Magikano
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Magikano | |
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マジカノ (Magikano) |
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Genre | Mahou shoujo, Shōnen, Comedy, Romance |
Manga | |
Authored by | Takeaki Momose |
Publisher | Kodansha |
Serialized in | Magazine Z |
Original run | April 2003 – |
No. of volumes | |
TV anime | |
Directed by | Seiji Kishi |
Studio | Magikano Production Committee |
Network | AT-X (TV Tokyo's Satellite station) |
Original run | January 3, 2006 – March 28, 2006 |
No. of episodes | 13 |
Magikano (マジカノ?) is a manga and an anime series that began airing in Japan in January 2006. Haruo is an ordinary junior high school student who leads a peaceful life with his three sisters. One morning, he sees a cute girl across the street who vanishes in a gust of wind and from this point, his peaceful life becomes anything but peaceful as ordinary, boring days suddenly take a turn into chaos.
Magikano differs from most "harem" animes in the fact that whereas the female leads of other anime in this genre are usually fundamentally-nice individuals with quirky flaws, the girls in this anime are at large very selfish and nasty people who have few (if any) redeeming qualities. Point in fact the lead actresses spend a large (about 45%) portion of the show performing their characters with coarse, devious brutal and angry voices for the sake of black-comedy, as opposed to the sweet and angelic voices of most Bishoujo anime characters. The fact that most of the misfortunes that befall amongst the girls are brought upon by their own selfishness makes Magikano one of the few modern animes where you have no guilt laughing at the sufferings of the characters.
Contents |
[edit] Characters
- Haruo Yoshikawa
- Haruo is the leading male of the series, an average junior high school boy who has a perfect attendance record at school and doesn't have any longterm prospects, aside from living a long life. He lives with his three sisters, and has no idea any of them are mahou tsukai (magic users). Haruo, himself, supposedly has latent magic powers, but he is not aware of this, believing he and his family are perfectly ordinary. Maika and his other sisters make sure Haruo is kept in the dark about the fact that they can use magic through liberal application of magic memory erasing hammers. Haruo is in his third year of junior high school, in classroom B.In the last episode,Haruo is revealed to be an avatar of the Demon Lord/Maoh. "Haru" means "spring" in Japanese. Voiced by: Mitsuhiro Ichiki
- Ayumi Mamiya
- Ayumi is a girl from a rich family in the magical world, but due to looking in an old mirror when she was small, she suffers from a curse that only Haruo can dispel. She ends up being ordered by the Ministry of Magic to work in the Yoshikawa house as a maid, and plans to awaken Haruo's latent magical powers so that he can release her from the curse. Ayumi doesn't particularly like Haruo at the start of the series, and is determined to be rid of the curse - regardless of the means she has to use. Ayumi is popular, regarded as extremely cute by her classmates, and has strong magical powers. She has long blond hair that is tied back in two pigtails. In direct contrast to her appearance, Ayumi is petty, selfish, cold, possessive and incredibly violent-tempered, able to jump from angelic-cuteness to chilling rage and-back in seemingly a heartbeat. She hates eels and mice. Voiced by: Sakura Nogawa
- Maika Yoshikawa
- Maika is the oldest sister of the Yoshikawa family. She can use magic, and loves cooking for her brother and sisters. She has long lilac-coloured hair, often tied back with green ribbons. She is very protective of her brother Haruo, and was immediately suspicious of Ayumi's intentions. The others often accuse her of having a brother complex, which is not entirely unjustified. As a toddler she subliminally brainwashes Haruo in his sleep by chanting "Big Brother will stay with Maika" repeatedly, and her usually caring and ladylike-personality is replaced by a disturbingly possessive jealousy whenever any female (including her own sister Chiaki) shows any closeness to her brother. "Ka" means "summer" in Japanese. Voiced by: Mai Nakahara
- Chiaki Yoshikawa
- Chiaki is the middle sister of the Yoshikawa family. She can also use magic, and loves working out and eating food. She has long, lavender hair, often tied back with a red ribbon. Clueless, honest, sincere and completely without guile and malice, Chiaki is asily the nicest and only genuinely sweet and likable girl in the cast. "Aki" means "autumn" in Japanese. Voiced by: Kanako Sakai
- Fuyuno Yoshikawa
- Fuyuno is the youngest sister of the Yoshikawa family. She can also use magic, and she loves just about anything that involves making money; a subject that makes her adopt the demeanor (and voice) of a Scrooge like miser many times her years. She has short blue hair with a gray and black ribbon. "Fuyu" means "winter" in Japanese. Voiced by: Tomoko Kaneda
- Sora
- A friend of Haruo's from his class at school, Sora is a boy with glasses who has no dialogue and speaks by taking pictures. Always seen with his camera. In the original manga, Sora did not wear glasses and talked.
