Magic Users' Club
1996 OVA, 6 episodes
Studio: Triangle Staff;
Director-Junichi Sato
Writers: Akinori Endo and Junichi Sato (1), Chiaka J Nonaka (2-6)
Writers: Akinori Endo and Junichi Sato (1), Chiaka J Nonaka (2-6)
So, now I am doing a run of Magic
themed series for the next three reviews, in case that fact escape
you from the titles. Why? Because it's my blog, just so there!
Anyway, first look is over Magic Users' Club, a 6 episode OVA from
1996 by Studio Triangle Staff and directed by Junichi Sato, who also
directed Sailor Moon back in the days.
This show is about Sae Sawanoguchi and
her friends in the local high school's Magic Club. Magicians in this
world are simply people who can control their thoughts and
imagination to make the impossible the possible. However, there exist
only a select few. There's Takakura, the nerdy leader; Nanaka, Sae's
requisite childhood friend; Akane, glam girl and 'ghost member' and
Aburatsubo, the lone gay guy of the group. Together, they seek to
blow up an invasion by the mysterious 'Bell' and its minions.
However, it isn't just the Bell that they must deal. Be it some
curious journalist or a childhood rival, it's all fun and adventure
in Magic Users' Club.
Now, there are several things going
well for this series, the OVA in particular. At first, it might seem
it would be rather trite and cliched. But once the story develops, it
goes off like a rocket, not really letting up much. I believe that's
down to the writer they brought for the other five episodes: Chiaki
J. Nonaka. For those of you not in the know, he's a writer on several
other anime, like Armitage III and Serial Experiments Lain. Of
course, I remember him as the writer for Digimon Tamers, the 3rd
series of that franchise which was really quite good. Similar to that
series, Magic Users' Club has a nice and even blend of the
fantastical and the horrifying (especially the Bell which is a nice
spin on the 'detached otherworldly invader' concept which has been
done quite a lot over time). Regardless of that, there is also this
element of excellent earnestness about the whole OVA.
This earnestness is encapsulated into
the main character, Sae herself. Not quite smart, a bit ditzy
(reminds one of Usagi from Sailor Moon, no doubt), but she means well
and tries her best, which makes her struggle quite compelling in
parts. I was certainly rooting for her all the way through the story.
Fortunately, the rest of the characters are very well-rounded in
their own respect. Takakura might seem at first a hapless nerd, but
he turns out to be a nice mentor figure for Sae, despite his conflict
between being her mentor and being more than a friend shall we say.
Nanaka isn't just a nice, kind childhood friend; she does argue with
and try to get Sae to strive for more than what she is, to better
herself. Akane, the girly girl/ghost member who wouldn't seem out of
place in Sailor Moon much less Cardcaptor Sakura, but she actually
does play a crucial part of the story. Aburatsubo is perhaps a
standout character, one of the rare gay characters in anime that is
written with a measure of dignity and respect, giving a rather subtle
performance as the group's voice of reason. Even the minor characters
(the teacher, Mizuha, the journalist and his lackey) are given enough
time and presence as to not feel unnecessary.
The story is helped by the animation
immensely. The production was done by Triangle Staff, which also was
involved in the original story for this series. Triangle Staff has
mostly done assistance on other shows like Lain, The SoulTaker,
Sakura Wars, etc and they haven't done much since the early 2000s.
That is a bit of a shame since the animation is very good. There are
bits of early CG graphics in there, but thankfully they are used to a
minimum, at least here in the OVA, with the majority of the show
being very good 90s cel animation: fluid and dynamic, tactile, etc.
The characters look like they come from Princess Tutu (sharing the
same character designer) with my only quip is that all characters,
even the dudes, have thick eyelashes when eyes are closed.
Finally, the english dub is fairly
good. Though released by Media Blasters, the dub was made by NYAV
Post founded by Michael Sinterniklaas, who also directed and wrote
the english dub adaptation for Magic Users' Club. It is actually one
of the better NY based dubs that I've heard that I don't hate,
thankfully. That's due to some soild performances from some US Manga
voice actors, like Jamie McGonnigal, Kevin T. Collins and Lisa Ortiz.
But I think that the standout performance for this dub is Misty
Daniels, who voices Sae in the dub. She's fantastic and hits the
right tone in nearly every scene she's in. Bummer she isn't in any
other dubs, as this and the TV Series for Magic Users' Club are her
only credits on ANN.
So, the OVA is very enjoyable on a lot
of fronts, and I recommend this series (both OVA and the TV Series).
Next time, I will be looking at the TV Series made 3 years later.
Laterz,
The Eclectic Dude
