Influence On Japanese Popular Culture
Megu-Chan was not the first magical girl anime, but it has been described as the first modern anime series to fall into the genre. Initially overlooked as a minor effort due its relative obscurity throughout the seventies, it nonetheless formed a template on which many later scenarios were based. Significantly, many of the show's plot devices were recycled in the enormously successful Sailor Moon (Toei, 1992–1997) - indeed, two later episodes of Megu-chan were directed by Yuji Endo, who later became one of the chief episode directors on Sailor Moon - and echoes of Meg's tempestuous rivalries can be perceived in seinen parodies such as the Project A-Ko franchise. The "fan service" angle would turn up again in countless other future series, such as Gainax's Neon Genesis Evangelion.
The program's impact on Japanese popular culture should not be underestimated; thematic descendants include the entire magical girl genre, along with some degree of bishōjo, lolicon and hentai material. Megu's effect on Japan's burgeoning manga industry has yet to be documented, but considering the vast number of shōjo titles currently available, it is safe to assume that Majokko Megu-Chan's animated adventures must have inspired at least a few of them.
The series gained moderate recognition after it reached the European market (with the heroine's name Anglicized to Meg in the French dub, changed to Bia in the Italian, Portuguese, and Polish versions, and changed to Maggie in the Spanish dub), but remains largely unknown in the United Kingdom and the United States, as it has never been translated into English with the exception of fansubs of a handful of episodes. Outside Japan, the series achieved its greatest popularity in Italy in the early 1980s (as Bia - la sfida della magia, or Bia - The Magical Challenge); however, the Italian dub skipped nine of the 72 episodes (hence the reason why some sources list the series as consisting of only 63 episodes) and also made a few edits for content in the extant episodes. The undubbed episodes were fairly dark, most of them dealing with suicide. The edits made in the Italian version carried over into the Polish and Portuguese versions, which were adapted from the Italian and not from the original Japanese.
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