Mahou no Mako-chan (魔法のマコちゃん, English: Magical Mako) is the third anime series in the magical girl genre and the first to be an original source. Heavily inspired by The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, it follows the story of Mako, a 15-year-old, who was raised as a mermaid. When she was granted a promise to meet the "boy of her dreams", she was transformed into a human and got washed ashore where a formally dressed couple decided to raise Mako as their child. Luckily, the town fisherman and his twin grandsons took care of her when Mako's stepparents scheme abusive actions to her. It aired on TV Asahi (then known as NET or Nihon Educational Television) and lasted 48 episodes between November 1970 to September 1971. Mako has become a recognizable character to Toei along with the other classical magical girls and even appeared in the Playstation game Majokko Daisakusen: Little Witching Mischiefs in 1999. The original anime also aired in France.