Trivia / Himitsu no Akko-chan

• Breaking News Interruption: This has happened to the series at least once during each incarnation (except for the 1998 version):
  • The original airing of "The Lizard Woman Has Come!" was pre-empted for coverage of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
  • The original airing of the 1988 series episode "Ganmo's Perfect Rakugo Theater" was interrupted the minute before it could air by a news report about Emperor Hirohito's death.
• Celebrity Voice Actor: Mitsuko Horie, who is mostly known as an anisong singer, plays Akko in the 1988-1989 series remake. She also provides the Anime Theme Song of this one.
• Channel Hop: The 1969 series aired on TV Asahi, the 1988 and 1998 series aired on Fuji TV. In addition, the 1969 series was rerun during the 1980s on both Nippon TV and TV Tokyo, giving the franchise the distinction of having aired almost across the entire spectrum of Japanese commercial broadcast TV.
• Completely Different Title:
  • In Italy, the three series are known as "Lo Specchio Magico" ("The Magic Mirror"; '60s), "Un Mondo di Magia" ("A World of Magic"; '80s), and "Stilly e lo Specchio Magico" ("Stilly and the Magic Mirror"; '90s)
  • The 1980s version was dubbed in French as "Caroline" ("Cah-roh-LEEN").
  • The first series was dubbed into Spanish as "Los Secretos de Julie". (The Spanish version of the 1969-70 ED song: "Julie, Julie, Julie es feliz...")
• Creator Backlash: Fujio Akatsuka is said to have been displeased with the anime at first (which changed a number of elements of the manga), as well as perplexed that a manga he had finished several years earlier was suddenly getting an anime adaptation, but eventually came around once he realized that the anime was an entity of its own.
• Died During Production: The 1988 series would be one of the last projects Noriko Tsukase would lend her voice to as she would be hospitalized for rectal cancer and eventually died on May 15, 1989, with her roles as Goma and Ganmo being recast.
• Franchise Killer: The 1998 version of the show not doing well as expected and flopping against Yume no Crayon Oukoku, which aired on the same day, caused the show to be Cut Short and end with 44 episodes and for no further reboots of the franchise to be made, when before this series, one was made at least every 10 years, similar to fellow Toei anime Gegege No Kitaro.
• He Also Did: This is an example for Fujio Akatsuka, who in Japan is often associated with slapstick-heavy gag-mangas, most notably Osomatsu-kun and Tensai Bakabon.
• The Other Darrin: Due to Noriko Tsukase's hospitalization and eventual death during production, her roles were recast, Ganmo was taken over by Yuko Mita from episode 15 onwards and Goma was voiced by Chie Sato from episode 18 onwards and the recasts would carry over to this iteration's movies as well.
• Referenced by...:
  • Akko's full name is Atsuko Kagami. The protagonist of Studio TRIGGER's Little Witch Academia is named Atsuko "Akko" Kagari.
  • SCP Foundation: During testing of SCP-914, someone tries to use the machine to translate some DVD sets of Himitsu no Akko-chan into English. They end up with DVDs of two other magical girl animes, a series of videos on how to learn Japanese, and finally a printout of an article titled "5 Reasons No One Ever Helps You Out When You Ask for Favors (Spoiler: It's You)".
• What Could Have Been: The second (1988-89) series was originally planned by director Hiroki Shibata as a "traditional" magical girl series, more in the spirit of the original. However, Toei Animation producer Hiromi Seki, who found the original series boring, wanted something more comedic and modern, more like a Doraemon- or Urusei Yatsura-type anime sitcom, which could likely attract boys as well as girls as viewers. Thus, Akko is more energetic and more tomboyish, and both her parents work outside the home, whereas in the original series her mother was a homemaker.

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