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Meg's a Magical Girl and she'll steal your heart!

Majokko Meg-chan is an early Magical Girl Anime. Based on a proposal by the production company Hiromi Productions as a follow-up to Miracle Shojo Limit-chan, a TV series was made by Toei Animation in 1974, originally aired on what is now the TV Asahi network (then known as NET). This particular story codified many of the tropes that would later become staples of the Magical Girl genre.

The story centers on Meg, a young witch who has been sent to Earth as part of her Magical Girl Queenliness Test. She is adopted by former witch Mami Kanzaki and her Muggle Foster Parents and spends the series learning about human relationships, battling magical enemies, and maturing into a woman worthy of claiming the throne of the Witch World.

In addition to its success in Japan, the series was later broadcast in several European countries, including Italy (where the heroine was renamed Bia and where the show is still fondly remembered), France, and Poland. It was also dubbed into Spanish and Portuguese, but there is no official English version.

As of 2022, the series is being rerun in Japan on Toei Channel.


Tropes:

  • Accidental Pervert: When Papa is being dragged along by their dog Gombei, he’s dragged through a clothing shop in which a woman was trying on a dress. Trying to keep himself from being dragged further, Papa grabs the dress of the woman, pulling it off in the process.
  • All Cloth Unravels: An episode has a Brainwashed and Crazy Rabi do this to a random woman.
  • Amazing Technicolor Population: Non has light blue skin, and Chousan is grayish.
  • Amnesia Missed a Spot: In the final episode, Mami tries to make Papa, Rabi, and Apo forget about Meg, as she’s returned to the witch world. While Papa is left with Wistful Amnesia, feeling as if someone’s missing from the family, Rabi and Apo remember Meg was their sister, and after dreaming of her, insist on searching for her.
  • Animals Hate Him: Chou is hated by all animals, save for his two sidekicks of course. Gombei initially dislikes Non in their first episode together, but likes her just fine after saving her life and realizing that she's Meg's friend...kind of.
  • Annoying Younger Sibling: Rabi (see The Prankster) and Apo to Meg. Howewer, Apo becomes less of a nuisance as the series progresses compared to her brother.
  • Anti-Hero: Non, An Unscrupulous Hero at first but becomes a Knight in Sour Armor by the end.
  • Antiquated Linguistics: In the Japanese version, Kiran (Non's foster mom) ends all of her sentences with "zamasu", a word typically associated with old-fashioned Tokyo housewives and that was already considered archaic when the show aired.
  • Artistic License – Geography: In episode 10, Meg and the leader of the high school adventure club attempt to travel to the Alps by hot air balloon. After having to fly at night to rescue Non and Boss, the hot air balloon goes down. But the next morning, the group wakes up and finds that they reached the Alps. Keep in mind they would have been setting off from Japan.
  • Backstory Invader: In the first episode, Mami bewitches her husband and their two children, Rabi and Apo, into believing that Megu has always been the eldest child of the family. It's a trope that would show up many more times in the magical girl genre.
  • Bathtub Scene:
    • Meg in episode 3 where she takes a shower also.
    • Special mention to episode 23 where Chou-san rigged Meg's bathtub with wheels, causing it to race around the city while Meg was bathing.
  • Big Bad: Saturn. An evil witch and the self-styled "Queen of Darkness".
  • Big Beautiful Woman: Mami is fairly plump and easy on the eyes, and is one of the sweetest characters in the show.
  • Big Friendly Dog: Gombei, especially towards Apo.
  • Blind Without 'Em: Roko in episode 2.
  • Boy Meets Ghoul: Or better "Witch meets Ghost". In episode 25 Non meets a ghostly boy who’s in love with her. She starts having feelings for him, which she has trouble dealing with.
  • Bragging Theme Tune: Similar to that of Cutey Honey - in fact, even sung by the same vocalist (Yoko Maekawa).
  • Bratty Teenage Daughter: Meg comes off as one at times, especially early in the series when she is struggling to adjust to family life.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Meg does so herself in the final scene of the final episode, speaking directly to - and even casting a spell on - the viewer. She acts similarly flirtatiously in the show's opening, blowing the viewer a kiss.
  • The Bully: Boss, the school bully.
  • Butt-Monkey/The Chew Toy: Chousan who often ends, deservedly, wounded and humiliated.
  • Cake In The Face: Preparations for Papa's birthday dinner in the episode "The Light of Home" devolve into chaos, resulting in the birthday cake clobbering Meg on the right side of her head. She picks up what is left of the cake to throw it at Rabi, and ends up hitting Papa square in the face.
  • Canon Foreigner: Emi. She does not exist in the show's spin-off manga.
  • Cats Are Mean: One of Chousan's sidekicks is a cat, the other being a crow.
  • Character Development:
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Roko disappears after Emi is introduced and takes her role as Meg's friend. She briefly reappears in Episode 45 during the Skating Competition as a spectator alongside Meg and Emi, without any dialogue lines.
