, known outside Japan as ''Sugar Princess'', is a

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series by Shosuke Kurakane. The original manga was serialized between 1949 and 1955. In 1986,

Izumi Takemoto is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator. He attended College of Economics at Nihon University. His spouse is manga artist Reiko Yano. He cites artists such as Shinji Wada, Fumio Hisamatsu, Shotaro Ishinomori, and Mitsuteru Yokoyama as hi ...

retold the original manga series, releasing it under the same title and simultaneously with the anime adaptation.

Plot

Anmitsu is a beautiful princess living happily at the Amakara Castle. She is a

tomboy A tomboy is a girl or young woman who generally expresses masculine traits. Such traits may include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and engaging in activities and behaviors traditionally associated with boys or men. Origins The w ...

and doesn't act very ladylike. When Anmitsu turns ten years old, her parents present her with a tutor named Castella, who's from the Pudding Kingdom, in hopes of getting Anmitsu more serious about being a princess. Nonetheless, Anmitsu is still up to her usual antics and frequently escapes from the castle to have fun. However, she learns many things about the world outside the castle and about life in general in her adventures. She also makes new friends and continues to cause trouble for the royalty in Amakara Castle.

Media

Manga

The manga was published in

Kobunsha is a Japanese publishing company. It publishes literature, manga novels, and women's magazines. Company history Kobunsha was established on October 1, 1945, and belongs to the Kodansha group. The company has published Japanese authors such a ...

's ''Shōjo'' magazine from 1949 to 1955. The series helped boost the magazine's circulation to 700,000 copies. It was one of the most popular manga of the early 1950s.

Live-action adaptations

The first adaptations of ''Anmitsu Hime'' came in 1954 with two films. Both starred

Izumi Yukimura is a Japanese popular singer and actress. Yukimura made her debut with the song in 1953. Her style of singing varied from jazz to rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), ...

as Anmitsu Hime. Another film was made in 1960, but with an entirely new staff and cast, starring Haruko Wanibuchi as Animtsu Hime.

Live-action television dramas

* The first TV drama series was broadcast in 1958–1960, featuring Misao Nakahara as Princess Anmitsu. * The second TV drama series was broadcast in 1983–1984, featuring

Kyōko Koizumi (born February 4, 1966) is a Japanese singer and actress. She is signed to Victor Entertainment. Career In 1981, Kyoko Koizumi participated in and won the Star Tanjo! programme and released her first single in March 1982. She obtained several ...

as Princess Anmitsu. * The third TV drama mini-series was broadcast in 2008 and 2009 in the form of two television specials. They feature

Mao Inoue Mao Inoue (井上真央, ''Inoue Mao'', born January 9, 1987), is a Japanese actress. She is best known to Japanese television drama audiences as Makino Tsukushi in the '' Boys Over Flowers'' series and as Sugi Fumi ( ja) in the 54th taiga dr ...

as Princess Anmitsu.

Anime television series

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

adaptation, called ''Anmitsu Hime: From Amakara Castle'' was made by

Studio Pierrot , previously known as until 2002, is a Japanese animation studio established in May 1979 by Yuji Nunokawa, previously an animator and director for Tatsunoko Production. Its headquarters are located in Mitaka, Tokyo. Pierrot is renowned for ...

(with planning cooperation from

Tatsunoko Production and often shortened to , is a Japanese animation company. The studio's name has a double meaning in Japanese: "Tatsu's child" (Tatsu is a nickname for Tatsuo) and " sea dragon", the inspiration for its seahorse logo. Tatsunoko Production was e ...

, who produced the show that previously was in Anmitsu-hime's timeslot: Mirai Keisatsu Urashiman) that aired on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

from October 5, 1986, to September 27, 1987, for a 51-episode run. The broadcast time is from 18:00 to 18:30 on Sunday, it is the time zone which is assigned to "

Chibi Maruko-chan is a manga series written and illustrated by Momoko Sakura. The series depicts the simple, everyday life of Momoko Sakura, a young girl everyone calls ''Maruko'', and her family in suburban Japan in the year 1974. Maruko is a troublemak ...

" since 1990. The series is about a

princess in the late Edo-period world, but with modern-day technology. This anime is tied up with the "Dream Factory" and " Sunset Meow Meow" that were planned by Fuji TV at that time, stories of Princess Anmitsu visiting the "Dream Factory" appears in this anime, and theme songs are also sung by the

Onyanko Club was a large all-girl Japanese pop idol group in the 1980s. Some members of the group participated in spin-off groups, such as Nyangilas, Ushiroyubi Sasaregumi and Ushirogami Hikaretai. Many of the latter two groups' songs were used as theme ...

. ;Theme songs *Opening theme : Koi wa Question *: Singer :

/ Lyricist :

Yasushi Akimoto is a Japanese record producer, lyricist, and television writer, best known for creating and producing some of Japan's top idol groups, Onyanko Club and the AKB48 franchise. Total sales of the singles he has written exceed 100 million copies, ma ...

