Candy Candy

Candy Candy
File:Csonri.jpg Candice White
Genre	Shōjo
Manga
Written by	Kyoko Mizuki
Published by	Kodansha
Anime
Directed by	Shun-ichi Yukimuro
Studio	Toei Animation
Anime
Directed by	Tetsuo Imazawa
Studio	Toei Animation
Related
Haru no Yobigoe, Candy no Natsu Yasumi

Candy Candy is a manga and an anime produced in Japan. The main character, Candice White is a blonde girl with freckles and long, curly hair. Candy Candy was first written in April of 1975 by famed Japanese writer Kyoko Mizuki. When Mizuki joined comics artist Yumiko Igarashi, a Japanese magazine named "Nakayoshi" became interested in Candy Candy. For four years, Candy Candy and her comic friends and enemies starred in a comic strip published by the magazine.

Based on the Manga story

Candy's first love was a character named Anthony Brown, but the series is remembered by the majority of fans as a result of her heartbreaking separation from her true love and soulmate, Terrence "Terry" Granchester (side note: Lord Granchester - there is current a member of the British House of Lords, with the title). A recurrent story arc in the series is the "Prince of the Hill", a mysterious boy Candy met as a child and never saw again. His identity is revealed in the last pages of the manga and in the last chapters of the anime. The author left the story open ended, but a group of fans think that there was some closure in the story, particularly with the Prince of the Hill story arc. Most, however, have waited for a proper closure to the story. However, even in the Novel form, which has been published in three volumes by Kyoko Mizuki, (the pen name of Keiko Nagita), there is no true closure to the story, other than Candy remains at her beloved Pony's Home, helping to care for the children.

The manga and anime focused on the first two books.

The early years

Candy is a six year old little orphan who lives in a foster home near Chicago with Ms. Pony and Sister Lynne (in some countries, her name is either Sister Maria or Sister Mary). She frequently causes mischief with her young friends, especially with her best friend Annie. One day, Annie is adopted by rich parents. She writes letters to Candy but soon she tells her that her parents prefer that she forgets about her past. Heartbroken, Candy goes to her favorite place (Pony's Hill) to cry, but soon she hears the voice of a boy, asking her: "Little girl, you are prettier when you smile than when you cry". The boy is dressed in a full Scottish outfit and carries a bagpipe. Candy is shocked by his outfit but soon they become friends and he plays the bagpipe for her. When she turns around to pick up Annie's letter, the boy mysteriously disappears. The only suggestion that it was not a dream is a brooch in the shape of an eagle with the letter "A" on it. Candy nicknames him "The Prince of the Hill" and she will daydream about this encounter all her life.

The Andrew Family

At age 12, Candy is "adopted" by the Leagan family to serve as a maid. The children, Eliza and Neal often play cruel pranks on her and delight in tormenting her. One day however, she meets three cousins: Archibald (Archie), Alistair (Stear) Cornwell -- both are siblings, and Anthony Brown. They are also Eliza and Neal's cousins and they all belong to the Andrew family. It is soon apparent that the boys all have a crush on Candy, but she clearly prefers Anthony because of his striking resemblance with the Prince of the Hill. When the boys discover Candy's mistreatments (and after many adventures), they have the head of the Andrew house (to which they all belong) adopt Candy. This mysterious gentleman (referred to as Great-uncle Andrew or Grandfather Andrew in some translations) is never seen. He is extremely rich. Candy also befriends Albert, a bearded vagabond that lives in a hunter's lodge with lots of animals.

Now Candy has a new social situation and while some of the Andrew relatives still dislike her (namely Eliza, Neal, their parents and the "apparent" head of the family, Aunt Elroy), the three boys make her feel welcome and help her becoming "a real lady". Her romance with Anthony develops tenderly but is brutally cut short when he falls from his horse during a fox hunt and dies. Interestingly, minutes before his death, he was going to tell Candy about a boy who looked very much like him and who was always around his mother when he was a baby. Candy is heartbroken and tries to return to Pony's Home to overcome her grief. She does not stay long, for Great Uncle Andrew has other plans for her: he is sending her to a boarding school in London. On the way there, on the ship, she sees a young man who resembles Anthony in the shadows. She tries to approach him because he is crying, but he mockingly brushes her off while denying he was crying/upset: she has met Terry Granchester.

