Megu's bed in the morning to using a fishing rod to lift her skirt. Rabi was not the only voyeur Megu was forced to contend with; there was the vile Chou-san, an agent of the witch queen sent to sabotage Megu's chances of winning the throne. A stereotypical pervert in every sense of the term, Chou spent most of his time spying on Meg and devising ways to publicly humiliate her. In a memorable scene in episode 23, Chou-san rigged Megu's bathtub with wheels, causing it to race around the city while Megu was bathing. Earlier in that same episode, Chou attempted to trick Megu into taking off all of her clothes by hypnotizing her with a magical cuckoo clock; only Non's intervention at the last minute saved Megu from stripping herself totally naked. In another sequence, Chou-san breaks into the Kanzaki residence, hoping to abduct Megu in her sleep (fortunately she woke up in time and chased him out of the house). While his intentions were never stated explicitly, his underlying motivations were always made obvious. Influence on Japanese popular culture Megu-Chan was not the first magical girl anime, but it has been described as the first modern anime series to fall into the genre. Initially overlooked as a minor effort due its relative obscurity following its airing in the seventies, it nonetheless formed a template on which many later scenarios were based. Significantly, many of the show's plot devices were recycled in the enormously successful Sailor Moon (Toei, 1992–1997) – indeed, two later episodes of Megu-chan were directed by Yuji Endo, who later became one of the chief episode directors on Sailor Moon – and echoes of Meg's tempestuous rivalries can be perceived in seinen parodies such as the Project A-Ko franchise. The "fan service" angle would turn up again in countless other future series, such as Gainax's Neon Genesis Evangelion. The program's impact on Japanese popular culture should not be underestimated; thematic descendants include the entire magical girl genre, along with some degree of bishōjo, lolicon and hentai material. Megu's effect on Japan's burgeoning manga industry has yet to be documented, but considering the vast number of shōjo titles currently available, it is safe to assume that Majokko Megu-Chan's animated adventures must have inspired at least a few of them. International distribution and reception The series gained moderate recognition after it reached the European market (with the