Maicchingu Machiko-sensei

まいっちんぐまちこせんせい

Aired: 1981 - 1983

A television anime produced by Studio Pierrot and broadcast on TV Tokyo affiliates. A school-comedy adaptation of Takeshi Ebihara's manga, the show centers on Machiko Mai, a young and glamorous middle-school teacher at Arama Junior High, who - day after day - is dragged into slapstick disaster by her hilariously rambunctious students, including the mischievous Yamagata Ken, the calculating Ikegami Takashi, the cute boku-chan, and the prim Doi Akemi. Each catastrophe ends with Machiko's signature flustered catchphrase 'Maicchingu!,' which became a national buzzword and turned the series into the defining 'sexy gag anime' of the early 1980s. Though sometimes controversial for pushing the boundaries of what children's television could show, the series sustained a long run thanks to its lovable cast and surprisingly warm character drama, with opening 'Watashi wa Machiko' (Yuko Imada) and ending 'Bokura wa Chiisana Akuma' (Ritsuko Owada) becoming era-defining anime songs.