Anime: Ultra Maniac 2i2u2h

Ultra Maniac isn't "ultra" by any means, nor is it really maniacal. What it is though, is a pretty decent shoujo series that grows on you like a malignant tumor, without the resulting fatal outcome.

Summary: Ayu meets a girl named Nina right around the time she starts her second year of middle school (8th grade for us Americans). Little does she know that Nina is a witch, a magic . Nina is a dropout from the Magic Kingdom (I swear every time they said this, I heard the Super Mario Bros. theme...) sent to the human world for some study abroad...and some other purposes as well. Over the course of a year, Nina and Ayu experience most of what normal 14 year old girls do: crushes, parties, first loves, fights, and lots of magic. And lots of transformations. While the transformations in Ultra Maniac are of the magical kind, ask anyone who's been in school about the sorts of transformations that 14 year old girls go through. Go on. The review will still be here when you're done.

Animation
Character Design: Since this is a shoujo series, expect one thing and one thing only: KAWAIIIIIIIIIII~~~~. All of the characters are just plain cute. Well, in Ayu's case, omg. Auburn hair and gray eyes? Rawr. Now if she was only about ten years older...

Ahem. All of the character designs are meant to be attractive. The artists make sure that they don't always wear the same clothing out of uniform, so no complaints there. The guys look pretty nice too, nice guys with smiles and pleasant demeanor. You're not going to find any seriously unattractive characters except maybe cameraboy, who doesn't really show up a whole lot anyways. The only thing that's wrong with some of the character design is stick-limb-syndrome. As with many other shows, these poor girls have toothpicks for bones. At times, all of the characters seem to be a little vertically stretched, but it's most noticeable with the girls.

One item of the animation that a lot of people may not enjoy is the SD faces. Lots of deformed faces for moods, lots of blue foreheads and squiggly lines and >_> and >_< and...yeah. Those things amuse me so I don't downgrade based on them, but this show almost took them to the point where I got sick of it. Almost!

Op/Ed: Well, the opening is pretty much a glamour show for the girls. The poor guys get a cameo or two and that's it, but you're treated to Nina and Ayu in a bunch of cute outfits which gets old after about the third time through. The end is a little darker, but the image of the two girls asleep is cute enough to watch repeatedly.

Artwork: Pretty good stuff. The art for the Magic Kingdom (LUIGI? MARIO?) is pretty cool looking. The school backgrounds are good, but re-used rather a lot.

Sound
Op/Ed: Both songs grow on you like the rest of the series. At first, I didn't care too much for them, but after a while, they caught on a bit. They're good enough to listen to most of the time, but not good enough to run out and procure the single. The opening is a nice upbeat pop track, while the ending is a little slower. I'm kind of surprised the singer could get the final couple of lines out for the ending without swallowing her own tongue. I may want to meet her.

Ahem.

Music: Some day, there will be a series that makes truly good use of inset music. This is not that series. Background music is the same as with most series - a few tracks that get repeated over and over to set moods and then there's a brief inset of the theme song during the last episode. GET CREATIVE, PEOPLE.

Voices: Having a dual-audio version of this, it defaulted to English. It took me no more than 5 minutes to swap it to Japanese audio for the rest of the series. Shudder. All the Japanese voice actors do a good job. Nothing spectacular, nothing terrible and grating. Nina particularly stood the chance of becoming a squealing cutesy voice, but thankfully, that tendency was averted.

Story
Plot: Well, the plot is banal, but it IS a shoujo series. Don't expect much. Most of the show is just random hijinks with smatterings of plot development until the last third, at which point romantic interests get dealt with and the overplot gets completely revealed and resolved. I don't think it's giving anything away to say that the ending is "awwwww!" and that the payoff is decent enough. If you can't see it coming from the first few episodes, I have no words to describe the depths of your utter lack of clue.

Writing: Here is where I bitch. Did the writers really have to put the SAME DAMN TRANSFORMATION SCENE into every single episode? Or the "using magic" scene? If you discount the first couple of episodes where it's cool and then add up the time from each other episode...there is almost literally an entire episode's worth of re-used transformation/magic scenes in this show. I don't count this as an animation flaw - this is something that should be stomped on at the script level. There is no reason to yoink a minute or so out of each episode to show this girl transforming.

Another issue is just the stupidity of some of the characters. I know it's not a particularly cerebral series, but come on, some of it felt very forced. If the characters had used their brains...oh well.

Character
Interest: The majority of the interest in the girls is their cuteness. They're funny and it's a feel-good series, but there's not much else to it. Even the major bad-girl character in the series is pretty pathetic. The guys are nice guys, and even when one of them is revealed to be not-so-nice, he's still nice. What...the...? Basically, what I'm trying to impart here is that all the characters are basically the same - all nice, good kids.