St. Paul's College

This boarding school is co-ed, but contact between girls and boys is very limited and severely punished. Since Archie and Stear are her adoptive cousins, Candy is allowed to see them but not as much as she would like. She quickly starts to sneak into the boys residence at night to come chat with them. Also at school, she finds Eliza and Neal, as well as her long lost friend Annie, who pretends not to know her at first but eventually becomes her friend again. She also makes friend with her neighbour, Patricia (Patty) O'Brian. The school days are full of mischief as Candy tries to avoid Eliza's evil schemes. Also in London, she finds her old friend Albert working at a local zoo. He has shaved his beard and looks like a young adult in his twenties.

Terry, the boy she met on the ship, is also attending the same boarding school. He is a rebel and always causes trouble with the nuns who can't really punish him since his father supports the school financially. Candy is troubled by this rebellious boy, particularly because she has seen him cry before: she suspects there is a tragedy in his life. One night, instead of entering Archie's room, she accidentally enters Terry's room and finds out he is the son of Eleanor Baker, a famous American actress. Terry is thus an illegitimate son and he feels torn between a father who has married and a mother who loves him dearly, but thinks it is best not to see each other.

As the story advances, Terry and Candy fall in love. They go together to the Spring School dance but Terry throws a jealous fit when Candy foolishly brings up Anthony while they are dancing. He knows that since the accident, Candy has been frightened of horses and he decides to cure her once and for all. He takes her to the stables and shoves her brutally on his horse. Candy cries but slowly understands that life must go on and that now Terry is her new love.

Candy and her friends go to Scotland during the summer. Terry is also there and is eventually reconciled with his mother thanks to Candy's intervention. He admits that he likes acting too and would like to pursue a career in theatre. Over the summer Terry and Candy really bond, she is more comfortable around him and he is no longer rude to her.

When they come back to school in September, Eliza is jealous of Terry and Candy's relationship (which came to her attention during the summer) and vows to separate them. She sets up rendezvous in the stable for them, fooling them into thinking one needed to talk to the other. She brings the nuns to the stable and they are caught "in scandal". Candy is to be expelled from the school (and nothing will happen to Terry because his father, the Duke of Grantchester is a huge donator) but Terry solves the problem: he will leave the school instead of Candy and go to the United States to pursue his acting dream in order to save Candy from being expelled and possibly risking her adoption by the Andrew family. Candy is unaware of his decision and when she finds out, she decides to leave too and return to America.

Nurse Years

Candy goes back to Pony's Home and finds that Terry was there only minutes before she arrived. Encouraged by Ms. Pony, she decides to study to be a nurse and takes classes in a school in Chicago, where she excels because of her interpersonal skills. She is reunited with her friends from school when they come back from Europe because of rumors of war (it's 1914). Terry's theatre company comes on tour to Chicago and they meet very briefly after chasing each other in the city (their meeting being sabotaged by Terry's partner, Susana Marlowe who has an unrequited crush on Terry). They start writing letters to each other and basically maintain a long distance relationship. World War I begins and there are some thoughts of sending young nurses to the war, but Candy is not selected.

One day, a mysterious patient arrives at the hospital: he was injured in a train explosion in Italy and has amnesia; he was brought to Chicago because it is the only name he says in his delirium. Candy is shocked to recognize her good old friend Albert and personally sees after his needs. Because he has no family or relatives, Albert must leave the hospital and Candy suggests that they get an apartment together so she can continue to take her of him. The thought of her Mr. Albert who has shown her so much kindness in the past going out alone without his memory greatly distresses her. Albert agrees reluctantly at first, but soon they become excellent friends and are very happy living together.

In the meantime, Terry has landed the lead role of Romeo in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Terry invites Candy to New York to the premiere of Romeo and Juliet. His intentions seem matrimonial: he's been saving money and has sent Candy a one way ticket. However, a terrible accident happens during one of the rehearsals: a lamp detaches from the ceiling right above Terry, but Susana (who still has an unrequited crush on him, despite him telling her that he loves Candy, and Candy alone) lunges and pushes him away. Her injuries are so severe that her leg must be amputated. Feeling horribly guilty by what happened, and even more so because he knows of her unrequited feelings for him, Terry does not know what to do, as there is increasing pressure that he should marry Susana from both Susana and Susana's mother. It is in this tense atmosphere that Candy comes to New York. Terry tries to hide the incident from her until a better time, but unfortunately Candy finds out during the premiere. She's stunned to say the least and knows that Terry is probably suffering a great deal because of this moral dilemma, yet she's angered that Susana is blackmailing him into marriage. When she goes to confront Susana about this she arrives just in time to save Susana from committing suicide. The situation is untenable as to what to do, and Candy hastily decides to end her relationship with Terry at once. She believes that by removing herself from the situation will be solved. They have a heartbreaking break up on the hospital stairs (probably the most remembered scene of both the Manga and the Anime for the full emotional impact it carried for both characters), in which they both promise to be happy, as if hoping that the sacrifice of the relationship for someone else's wish would not be in vain. Heartbroken, Candy returns to Chicago under the haze of a high fever and tormented with knowing that her dream of marrying Terry has been shattered. She returns to the loving care and support of Albert who is very concerned about her well being and providing a shoulder for her to cry on.

