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| Majokko Tickle | |
.jpg) Majokko Tickle DVD vol. 2 cover | |
| 魔女っ子チックル (Majokko Chikkuru) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Magical girl,comedy |
| Created by | Go Nagai |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Takashi Hisaoka |
| Written by | Mitsuru Majima Masaki Tsuji Akiyoshi Sakai |
| Studio | |
| Original network | ANN (TV Asahi) |
| Original run | March 6, 1978 – January 29, 1979 |
| Episodes | 45 |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Go Nagai[1] |
| Illustrated by | Yuki Narumi |
| Published by | Akita Shoten |
| Magazine | Hitomi |
| Demographic | Shōjo |
| Original run | April 1978 –February 1979 |
| Volumes | 1 |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Go Nagai |
| Illustrated by | Peko Natsumi |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
| Magazine | Shogaku Ichinensei |
| Demographic | Children |
| Original run | May 1978 –July 1978 |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Go Nagai |
| Illustrated by | Miko Arasu |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
| Magazine | Yochien |
| Demographic | Children |
| Original run | June 1978 –August 1978 |
Majokko Tickle (魔女っ子チックル,Majokko Chikkuru), also known asMagical Girl Tickle orTickle the Witch Girl, is a 1970smagical girlmanga andanime byGo Nagai. Unlike Nagai's earlierCutie Honey,Majokko Tickle is much similar in structure toToei Animation's previous slate of magical girl series, with a younger demographic than the former.
The anime television series was produced byToei Company in association with Kaze Productions and Neomedia and animated byNippon Sunrise. It consisted of 45 episodes and was aired across Japan onTV Asahi from March 6, 1978, to January 29, 1979.
Chiko, a shy Japanese schoolgirl, receives a book as a gift from her father on her eleventh birthday. When Chiko opens the book, she releases Tickle (pronounced "Chikkuru" in Japanese, similarly to "Chiko"), a mischievous witch who was imprisoned inside the book for playing pranks on people. At first, Chiko doesn't believe Tickle is a witch, and tells her to prove it. Tickle delivers Chiko's scarf to her friend Miko (who had just moved toHokkaido, and promised to be around for Chiko's birthday). Once Chiko realizes the truth, she is happy to befriend Tickle. Tickle casts a spell, and Chiko is surprised when her mother tells her and her "sister" Tickle to come down for dinner. Tickle reveals that in order to avoid awkward questions about where she came from, she will pass herself off as Chiko's twin sister. Tickle uses her powers to solve everyday problems and, of course, to continue playing tricks on people (particularly Chiko's annoying kid sister, Hina).
Like other magical girls, Tickle has a special phrase she uses to cast a spell: "Maharu Tamara Furampa" (translated as "Sparkle, Twinkle, Magic will be").
Although the series is mostly light-hearted and whimsical, episodes contain a few serious themes, such as children being teased for being overweight or ugly. The series also features a reversal of expectations, as Tickle is from another world, and does things in her own unique way.
Majokko Tickle is the first Toei-producedmagical girl series sinceMajokko Megu-chan, which had finished airing in September 1975. The premise of the series to feature "double heroines" (consisting of Tickle and her human "twin sister" Chiko, a "lucky pair" as described in the series) was reportedly based on the pop duoPink Lady's performing style, involving singing and dancing in unison. The duo were tremendously popular at the time of the series's inception, with their song "Southpaw" later being utilized in an episode of the show as Tickle, Chiko, and Hina watch them perform on television.
Masaki Tsuji, longtime friend of Nagai and head writer on his earlier seriesDevilman,Dororon Enma-kun, andCutie Honey, contributed scripts toTickle. Lyrics to the opening theme were written by Nagai. Animation was not contributed to by Toei's animation department themselves, instead outsourced to Nippon Sunrise.
The series was dubbed into other languages and broadcast in several other countries, includingItaly (Lilli, un guaio tira l'altro),France (Magique Tickle, drole de fee or "Tickle the Funny Fairy"),Turkey, andPoland (Magiczne Igraszki).
In Italy, the opening theme song was an instrumental version of the original Japanese theme byMitsuko Horie, and the Polish version (aired onPolonia 1) retains the original Japanese vocal themes, but an entirely different song was used in the French version. The Polish dub does not feature actual Polish voice actors, but simply a reading of Polish-language dialogue by a female voiceover artist over the original Japanese dialogue. ASpanish dub, titledCosquillas Mágicas, was also aired inSpain on theAntena 3 network. The Italian, French and Spanish dubs also have completely replaced the music and effects track from the original Japanese version.
Since the copyright of the series belongs to Toei Co. Ltd. and not Toei Animation, aVHS andLD release was not possible. Additionally due to this situation, Tickle's appearance in the 1999role-playing video gameMajokko Daisakusen: Little Witching Mischiefs (which featured magical girls from Toei Animation TV series from 1966–1981, includingCutie Honey,Megu-chan,Sally, andAkko-chan among others) was not possible. The series had been released for the home video market byToei Video in Japan in 4 DVD sets of two discs between 2005 and 2006.
Source: Anime News Network; Anime Memorial,The Anime Encyclopedia by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy
