Ultra Maniac ep.15-18

May 18, 2004 | 7 Comments

Well, after almost half a season full of fillers, the main stories start coming out thick and fast in these four episodes. That does not mean that there are no more filler in these episodes. The difference is that the filler is actually used to advance the main plot of the series. I think this is what this series should have done right from the start. Especially since by the look of things, the anime version seems to take a rather different route from the manga. At any rate, these episodes give a rather heavy focus on the relationship between the characters. The writers have also wisely decided to shift all focus of the story into Nina, who becomes more and more interesting with each episode. Unfortunately, this does leave Ayu with not much of a story apart from her relationship with Kaji.

Episode fifteen begins with Maya looking at a mysterious pendant while looking a bit wistful, which is kind of unusual for her. The next day, Maya for some reason has developed an interest in Tsujiai. Maya even goes out of her way to buy an interesting toy for Tsujiai so that he'll be interested in her. The two quickly bonds in their interest for odd toys and at one point are spotted going shopping together by Kaji, Ayu, and Nina. This recent development seems to stir up some kind of emotion in Nina although it seems she's still oblivious as to what it means. Having said that, she definitely doesn't look happy when she sees Maya and Tsujiai together. But it seems that Maya's true intention in getting to know Tsujiai better is simply because she wants to obtain the next magic orb which apparently will appear near Tsujiai's house. She, however, becomes disappointed when her mini-computer shows no sign of the orb inside Tsujiai's house.

Never the less, Maya decides to continue the charade and asks Tsujiai if he likes her. Tsujiai, however, can't give her an answer and decides that he'll think it over. Not long after this, Tsujiai and Kaji decide to go to the beach and invite Ayu, and Nina to come with them especially since Tsujiai has a villa near the beach. Their conversation, however, is heard by one of Maya's pet, the black crow. It immediately decides to let her owner know about the information. Maya is then seen trying to sneak into Tsujiai's beach house but is then caught red handed by Tsujiai and invited to come to the house anyway. Tsujiai then tells Maya that he has to let her know that he has no interest in her because he is already interested in another girl. Maya, however, couldn't care less and decides to use her computer to track the orb. When Tsujiai realises that Maya has ulterior motive for getting to know him, he gets angry and asks if she even understand what being in love means.

Upon hearing this, Maya cries and angrily tells Tsujiai that she knows what it means and runs away from the house. Meanwhile, Nina notices that her computer has detected the presence of an orange orb near Tsujiai's house. Maya, who's also somewhere in the beach looking at the strange pendant also realises this and goes to search for the orb. The two magic girls end up competing for the orb again, unaware that Kawanakajima is busy snapping photograph of their transformation as well as there witch-related activities. Anyway, after giving the orb a chase, Maya ends up as the one who managed to obtain the orange orb, which is the power orb. Nina looks disappointed in her failure but decides not to dwell in her failure for far too long as she sits inside a train that takes her and the others back to the city. In the process, however, she notices that Tsujiai has been staring intently at her from across her seat in the train.

Episode sixteen begins with a person whose face is not shown saying that it's about time that Nina is tested in her magical skill. Not long after this, Nina realises that all of a sudden she can't use her computer to help her producing magic. Being the easy person that she is, she decides to ignore the problem and decides to go to a baseball game where Kaji is one of the players that will compete with the opponent team. Nina decides to take Rio and the two ends up meeting Ayu and Tsujiai who have save a seat for them. In the excitement of the game, however, Rio transforms into his cat form while sitting next to Tsujiai. Obviously Ayu and Nina are horrified to realise this but they pretend as if nothing has happened since it seems Tsujiai didn't notice it either. Unknown to both of them, however, Tsujiai did notice the transformation but simply decide to keep a straight face about it even though he's clearly weirded out about it.

Meanwhile, Kaji himself seems to be doing well in the game. He manages to score some points for his time. Unfortunately, in the middle of the game he gets hit hard by a baseball and immediately falls unconscious much to the distress of all of his friends, especially Ayu. Kaji ends up being sent to the hospital because even though his head didn't suffer any damage, he managed to twist his arm when he fell to the ground. Ayu wants to accompany Kaji to the hospital but realises that she can't do it because she doesn't know Kaji that well. Because of this, Ayu decides to send a flower and an encouragement message to Kaji. Akiho, Kaji’s close female friend who seems to be interested in him as well, however, intercepts her attempt. Akiho tells Ayu that she should not disturb Kaji if she wants Kaji to get well. After all, there is nothing that Ayu can do that will help Kaji to get better soon.

