The story revolves around Maya, the daughter of the former Headmaster of Waldstein Academy, and a time traveling agent Fumiaki Uchida. In the year 2012, the world had been invaded by aliens and time travelers were sent back to the year 1999 in order to find and destroy the Nostradamus Key, which Nostradamus Prophecy foretold as what would bring about the apocalypse. The series then turns to the year 1999, where Maya returns to the Academy with the intention of destroying the Academy by superseding her late father's position as the principal. Her plan was interrupted when she meets Fumiaki and learns of the forthcoming destruction. Despite being distrusting towards Fumiaki, they form a pact to look for the Nostradamus Key.
In order to find the Nostradamus Key, time agents were provided with specially created cell phones. When a user finds an object of interest, by thinking of destroying it and taking a photo, and if the resulting image is that of a peaceful world, then the subject is the Nostradamus Key. Conversely, if the subject is not the Nostradamus Key, then the photo displays destruction. By using the phone, Maya and Fumiaki investigates occult occurrences as they occur in the town.
(Source: Wikipedia)
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Archaeon
One of the biggest problems with anime is that all too often what you're watching just doesn't hit the mark. There are a number of shows that have been great conceptually, but when it comes to execution they simply do not fulfill their potential. This could be due to the oversimplification of the plot, an uninteresting storyline, dull or overly stereotypical characters, or even just pure laziness on the part of the writers (or something else entirely). Whatever the case may be, there are far too many anime out there that simply do not cut the mustard because they don't do enough with what theyhave.
And then there's the shows like Seikimatsu Occult Gakuen (End of Century Occult Academy).
Originally developed as part of Anime no Chikara, a project run by TV Tokyo's anime department in conjunction with Aniplex, Seikimatsu Occult Gakuen is the third release from that stable (the previous two being Sora no Woto and Senkou no Night Raid), and marks the full directorial debut of Itou Tomohiko.
Set in the fictional Waldstein Academy which sits atop Mount Minakami in Matsushiro, Nagano Prefecture, the story begins with Kumashiro Maya disembarking from the bullet train. She is the daughter of the academy's principal and founder Kumashiro Junichiro, and has returned to the city to attend the funeral of her estranged father. Along the way, her taxi driver tells her about some of the strange rumours surrounding the academy because of its focus on all things supernatural.
On the surface Sekimatsu Occult Academy has a fairly reasonable set up. The plot is, initially, pretty straight forward, and there even seems to be some signs of an intelligent story at certain points during the first episode. Unfortunately, all of that promise quickly goes out of the window during the rest of the series.
For some reason the writers thought there wouldn't be enough going on in an academy that focuses specifically on the supernatural, so they decided to add other things to it. In a sense, Occult Academy has pretty much everything in it that Suzumiya Haruhi wanted, from ghosts and witches, to time travellers and dimensional aliens.
The problem is, it's simply too much for the series to handle.
Occult Academy starts off reasonably well, but the rapid addition of so many threads to an already burgeoning plot ends up giving the series less focus, and it seems that this was simply too much for a rookie series director to handle. The numerous and disparate aspects of the story all begin to come together towards the end of the series though, but the story has an inherent predictability that seems to be an offshoot of adding too much.
In all honesty, if the series had added one or two more supernatural aspects, then it may very well have collapsed under its own weight. The plot has a certain fragility because of the amount of information in the anime, and this makes it difficult to take the story seriously (especially with those little comedy scenes thrown in for good measure). That said, some people may find the show enjoyable because of the oddness surrounding Maya and her crew.
Talking about odd, while the series looks pretty good overall, one can't help but wonder at some of the designs in the show. A-1 Pictures and Xebec have made Occult Academy look pretty good for the most part, but looks are only skin deep. The characters are designed reasonably well and have their own individual attributes, but there's a certain amount of stereotype at play in this department. The short haired girl is a jock, the glasses girl is a geek, etc, etc. It would be nice if the creators put more thought into the character design as personally I'd like to see some of those stereotypes finally put to rest. One other problem is the level of fanservice involved in the show as it really isn’t necessary, and it makes one wonder exactly who the target audience is supposed to be.
That said, the facial expressions are usually pretty well realised (althought it is sometimes difficult to tell if Maya is tense or constipated).
In addition to the design, the animation is of a pretty decent standard as well, except for certain occasions where the character movements seem ... odd. Thankfully these occasions are fairly few and far between, but they are noticeable when they occur. One also has to wonder if Maya likes the short dress she generally wears as she has one with exactly the same design during the flashbacks to her childhood.
Another aspect of the show that's odd is the acting. Hikasa Youko and Mizushima Takahiro are pretty good as Maya and Fumiaki (or Bunmei, whichever name you prefer to call him by), and the rest of the cast deliver some perfectly decent performances throughout. What's odd though, is that even with some decent acting the characters just don't seem to work. The audience is given nothing to sympathise or empathise with, and while some may believe this to be due to poor acting, in actuality its down to a poor script.
The sound quality is decent throughout the series, but one of the problems with Occult Academy is the music, or rather, the choreography. The tracks on offer are well chosen but there are several scenes where they just don't seem to mesh with the on screen action. In addition to this the OP, which is a fairly typical J-rock track called "Flying Humanoid" by Nakagawa Shouko, works well as an opening theme, but the opening sequence itself doesn't seem to work with the music. As for the ED, "Kimi ga Iru Basho" by Takagaki Ayahi is a decent enough song as well, but again the ending sequence makes no sense (unless images of a girl and boy lying in grass are your thing).
It's not that the music itself is bad, but rather its implementation is a bit strange.
