Series about girls that magically transform are nothing new. For years we have been subjected to schoolgirl A turning into magical heroine B and fighting off bad guys left and right. Chances are very good by now that you already know whether or not you're going to enjoy a show from this genre. It's polarizing to say the least but there are a few shows out there that have enough personality and charm to break the stereotypes that confront them. Wataru Yoshizumi's Ultra Maniac is one of those shows...for the most part.

In Japan the manga ran for five volumes and was later adapted into an anime series in 2003. Running for twenty-six episodes Ultra Maniac broke many of the walls that surround the magical girl genre. The comedy bits along with the drama and serious character development help craft a charming series that is enjoyable from start to finish. Granted the show begins stronger than it finishes but it's still a fun series to watch.

Things are turning interesting for Ayu Tateishi and her second year of Junior High School isn't exactly going as planned. She falls in love with a cute guy even though can't seem to express her true feelings towards him. If you've ever seen a romance comedy then you already know about this type of personality. It seems to be commonplace when someone loves someone else in anime. This often leads to hilarious results and even more peculiar situations.

The biggest of Ayu's worries shouldn't necessarily be how she approaches the object of her affection but who she becomes friends with. Nina is a new Junior High School transfer student but she's not your typical teenage girl. She's a young witch from the Magic Kingdom (not Disney) and has taken a break from magical studies to be educated in a human school. The problem is that her magic powers are rather limited so they tend to cause more annoyances than they solve.

Nearly every spell she tries to concoct falls flat and winds up injury either herself or Ayu. She conceals her powers from the rest of the students but more and more frequently weird things happen that raise suspicion. This is especially true once Maya; another student from the Magical Kingdom and Nina's childhood friend, comes to town.

Maya is the complete opposite of Nina. She's cool and collected, is quite competent at the black arts and is basically Nina's rival throughout the series. Their relationship offers some great banter and even better scenes as the anime moves further into its run. The two Magic Kingdom students also tend to clash while searching for Holy Stones which are magical items that bring a witch's power to the next level.

The episodes found in Ultra Maniac are very one-shot in nature. They are comprised of singular plots that don't really expand beyond the confines of time frame of the episode. Some bits and pieces do tend to carry over though such as the Holy Stone quest, relationships between characters and Nina's goofiness. Continuity becomes greater towards the show's end but that doesn't signify quality.

At the start of the series the magical air and buzz surrounding each scene between Nina and Ayu really helps carry the show. They have great chemistry together and things only get better when Maya comes into the picture. The comedic teenage romance scenes are handled appropriately for this type of anime but as far as real emotion is concerned there's nothing quite on the level of Boys Be…. It's kept lighthearted and cute the entire way through which is both a blessing and a curse.

Because of the way the show handles its material it will be very polarizing among audiences. Young girls will probably appreciate the run the entire way through but older audiences will probably become bored after a while; I know I did. The atmosphere of the show becomes kind of stagnant by about the third volume as cliché trappings and a certain lack of originality steps in.

Another problem that I had with the show was the lack of development for the support cast. Throughout the 26 episodes here we are introduced to a wide array of characters but none of them are fleshed out to the extent that they become more than stereotypical personalities. Yuta, Hiroki and Kaji are the three main boys in the show but since they aren't the focal points of the series their development is overshadowed by Nina and Ayu. Better balance would have gone a long way to making this feel like a more well rounded anime.

As a thirteen episode series Ultra Maniac could have flourished as something that popped and had energy. Unfortunately it's only the first few volumes of this set that are really enthralling. Then again you really have to look at what you want in an anime. If you don't watch a lot of romance comedies or series about magical girls then you may be pleasantly surprised with the show. If you're a lover of the genre in general you will want to check it out as well. Otherwise you'd probably be better off renting a volume to see how well you dig it before taking the plunge.

Ultra Maniac: Magical Girl comes with a 1.33:1 full frame presentation that appears faithful to its original production. The image is crisp, clean and features some absolutely vibrant colors that pop from the screen. I really enjoyed the art direction for this show and felt that the character designs were faithful to Yoshimizu's original concept. That being said there are some moments that appear to have been brought about by a low budget, such as repeat animations and some tacky CGI.

As is the standard with most every anime that comes out, Ultra Maniac: Magical Girl sports 2.0 Dolby Digital audio with English and Japanese language tracks. Both sound tracks feature clean vocals and some slight use of directional sound with no noticeable drop outs in quality. After listening to both audio options I have to admit that I think the dubbed version is actually the better of the two, but if you prefer the Japanese track there are two options for subtitles (Dialogue and Signs).

There really is nothing to speak of for special features in this set. Since these DVDs are basically just rereleases of the old versions there's nothing new as far as bonus content. Some previews make the cut and some clean animations but little else.

Last year I had the opportunity to check out the first volume of Ultra Maniac. I enjoyed the episodes that I had seen and felt that the series had a lot of promise. Now that I've had the chance to see the rest of the series it's safe to say that by the end of the third volume things start to fizzle out. I still found myself laughing and enjoying bits and pieces right up to the end of the show but the quality was nowhere near as good as it was at the start.

Fans of the genre will most likely enjoy it much more than the casual viewer and younger girls will appreciate it even more. As it stands though this set is a rental unless you fall into either of the two aforementioned categories.

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