The months pass and Candy tries heals from her grief, by devoting herself to her work and to Albert's memory recovery. Unfortunately, people begin to whisper about her living with a man she is not married to. Also around this time, Stear, who had joined the Army, dies in combat. Albert recovers his memory abruptly and remembers who Candy really is and more importantly, who he really is. He hides this from her at the beginning, but once the whispers become unbearable (Candy is fired from the hospital), he decides to leave to avoid causing more problems for her. Candy misses him a lot and is worried about his health, as she is unaware he's recuperated his memory in full. One day he sends a package to her and hoping to see him to ensure he's fine, she goes to Rockston, Illinois only to find that Terry is acting in a low class theatre, drunk. Candy realizes he has arrived to that state because of the pain he feels over the breakup. Since Susana is still dependent on Terry, Candy knows that the only way she can help him come out of this is to remind him of his dream. By sheer willpower, she manages to reach the actor, who snaps back into action. He sees Candy from the stage in his drunken stupor and delivers a performance worthy of his talents. Afterwards, despite the acknowledgement that he cannot forget Candy, he finds the strength to go back to his life in New York, in someway perhaps honoring their mutual wish when they broke up, to be happy despite the circumstances of their separation. This is the last time they see each other, each seeming to go in their separate ways. Before leaving Rockston, however, Candy runs into Terry's mother, who tells her that only one person was capable of saving her son.

Back in Chicago, the days go by peacefully until Neal starts wooing Candy. He is unsuccessful because she remembers how cruel he was to her as a child. He arranges a forced marriage. Astonished, Candy decides to seek the mysterious Great Uncle Andrew to forbid the union. George, Great Uncle Andrew's faithful lawyer and consigliore, drives her to the mansion where he is staying. There Candy discovers shockingly that the Great Uncle Andrew is none other than her old friend Mr. Albert. He was the brother of Anthony's mother Rosemary, to whom he had been greatly attached to. This also explains the resemblance between the two men (uncle/nephew). His identity was hidden from all partly because of his young age and because he did not wish to be the head of the family and run the business. He makes a dramatic appearance in front of the Chicago society to prevent Candy's arranged marriage to Neal.

The End

Still shocked by her discovery that Albert is the great uncle Andrew, Candy goes back to Pony's Home to reflect on the events in her life. In Pony's Hill, she remembers her friends, Anthony and Stear who have died. A tear falls from her eyes and a familiar voice says; "Little girl, you are much prettier when you smile..." As she looks up, she has a new surprise: Albert is standing there. Candy realizes HE has been the Prince of the Hill all these years. "Albert, Great Uncle William... and then my Prince!" she exclaims as she runs to him.

Candy Candy: The Novel

Keiko Nagita's (pen name Kyoko Mizuki) Candy Candy novel, consisting of three volumes, has piqued the interest of the Candy Candy fans outside of Japan for some years. Unfortunately, this novel was only available in Japan and published in Japanese. Of particular interest is the 3rd volume, which covers the period after the events chronicled in the Manga and Anime. There is some work being done by the fans in the western world to translate parts of the novel. However, what little has been translated had yielded that true to her artistic form, Nagita/Mizuki does not provide a concrete closure to the story. Yet, in the last letter that closes out the novel, Candy is still the opimistic, life-loving and cheeful heroine that has captured her fan's heart and imaginations, decades later.

Vintage : Manga and Anime

Manga serialization on Nakayoshi Monthly Magazine:

Announcement of a new series appeared on March 1975 issue of Nakayoshi.
First episode published in April 1975, and continued until the last episode in March1979.
However, did not appear on the following issues due to various reasons, which are November 1975, December 1976, January 1978 and June 1978.

TV Anime aired on NET (current Asahi TV):

First Episode aired on September 1st 1976, the last episode aired on February 2nd 1979, totalling 115 episodes.