As I mentioned before the acting is decent enough, but the characters lack any real depth for the entirety of the series. One of the biggest problems with Occult Academy is that there is simply too much going on at any one time, and because of this the characters seem like nothing more than by-products of the plot. The overly complicated storyline precludes any real growth or characterisation, especially for Maya and Fumiaki, and it's not until the final few episodes that they actually start to develop. Even then the storyline gets in the way, which is a shame as some of the characters, especially Fumiaki, had some very interesting histories which really warranted more of a look.
Sekimatsu Occult Gakuen is a decent enough series that toys with some interesting ideas, but doesn't really go any further than that. The problem is that the story is far too complicated for its own good, and because of this everything else in the show seems to have been thrown off course. It may have seemed like a good idea on paper, but like so many other things like that, the result is nothing more than a decent looking anime with no real substance.
That said, there are several interesting plot points that even I found distracting, but they're not enough to support the weight of an entire series and all its characters. Granted there may be viewers who don't mind that the plot seems to have been hammered together from one of Haruhi's delusions, but it just wasn't enough for me as there is little in the way of justification for anything that happens in Occult Academy.
It's a shame really, but the quality of releases from Anime no Chikara seems to be dropping by degrees, and Sora no Woto remains the best title from that stable so far.
Benatron
You know when you have to find something and how it's the highest priority to do so? Well, Occult Academy for 13 episodes is looking for something, but it isn't the the highest priority. Time Traveler Fumiaki "Bunmei" and Prinicpal Kamashiro Maya are looking for the illusive "Nostradamus' Key" in order to prevent the world from ending in 1999. Anime no Chikara is a project designed to create "original" anime series. Which, they have no problem in doing. The major fault of these series is that everything building up to the climax has little to nothing to do with the actual story. Taking example of Sorano Woto, in my opinion the best of Anime no Chikara's projects (not because it was K-ON! with guns). But it had this same ordeal, but the earlier episodes always had that looming threat of war just beyond the border. Most people we're too distracted by the cute. But Occult Academy suffers greatly from this problem.
The show isn't terrible, it's enjoyable. But other shows have done the occult idea better and have expanded upon what this show only touches. I know when people usually see my reviews the show is usually terrible. But this show also lacks some common sense in the way the story is played out.
Onto good points. The art of Occult Academy is something I love. It's this nice, crisp, refined style that is truly original. It truly matches every character's traits.
Which lead me into characters. The character traits are just kind of blasted at you the moment they come screen. Maya's character is the only character that truly jumps out at me when I think about Occult Academy, all the other characters are enjoyable, but I was kind of hoping for some more. Some characters are just kind of there for the ride and to fight things. Which is "all right", I suppose.
Music. Music is sometimes occult stuff and sometimes it's not. When it's not something chanting or something dark or spooky to get you into thinking "occult" you get this nice traditional folk to bring you away from everything occult. I couldn't handle this show if everything was occult. That's an overload.
There's some issues with how the story plays out though. There's that ten episodes of introduction and build-up and it's swiftly all explained in about five seconds? Oh. Kind of a bummer, I was hoping it had a greater purpose then just being an obstacle.
The biggest thing that will bother most is the search for the Key itself. Maya and Bunmei will purposefully hold off looking for it. Let's go over what the characters don't know. They don't know what the Key is. They don't know where the Key will be located. They don't know what will happen with the Key when they find it. They don't know any of this. Yet, they hold it off until a couple of weeks before the world ends. You can't just put that off to solve over things. I don't get it. They could've made this series one long adventure to finding the key. Instead you get this? It's kind of disappointing. The storytelling was alright, but it had so much potential.
Maya's spell book bothers me. In one episode, Bunmei says that she has her father's spell book on her person all the time. If that's the case, why doesn't she ever use it? It's a book full of spells and they use it twice. Her father left her the spell book to protect her from evil and to use against evil. The most she uses against evil is a crossbow and she doesn't use the spell book to figure anything out; or learn about her father. Just some important things that would've been better if used correctly. Maybe Maya was afraid of getting tongue tied in the middle of fighting. That would be embarrassing to the viewers.
Also, disregard for the fact that other humans might be in the same situation as Akari. They never look for anyone else that might've been captured. Just a "grab your friend and run" deal. It's sometimes obvious too, because there are bones and cocoons and stuff. Yeah, it's just something stupid, right?
If you like occult stuff, you should give this a try. It's a neat concept. It's just average.
djhot
Actually more of the people are way to far from getting the meaning of this anime. I'm not saying that is the best thing out there, but it's actually pretty good on his own way. Please, read everything, is worthily! Let's start with some probable obviously things. Bunmei is coming from the summer of 2012, like we all know in the moment that I'm writing that this is the very famous "end of the world", on 21 December. And where is going Bunmei? In 1999, to stop the prophecy of Nostradamus for 21 July. Actually till now there was many endings of the world, but 1999together with 2012 are really big ones. The prophecy of Nostradamus was something real in "our world" and many people believed in it, but we are still kicking asses as ever...
Let's talk a little about the best writer right now, Steven King. Did you read his book "The Dark Tower". It's a strange adventure horror with a lot of strange things like cowboys and shits. In this book he use many things from movies, other books, songs and shits... Not only like parody, but actually he create an complete other thing from them. Actually many people believe that the prophecy was for King. Near 21 July King almost die in incident, but he didn`t. This people think that the "The Dark Tower" is like a reflection of an other world, probable parallel to our. They think that King is important connection between the worlds and if he couldn`t write the book the balance of the universe would brake and the world would end. One of the bad guys in the book come in our world trying to kill King, but he was stopped from the good guys and the prophecy of Nostradamus was stopped and King finish his book.
