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Himitsu no Akko-chan
ひみつのアッコちゃん (Akko's magic mirror)
Genre	Magical girl
Manga: Himitsu no Akko-chan
Authored by	Fujio Akatsuka
Publisher	Shueisha
Serialized in	Ribon
Original run	July 1962 – September 1965
No. of volumes	3
TV anime
Directed by	Shunichi Yukimuro
Studio	Toei Animation
Network	TV Asahi TV1
Original run	6 January 1969 – 26 October 1970
No. of episodes	94
TV anime : Himitsu no Akko-chan 2
Directed by	Hiroki Shibata
Studio	Toei Animation
Network	Fuji TV TV1
Original run	1988-01-09 – 1989-12-24
No. of episodes	61
Movie: Himitsu no Akko-chan
ひみつのアッコちゃん (Himitsu no Akko-chan)
Directed by
Studio	Toei Animation
Released	1989-03-18
Runtime
Movie: Himitsu no Akko-chan Umi da! Obake da!! Natsu Matsuri
ひみつのアッコちゃん 海だ！おばけだ!!夏祭り (Himitsu no Akko-chan Umi da! Obake da!! Natsu Matsuri)
Directed by
Studio	Toei Animation
Released	1989-07-15
Runtime
TV anime : Himitsu no Akko-chan
Directed by	Hiroki Shibata
Studio	Toei Animation
Network	Fuji TV TV1
Original run	1998-04-05 – 1999-02-28
No. of episodes	44

Himitsu no Akko-chan (ひみつのアッコちゃん, Himitsu no Akko-chan^?, The Secrets of Akko-chan or Akko-chan's Secret) is a magical girl manga and anime that ran in Japan during the 1960s.

The manga was drawn and written by Fujio Akatsuka, and was published in Ribon from 1962 to 1965. It predates the Mahōtsukai Sunny (whose name became Sally in the Mahōtsukai Sally anime) manga, printed in 1966. However, that title is the first magical girl anime as Himitsu no Akko-chan was not broadcast until 1969.

The original anime ran for 97 episodes from 1969 to 1970. It was animated by Toei Animation and broadcast by TV Asahi (then known as NET). It has been remade twice, in 1988 (61 episodes, featuring Mitsuko Horie in the role of Akko-chan and singing the opening and ending themes) and in 1998 (44 episodes). Two Akko-chan movies were made in 1989 and five were created between 1969 and 1973.

Some sources state that, like Sally, Akko-chan was also inspired by Bewitched ^[1].

While each remake has small differences, the basic premise is always the same.

Atsuko "Akko-chan" Kagami (known variously as "Stilly," "Caroline," or "Julie" in Western versions of the anime) is an energetic elementary school girl who has an affinity for mirrors. One day, her favorite mirror which was given to Akko by her mother (or in some versions, by her father, as a present from India) is broken, and she prefers to bury it in her yard rather than throw it to the trash can. In her dreams, she is contacted by a spirit (or in some cases the Queen of the Mirror Kingdom) who is moved that the little girl would treat the mirror so respectfully and not simply throw it away. Akko-chan is then given the gift of a magical mirror and taught an enchantment that will allow her to transform into anything she wishes.

Largely unknown in the English-speaking world, Himitsu no Akko-chan enjoyed a good deal of success when it was exported to the European market in the 1980s. In fact, all three Akko-chan series have been screened on TV in Italy.

• Lo specchio magico (Italian, first series)
• Caroline (French, second series; pronounced "Cah-ro-LEEN")
• Los secretos de Julie (Spanish language version shown in Latin America, second series)
• Un mondo di magia (Italian, second series)
• Stilly e lo specchio magico (Italian, third series) - In series three, as in series one, "Stilly" is the Italian name for Akko-chan.

• Toei Animation's Himitsu no Akko-chan page (Japanese)
• Anime News Network's Himitsu no Akko-chan (1969) anime entry
• Himitsu no Akko-chan's entry at the Henshin: The Mahou Shoujo Genre fansite

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