  • Comedic Spanking:
    • In episode 65, Meg brings a toy train to full size in the garden by her magic, but she can not control it so her dad is nearly run over by it...Her mom stops this train and then she has Meg bend over and starts to spank her. Naturally, Dirty Old Man Chou-san watches the spanking with glee.
    • In episode 15, Meg catches Chousan as he’s climbing down the wall encircling the Kanzaki family yard. She hits him on the backside with a baseball bat several times before he escapes as payback for one of his plots against her family.
  • Coming of Age Story: Doubling as Magical Girl Queenliness Test.
  • Cute Witch: Meg (one of classic examples in the anime world), Non and some one-episode characters from the Witch-World.
  • Darker and Edgier: This series was quite revolutionary in regards to magical girl shows:
    • It included a truly evil character as an antagonist (Saturn). Prior to this, there was a perception that young girls couldn't handle such things.
    • The subplots sometimes touched more serious social issues like Domestic Abuse, extramarital relationships, drug abuse, Parental Abandonment, etc.. For this reason, nine of the 72 episodes were cut from the Italian version.
    • Meg not only lost fights, but she had to face serious consequences (deaths, injuries, humiliations, etc.) that couldn't be undone with magic.
  • Dark Magical Girl: Non, also among the first ones in a magical show. She is one of the most powerful sorcerers of the Witch-World and, initially, more skilled them Meg, but is also a cold girl almost devoid of emotion.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Non. She's cold and isolated and has no interest in friendship or humanity in the beginning, but changes throughout the show due to her interactions with Meg.
  • Dirty Kid: Rabi had an arsenal tricks aimed at catching his "big sister" disrobed, from yanking the sheets off Megu's bed in the morning to using a fishing rod to lift her skirt.
  • Dirty Old Man: Chousan spent most of his time spying on Meg and devising ways to publicly humiliate her. In a memorable scene in episode 23, Chousan rigged Megu's bathtub with wheels, causing it to race around the city while Megu was bathing. Earlier in that same episode, he attempted to trick Megu into taking off all of her clothes by hypnotizing her with a magical cuckoo clock; only Non's intervention at the last minute saved Megu from stripping herself totally naked.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: In the very first episode, Rabi pranks Meg at dinner by putting a frog in her teacup. After getting Green Around the Gills, Meg reacts by grabbing Rabi, slapping him across the face, and throwing him against the china cabinet, breaking the glass in the cabinet in the process. She also violently throws off Apo when Apo tries to calm her down. Unlike most of Meg's other reactions to Rabi's pranks (including his more ecchi pranks), this time it wasn't Played for Laughs - indeed, it sets off a chain of events which almost results in Meg's death. It's a very hypocritical reaction, since Meg had just used her magic to prank Papa by putting salt in his tea, but it helps establish her personality at the start of the series.
  • The Dragon: Chousan secretly work for Saturn.
  • Driven to Suicide: In one particularly dark episode, a newspaper boy ends up jumping off a bridge to his death. There is also a mother who is driven to suicide after leaving her baby with the Kanzaki family but she ends up repenting. And then there is a whole episode dedicated to the subject, in which a boy becomes suicidal after his father commits suicide; the entire plot revolves around Megu saving his life as he tries to kill himself.
  • Dub Name Change: In the Italian dub, Meg's name is changed to Bia, Non becomes Noa, and Chousan becomes Ciosa, but most of the other characters' names are not changed. Meg is also known as Maggie in the Latino Spanish dub and retains her original (Anglicized, as her name in Japanese is actually Megu) name in French.
    • Rabi is called Robin in the French dub, which also establishes "Apo" as being short for "Apolline."
  • Everything's Precious with Puppies: The ending animation features Meg with a cute little puppy. In another episode, she has to save her friend Roko's puppy from a burning house.
  • Evil-Detecting Dog: Gombei. Normally a good dog, he reacts often to evil characters as Chou. He reacts similarly to Non in their first episode together, but in that case it's do to instinct-based prejudice toward witches that he learns is wrong by the end of the episode and is civil toward her from then out out.
  • Friendly Enemy: Non to Meg as the show goes on.
  • Fiery Redhead: Meg has red hair and a Hair-Trigger Temper.
  • Fille Fatale: Meg. The girl is pretty aware of her good looks, is coquettish and outspoken (unlike the more mellow heroines of the time) and the OP of the series has her singing about using her beauty to woo the guys and get what she wants from them. During the show itself, however, she's more of a Reluctant Fanservice Girl, and most of her "flirting" is with the viewer (Breaking the Fourth Wall).
  • Fish out of Water: Initially, Meg has a hard time adjusting to life on earth at first, both at home and at school.
  • Flying Broomstick: More in the opening (and in some promotional artwork) than in the series, but it shows up a few times.