- Hajime
- Another friend of Haruo's from his class. Hajime Hario is generally loud and outspoken, and is always on the lookout for girls. Voiced by: Katsuhiro Harasawa
- Yuri Kurosu
- The student council president, Yuri is the school's #1 idol, but she gets some unwelcome competition when Ayumi transfers in. She met Haruo when she was a little girl. Her hair changes colour (brown to silver) when she uses her magic. Yuri harbors a "hidden" desire to be with Haruo. Voiced by: Noriko Namiki
- Marin Nijihara (Masuzu)
- A Catholic witch hunter who thinks that Haruo was sent from heaven and needs protection from witches (especially Ayumi). She works with Ayumi, Yuri, and/or Maika when she feels that they have a common cause. The picture of a fundamentalist zealot, she justifies cruelty after cruelty and hypocrisy after hypocrisy with "It's in the name of the Lord" and other such mantras. And even then, in pursuit of her little inquisitions, Marin is an incompetent and clumsy fool who injures herself more in her attacks than any of the "evil-witches" that she so adamantly hunts.
- Rika Anju
- An enigmatic maid sent by Ayumi's father into the service of the Yoshikawa household, apparently to collect data. An effective maid, she is taciturn and quite able to cause trouble and thwart Ayumi's attempts to seduce Haruo. Her seeming obliviousness to the present conceals a calculating cunning that rivals even Fuyuno's. Voiced by: Nana Inoue
- Michiru Mamiya
- Ayumi's younger sister, who is determined to stop Ayumi from breaking her curse and one day becoming head of the Mamiya family. She knows that Haruo's powers extend far beyond the ability to break Ayumi's curse and she intends to use that power to take over the world. Voiced by: Natsuko Kuwatani
- Hongō-sensei
- Haruo's class teacher, who seems to always be nearby whenever something strange happens. It is later revealed that she is an artificially created human immune to certain kinds of magic.
[edit] Trivia
- The roles that Nogawa Sakura and Nakahara Mai play in this anime are an exact reversal of the ones they played in their last collaboration, Mai Hime, wherein Nogawa played the disturbingly obsessive "little-sister" to the main-male-character and Nakahara Mai played to main romantic female lead.
- In episode 11 of the anime series, Haruo worked part-time in a cake shop to earn some money so that he could buy Christmas presents for the girls. One of his co-workers in the shop is a girl named "Ran" who has a boyfriend named "Shin'ichi". A possible reference from Detective Conan.
[edit] Episode List
No. | English Title | Japanese Title | Original Air Date |
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01 | She is a Magical Girl, Are You Serious? | 彼女が魔女って、マジですか? (Kanojo ga majotte, MAJI desuka?) | January 3, 2006 |
02 | The Student Council Head is also a Magical Girl, are you Serious? | 生徒会長も魔女ってマジですか? (Seitokaichou mo majotte, MAJI desuka?) | January 10, 2006 |
03 | They are a Pair of Dangerous Siblings, are you Serious? | 危険な兄妹ってマジですか? (Kiken na kyodaitte MAJI desuka?) | January 17, 2006 |
04 | It has been Stolen, are you Serious? | 盗まれたってマジですか? (Musumaretatte MAJI desuka?) | January 24, 2006 |
05 | A Witch Hunter, are you Serious? | ウィッチハンターってマジですか? (UICCHI HANTAA tte MAJI desuka?) | January 31, 2006 |
06 | Did a Ghost Really Show Up?! | 幽霊が出たってマジですか? (Yuurei ga detatte maji desuka?) | February 7, 2006 |
07 | Did a Maid Really Come?! | メイドが来たってマジですか? (Maid ga kitatte maji desuka?) | February 15, 2006 |
08 | Was It Really a Winner's Kiss?! | 勝利のキスってマジですか? (Shouri no kisutte maji desuka?) | February 21, 2006 |
09 | Is He Really A Sleeping Prince? | 眠れる王子ってマジですか? (Nemureru oujitte maji desuka?) | February 28, 2006 |
10 | Are They Really Cursed Cat Panties?! | 呪いの猫パンツってマジですか? (Noroi no neko pantsutte maji desuka?) | March 7, 2006 |
11 | Was It Really a Holy Night?! | 聖なる夜ってマジですか? (Seinaru yorutte maji desuka?) | March 14, 2006 |
12 | Is it Really the Time of Awakening?! | 目覚めの刻ってマジですか? (Mezame no tokitte maji desuka?) | March 21, 2006 |
13 | Is It Really The Last Episode?! | 最終回ってマジですか? (Saishuukaitte maji desuka?) | March 28, 2006 |
[edit] External links
- (Japanese) Official website