Miho-chan

Kagaya Hime Miho-Chan is a webcomic character created by Simon Kirby in 2005 (crediting the fictional Fujimura Studios) and published online through various websites. The character has appeared in various forms, including pencil sketches, comic strips, CG illustrations and animated gifs. The majority of the strips are rendered in Photoshop and are clearly inspired by early 60s Japanese cartoons. The character itself is a tribute to early magic girl series such as Mahou Tsukai Sally, Marvelous Melmo, or Himitsu no Akko-chan.

General premise
Radiant Princess Miho follows the tale of Yomeno Miho, a magical princess of the Radiant Kingdom. Bored with court life, Miho-chan runs away to Earth, where she is quickly 'adopted' by a pair of girls her own age. Possessing the usual array of sorcerous abilities, Miho decides to protect her new home from the various witches, demons and giant monsters which periodically threaten humanity in Japanese cartoons.

Her career is cut short when her parents, King Raijin and Queen Mommo, track her down to Miyazakidai Elementary School. After scolding Miho for running away, they agree to let her stay on Earth for one year - on the condition that she live as a mortal child and only ever use her powers for emergencies.

Happy to remain with her new friends, Miho settles down to the kind of life-style normal for a young mahou shoujo - attending school, making friends, falling in love, battling supernatural menaces etc (business as usual, in other words).

Primary cast
Yumeno Miho-Hime: Miho-chan, Princess of the Radiant Kingdom and heir to the Eternal Crown. While basically kind, sweet and generous by nature, her impulsive personality frequently leads her into trouble. Despite her vast magical powers, Miho often miscasts her spells, leading to minor disasters.

Tanaka Hiroko: Hiroko-chan, Miho's best friend, a gabby tomboy in the best Japanese tradition. Frequently sent home from school for chronic misbehavior, drives her parents crazy with her incessant chatter.

Yasuda Kyoko: Kyoko-chan, Miho's other best friend, the group's resident pretty girl. Cute, lovable and 'genki,' but not exactly overburdened with brains. Turns handsprings whenever happy or excited; often scolded for consistently bad grades.

Miss Yamada: Keiko-Sensei, the girls' homeroom teacher. Archetype Japanese educator; kind and fair, but tough when necessary. Acts in loco parentis for Miho and her friends.

Tomoko-San: Miho's live-in housekeeper, former Palace Cook to the Royal Family. A powerful sorceress in her own right, she was sent to Earth to keep an eye on Miho-Chan. Despite her technically subordinant position, Tomoko refuses to take any of Miho's backchat.

Faux history
In common with SK's earlier characters, Miho-chan has been provided with a fictitious history, dating back to the mid-sixties. Under this hypothetical timeline, Kagaya Hime Miho-Chan was an animated series produced by Fujimura Doga and broadcast by the JTV Corporation. Two seasons were released between 1967 and 1968, with an unfinished third season projected for 1969.

Although Fujimura Doga was notorious for its low standards and poor animation, Miho-Chan was something of a breakout series for the company, gaining a respectable level of popularity amongst its target demographic (school-aged girl, 6-12). The cartoon was also the first to use "instant replays" and "slow-motion close-ups" for humorous effect.

The entire series was collected on DVD in 2005 when Fujimura Doga released Kagaya Hime Miho-Chan as part of their Forgotten Anime collection. The DVD features digitally restored and colorized footage (the first season was shot in BW), along with unused scenes from the unfinished third season. Unfortunately, only ten thousand copies were burned, making it one of the most obscure cartoons in the history of Japanese animation. The Boxed Set remains unavailable in the West, although pirated copies are rumored to turn up on the black market.