I do have to bitch about the bad-girl character. I hate seeing stupid evil characters. She had no style, no intelligence, and no redeeming characteristics. She was merely a bitch and her involvement at the end evoked nothing but a sigh and a hope for karmic retribution from me. It's a light fluffy anime so the antagonist has to be light and fluffy as well...but that makes the antagonist weak and uninteresting. Difficult line to walk.

The side characters were pretty weak in this series, unfortunately. While the teacher romance was mildly amusing, it's hardly referenced. Cameraboy is around a lot at first, then it seems like he's been forgotten till near the end. Rio the cat is probably the most interesting and amusing secondary character.

Growth: Not really any growth, per se. The characters don't fundamentally change over the course of the series, except for one completely unsurprising event at the end. While romantic resolutions do take place, they are hardly addressed afterwards. Light and fluffy, ...light and fluffy.

Value and Enjoyment: Well, minus the stupid transformations, I'd say that the show is a good value. It'd be a nice show to watch with a significant other just for some light fluffy "awww!" time. That is, if you don't start giggling every time they say "Magic Kingdom" (where's my fire flower?) and completely ruin the mood.

I did enjoy the series in the end, though the payoff was only so-so and it took me nearly half the series to get to the point where I really wanted to watch it. Once it gets moving, it's enough to keep you interested till the end.

Conclusion: Be patient with this show and it'll be good to you. I don't recommend it to anyone except the shoujo fans out there, though. This is not a cross-genre wallbreaker. It's just a decent happy fluffy show. If you want something deep and compelling, look elsewhere. If you need to feel good and smile, Ultra Maniac will fit the bill.

What an amazing anime!
Cute, funny, and well scripted, Ultra Maniac also boasts great characters and development.

Definitely one of my favorites, but take it for what it's worth, I must accept my fate as a shoujo fan *sigh*

This is one which you could definitely show to a younger audience, there is nothing objectionable in Ultra Maniac-land, and I believe that younger ages will enjoy this one as well.

~Animation~
Very nice, nothing overly special, but I really like the style. The characters remind me heavily of Kodomo no Omocha, but from my ive investigation the animators aren't the same. Still, those eyes...

One thing that was bothersome about the animation were all the transforation sequences. Anime creators need to take a hint from Full Moon wo Sagashite and Cardcaptor Sakura which blended the transformations directly into the story or did not use them at all.

~Sound~
The seiyuu were good, as for music, it was cute and fit the mood for the most part, but was sort of annoyingly cute, too.

I like the op/end theme, but dislike how both of them start off... it's weird, I think the ending (Hitotsu=Unmei Kyoudoutai) is extremely disharmonious, but I love it anyway. In any case, both themes fit the anime very well.

I must give a Negative point for abuse and misuse of the word "Practice", as well as the annoying sound at the end of the transformation sequences.

~Story~
Very awesome, cute story!

A fairly unoriginal love theme taken to an original setting, the script is well written and the way things play out is superb.

Ultra Maniac is a light, highly enjoyable Mahou Shoujo anime (magic girl).

~Character~
The characters are very well done, although some lacked in proper development...

No evil characters here, everyone is a good guy...

And, it's nice to watch them develop, though the pace was EXTREMELY rushed. It's sort of like they all went from infancy to adulthood in the span of a few hours. Well, they did, but I mean in the anime's timeframe, which is only about two months anyway!

~Value~
Definitely one that I could watch again, but like I said, I seem to favor Shoujo anime, so
skew the review if you'd like.

I couldn't suggest this as a purchase unless you have younger children, though. Thanks to anime-keep for an excellent fansub.

Surprisingly GOOD TV series.

After the multitude of comments about the OVA, I was certain the TV series would be an improvement (as Green Green TV is much better than it's preceding OVA.) Whether I see the OVA or not doesn't matter - this story rocks.

Magical Kingdom? Nina Sakura is a witch - but only Ayu Tateishi knows that! An exchange student from a world of magic. Well, Nina's magic isn't too good still. It's rather strange, as a certain challenge awaits her as she and Ayu share middle school life (and love) in this cute, underestimatable comedy.

When I say underestimatable - I'm not talking bullshit: Ultra Maniac has a very subtle and indistinct beginning. It's like a lot of other stories, and the plot gets incredibly dull. In the last several episodes, though, the story takes a serious shift into romance and relationships; the moment the story takes this shift can leave the watcher (or at least me) in disbelief at the several episodes beforehand.

The story has little plot shift, filler episodes are the make up of the story. Don't expect large story arcs, Ultra Maniac is very straightforward despite the slow movement throughout the episodes. The ending was good, completely positive, and works to completion. I wouldn't expect at all a second season coming up, but it could happen.

Characters: woo hoo.

