Winter 1969 Anime

Atsuko "Akko-chan" Kagami (also known as "Stilly," "Caroline," or "Julie" in Western adaptations of the anime) is an energetic elementary school girl who loves mirrors. One day, her favorite mirror, given to her by her mother (or, in some versions, by her father as a gift from India), breaks. Rather than throwing it away, she chooses to bury it in her yard. In her dreams, a spirit (or in some accounts, the Queen of the Mirror Kingdom) contacts her, moved that the young girl treated the mirror with such respect instead of discarding it. Akko-chan is then granted a magical mirror and taught an incantation that allows her to transform into anything she desires.

Another addition to the Marine Boy franchise. This time, 65 episodes were produced to extend the 1966 series, and all 78 episodes were sold to the United States. The show's airing pattern in Japan was a bit more complex: initially, only the first 36 of the 78 episodes were broadcast, but later all 78 aired—65 are part of this entry, while 13 belong to the Ganbare! Marine Kid series. Marine now wields an underwater boomerang and a hydrojet, and the mermaid Neptuna/Neptina has become his girlfriend. Some earlier episodes from Ganbare! Marine Kid had their footage partially reused for this series.