| Synopsis |
Maho no Mako-chan、 Mako the MermaidThe mermaid princess Mako is the youngest daughter of the Dragon King of the undersea kingdom. She has always been fascinated by the human world、 but merfolk are prohibited to interact with humans. Being a mermaid full of curiosity、 one day Mako breaks the taboo and goes up to the sea’s surface. It is then that a ship sinks into the sea、 and Mako saves a young man named Akira who is drowning trying to help the other passengers. She falls in love with him. Unable to forget Akira、 Mako asks Obaba、 the female elder of the undersea world、 to change her into a human、 ignoring the Dragon King who tries to stop her. Obaba informs Mako of the rule: a merman or mermaid who becomes a human can never return to the undersea kingdom or turn back into his or her original form. Nevertheless、 Mako chooses to become a human、 with the hope of seeing Akira again.Mako comes to the human world and is saved by an old man named Urashima、 who lives in a hut on the beach. Mako starts going to school、 as Urashima’s granddaughter、 and becomes good friends with the children who live nearby. Whenever she is in trouble、 Mako uses the magic that is hidden in the “mermaid’s tear、” a pendant given by her father the Dragon King、 to overcome the many challenge she faces (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1M-eSfF-e5I1N-sjxjWhs8RtAJM2-by9VtmXnWWgm2g8/edit#gid=684929878). Dreaming of a day when she can be reunited with Akira、 Mako lives life as a human being. Although the series was based on Andersen’s The Little Mermaid、 its world view was centered around the daily life of children in the 1970s. The original work was by Masaki Tsuji、 who went by the pen name Shinobu Urakawa. The series was the third of the “Toei majokko series.” Due to its romantic elements、 it is still loved by many devout fans.
|