  • Girlish Pigtails:
    • Two of Meg's friends, Roko and Emi.
    • Leon, a mischievous witch-in-training that drops by once.
  • Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: This is how Meg and Non usually cast magic.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Meg, especially early in the show. She's mellowed considerably by the end, but her actions in the final episode show she still has a long way to go...
  • Heel–Face Turn: Saturn’s loyal servant Rosa is sent to the human world to kill Megu. She fails at first, and Megu takes her home, so she tries her best to be kind and change her views. Eventually Rosa comes around and sees the beauty of Megu’s heart. Saturn becomes furious and gives her one last chance to kill Megu; instead Rosa attempts suicide, but is saved by the Queen.
  • Here We Go Again!: The ending, in which Meg and Non start back at square one in their training on Earth. Non's facial reaction to this practically screams "We're going to have go through another 72 episodes' worth of development, aren't we?"
  • Hotter and Sexier: The series featured fanservice in the form of panty shots, slight nudity, lingerie scenes, Ship Tease between Meg and Non, and Meg being a Fille Fatale. It also included characters as the Dirty Kid Rabi (Megu's adoptive/foster brother) and Dirty Old Man Chou.
  • Hypno Pendulum: Meg is hypnotized in this manner. To elaborate, the pervert Chou fantasizes about using a pendulum to hypnotize Meg, and later uses a cuckoo clock. It gets Meg down to her undergarments before Non intervenes.
  • Idiot Ball: Althought in every other episode it's stated that humans must never find out about magic, in episode 10 Non casts a spell in the middle of class when everyone's present and right in front of Boss like it's nothing. Boss doesn't seem to care, however, as he never tells anyone about it, and the others also don't seem to notice.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
    • Non. She doesn't want to beat Meg through unfair practices, so there are actually times when she helps Meg with her problems.
    • Meg herself qualifies to an extent for a good part of the series too.
  • Karma Houdini: Both Chou-san and Rabi doesn't get so much as scolded for their inappropriate behavior towards Meg. In episode one, Papa outright tells Meg she just has to put up with it because she's the oldest. See YMMV for more details.
  • "Kick Me" Prank: Boss tries to pull this on Meg in episode 2, but is intercepted by Roko.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: In episode 3, Mami’s reversal of the spell on her family that made them think Meg was the eldest child of the family causes Papa, Rabi, and Apo to have no recollection of Meg, as opposed to simply no longer believing Meg to be their daughter/older sister.
  • Magical Girl Queenliness Test: The reason for Meg's journey to Earth and the source of her rivalry with Non. They BOTH fail in the end and are sent back to Earth for further training, thus making it a Here We Go Again! ending. Meg is thrilled since it means she gets to spend more time with her family; Non, not so much.
  • Meaningful Name: In the Italian dub, Bia's (Meg) family name is Giapo, likely derived from "giapponese," the Italian word for "Japanese."
  • Minidress of Power: Meg and Non both wear these, but only Non's comes with knee-high boots.
  • Modesty Towel: Meg wears one in several episodes in shower scenes. Often something happens to make her lose the towel, such as being startled by Rabi calling her a witch in episode 3.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Meg who often wears a green see-through negligee end has many panty shots in her regular minidress. There is some brief implied or non-explicit nudity as well although not nearly as much as in Cutey Honey.
    • Mr. Fanservice: Not all of the implied/non-explicit nudity is female. Chousan's gambit in episode 23 also ensnares a (male) teacher, who begins streaking around the campus. (Hey, this was 1974.) In another episode, Rabi loses his swimming trunks during a swimming race due to another of Chou's pranks (Meg had given him inflatable trunks so that he wouldn't sink in the pool, but Chousan's crow makes the trunks malfunction and destroys them).
  • Muggle Foster Parents: Played with. Since Mami is actually an ex-witch, after taking Meg in she uses her magic to trick everyone into thinking Meg is the Kanzaki's eldest daughter instead of Mami's protegée.
  • The Nameless: The name of Meg's adoptive father is never revealed, unless his name is literally "Papa".
  • Parasol Parachute: In the first episode, Megu flies down into the human world using an umbrella. This becomes her iconic item.
  • Parental Substitute: Mami is this for Meg. The concept of family actually doesn't seem to exist in the Magical World.
  • The Peeping Tom: Chousan spent most of his time spying on Meg (also in the opening) and caught her in compromising situations. On one occasion, he enjoys watching her get spanked by Mami, but ends up falling from his tower.
  • Playing Card Motifs: The opening is full of these, with all the aces appearing, and Meg herself appears on a joker card. (The joker card in the opening depicts a traditional witch, pointy hat and all. The card spins around and comes to life, turning out to be Meg in a mask.) In the show itself, Chousan has the spade symbol on some of his belongings, including his hat and car.
