Ultra Maniac, Vol. 1

Tateishi wants so badly to appear cool so she can impress her crush, but her ditzy classmate's magical hijinks keep complicating her life. Goofy, light-hearted fun with a very episodic, spell-of-the-week plot.

I really thought I wouldn't want to read more, but that twist ending to volume 1! How can I resist?

The world of cool and calm Ayu was shaken when she met the maniac-like student Nina. She found the portable PC that Nina lost. In exchange, Nina trusted Ayu with her secret. It was the start of their friendship. Nina wanted to help Ayu solve her little problems but it always end up in disasters.


Ultra Maniac has a special place in my heart. It was one of those animés that made me addicted to animé itself *cough*still is*cough*. I was looking for this manga back when the scanlations were limited and not yet popular. I ended up reading a fan-made narration which bore a not really good English translation. I did not know why I searched for this just now.

My favorite anime character, Maya, was not in the manga but it is fine because duh, show more this is the original. I like both. Since there were many people involve in the process of animation, the characters and plot shifted (e.g. in animé, Nina transferred because she has bad grades in her world, she'll pass in normal school because her magic skills don't need to be graded but in manga, she transferred to train in the human world).

Back to the manga, I love the illustrations of Yoshizumi Wataru. She states in her author's notes that her art improved and got better than her first manga. Unlike other mangakas, she has so many things to say in ample spaces in the chapters. I guess because she has a lot of experiences already. show less

The first volume of this manga comic book series explores the friendship between a popular tennis star, Ayu, and her best friend, Nina, who just happens to be a witch-in-training. To develop her craft, Nina tries out spells to help Ayu, including Ayu’s attempts to win the heart of Tetsushi, star of the school baseball team. Characteristic of many books in this genre, the series also explores love, angst, peer pressure and individuality; typical issues faced by teenagers today. This was the first manga book that I’d ever read and it wasn’t too bad, but it’s not something really for me. A word of caution to other manga first-timers: read the instructions on how to read manga. I was lost for a little bit when I started out. show more Overall, I think this genre is strictly for the teenage set. show less

I think this is a cool book. I have never seen a book where you have to turn the pages in the opposite way! It is a cute book written about two girls and the author, Wataru Yoshizumi makes the story interesting and inspirational especially being written in the original Japanese comic format. This book like I said reads right to left, so dialogs, balloons, action and sound effects are completely reversed. This preserves the original artwork, plus its fun to look at!

At first glance, Nina Sakura seems like a typical teenage girl, but she's actually a transfer student from a witch school in another dimension! Now enrolled at a middle school in Japan, Nina is hoping to improve her grades, make some friends, and practice love spells on her unsuspecting new classmates.

-

Great little series of manga that is rated A for All Ages. About a girl who is a witch and a girl that becomes her friend. There is a lot of mishap spells and a bit of romance. So far, I love the series.