Occult Academy (Anime Series)
April Marie
|
Directed by Tomohiko Itou
Animated by A-1 Pictures, Aniplex
Suitable for 17+
One of the most pervasive settings in anime is the school. No matter what genre, it’s bound to come up. Take Attack on Titan: Junior High for example. The original Attack on Titan is incredibly dark and gritty, and yet we’re getting a lighthearted school version of it. If Attack on Titan can make it work, it’s proof enough that the school setting is everywhere. That’s why it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that our newest anime review features one of these institutions for learning. That anime is of course Occult Academy.
Though it does in fact take place in a school, Occult Academy is so much more than that. It’s a supernatural, time-traveling, mystery story. One of the main characters, Fumiaki Uchida, is from the year 2012, a time when aliens have invaded and humans have lost control of the earth. He is sent back to the year 1999 to find Nostradamus’ Key, which Nostradamus’ prophecy foretold would bring about this apocalypse. Once in the year 1999, Fumiaki meets Maya Kumashiro, a young woman who has returned to the Occult Academy with the intention of destroying it by taking her late father’s position as the school’s principal. Despite an awkward meeting, Maya and Fumiaki make a pact to find Nostradamus’ Key together. To find it they must use cell phones from the future. When they find something they think might be the key, they must think of destroying it as they take a photo of it. If the photo shows a peaceful scene, it means they have found the key. If not, only a destructive future will show.
While all this sounds like your average time-traveling mystery at a school, there’s even more! The school is called Occult Academy because (Fancy that!) its students are there to study the occult. Monsters, aliens, spirits, possessions, you name it, the Occult Academy students study it. The first episode is one of the best examples of this since it marks Maya’s return to the Academy, which coincides with her father’s funeral. Maya is back just in time for her father’s last wishes to be played on a tape, during which he recites a spell that accidentally summons an evil spirit. This spirit, of course, possesses her father’s dead body, and begins to terrorize the students. Maya and her friends must figure out how to exorcise the spirit, and thus save the day.
Occult Academy is a series that really has its ups and downs. The first episode sets the stage for an action-packed supernatural series, with some humor thrown in for good measure. However, many of the episodes focus more on the time-traveling aspect, and a lot of them are more reflective than exciting. It’s these contemplative episodes that were far more memorable. Two in particular focus on a young girl’s spirit that the vice principal summons during a class. The little girl is lost, and only wants to find her home. Maya vows to help her, and once she and her friends find the little girl’s home, they realize how she died. It’s a tragic story, but one with a happy ending. Eventually the girl’s devastated father becomes the means through which her soul can move on.
Of the characters in the story, Maya and Fumiaki are the two most important. Everything in Occult Academy relates to at least one or the other. Past that there are plenty of supporting characters, but the two most important for Maya are Ami Kuroki, and Kozue Naruse. Ami is Maya’s childhood friend, and while they spent a few years apart, they’ve now been reunited with Maya’s return to the academy. Kozue is one of Maya’s new classmates, and she’s desperate to experience the supernatural in any way possible. Her do-or-die attitude towards the occult leads to some interesting escapades throughout the series. For Fumiaki, the most important character is Mikaze Nakagawa. She’s a waitress at a small restaurant near Fumiaki’s home, and he quickly falls madly in love with her. While these are the most crucial, there are other lesser characters in Occult Academy that lend their personalities to certain episodes, rounding them out in a way that couldn’t be done without them.
While all of this probably sounds great, there’s one glaring problem with Occult Academy. Its last three episodes play out like a completely different anime. Out of nowhere one character’s personality does a 180, more fantasy elements are introduced, and the pacing of the series completely changes. It goes from having a rather relaxed pace, to a suddenly manic, in-your-face, rush to the end. The absolute best way to explain it is that it feels like the animators weren’t paying attention to how many episodes had elapsed, and suddenly had to find a way to end the series. Not only that, but the actual end of the anime ignores everything that happened previously. It cuts back to the “future” of 2012, and shows how things have changed with Nostradamus’ Key destroyed. However, we have absolutely no sense of closure with most of the characters from 1999. Even the two main characters from the series are only vaguely mentioned.
If you’d like to take a peek at what a school anime looks like, but don’t want to watch a sappy high school romance story, Occult Academy might be a good fit for you. There’s plenty of crazy antics to enjoy, some heartfelt story lines, constant occult references, and a healthy dash of humor. Just be prepared for some whiplash when those last three episodes roll around, and don’t question how time-travel works (you’ll only hurt yourself).
Crackle is currently streaming Occult Academy for free; click the link for more info.
-
Anime
Categorized:Reviews
