Friday, February 9, 2007

Ultra Maniac


Information...
Ultra Maniac ( Urutora Maniakku?) is a magical girl manga series, authored by Wataru Yoshizumi, which was later adapted into an anime series, produced by Ashi Productions and Animax.
The series is a
romantic comedy featuring eighth-grader Ayu Tateishi, a tennis club member, and her transfer student friend, Nina Sakura, who is actually a trainee witch from the magical kingdom.
The manga was originally serialized between
2002 and 2004 in Shueisha's Ribon manga magazine, spanning 5-tankobon volumes. It was also later licensed for North American distribution by Viz Media. The series was adapted into a 20-minute anime OVA, released in 2002, and was adapted soon after, into a 26-episode anime television series, which premiered in 2003 across Japan on Animax.

Story...
Ayu Tateishi is a normal middle school student, until the fateful day when she finds the crying Nina Sakura outside the school, looking very dejected. Nina explains that she lost something very dear to her earlier during the day so, Ayu, being a kind girl, offers to help Nina find her lost item. The girls hunt for Nina's lost mini-computer, which is eventually found by Ayu. To repay Ayu for her kindness, Nina struggles to decide whether to let Ayu in on her 'big secret'. Nina is actually from the Magic Kingdom and is a magic-using witch. However, Ayu doesn't realize this immediately, being sort of clueless with computers and merely thinking that Nina is somewhat geeky. Nina struggles with her secret overnight, and in the morning before school confides her secret in Ayu. Of course, Ayu doesn't believe her, since magic is the spice of fairy tales in the real world. The story continues as friendship between Ayu and Nina blossoms, romance between Ayu and Kaji grows, and Nina's magically-inclined friends visit from the Magic Kingdom, to the chagrin of all involved.

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