This 26-episode TV series was originally a Japanese/French co-production created by Jean Chalopin and directed by Takehiro Miyano. The title of the series in Japan was Ningyo Hime Marina no Boken (The Adventures of Mermaid Princess Marina), and the series was broadcast on Japan's Fuji TV network from February to July 1991. As in the 1975 feature-length movie version produced by Toei, Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid (with which this series may be confused), the mermaid protagonist was drawn as a blonde in this version and given the name Marina. It also added a new ingredient to the story: a magic potion given to the prince with which he could use to breathe underwater and be with Marina.