Candy Candy

Candy Candy (キャンディ・キャンディ, Kyandi Kyandi) is a Japanese anime created by Japanese writer Keiko Nagita under the pen name Kyoko Mizuki. It was published as a manga in April 1975 written by Mizuki and illustrated by Yumiko Igarashi, a collaboration which was put together by the Japanese magazine Nakayoshi that was interested in recreating a "masterpiece" manga in the same vein as Heidi, Anne of Green Gables, among others. The manga series ran for four years, and won the 1st Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo in 1977. The story was adapted into an anime series by Toei Animation. There are also three animated short films. In addition, a three-volume novel was published between 1978 and 1979. To create the story of Candy Candy, its author Keiko Nagita was primarily inspired by the novel Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster, in which the protagonists Jerusha Abbott and Jervis Pendleton fall in love despite their bond as guardian and ward, confirming in various interviews that the character Albert is Candy's true and destined love, being present in all phases of her life: past (prince), present (friend/guardian) and future (husband).