Why I'm writing all this? Because in "Occult Academy" they use things like that too! For example, the future that they show us is like something that is come from "War of the Worlds" and "Terminator". They didn`t just use movies things, but a lot of anime stuff, like some typical anime characters and even things like magic girls. But it's maybe kind of hard to take everything like parody? This is because not everything is parody, but there still there is a lot of from it, but it use in other way too (kind of confusing xD). So... For exaple think about all shity animes that you watch... Now thing about "Occult Academy"... Isn't it something kind of wrong? All of the characters in this anime are actually maturate people! Yeah! This animes is good exactly in this, by using many stereotype things making something complete new from it that actually is even full of philosophy, but it's not easy to find.
In many animes the names of the heroes have some meaning, but here they are really, really important! They are include in every name of the episodes and if you switch there place with there meaning they make something new! I will give you there meaning replace them on your own, Bunmei - civilization, knowledge; Maya - illusion; (ka)Mikaze - divine wind, Kozue - treetop(check on google for more info); Ami - net, friend; Akari - light.
I'm an assohle so I will give you many keys, but I will not told you which one is for the door and which door, because this way is more good and more interesting. Think well about the name of the episodes and what happen in them, and while doing that, remember "What important are the things you can`t see with your eyes" and try to see the things that it one to tell us about the humans, the occult and the society.
But still i give him 8/10, because I'm fan of the real goods scary/horror storyies and that wasn`t horror at all, but it's not even on the genres even. Still they could do it way more seriously and to use the occult for really scary things and to can say to us the same thing. And the "not seriously" seriously of the anime in some moments was going a little to far and was even a little annoying.
P.S. Sorry for my poor writing skills on this language, and of course you always have the right to think about me like an idiot, because i believe that this animes is actually good. But you are human too, therefore you are an idiot too.
P.S.2 The end was kicking fucking asses all over the place!
8thSin
'Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin' (Turn of the Century Occult Academy) is the third and final installment of 'Anime no Chikara' (Power of Anime) Project by TV Tokyo and Aniplex, following 'Sora no Oto' and 'Senkou no Night Raid'. Story: 5/10 As the title suggests, the setting is in an Occult Academy in 1999, a school notorious for study of the pseudoscience. Series of paranormal incidents have been observed in the academy in recent months, including the one where the dean was killed. Soon after the dean's daughter returns, a psychokinetic 'time agent' descends from the sky, and together, the duo seeks Nostradamus' Key, which supposedly was the causeof the apocalypse as predicted in the prophecy.
The show started off very strong, quickly introducing the main characters, the premise, and the mission.
The story gets episodic after a while. It seems the producers are more interested in introducing occult trivia than actual development of the story.
The team encounter various paranormal events, so much at one point that it bothered me how they so conveniently and easily came across occult mysteries, which by definition should not be so easily found. To my surprise, all was explained by a dark magician as the culprit. At first, I was turned off by seemingly rushed sum up, but after a second thought, it was extremely appropriate since magic is the most well-known occult mystery.
There were still a whole bunch of plot holes though... why does Ramachandran-Fischer conjecture result in alien invasions anyway? Not to mention all the time travel paradoxes of the ending.
The story overall was nothing out of ordinary and sometimes even predictable, but the pacing was good enough to keep me interested throughout the series.
Character: 6/10
Maya is a tsundere, oh wait, that word didn't exist yet... she's just another girl who's not honest with her feelings. Toward both Fumiaki and the occult. Fumiaki on the other hand is a typical loser whose incompetence knows no limit, and easily gets carried away. In fact, he's practically Nobita from Doraemon series. Despite this, both characters come with a dark past that they eventually learn to overcome through their adventures.
All the side characters though, are grossly underused. We know absolutely nothing about their pasts, and their characters were flat to the end. Perhaps they gave the leading couple more screen time to develop, but I can't help but feel they existed simply to advance otherwise impossible plots.
JK pops up whenever someone goes missing and needs to be found. Smile just follows JK and beat the crap out of bad guys. Mikaze turned out to be a villain behind all the occult incidents around the academy, but it was never explained what she had to gain by letting aliens rule the world...
Animation: 7/10
Background art was extremely detailed, just like in 'Sora no Oto'. It was also noticeably lacking motion, but had far better texture and engaging.
Unlike 'Sora no Oto', character design this time was very original, with unique faces, hair, and signature stockings + heels, suits + ahoge, and accessories (dowsing rods, wrench, glasses/blindness etc) that made each character memorable.
Characters really lacked details, especially compared to the awesome backgrounds, but made up for it by incredibly realistic face/body expressions that seemed to flawlessly convey their state of mind.
Animation in general was decent, but occasional 3D-CG-assisted camera movement was absolute disaster.
Sound: 7/10
I really liked Mikaze's voice. It sounded like an ordinary cute girl voice, but there was a certain cold, eeriness in her speech that worked very well for her character. Rest of the cast was average.
BGM was nothing remarkable and sometimes even hard to notice. Although the sound effects were pretty good.
OP/ED were catchy songs, though ED animation was a head-scratcher... Mannequins? 3D-CG? Photoshopped picture?
Enjoyment: 8/10
The message of this show was great, that we should always keep an open mind, that we should stand on our own feet and walk our own path.
I feel this series would've been a huge success to younger audiences if they made skirts couple of inches longer, toned down Mikaze's seduction, and broadcast in daytime.
'Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin' is a horrible show if you watch it as an occult anime because it attempts to deal with too many occult mysteries in too few episodes and technically filled with flaws, but it's fascinating if you watch it as a fantasy/adventure anime. It's got dreams and shows the allurement of existence of the supernatural.
I dropped 'Senkou no Night Raid' after 2nd episode, but I think it's safe to say that 'Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin' is the best series in 'Anime no Chikara' Project, because well, it's the only one that shown me the power of anime.
"[The Occult] do no exist in reality... As long as you don't believe in them." Watch this series with an open mind.
TheSakurax
The problem with writing reviews is in the categorizing of the actual text being reviewed. In this case: supernatural, comedy, sci-fi, etc etc. For an anime of its genre, I feel like Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin might have missed the mark in some respects. The premise is interesting of course, but what really made this anime special for me was the characters --specifically the mains. Let's break this down shall we? STORY: 6/10 I love the premise. It's interesting, engaging and has enough unique elements here and there to keep us relatively intrigued about what is to come. However, what really irks me is the overwhelming amount of contentcrammed into 13 episodes. I feel like alot of this was far too rushed. You have aliens, witches, ghosts, demons --practically every supernatural being imaginable, which I don't really mind, but they're all crammed together into some kind of nonsensical mush.
I feel like this anime was designed for a much longer duration but forcibly cut down --badly at that. I would have loved to see a deeper exploration into the 2012 future scenario. It would have been nice also to have a few strange plot holes filled...
HOWEVER, don't push this anime aside just yet.
In my opinion, the plot holes here and there don't take away from the original premise of the story. This whole idea of the Nostradamus Key, the alien technology, the magic --there's something about it. If you just suspend reality a little more than you would usually, sit back and really try to feel the anime, the story is still very enjoyable.
Why? Well, pretty much because everything BESIDES the bad story progression (and I stress PROGRESSION, because the actual story isn't really that bad), makes this anime worth watching.
ART: 10/10
Rarely do you see an anime with such outstanding quality. The character designs are elaborate, clean and unique. The backgrounds are gorgeously detailed, and the colours are really engaging. I can't rave about the art enough. I absolutely adored it. Seriously, you could probably sit through all 13 episodes just for the art.
SOUND: 8/10
Shouko Nakagawa's "Flying Humanoid" is a great opening theme for this show. I particularly liked the way they integrated it into the opening sequence. Typically you'd probably think there would be heaps of action montages attached to this kind of song --but they went for a far more abstract expression, which I think is extremely refreshing. It really highlights the unique aspects of this anime.
Ayahi Takagaki sings the ending "Kimi ga iru basho" (The place where you are). The ending sequence is really different. No, really. They use real actors. It was really uncanny how they found two children that looked almost exactly like Bunmei and Maya. The song itself is sweet and very fitting for an ending theme. Definitely no complaints.
CHARACTER: 8/10
If it was a review on the main characters alone I would give it a 10, but unfortunately I have to include the others as well. Don't let that discourage you though. The only failing in the supporting characters is that there is very little development for them. Probably because there were only 13 episodes.
The main characters, however, were the primary reason I kept watching. The chemistry between Maya and Bunmei is addictive to watch. Sure, they may seem like your typical useless guy x tsundere, but stop. Just stop right there. Because in just 13 episodes, we see remarkable character development on their part, especially for Bunmei.
As much as they were a little stereotypical, there was someone very human about Bunmei and Maya's relationship. You'll find yourself watching the show just for them, and in doing so, their relationship will probably leave a very lasting impression on you. Again, it's just such a pity that there were only 13 episodes, because I feel like the producers had alot more planned for their character developments. Still, something must be good if it leaves you craving for more.
ENJOYMENT: 7/10
The first five episodes were a little slow paced for me, character development-wise, but really that's to be expected. I think it's more that the contrast between the pace of the first half of the series and second was a bit of a shock. It may be because the series ended so quickly that it leaves you with a sense of wanting so much more that takes away from the general enjoyment.
Still, again, a sign of something good right? Besides...the manga is currently being serialized so it's something to look forward to. lol
OVERALL: 8/10
The only thing that holds me back from a higher score for this is the length of the show. If they had just stretched it out to maybe five or six more episodes, I feel like this could have been fleshed out so much better. That said, I still recommend this for anyone who enjoys watching anime with a little action, a little mystery and great character development.
Honestly, the relationship between Maya and Bunmei has me so smitten I keep going back to watch episodes 6-13, just for them. But don't get me wrong! They're not very sparkly-lovey-dovey --if anything, the romance element is a little downplayed, which makes it all the more wonderful to watch. There's nothing worse than being smacked over the head with sparklings and bad music, and there is NONE of that here. It is a genuine, human, and beautiful kind of relationship we get to see here, set in a story that is interesting and relatively different.
Oh, and don't get me wrong. There's alot of ass-kicking as well. I'm not one for romance-only animes --just read my other reviews. If the idea of love turns you green, then the action scenes will settle you for sure.
thereisonlyone
Story = 2 -- Pretty much everyone has seen one of those "Let's investigate the school's seven mysteries episodes." This story is a combination of that and the movie Ghostbusters. Although, it combines them separately. It's as if two separate entities have been born within one anime. -- An anime that turns into nothing more than the daily adventures of the ghost club was actually meant to be a well-thought out flow of events. -- Imagine you watched a movie, now then, have a 12 year-old go back and fill in 4 and a half hours worth of screen time. --There were so many plot holes that I'm amazed the developers aren't cripples yet.
-- Now include, the most forced romance since Edward Elric and Eren Jaeger.
