save Mako, but is stopped by the sea hag. She tells him Mako is no longer his daughter, but a human girl. She tells the Dragon King if he saves Mako, it is only fair to save Akira as well. The Dragon King does so.

The next morning Mako awakens in the hospital, where Mr. Urashima informs her a miracle happened, and Akira survived. Mako thanks her father, and tearfully reunites with Akira. In the epilogue, Akira decides to work as a sailor, just like his late father. He understands this is the best job for him to become a real man. Mako is happy for him, and asks if he could throw her pendant into the sea as he leaves Japan. She realizes she can't rely on it anymore, but rather rely on those around her. Mako says goodbye to the sea and to her pendant, but knows this isn't goodbye to Akira. The Dragon King and the sea hag watch, realizing Mako has finally truly become human. As Mako looks to the sea, a visage of her father fades away.

Characters[]

Mako (Urashima) ((浦島)マコ) Voiced by: Kazuko Sugiyama: The 15-year-old heroine. She is the youngest daughter of the Dragon King but yearned to become a human so she can be with the boy she loves, Akira. Found by old fisherman Urashima and adopted as his granddaughter, she starts attending Karatachi School.

Haruko Voiced by: Sachiko Chijimatsu: Mako's classmate at school, she becomes her closest friend there. She wears glasses yet is more vociferous in opposing wrongs, or Tomiko for that matter.

Jiro (次郎) Voiced by:: Jiro, along with his identical twin brother Taro, are old Urashima's real grandsons and helped him take Mako to the hospital. They also urged their grandfather to save her from traffickers who were about to sell her off. They love their adopted cousin and support her ideas of righteousness.

Taro (太郎) Voiced by:: Jiro's identical twin brother, Taro is the more realist of the two.

Banchou (番町, Bancho) Voiced by: Hiroshi Ohtake: Rough classmate of Mako's at Karatachi School. His real surname is Matsubashi.

Senkichi (千吉) Voiced by: /Akira Kamiya: Bancho's friend and lieutenant.

Tomiko Voiced by:: Mako's classmate and rival. Her mother is president of the school's PTA, hence her arrogance. She also knows Akira and wants him.

Mr. Dabagon (ダバゴン先生) Voiced by:: Mako's class' homeroom teacher. Kind and funny yet stern.

Papa (パパ) Voiced by:: The Dragon King himself. He is able to assume human form and appear on Earth so he can help, and scold, Mako. He often overrules his wife's overprotectiveness and lets his daughter do her own things, but is stern, particularly with Mako's use of her magical pendant and the etiquette she should follow.

Mama (ママ) Voiced by:: The Dragon King's wife and mother of Mako. She rarely speaks and is only seen in flashbacks, but seems to be overprotective of Mako, unlike her husband and her mother who are willing to let her go her own way.

Obaba (おばば) Voiced by: Kazue Takahashi: A sea hag. She is able to communicate with Mako's father in his human form, and often derides his lack of control over Mako to spite him (even though it was thanks to her magic that Mako was able to become a terrestrial being).

Old Urashima (浦島老人) Voiced by:: The old fisherman who found a nude and unconscious Mako on the beach after her transformation into a human being. He takes her in as his adoptive granddaughter. He's very stern, but deep down cares for Mako. (His surname, which Mako adopts, may be based on the legend of Urashima Tarō.)

Akira Shigeno (茂野アキラ) Voiced by: /: The young human Mako once saved from drowning, he had been on a cruise ship that capsized when the event occurred and thus lost a lot of his memory from the experience. Mako falls in love with him, but once she becomes a terrestrial being, he's not found so easily. Akira in truth is a drifter who does odd jobs and arrives and leaves town at will. He does like Mako's personality but is totally clueless about her feelings for him. (In some Latin American versions his given name is Shin'ichi instead of Akira.)

Mrs. Tomita (富田夫人) Voiced by:: Tomiko's mother. Head of Karatachi's PTA and a wealthy donor to the school.

Twins' Mother Voiced by:: Mother of Taro and Jiro. Raises and educates her sons in a very strict manner.

Principal Voiced by:: Principal of Karatachi. Is strict with students, especially Mako, and often ingratiates herself to Mrs. Tomita in order to keep her donations to the school flowing.

Music[]

The scores and lyrics for Mahō no Mako-chan were created by Takeo Watanabe and performed by Horie Mitsuko.^[1] Some of the score was reused in later Toei series, including Majokko Megu-chan and .

Theme Songs[]

Opening Theme[]

"Mahō no Mako-chan" by Horie Mitsuko

Ending Theme[]

"BOKU wa MAKO ni tsuite yuku" by Horie Mitsuko

References[]

^ "魔法のマコちゃん". Toei Animation Official Site. Retrieved 20 August 2011.

External links[]

Official site (Japanese)
Mahō no Mako-chan (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

[1] "魔法のマコちゃん". Toei Animation Official Site. Retrieved 20 August 2011.

[1]

show v t Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" (1837)
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Television	Mahō no Mako-chan (1970) Adventures of the Little Mermaid (1991) The Idle Mermaid (2014)
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