Himitsu Nikki

Himitsu Nikki no Kazahana (Snowflake's Secret Diary) is an open source doujinshi series set within the Miho-Chan continuity. Created by Simon Kirby, it is depicted as a spin-off of the fictitious cartoon series Kagaya Hime Miho-Chan, featuring a detailed faux history and a large cast of supporting characters.

Premise
Ten year-old Nikki Hasegawa has discovered that Miyamae Academy holds a dark and terrible secret: built over the ruins of an ancient Demon Gate, it is haunted by various supernatural entities, including ghosts, devils, and ijiwaru. Following a close encounter with some mischievous spirits, Nikki enlists her two closest friends, Hiroe and Saori, to locate the source of these prank-playing apparitions. The usual hi-jinx ensue as the girls' plans are constantly foiled by the dark trickster Ankoku and his impish minions. Complicating issues further, nobody believes the girls are being ambushed by paranormal beings, dismissing clearly paranormal events as perfectly natural phenomena. Much of the show's humor pivots on Nikki's inability to convince her teachers that the school is haunted, despite demonic creatures literally oozing out of the woodwork right in front of them.

Characters

 * Nikki Hasegawa: The series' main protagonist, an early precurser to the present day Dojikko. Something of a bookworm, she learns about the Demon Gate while exploring the library's rare books collection.
 * Saori Takamura: Nikki-chan's best friend and loyal confidant. A gabby tomboy, she often claims to be able to whip any boy in her class (and frequently does).
 * Hiroe Kiyushi: Ikusa's resident pretty girl; sweet, innocent and not terribly bright. Ironically enough, her innate telepathic abilities afford her considerable influence over Miyamae's demonic population.
 * Ankoku Saruyu: a recurring villain from Kagaya Hime Miho-Chan, Ankoku is a prince of the Netherworld, charged with keeping the Demon Gate open. More a devious trickster than a Complete Monster, his main role is to stir up trouble between Miyamae-ku's "Meddling Kids" as often as possible.
 * Miss Yamada: the girls' beloved homeroom teacher (previously featured in Kagaya Hime), she is highly skeptical of the girls' stories and usually blames her students for the disruptions caused by Ankoku's poltergeists.

Faux History
Created in 1966 by cartoonist Kawana Mimiko, Himitsu Nikki was published in the "underground" shojo manga Tejina Yuujin from 1967-1970. Ostensibly targeting a female demographic, the strip employed comedy, romance and fantasy to collar the emerging Mahou Shoujo market of the mid-sixties.

The manga was adapted into animated format by Fujimura Doga between 1969 and 1971, running a total of 52 episodes. While remaining consistent with Kawana's manga, a number of changes were made for the animated adaptation, most notably changing the setting to Miyamae-ku and adding crossover characters from Mahou No Shiko-Chan and Kagaya Hime Miho-Chan.

Although Fujimura Doga planned to produce a third season, a storeroom fire in 1972 destroyed most of the original footage, and the project was abandoned in favor of Majokko Megumi-Hime, a late entry into the "teen witch" genre. Himitsu Nikki faded into obscurity for over thirty years until a grainy Chinese dub was discovered in 2002. Twenty episodes were digitally restored and colorized for the Lost Anime Collection released by Fujimura in 2005. Unfortunately, only ten thousand disks were actually burned, making it one of the most obscure cartoons in the history of Japanese animation. The Boxed Set remains unavailable in the West, although pirated copies are rumored to turn up on the black market.