Art = 6
-- The characters and scenery fit the setting quite well.
-- Each individual pretty much adds his or her own flavor to the series and only enhances the scenes.
-- There are a few lazy looking moments throughout the anime, but nothing that can't be overlooked.
Sound = 4
-- There were times where the music would just kill the mood. At other times it was a good addition. Most likely a result of the on-going identity crisis that went on throughout the anime.
-- The character voices were pleasing. My only gripe is that Kobayashi, Yuu was completely out of her field. Her expertise is little boys and tomboys.
-- The ending and opening songs were nice, but didn't even really fit the atmosphere of the anime, until about the ninth episode.
Characters = 2
-- There were some good character in this and they had some very likeable traits. Sadly the anime was about the main characters instead.
-- The worst part about the two main characters is that they were actually the most two unfit characters in the series. A quirky anime about occults decided to focus on a horribly written tsundere and a randomly selected spoon-bender.
-- I actually wish the two main characters had thought bubbles above their heads. They were honestly ridiculous and not in a comedic way.
-- The two main characters did develop, but it felt like a rick-roll.
Enjoyment = 2
-- Some very good things were here. Sadly someone bought a lot of screen time and suddenly didn't know what to do with it.
-- Enough good scenes and developments to have made two separate anime. At times one could sit back and enjoy the goings-on of this anime, until they remembered what was supposed to be happening.
-- Episodes 2-8 were had their redeeming qualities. Episode 1 and 9-13 had their own Kool-Aid packet to add to the mix. I believe others would still enjoy the experience.
Overall = 3
-- Due to the incoherence of this anime, it is kind of hard to believe one should watch this. There are simply too many superior choices in whatever genre one wanted from Occult Academy.
mrghost_00
Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin was one of the very first animes I watched in 2011. How did I noticed it? I typed 'Yoko Hikasa' on Google and this title immediately attracted my attention. Normally anyone would expect an anime series with such a cool title to have a plot that also lives up to its name... STORY: ... But no. The one lesson I learnt after completing this anime series was 'do not judge a book by its cover'. You have your academy which focuses on teaching its students all about the occult rather than normal textbook knowledge, interesting setting. You have your tsundere heroin and time-travelling esperhero, a plus point. You have great setting-up, with a few hints here and there in the first few episodes that indicate this might turn out to be an awesome series.
But, no. The audience was treated to a hell load of fillers after the first few episodes. While the fillers themselves look good independently, once tied into the very few plot-related episodes, you get a fail anime series with lack of proper planning and bad pacing.
The one reason I hesitate to give the STORY part lower than 6 marks is because I enjoyed the many plot twists at the last episodes of the series. It was surprising that the writers could rush the final battle so 'well' despite terrible pacing throughout the show.
ART:
Now here's where Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin shines. The character designs looked good, and the animation throughout the run of the series were pretty smooth. Made me wonder how well the series would have done if they had devoted a bit more budget on hiring better writers and a bit less on the animation.
SOUND:
Ugh... no. Both the OP and ED are not something that I myself would look out for. Except for the first one, I basically skipped the OP and ED for every other episode. The soundtrack was also not memorable, something that you would not find in a thriller series like this.
Moving on to the voice acting, somehow I felt that there was a lack of personality injected into the characters. Even for our main protagonist, Maya, I just felt that she lacked the 'tsundere'-ness that she was supposed to have.
CHARACTER:
Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin had great backstories for the characters, but failed miserably at developing them well. Maya and Bunmei hardly had any growth throughout the series, but instead we have the side characters, those that appeared one-shot for the fillers, who received the most treatment. Even the last episode failed to provide for them any form of development.
OVERALL:
The series had such great potential, but just lacked a coherent plot, which would have been achieved if the writers had done proper planning. Hope that the writers would learn from their mistakes and do a better attempt at such genres next time.
Nabiz
I'll try to make this short and to the point. It's fairly obvious that the writers bit off more than they could chew. The story has a great basis, and arguably too much potential to squish it into 13 episodes. Despite this, I am largely of the opinion that, while they usually lack a singular plot-driving focus, the first ten episodes are QUITE enjoyable. The 'problem solving crew', while made up of your average cliches, makes for a good laugh, with exemplary facial expressions, and Maya, and sometimes Bunmei, find ways to make each episode interesting enough. After that however, it becomes glaringly obvious, in my opinion, thatthe writers were scrambling to reincorporate the driving plot of the series, end of the world and all that, and they got more than a bit desperate/sloppy in tying off/together loose ends, jumping into new genres here and there.
As a final note; I have several problems with the final episode, mostly preferential and logic based, what with the involvement of time travel and affecting the future and all, but that aside, I found the particular way the series ended to be very original and interesting.
All in all, the series has many faults and, who knows, might leave you feeling a little disappointed like me, but I'd still recommend it as a series worth watching.
crayeg
This is my first Review and I am following the rules! I hope it goes well. I felt compelled to write this review on the Occult Academy because, I thought that this show would have great potential. I expected action, mystery, supernatural occurrences, a little romance and even a little history ... blah blah blah ... I was so sadly mistaken. My expectations as previously mentioned were mixed in but diluted. I honestly think the writers took a safe route. I guess I just wanted more because the potential is truly there. The one thing I did like about this series is the artwork.It was clean and had a pretty realistic feel.
Long story short... I felt that this probably could have been a multi-season series. The writers jammed way too much in and left out quite a bit for it to end the way it did. The ending by the way without giving it away was one of the worst. Who knew the key to the whole saga would be such a complex instrument? (insert sarcasm here) *sorry*
Lastly, I will leave you all with this. It might not be a greatest story ever but, I will recommend you watch it so we will all have something in common. There is a lot of great Anime out there but, eventually you will run across a story that trips you up. It wasn't the best and it wasn't exactly the worst.
