Anime/Manga Review
“Saint Tail” by Megumi Tachikawa

When looking for something kind of Nihonjin anime that can be watched by children under the age of twelve, it can be hard since what we consider proper for our child’s viewing is different from what parents in Nihon would consider proper. The same can be true of manga too but there is one series I can truly say can be watched, read and enjoyed by all ages without worry, Saint Tail.

The main character of Saint Tail is Meimi Hanoka, the daughter of a successful stage magician (her father) and a retired acrobatic (her mother). From her outer appearance, she seems a typical Nihonjin girl going to a Catholic school, Saint Paula Academy, in the port city of Seika City. But at night when all good boys and sweet girls are asleep, she becomes the cat burglar, Saint Tail. Yet there is nothing sinful about her nightly deeds for they are done to right the wrongs done by others. To aid in her quest to help others are the nun-in-training, Seira Mimori, and her hedgehog pet, Ruby. Since Saint Tail is breaking the law, she is pursued by a fellow classmate, Daiki Asuka Jr., who doesn’t know Saint Tail and Meimi are the same person (Asuka’s father is a police detective). To complicate matters Meimi is pursued by the dashing school newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Sawatari, who has a crush on the girl, while her alter ego is chased not only by Asuka Jr. but also by Lina Takamiya, the mayor’s niece who is in love with Asuka Jr. These love interests only add to Meimi’s own going affection for Asuka Jr. but his obsession to capture Saint Tail is causing her to look upon herself as her own rival.

Saint Tail is the creation of Megumi Tachikawa, a shy storyteller with a flair for comedy and drama, who is very open with her fans about her life as a manga artist/writer (every Saint Tail issue contains comments by Megumi covering questions asked by the readers). According to Megumi, she was influenced by three animated series when she came up with the Saint Tail series: “Magical Emi” (about girl who did magic), “Lupin III” and “Cat’s Eye.” Another influence was a song she would listen to when she was still a student, Seiko Matsuda’s “Pink Cheetah” (a love story about a thief and a detective).

The popularity of the Saint Tail manga (1995-1996) brought about the creation of the Saint Tail anime. Most of the stories do come from the manga series with changes here and there due to when they appear in the anime series (1995-1996 as “Kaito Saint Tail”, as you can tell by the date, Saint Tail came out about the same time as Sakura Cardcaptor). The only major difference between the manga and the anime series is how Saint Tail does her magic (here is a clue: in the manga series Meimi asks God to “forgive us for the tricks up our sleeves” while in the anime series Meimi says, “Lord, forgive me, for I use no gimmick or trick”). The main voice actors for the series are Sakurai Tomo/Mela Lee (Meimi/Saint Tail), Inoue Kikuko/Anjul Cain (Seira Mimori), Okano Kousuke/Joshua Seth (Asuka Jr.), Yuko Nagashima (Lina Takamiya), Satomi Koorogi/Brianne Siddall (Ruby) and Jason Spisak (Sawatari). Junko Abe did the character designs, Hiroshi Hashimoto wrote the scripts and Osamu Nabeshima/Hitoyuki Matsui directed the series.

The animation is close to the same level of Sakura Cardcaptor and it captures the style of the original manga artwork. If you enjoy Sakura Cardcaptor, you will enjoy Saint Tail.