Another lazy story with amazing characters. Nina is very cute - she reminds me of Chii from Chobits on several occasions. Ayu expresses as a much more mature, but overtly intricate character, as she still is quite unique amongst the rest of the cast. These two and their friendship are really the center of the story, which isn't bad since they are the only two which need to be understood so well.

As for the development of the others, they had just the amount required to settle as completed personalities. At first I didn't think the anime would ever develop the guys, Tsujiai and Kaji, but to my surprise (as with many of the other characters) there is much explanation. A certain character is introduced extremely late, and this makes the story lopsided and quickened in pace too soon, thus why character lost a point. It would have been perfect had the character been introduced sooner. -_-

Animation? Oooh...

It has many ups, and few downs. For example, there are many "blue faces" for exaggerated expressions. I'm not sure why the producer felt the need to abuse this method, but it often made me smile or more interested in the characters.

The animation reflects people in high school - small, cuddly "virgin" characters. They look so pure quite often, and their expressions gradually mature as the story progresses. Towards the end, magic dominates the sequence of events - a well done portion, indeed.

Nothing gets too out of whack (such as abruptly bizarre faces), but a particular scene of Nina transforming dominates every episode - it is very much like Sailor Moon. This is sometimes frustrating - along with another repeated sequence of the use of magic. Last of all, no blood or ecchi moments (oh well...), but there is some decent action and movement.

The music OWNS.

Another reason why I like Ultra Maniac has to be the opening song. Trust me, the first time you hear it you will say, "What the heck?" After about 3-4 episodes you will be dancing your ass off as can+goo rocks on with Kagami no Naka. Also, the ending Hitotsu = Unmei Kyoudoutai (also by can+goo) is good. The background music is very cheesy. I liked it anyways, since the opening theme and ending theme is reflected several times in the synthesizer.

Comedy, with some love - and a lot of cuteness.

I think what appealed to me the most about Ultra Maniac was the characters and their feelings. It lives as a magical story mixed in with high school love and comedy, nothing more or less. The comedy is very much girl-oriented, and wouldn't make many people laugh...but it is cute and makes one want to be characters in the animation.

As for rewatchability? I don't know, honestly. I erased it as I lack space at this moment, but I didn't really want to erase it now that I realize how many people would like it. Newbies I wonder about, but seasoned otakus that appreciate romance, comedy lovers and magic-masochists will want to see this. After all is said and done, Ultra Maniac can be quite a surprise.

Enjoyable show, without flaws and with unnecessary transformations

The worst part about Ultra Maniac is easily its production. Depending on where the episode was outsourced to the quality varies between fairly decent and pretty much unwatchable. Especially the A-Line episodes are a feast of their own bugged with badly drawn frames galore, which destroys any serious, no actually every scene to begin with as you watch badly animated and even worse drawn paper sheets with voice over. And the composition of the show doesn't exactly help those scenes as Ultra Maniac is the typical digital production with its bad and misfitting composition. The rather blank art direction is typical for a shoujo manga adaptation and may it be for the better absolutely forgettable after the aforementioned problems, which may be even for the better. There is nothing to complain about the direction itself, as the show does never stray from the manga and keeps itself to a basic "Nina's magic goes haywire" episode of the week for most of the run, until it gets serious towards the end and wraps up everything at once.

As it always happens the intro and outro are the best part of the show, especially aided by the catchy songs, Kagami no Naka for the opening and Hitotsu = Unmei Kyoudoutai for the ending, both provided by J-Pop group can/goo. As it happens the background music was, while not a stand-alone, well chosen for the anime itself.

The story feels nice, but is nothing original. It takes some bits from everywhere and in the end you have a plot which is not outstanding but doesn't give one a bad feeling of copying a lot. Basically the story deals with the two girls. Ayu, a highly regarded idol student among the girls at her school, and the leader of the tennis club. And Nina, an odd girl who originally is from the Magic Kingdom. It is shown their every day life and how they both deal with love and other problems. The fact that Nina can do a little magic leads to many misunderstandings and funny situations. Guess it sounds worse than it actually is. You have the usual character types as expected from a show in this genre. Still, the development is good and not all characters are what they seem to be.

This show is not outstanding in this genre, anyhow it's one of the better. It has generally a nice feel, if you disregard the bad parts, and has all things a shoujo fan would like, love triangles, broken hearts and many more of the usual elements. The comedy parts were funny, the serious parts were believable. One rather annoying thing are the transformation sequences, where Nina transforms in a sort of Little Red Riding Hood. It is quite long, happens at least once every episode and is basically just a device to save animation work, which is still in a dump even with such measures.

In the end the anime is only worth it for little girls who are fans of other works by Yoshizumi Wataru. Other people are better of trying one of the fewer shoujo shows which do actually use the features of animation, instead of being a manga with colours.