Thanks for your time and thanks for reading!!
dgpl
Let's start off with the basics. Art's on the cover, music's pretty mediocre, protagonists are slightly developed while everyone else is really shallow (but still hilarious). NOW ABOUT THE STORY The ending to an anime is usually either good or bad. This particular series is more of an in between, only because the ending didn't give enough of an ending. It's too subtle. The loose ends that should have been tied up nearly choked me to death. I was very confused and bothered. Time traveling in anime does that. You could easily cut out the middle episodes, middle meaning 3 to 11. While there was some character development betweenthe two protagonists, that's about it. They're nice but they're irrelevant.
In certain spots there's a touch of dramatic irony in that you know it's going to happen and the poor sap on-screen doesn't. There's also a sad episode, as this is about the occult which naturally leads us to ghosts which then leads us to a sad ghost story.
It's definitely worth the time. But keep this in mind. if you over-analyze a magic trick and figure it out it sucks. Same with this show. Don't think about it too much, you'll just facepalm later either way.
LuccasDMC
I've finished watching a few animes in the last month and I must ask: What the hell is wrong with those script writers? It almost feels disrespectful towards the fans the way some endings are presented. Among the over 150 animes I've watched the general feeling I got in 90% of the endings was "Lalala, it's so nice doing an anime! Oh, wait, we have to finish it! Just come up with anything and let's call it a day!" Seriously! It's not that difficult doing an ending that goes along with the pace of the anime for pete's sake! When it comes to Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin, it'snot only the ending that makes no sense. Don't get the wrong idea, the anime is good, but they simply proposed on doing something, to completely forget it during the series and remebered to pick it up again on the ending in a completely nonsense way.
If this was simply an anime to tell the story of a group of teenagers facing supernatural occurrences it'd have been an amazing one. After all there wouldn't be any kind of commitment to a larger story.
And that's where Occult Academy went wrong. They offer you an interesting premise only to abandon it afterwards , and, even worse, to "suddenly" remember it on the very ending.
This mistake has been repeating itself in SO many animes that it's getting on my nerves. If you don't know how you want to end a story, don't even get started!:@
All that aside, this show can offer you an enjoyable ride if you're expecting little commitment to the plot. The side stories are very good. It's just the way they are told to be related to the larger story which is not very convincing.
The art is the best part on this animation. It's really beautiful and well done. It's noticeable that some effort was put on this area which helps making this anime bearable til the end.
The soundtrack on the other hand, has nothing special to it. Sometimes it felt kinda out of place, but nothing that would hinder the anime.
The characters were cliches overall. Very few development, except for Maya, your typical tsundere, but at least with an interesting background.
As I said before, it's an enjoyable ride if you focus on the side stories. After episode 11, however, I wouldn't even mind watching it. All I could get from episodes 11, 12 & 13 was a big WTF?
Mugen900
How do I put it???????????????Ok so I guess the author of this anime kinda likes to keeps the audience guessing pertaining to the plot of the story, at first you'd think the antagonist or should I say the Nostradamus Key would be Chihiro Kawashima, but it turns out that she's on Maya's side as a Mage or White Witch who was entrusted by Maya's father to protect her, you would also tend to think that a lot of conflict would happen in the school, turns out that it was Mikaze (Bummei's supposed crush) all along who is responsible for mayhem around town wherethe school is located. Also, you would tend to think that both Maya and his father were dead, again it all Chihiro's magic that deceives both friends and foe alike. So basically this anime really keeps your curiosity as to who really is the Nostradamus key is until in the end you find out that it was Bummei who all along is the Nostradamus Key and it was Maya's father whom unintentionally brought the Apocalypse to mankind, so for the story it really deserves an 8.
For art, I'm very disgusted with the illustrator's fashion sense, especially when it comes to Maya's outfit, now c'mon, Maya in a white dress wearing long socks and white shoes? man! That's a big fashion NO, NO. What about Fumiaki's (Bummei) olive green suit? let see, it doesn't show any authoritative figure in it as a teacher and it can also be classified as a fashion disaster especially when his trousers is too short and exposing his white socks that does not give any professionalism. As for the school uniform, I hate the way it's been drawn it makes the female student look dorky, but not for Maya who also wear a school uniform but with a different design that distinguish her from the rest of the students. As for the 2 witches at first they both look dorky only to be hot in their true form.
For the character, at first you'll think that Fumiaki (Bummei) is a useless chicken only to redeem himself in later episode, you'll also think that Maya hates all things that were supernatural but in later episodes she's seen helping a restless spirit who just wants a memorable Christmas and in the end she didn't close down her father's school, and she had a sotacon relationship with the younger Bummei.
Over all I think that it just fair to rate this anime a fair as in fair enough to be watched.
Occult Trivia: The Church of Satan was founded in April 30th 1966 in Walpurgisnacht, San Francisco California by Anton Szandor LaVey, he was also been seen with infamous criminal Charles Manson.
pedropinilla
Hello. Well, I have to be honest... I started watching this series because of the main female star, Kumashiro Maya, but after finished watching it, I'm glad that I did cause the overall feeling was a lot more than what I was expecting. Very brief & no spoilers. Story. You can say that is a nice one, and it's true that sometimes you get lost wondering... what the hell?... but all in all is a great experience and for me, the ending was quite nice too. Art. I like it, not the best that I had seen but it's good, mantain the level from the beginning to the end. Sound.Very nice soundtrack, and the OP & ED are both, great.