/ Composer :

Akira Mitake Akira Mitake (見岳章; born November 11, 1956) is a Japanese composer from Tokyo. Mitake composed , ''Like the Flow of the River'', a song recorded by Japanese ''enka'' singer Hibari Misora was a Japanese singer, actress and cultural ico ...

/ Arranger : Akira Mitake *Ending theme : *: Singer : Onyanko Club / Lyricist : Yasushi Akimoto / Composer : Hiro Nagasawa / Arranger : Etsuko Yamakawa

Anime staff

* Director : Masami Annō * Series composition : Yoshio Urasawa * Scenario : Yoshio Urasawa, Yoshiyuki Suga * Character design : Kōji Nanke * Music : Kan Ogasawara * Sound director : Fusanobu Fujiyama * Animation director : Yoshiyuki Kishi * Art director : Torao Arai * Producer : Yoshitaki Suzuki (Studio Pierrot), Ryūnosuke Endō (Fuji TV), Kyōtarō Kimura (Yomiko Advertising) * Planning : Kazuo Shimamura (Yomiko Advertising) * Production Desk : Ken Hagino

Anime cast

* Princess Anmitsu :

Mami Koyama is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator affiliated with Aoni Production. Her best-known voice roles include Ophiuchus Shaina in ''Saint Seiya'', Arale Norimaki in '' Dr. Slump'', Minky Momo in '' Magical Princess Minky Momo'', Lunc ...

* Awanodango no Kami : Takuzō Kamiyama * Shibucha :

Hisako Kyōda is a Japanese actress and voice actress. Some of her major voice roles include Genkai in ''Yu Yu Hakusho'', Omusubiman in ''Soreike! Anpanman'' and Yukari Godai in '' Maison Ikkoku''. Kyōda is affiliated with the talent agency Haikyō. Fi ...

* Hikozaemon Abekawa :

Jōji Yanami was a Japanese actor, Voice acting in Japan, voice actor and narrator who was affiliated with Aoni Production. Some of his major voice roles included the ''Dragon Ball'' anime series, which he narrated and voiced Dr. Briefs, Kaiō-sama ( King ...

* Court Lady Ohagi : Reiko Suzuki * Kaki no Tanesuke :

Shigeru Chiba , known by the stage name , is a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator, talent and sound director from Kikuchi, Kumamoto. He is affiliated with the talent management firm 81 Produce. He is most known for the roles of Yoshihiro Kira from '' Jo ...

* Amaguri no Suke :

Yūko Mita is a Japanese actress and voice actress from Setagaya, Tokyo. She is known for playing gentle, sexy '' bishōjo'' (such as Akemi Roppongi in '' Maison Ikkoku'') as well as many roles of young boys. Her hobbies include tennis and skiing. She is ...

* Manjū :

Yuriko Fuchizaki is a Japanese stage actress and voice actress from Ōta, Tokyo. She is a graduate of the College of Fine Arts at Nihon University. She then moved to Sigma Seven in 1991, and on July 1, 2003, she moved to her current agency, REMAX. From 1987 to ea ...

* Shiomame : Sakurako Hoshino * Sembei :

Tesshō Genda (sometimes credited as Tessyou Genda, Tetsuaki Genda, or Tetsusyo Genda) is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator. He is employed by the talent management firm 81 Produce. When he debuted, he used his real name, as artist name. Because h ...

* Gen'ai Hiraga :

Kei Tomiyama , better known by his stage name , was a Japanese actor, voice actor, and narrator born in Anshan, Manchukuo. He was affiliated with Aoni Production and Production Baobab. Tomiyama is best known for his roles in '' Tiger Mask'' (Naoto Date/Tig ...

* Narrator : Tomoko Ōno

Video game

Master System The is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console manufactured and developed by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series ...

video game based on the series was made, and translated for the Europe, North America and Oceania markets as '' Alex Kidd in High-Tech World'', with the main character replaced with

Alex Kidd is a platform video game series developed by Sega. Games The franchise includes seven titles. * '' Alex Kidd in Miracle World'' - 1986, Master System * '' Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars'' - 1986, Arcade, Master System * '' Alex Kidd: High-Tech ...

and other characters and parts of the game slightly edited to fit the change from a female to a male protagonist; where as the goal of Anmitsu Hime is to reach a cake shop in time before it closes, the localized version changes this to a

game center Game Center is a service by Apple that allows users to play and challenge friends when playing online multiplayer social gaming network games. Games can share multiplayer functionality between the Mac and iOS versions of the app. Game Cent ...

References

External links

Anmitsu Hime film list

contains info on the game

contains info on the 2008 drama
Fuji TV page
contains info on the 2009 drama * {{Onyanko Club 1949 manga 1955 comics endings 1986 anime television series debuts 1986 manga Comedy anime and manga Fantasy anime and manga Fuji Television original programming Kodansha manga Shōjo manga Pierrot (company) Onyanko Club Japanese fantasy comedy films Works about princesses