Complete Manga Collection Books

Legitimate copies of manga were published by Kodansha and Chuokoronsha.
There are 9 volume, 6 volume, 5 volume and 2 different 2 volume sets, and these are readily available in used book market in Japan.
2 CD scanned Manga were also produced by Maniax

Complete TV Anime Collection

There are legitimate VHS copies available in Japanese, but seems to be missing significant number of episodes.

Piracy

There are many pirated copies of manga and anime in various languages.
All non-Japanese language manga books or anime VHS, VCD or DVD can be assumed to be pirated copies. However, the anime series was legally (though briefly) syndicated on TV in the US and Canada in the early 1980s, in English and French. Both versions also had at least one volume released on VHS in the mid-1980s.
There is scanslation of complete Manga available in English.

Popularity

Candy Candy reached great heights of popularity during the era, with different types of toys about her selling at the Japanese market. These toys included dolls, girl watches, and other items. Seeing that the comic had become so popular among Japanese girls, in 1979, a Japanese television network began to show the Candy Candy cartoon. By then, one feature film about Candy Candy and her friends had been released on Japanese cinemas. Another one would be released in 1992.

Candy Candy reached international fame during the early 1980s, becoming popular in Southeast Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States, among other places. Candy Candy toys were also sold in large quantities in these areas. In Puerto Rico, where the show was known as just Candy, Candy Candy actually made a cross-over of sorts, because, even though the show was supposedly geared towards girls, a large number of Puerto Rican boys also became fans of the show, probably attracted by the main character's looks and the action portrayed in it. Although Candy Candy was a cartoon show, it contained soap opera elements: the television version of Candy Candy had a continuous story, so every chapter began where the last chapter had left off.

The internet fandom of Candy Candy is particularly divided between those who feel Terry is Candy's true love and they should be reunited, and those who feel the series did reach a satisfactory conclusion, with Albert as Candy's love interest from the beginning to the end, despite the obvious legal ties of adoptor/adoptee.

During the 2000s, Candy Candy episodes began to be sold on bootleg DVD format, as the legal lawsuits between the authors halted any production of licensed goods.

Controversy

Igarashi allegedly tried to take complete ownership of Candy Candy to collect all royalties related to the cartoon character and its products. She began to produce Candy Candy material without the consent of her former friend and partner Mizuki, as well as Toei, the film making company in charge of Candy Candy's recorded productions. This infuriated both Mizuki and the Toei company.

In 1998, Mizuki, one of the better known female comic and cartoon writers in Japan, filed a suit on a Tokyo district court. Mizuki did not ask for full copyright ownership of the character; she just asked the court to recognize that she and Igarashi have the same rights of ownership over the copyrights of Candy Candy for future Candy Candy cartoon, film and toy sales.

In 1999, the court ruled in favor of Mizuki. The ruling made history, because it is believed that it was the first time in Japanese justice that two people were given the same amount of copyright percentage over a Japanese product.

The ruling was supported by Tokyo's High Court in 2000 and the Supreme Court in 2001.

Igarashi then sued Toei, the filming company. Toei immediately stopped showing the series on Japanese national television, but the case fell through.

On May 31, Mizuki was awarded 29,500,000 yen by a court. That money was given as compensation for the emotional stress she allegedly went through while all these cases were dissolved in the Japanese courts.

In 2003, a company in Saitama Prefecture that had been producing Candy Candy toys for a large number of years won a case against two Tokyo companies that had been illegally producing Candy Candy jigsaw puzzles. The Saitama Prefecture-based company earned 7.8 million yen and a ban on the publication of further jigsaw puzzles with Candy Candy as a central character.

Modern Candy Candy

In 2005, the Candy Candy franchise began to try to re-establish itself in the United States (citation needed). Due to all the court cases that unfolded after Candy Candy became a television program, however, it is very unlikely that it will be shown on television again, as Nagita/Mizuki communicated on January 16, 2006 in an open letter to fans that the very thought of Candy Candy made her head hurt.

Candy Candy has worldwide cult status outside of the United States, having been shown in all of Latin America, several Asian countries and most of the European Countries, including Spain, France, Italy, Romania, Greece, Turkey and Russia. In the United States, only those who had access to Japanese TV stations saw the series in Japanese with English subtitles. Most fans who are based in the United States at present saw the series in their home countries.

External links

• Nila's Candy Candy Fan Page in English
• Sophie's Candy Candy Fan Page in French
• Lady Gato's >^..^< Candy Candy Fan Page in English
• Sybilla's Gothic Candy Candy Fan Site Media:Candycandy.jpg
• nichiebeianime.com's take on Candy Candy, with images
• Candy Blanca en el Hogar de Pony - History, galleries, downloads (in Spanish)