  • The Power of Friendship: In episode 2, after Non tells her she shouldn't be hanging around with "foolish" humans, Meg is determined to avoid Roko, and even has an "oh well" reaction when Rabi and Apo tell her Roko is being bullied by Boss and his gang. Mami then explains to Meg the meaning of friendship and that a good queen should strive to help those who are in trouble.
  • Power Perversion Potential: In episode 13, Chousan, about to be confronted by Non and Meg, makes an Invisibility Cloak. He then takes advantage of this invisibility to lift up Meg’s nightgown and kiss Non on the cheek, much to the girls’ anger.
  • The Prankster: Rabi. He is loves to play pranks - some of his favorite pranks involve getting pictures of "big sis Megu-chan's" panties or in her sheer nightgowns!
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Meg and Non, who are Color-Coded Characters.
  • Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Despite the opening theme song likes which portray Meg as a flirtatious coquette, many of her fanservice situations are the result of pranks by Rabi and Apo or Chousan in which she is not a willing participant. Although she does flirt with or try to titillate the viewer at times.
  • The Rival: Non. She is Megu’s rival and perhaps the most notable ‘rival’ character in magical girl series. She attempts to murder Megu during their very first meeting and continues to plague her throughout the series.
    • Rivals Team Up: Eventually, Non comes to admire her rival's innate courage, even joining forces with her against mutual enemies (such as the demonic witch-queen Saturn and her devious henchman, Chou-san) in several episodes.
  • Rod-and-Reel Repurposed: Rabi twice uses this on his big sister Meg to lift her skirt and see her panties.
  • Sexy Silhouette: Meg in several scenes (in one episode even in Rabi's Imagine Spot, although the Italian dub cut the scene which featured a clear outline of Meg's bare breasts).
  • Shout-Out:
    • One episode shows Meg watching Cutey Honey on the television. In addition, she's tuned to channel 10. TV Asahi (then NET), who co-produced the series with Toei, broadcasts on channel 10.
    • In another episode, a model of Great Mazinger is seen in the window of a toy shop. Cutey Honey and Mazinger were both also Toei Animation shows and shared many of the same staff with Meg (although Mazinger aired on rival channel Fuji TV).
  • Slapstick: Though Butt-Monkey Chousan and his minions receive the worst of it, even more level-headed characters like Non and Meg’s parents aren’t spared.
  • Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Non, increasingly so as the series progresses.
  • Surprise Jump: Happens to Meg in the very first episode, when Rabi and Apo wake her up in the morning by yanking the sheets off her bed, and Meg - still wearing the see-through nightgown through which her bra and panties are visible - leaps several feet in the air. The result is one of three chase scenes involving Meg and the kids in the first episode alone.
  • Team Rocket Wins: The series concludes with both Meg and Non failing their test and being sent BACK to Earth all because Chou manipulates them, and they have a catfight outside the palace, and he gets off scot-free for it. Of course, considering his extreme Butt-Monkey status, one could consider this a Throw the Dog a Bone moment.
  • Title Montage: The French dub opening consists of a montage of scenes primarily from Episodes 1 and 2. Most other Western releases used the original Japanese OP animation.
  • Tomboy:
    • Meg, especially compared to the protagonists of earlier magical girl shows, like Sally Yumeno, Mako Urashima or Akko Kagami. She constantly fights with the school bully and her annoying younger siblings. At other times, though, she's quite girly.
    • Non, whose hobby is wearing a black leather jumpsuit and riding around on a motorcycle, may also qualify.
  • Too Hot for TV: At least nine episodes were considered such, in Italy, and the episodes that were dubbed sometimes featured edits for content. This carried over into the Polish and Portuguese dubs, which were based on the Italian.
  • Wham Episode: Quite a few, as the series dealt with topics such as drug abuse, domestic violence, adultery and suicide uncommon for children's animation in that era. Even episode one counts, as a family quarrel sets off a chain of events that nearly proves fatal for Meg.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Episode 21 end with Meg reassure Chuk, an old ex-witch that has lose her magical power, that she will help her relearn how to use magic and return to the Witch World. Chuk never reappears in the show.
  • What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: The witch world doesn't have families, so at first Meg has a hard time understanding the love her Muggle Foster Family feels towards her.
  • Why Did It Have To Be Dogs: Mami and Non both have this reaction to Gombei at first due to the bad history between dogs and witches. They get over it quickly, though.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Meg and Non by the end, so very much. A Type II example.
  • Would Hit a Girl: In her first appearance, Emi's curse forcing anyone who looks into her eyes to slap her.

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