Character. For everyone's taste, there are shy, brave, weird, sexy, tsundere characters, etc. the main starring, Maya & Bunmei are very nice and you care for them through out all the story.
Enjoyment. I did enjoy the whole package, really, a great experience with lots of surprises and up-side-downs.
Overall. Give it a chance, you won't lose anything and in return there is a high chance that you will like it too.
Kumashiro Maya Sugoi! ♥♥♥
Greetings (and forgive me if I made a mistake in the review ^^)
lilytenjouXP
WOW ok editing this... When i read over my review i just had to smack myself, literally. Reading what i wrote 2 years ago was just plain wrong, i was such a what? An anime lover? but i have come to judge more on that. Story: GOOD 7 Why? I really enjoyed the plot of this anime, different and sophisticated and fulfilled my joy in watching this anime all over. It wasn't over-powered by too much kind of shounen kind or shouji. But sometimes it might be too much to take in?! Not when you've already got a lot to take in from the 1st epbut very consistent which made each episode detailed and very presentable.
Art:
GREAT 9
I actually thought the art to this was very impressive, some bits of it gave off a Gantz kind of feel to it, the opening is which i loved, (For some strange reason), the colours and the textures and the way they present the angles and camera scenes was very much enjoyable to my entertainment. What i like about this is that it's not like Naurto style or Bleach or One Piece. Mostly that everything seems real and *puffs a air of laughter* sustainable xD
Sound:
GOOD 7
hmmmm not much i could really talk about here to be honest... With the ops and eds i really liked both of them. The opening was very enjoyable at the beginning with an upbeat 1,2,3,4 and a very talented singer, what's not to like? and the smoothing ending song that slowly drifts you away.
I like the background sounds which makes it casual and it really fits in with anything. Whenever the tension rises the music keeps you tense too.
Characters:
GREAT 9
I love each and every character's personality, the producer tries to make each and everyone unique i believe so... but to be honest they are just your average characters truthfully said wise. From a typical bossy lady to your typical shy guy that gets bossed around. Nothing special here really but they do tend to give you a twist.
Enjoyment:
VERY GOOD 8
I don't see what's not there to like here and there. I seriously do think people are criticizing too harshly for a really good and entertaining anime that i would too like to watch again. The plot is planned out good, the anime is colourful, eye-catching and full of surprises packed into it. Each episode does sometimes keep you on suspense, wondering 'what's goning to happen next... will they be able to find the key?' that is the main question.
Although everything did happen a bit too fast and i actually wanted more xD
OVERALL:
VERY GOOD 8
I was judgemental at first. I didn't know what i was doing when i clicked on this anime. it attracted me to it, because i've always been superstitious about things and the word 'occult' caught the corner of my eye and literally used it's magnetic field and made me click the watch episode button. I really liked it to be honest and would give this anime a try.
Recommend this if you like super natural things and sci-fi futuristic settings.
it's not the end of the world yet, so your not too late to try a new anime ;)
MikeMaverick
Do you ever believe in the supernatural? You know, something like ghosts, aliens, and the whole "end of the world" conspiracy? Well if you watch Occult Academy, then you will believe in more than what you expected. If you love it or hate it, then this is the series just for you. This series will keep you at the edge of your seat of what's going to happened... Characters You have a daughter of the Waldstien's Academy's headmaster, Maya Kumashiro. Her appearence is a strict type female who has a hugehatred towards the supernatural anything to do with it. After the death of her father, she hated the occult. When a mysterious time traveler drop in front of Maya, Fumaki Uchida, within his mission is to find the Nostrodamus' Key, which will open the gate way to hell and cause a huge damnation to the entire world. Both of them have their different characteristics, Maya, she's strong-willed, stricted, and have zero-tollerance with anyone's bull crap, especially Fumaki's bull crap, when she discovered that Fumaki isn't a man that she think he is. Fumaki was a major coward, yet a liar just to hide his true self, as a gutless unreliable loser. When Fumaki was little, he has a huge psychic powers, yet his mom is forcing him to use his powers through personal gain such as fame and fortune, yet when he's grown, his powers are obsolute. Also you have other supporting characters in the series, like Kozue, a long time friend of Maya and a huge occult otaku. Ami, also a long time friend of Maya, and always keep Kozue in line before talking about the supernatural in front of Maya. Also you have two best supporting characters who are extremly epic, JK and Smile. JK is the chubby guy who uses two metal bars just to locate anything that are paranomal and out of the ordinary. Smile is a mechanic who always hangs around with JK.
Setting
The setting takes place in 1999, where you had major consipracy theroies and predictions, such as the Y2K threat, the end-of-the-world theroies, but the process of armedgeddon would take place in July 21, 1999. This was a perfect setting actually, due to some crazy theroies and consipracies through the time about when the world is going to end in a new milleninium. Some people back then will think the future, we will be living in a cryptic world of machines dominate us all or the whole planet is in ruins thanks to World War III... I say it was genius.
Plot
Ok, I will like to say is the plot of the story is normal compare to other anime series I saw. A male and female protaganists, situations to take care of, and a mysterious atagonist which will surprise you near the end of the series. Speaking of suprises, the plots are very VERY surprising at times. Needless to say, the ongoing of the surprises will keep you at the edge of the seat of what's going to happened next, or what's going to become an outcome of the story. That's another thing I love the most.