Upon seeing Ayu looking disappointed about her failure, Nina decides that she'll help Ayu to send the message to Kaji even though she still can't use her computer to help her in magic. Nina ends up studying her father's magic book so that she can use magic without the help of her computer just like Yuta. Her effort does not end up in vain. She successfully manages to make Ayu's card flies into Kaji's hospital window and into his bed, thereby eliminating the chances of the card being seen by Akiho. Kaji seems to be glad to receive the card and decides to give Ayu a phone call the next morning to let her know that he's okay even though he has to spend 3 days at the hospital. Ayu looks happy and thanks Nina for her effort. The show then reveals that the person who has magically sealed Nina's computer is none other than the Principal of the school. He seems to have done it so that Nina is forced to develop her magic skill without the help of her computer.

Episode seventeen is actually filler but it was used creatively so that it ends up advancing the plot a little bit. The episode begins by showing Rio visiting Nina at her school. Rio wants to transform into his human form so Nina takes him to a quiet area so that they won't be seen by anyone. Unfortunately for them, Tsujiai happens to walk past the area and see the whole transformation all over again. Tsujiai decides to confront Nina about it and after deciding that she can't keep the secret to him any longer, Nina decides to let Tsujiai knows about the whole thing, including Rio's transformation. While Nina tries to show Rio's transformation, Ayu also happens to walk into the area and immediately freaks out when she sees Rio transform into a cat in front of Tsujiai. Nina, however tells Ayu that it is okay because Tsujiai already knows about it. Besides, she believes she can trust Tsujiai to keep the secret from other people.

Tsujiai seems to be impressed by Rio's ability to transform into human and wonders if other animal can do similar thing as well. As a result, Nina ends up producing a magical cookie, which can transform Tsujiai's and Ayu's pet into human beings. Tsujiai's cat, Shinosuke, turns into a human male while Ayu's pet turns into a little girl called Yu. However, Shinosuke seems to be too attached to his human form since it allows him to talk to and hug Tsujiai. Therefore, he refuses to return to his animal form. After some good persuasion from Rio, however, Shinosuke decides to go back to be a cat again. Rio and Yu also ends up bonding with one another but Rio is disappointed when he finds out that Yu turns out to be a dog. He tries to tell her that the relationship won't work because he's a cat but Yu doesn't seem to care. The episode ends with Tsujiai refusing to pet his cat because he is weirded out about the whole Shinosuke being obsessed with him.

Episode eighteen begins with the Principal of the school receiving a guest from magical kingdom. The two ends up talking in some kind of alternate realm about how lately there has been a magical disturbance in the nightclub that the Principal's guest owns. Not long after this, Nina's mother receives an invitation to visit that said nightclub. At first she's reluctant to go but after Nina assures her that she and Ayu are going to accompany her in their adult form, she agrees to come with them. This is the first time I heard a mother actually doesn't mind that her daughter is going to a nightclub. Those magic kingdom people are quite something. Anyway, because of this, Nina uses her magic to transform herself and Ayu into an older version of themselves. All three then go to the nightclub and they soon encounter Yuta, who apparently finds out their whereabouts after hacking the computer that belongs to Nina's grandfather.

While they are inside the nightclub, however, Nina senses that there is some kind of strong magical power emanating in the location. Maya obviously senses this as well because she also arrives at the nightclub in her adult form. The two then quickly spots a blue magical orb inside the room but the orb quickly disappears as the two gets closer to it. They end up going outside to chase the orbs and end up being sucked into an alternate realm, much to Ayu and Yuta's distress. In the alternate realm, Maya decides to play dirty and tries to prevent Nina from grasping the orb. However, she herself doesn't have much luck in obtaining it since the orb always disappears every time she tries to touch it. After a while, Nina realises that the orbs that they've seen thus far are simply projections of the real orb. Yuta believes that the orb can only be seen by someone with a kind heart. Nina's kindness shows as strength here because the orb eventually reveals itself in front of Nina, much to Maya's dismay.

All in all, these four episodes are very satisfying. To begin with, there are so many progressions in the characters' relationship with one another. It looks like both Nina and Tsujiai really is attracted to each other and Ayu and Kaji also starts to be less wishy-washy when it comes to their relationship with one another. It was a shocker to see Maya suddenly developing interest in Tsujiai but it turns out that was all a ruse to get an orb. Having said that, it seems that she really does like someone and that it relates to the spider pendant she has around her neck. I am also glad to see that Nina has become increasingly good with her magic. It's interesting how the Principal of the school notices that Nina's kindness towards other is a very powerful motivation that she needs to develop her magic skills. I do wonder what his intention is though since he doesn't seem to favour either Nina or Maya.

© memento 2003