14 year old schoolgirl Ichika wakes up for the last day of school after having a dream about a green-haired girl proclaiming “I am you, you are me, but… [inaudible].” This wouldn’t be anything of importance, except that later on she sees the same green-haired girl in an old cracked mirror at school. Even crazier, when Ichika goes back to retrieve her cellphone (conveniently dropped in front of the mirror during the commotion), she finds that her phone is now on the other side of the mirror. Ichika really wants the phone back because it has a yin yang talisman that her tutor Sei gave her; also, her cell phone company won’t give her a new phone unless she extends her contract for another two years. Naturally, Ichika has no choice but to agree to do a favor for the green-haired girl, who introduces her self as Manatsu Kuroki. And so, Manatsu crosses over to Ichika’s world through the mirror.
Usually when this kind of stuff happens, there is some kind of soul swapping or life essence exchanging, but it seems that all Manatsu wants Ichika to do is finish her summer homework (Manatsu is too lazy to do it herself). Damn, even in alternate universes there are leeches at school. The homework seems to require writing about a series of crazy experiences. What crazy experiences, you ask? Why the ones that cause the stones on your cellphone yin yang charm to glow and change you into a mahou shoujo with the ability to fly high above the city while a gigantic sun deity watches you, of course! It’s like a combination of Sphere Grids and Clow Cards. Ichika is coerced into agreeing to do the homework, and seals the deal with a pinky shake. Somewhere in the fine print of the agreement, there seems to be a stipulation about Ichika providing Manatsu room and board. Just as Ichika falls asleep after a tiring day, Manatsu bends over and whispers, “Sorry for lying to you.”
When I immerse myself in Samurai this and Samurai that, and I watch too many shounen titles, I find I need to have at least one good shoujo title to keep me sane. This season, I think that series will be Uta~Kata. It is a bit early to judge, but it seems to have a great combination of regular shoujo stuff, mystery, and possibly emotionally traumatizing drama. Add in some magical transformations, and that’s 4/4 on things I look for in a shoujo series. The fact that the series starts with Ichika talking about how Manatsu has left promises some serious dramatic punch. I’m really curious about what Manatsu meant by all that stuff she said, but I’m even more curious about what that mysterious lady outside was babbling about. When an unnamed character that most people cannot see spouts off about final choices and a trial of seasons, it usually means something good will happen. Mistaly!
The art is very clean, and seems to be of high quality. I was a little bit put off by the art style at first, but that quickly faded. I liked the usage of both bright colorful palettes, and darker ones as well. The voice acting seemed very good, and the OP was quite decent as well. However, the ED is fantastic and now I can’t get it out of my head. Meanwhile, the fanservice and shoujo ai were not too distracting. Overall a very strong first episode, and I am looking forward to more.
This post was written by...
Kabitzin – who has written 1970 posts on Sea Slugs! Anime Blog.
One of the founders of Sea Slugs, I handle most of the blog admin tasks while wearing my I AM BOSS shirt. I like my action series well choreographed, and my romance series extra trashy. I also have a soft spot for puns.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
lol.. “combination of Sphere Grids and Clow Cards”.. yeah, pretty much
I’m getting the 2nd episode right now (raw, of course). Can’t wait to watch
Uta~Kata is SO not a Shoujo show…
Er…. how do you figure…?
If Uta~Kata was truly shoujo, there wouldn’t be any panty shots. Transformation nudity yes, but none of the slightly pervy lolicon stuff that’s going on. I would say the female characters wouldn’t be so well endowed, too, but then there’s always Mermaid Melody…
It’s more “shoujo for guys”, I guess you could say
And yeah, BluWacky.. Luchia especially.. geez..
Ok, I understand BluWacky’s point. But think of this: If there were a video game named Knights of the Anime Republic, and you could get either shoujo or shounen points based on your actions, I would think that any kind of mahou shoujo transformation would garner more shoujo points than the subtle fanservice’s opposite effects. And just look at Kai and Sei! Therefore, if your character in this game were named Uta~Kata, I would think that it would be more likely to look like Sailormoon than Naruto. Shoujo-side points!
Granted, the elements you mention do seem out of place… perhaps Matthew says it best.
Shoujo or Shonen is really determined by what magazine the original manga ran in, and since I don’t think Uta~Kata has a manga, you really can’t say.
But the show is clearly aimed at males, what with the pantyshots and other slightly pervy elements, thus it is Shonen, not Shoujo.
Though the series does have a bit of shounen-style fanservice, I felt it had large elements of shoujo as well. The pervy elements were really light, and designs were more on the “cute” side than anything else. And the setting and plot seem so girly…not exactly adrenaline-pumping stuff here, and I don’t predict any blood and guts in the future. Most likely, battles of the Card Captor Sakura type at most. Bottom line: I didn’t like this episode at all! Too much cutesy stuff.
For comparison’s sake, check out Kiddy Grade, which had the same director and char designer, but was blatantly shounen. Lots of fighting, death and destruction, large bouncing breasts in skin-tight outfits, and a predominantly female cast.
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