Ultra Maniac Vol 1 [Paperback]

Wataru Yoshizumi (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Ultra Maniac | Publication Date: July 5, 2005

Shy Ayu Tateishi has just made a new friend at school. But this new friend, much to her surprise, is no ordinary classmate. Nina Sakura may look like a normal middle school girl, but she's got a big secret. She's a witch. Or, rather, she's studying to be a witch. And, apparently, she's not doing her homework. Her spells are devastating in their ineffectiveness and often result in the most embarrassing situations for poor Ayu. But things wouldn't be so bad if Nina's sorcery didn't make Ayu look silly in front of the one boy she secretly adores. All she wants is a simple love potion. What she gets, however, is a new best friend who almost flunked out of witch school!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tennis star Ayu Tateishi is the junior high school's "queen of cool," and she has her eye on Tetsushi Kaji, the star of the baseball team. All is well with her world, until she unwittingly helps out novice witch Nina Sakura, who then feels compelled to do her magical favors whenever she can. Nina has a "portable magic PC" with which she can download spells (and some cool MP3s) from the Internet. What she doesn't have is much experience with witchcraft—so her attempts to help Ayu result in predictably wacky hijinks. This first attempt at fantasy manga by Yoshizumi (Marmalade Boy; Mintma Bokura) is charming and good-natured. Her art is clean and uses the standard manga conventions, such as schoolgirl uniforms, to good effect. The storytelling occasionally veers into the cutesy—Yoshizumi uses chibi (cuter versions of the characters) regularly to telegraph jokes, and peppers her chapters with "Free Talk"—footnotes to the reader revealing facts like "I think the thing that has changed most about my art is that I'm drawing a lot more eyelashes"). Given the teen audience this work is aimed at, the breathless dialogue and unselfconscious goofiness simply add to the charm, and this book will likely be ultra-popular with the manga crowd. (July)
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From the Back Cover

Shy Ayu Tateishi has just made a new friend at school. But this new friend, much to her surprise, is no ordinary classmate. Nina Sakura may look like a normal middle school girl, but she's got a big secret.

She's a witch.

Or, rather, she's studying to be a witch. And, apparently, she's not doing her homework. Her spells are devastating in their ineffectiveness and often result in the most embarrassing situations for poor Ayu.

But things wouldn't be so bad if Nina's sorcery didn't make Ayu look silly in front of the one boy she secretly adores. All she wants is a simple love potion. What she gets, however, is a new best friend who almost flunked out of witch school!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; Shojo Beat Manga Ed edition (July 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591169178
• ISBN-13: 978-1591169178
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #855,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars magical fun, jr high angst & romance in a great package, July 22, 2005

By 

K. Rim "krimson" (Manhasset, New York United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ultra Maniac Vol 1 (Paperback)

First of all I have to disagree with the previous review, this is a great series! It's a wonderful cute story about jr high school boys & girls and unrequitted love. As well as the interesting plots that come about when you have a witch in training who means well but isn't very good with her spells that often go awry more often than not.

Just skimming through the story will not give you a full appreciation of the hijinks and plot twists that can come about. The artwork is well done and cute but not excessively so. And everything that happens is very innocent, even the only "kiss" scene was a result of a comedy gag or punchline than anything else. I really like this series and can't wait till the next volume is released.

I would also recommend Marmalade Boy, another manga series by the same author.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars KAWAII!!!, December 5, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Ultra Maniac Vol 1 (Paperback)

Hello there, (...)here. Ultra Maniac is another one of Yoshizumi-sensei's works. It's about Ayu Tateishi, who is crazy over Kaji Tetsushi. One day, a new transfer student transfers to Ayu's school, Nina Sakura. Apparently, the transfer student transferred to Ayu's school from the Magic Kingdom, where of course, all beings are able to use magic. With the help of Nina and her mini-computer, Ayu gets into many strange adventures, all planned by the one and only, NINA!!
But, problems occur on the way. For instance, many times throughout the series, Nina uses a spell on Ayu or a student at the school. After what is needed to be done is done (or at least nearly accomplished being done), Nina never seems to ever find a spell in her computer to reverse the magic. In those cases, Ayu just has to live with the magic until it wears off. Other moments, Hiroki Tsujiai, one of Kaji's friends, is always near Kaji, making it difficult to use a spell on Kaji.
Oh, well, no more. Nuh-uh. See ya next time. This is (...).^_^

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pick up a copy, July 24, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Ultra Maniac Vol 1 (Paperback)

This book really is basically a kid's manga. When reading this book, that should be kept in mind. Nina and Ayu both act a bit immature at times, but they're never to the point where they're annoyingly immature.
Yes, as was said before, there was one part where Ayu was turned into a boy, and kissed another girl (unwillingly...) but that was basically the only thing somewhat (I mean SOMEWHAT.) that could turn it into a 12+ manga.
However, this manga is full of shoujo goodness in every aspect of the word. The art isn't heavy, instead, it's greatly detailed and flourishy, and it isn't full of sappy sappy love. There's a wonderful little plot twist at the end of the first volume that really gets you thinking about what'll happen.
So, in short, if you can't stand any kind (and I mean ANY KIND.) of the shoujo ai or shonen ai stuff, you'll probably be a bit bothered by the girl to boy transformations Nina and Ayu pull off. However, if you're really not bothered at all by that subject, inside, you'll find a great read that really is appropriate for basically any age.