Sally, the kind but mischievous princess of the Land of Magic, has developed an interest in the human world. Wanting to experience it for herself, she runs away and meets two girls her age—Yoshiko "Yocchan" Hanamura and Sumire Kasugano—at a department store. They quickly become friends and spend time at Sally's mansion, which she conjured with magic.

The two girls realize they forgot something at the store, and despite it having closed for the night, they leave to fetch the item. Sally and her younger brother Cub, who had been sent by their parents to retrieve her, follow them and discover that they have been captured by a pair of thieves who were attempting to rob the store. Utilizing their magic, Sally and Cub drive the thieves away and rescue the girls, who remain unaware of Sally's powers.

Attached to her new friends and the fun of the human world, Sally decides to stay, taking up the surname Yumeno and attending school with Yocchan and Sumire. Cub chooses to live with her and together they make a variety of new friends and go on various adventures, all the while spicing up their lives with magic.

Based on the manga "Sally the Witch" by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, this was the first TV animation series to target the shoujo demographic. This was also the first Japanese TV animation series in the "mahou shoujo" genre, and the success of this series led to the emergence of the "shoujo anime". The first 17 episodes were broadcast in black and white, and the 18th and later episodes in color.