Downside
This is where the nit-pick comes into play. the ONLY thing that I hate the most in this series is Fumaki...YES the older version of Fumaki, Abe-sensei, Bunmei, Numbuh 6, whatever the heck his name is! I did mentioned earlier that he's a coward a liar. I have NEVER seen a protagonist with such personality like that in my entire life! He runs away from danger, he mostly leaving others behind during action, he's un-reliable at some sort, he never participate in anything that will help Maya out! I know they are times he have helped out a few people, but SERIOUSLY! All he wants is to hang around with that Mikaze character...and for some odd reason, Mikaze isn't effin' right! How can one guy fall in love so quickly? Oh yeah...the boobies never lie...Other than that, the guy is weak, pathethic, and I just wish that Maya can do more than just beating the living crap outta him...
Final Verdict
The anime is fun, breath-taking, and full of suprises. They are other characters that I'd enjoy the most, with the exception of Fumaki. If you wanna see how the anime ended, I advise you to watch the anime itself. If you already watch the anime, be sure you support it by buying or renting the DVDs. If you love the occult like Kozue, and hate it, like Maya, then this series is defently for you.
RGC
A very good anime, I enjoyed it greatly. The only downfall is that 13 episodes was a bit too short. There was not enough time to develop and build on the story line, its as if the writers either did not plan it out or forgot it was only 13 episodes. The story progresses each episode then in the last 3 episodes it takes a sharp left turn and rushes to get everything in for an ending. Some predictability and some unexpected twists. The concept of the story is great especially since it isnt an adaptation of a manga or novel. Art is great and very fittingof the genre.
I like both the OP and ED and the sound through out the series is well done not overbearing but not lacking or unfitting of the various events.
The characters are not uncommon Maya who won't admit her love for the occult, Bunmei's uselessness, Naruse a featherbrained girl, whom strange things always happen to, yet they are memorable and their own.
I feel if it had been 24-26 episodes instead it would have made it better. More adventures, occult occurrences and building on the characters along with the story leading up to the ending. Still a great watch despite abrupt change in pace, up to and after the feeling of being hit by a truck goes away.
nightcrawlercyp
A great show ruined by a idiotic ending. Why do people try to appear smarter than they are. A great person once said: Write about what you know. The moment you depart from this then all falls to shambles. This is what happens with this show with the ending of ep 12 and ep 13. I do not want to spoil anything but there is a plot twist so overused and dumb to start to that is pathetic to use it. There could have been at least 4 different endings to the anime that would have been ok, but no the writer wanted tolook smart and thought we are dumb enough to fall for it. I would say watch the show and invent your own ending because this ending is a pile of ....
SplooshShot
As noted in the title of the series, the occult is the main focus here. Slice of life, friendship, and good vs. evil are some of what you'll find with this anime. Love it or hate it, that'll depend upon your personal tastes. Elements of sci-fi, magic, and the occult are what you'll experience. Story: 7/10 The story starts and ends with a great bang. Everything in the middle may be slow to some, which is quite typical of having slice of life. Given the fact that the series is only 13 episodes, the story would not be very detailed. Certain things may not be answered, certainthings may simply be answered through implications. If given a bigger budget, perhaps extending the anime to 24 or 26 episodes would enable the series to achieve a more detailed story. Thus, pushing the score to 9/10.
Art: 9/10
Not much need to be said here, you'll see with your eyes. The animation is quite good. Everything is animated pretty well. The facial expressions of the characters are done well. Maya's annoyed and angry faces made towards our male protagonist, Fumiaki. Given the short length of this series, one major focus should be its animation, and it has done well.
Sound: 9/10
First off, the OP/ED songs were great. I especially loved the ED song, "Kimi ga Iru Basho". The seiyuus were great. Emotions were heard. The BGM hits the mark, to give an "occult" feel of eerie and mystery.
Character: 8/10
Similar to story, if given more episodes, characters would have been more fleshed out. But, still job well done. Maya is a strong, independent, young woman. Fumiaki was a coward, but eventually steps up to the plate. Between the two supporting characters Smile and JK, JK stands out more. Smile is your usual tough guy, who has a soft spot. JK is an overweight goth, who seemingly isn't very dependable. But of course, looks can be deceiving. JK is quite dependable as it turns out. He not only helps out his friends in need, but even has his unique skill to "point" them in the right direction. Vice principle, Chihiro is another character that stands out. She is usually serious and professional. But when it comes to her love life, she gets very girly.
Enjoyment: 9/10
Only those that like this anime for what it is, will enjoy it. It's an anime that showcases friendship, magic, time travel, and various problems that people deal with in real life. Many viewers mull over the aspects of time travel used in this anime. Time travel will not be the same in every setting that it's used in. You have to keep an open mind and go along with what the author created in their story.
Overall: 8/10
For an anime with only 13 episodes to work with, it's good. You'll come to like it as well, if the genre appeals to you, if you can keep an open mind, and if you don't question the paradoxes of time traveling. At the end of the day, this anime sends us off with some great messages.
philiphos
I've just finished to watch it and I can sincerely say that it wasn't what I was expecting not in a bad way but in a good way. First of all the animé has pretty good theme which is the occult and it's not very common to see it on animes, I'm not a fan of occult or an practician but it sure surprised me a lot the development of the theme. Although that the animé has a pretty good Story, the art itself it's the medium, the Soundtrack was very nice because it was in perfect time and in the perfect moment not that kindof soundtrack's just to fill in.
His characters are very unique although they're a little "freak" the situations can be pretty mysterious or very funny despite the existence of a little ecchi but just in one or two episodes.
In the general I think it's a good animé to watch and in the end you will be sorry because it has just 13 episodes.
