Line #11 Manga/UltraManiac


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ultra_maniac.png]]
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3	''Ultra Maniac'' is an {{urban fantasy}} {{shoujo}} manga/anime series created by Wataru Yoshizumi of ''Manga/MarmaladeBoy'' fame. The manga ran in ''Magazine/{{Ribon}}'' from 2001 to 2004.
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5	The main characters are Ayu Tateishi, a realistic, no-nonsense {{Muggle}} desperate to maintain her "cool" image because her crush told her it was admirable, and Nina Sakura, a CuteWitch who is BookDumb, magic-wise, and has come to the human world in order to get better at her craft... [[InNameOnly which is about where the similarities between the anime and manga end]]. The anime gives Nina [[TheRival a new magical rival]], a quest to obtain a PlotCoupon, and a MagicalGirl TransformationSequence whenever Nina uses her magic.
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7	The manga's storyline isn't amazingly deep; it's a story of relationships and innocent fun. [[MoodWhiplash It briefly takes a dark turn near the end]], but things turn out all right. It's a cute series, and Yoshizumi's first attempt at a fantasy.
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9	It was popular enough to be adapted into a stand-alone OVA by Creator/AshiProductions in 2002 and as a 26-episodes-long series in 2003 by the same studio.
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11	Ain't got nothing to do with ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'', heh.
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14	!!''Ultra Maniac'' provides examples of the following tropes:
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16	* AdaptationDistillation: The anime focuses more on the comedical and magical girl aspects of the series than the manga.
17	* {{Animorphism}}: One of Nina's spells lets Ayu and Nina turn into kittens and spy on Hiroki and Tetsushi. They also do [[HumanityEnsues the reverse]]: Ayu, Hiroki, and Nina's pets turn into humans.
18	* AuthorAppeal: In a nonsexual sense; Yoshizumi is well-known for including tennis in her manga.
19	* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Ayu and Tetsushi, and later on, Nina and Hiroki [[spoiler: (''especially'' in the anime where their [[LoveConfession mutual admittance]] [[ThePowerOfLove of it literally saved lives, including theirs]])]]. [[spoiler:Also applies to [[PairTheSpares Yuta and Sayaka]] in the manga, although theirs was [[WasItAllALie more of]] [[LoveHurts a struggle]].]]
20	* BerserkButton: [[spoiler:"Leo never hurt you, Sayaka... ''but I will.''" Cue a magic bolt that blows a hole in the roof and would've killed Sayaka had Nina not been restrained as she fired the bolt.]]
21	* BreakingTheFourthWall[=/=]MediumAwareness: Manga. After Sayaka attacks, Nina says that this is ''way'' too violent for ''Ultra Maniac.'' Hiroki tells her that being in a shoujo manga does not exempt them from pain.
22	** Done so funnily in the first episode of the anime series. It's a tradition to {{Magical Girl}}s to have a dedicated TransformationSequence; Nina is no exception. After Nina does her transformation she gives her standard wink to the camera followed by Ayu snapping her back to business.
23	--> '''Ayu:''' Hey! [[LampShadeHanging This is no time to wink]].
24	* CanonForeigner: Maya Orihara is the main antagonist in the anime; while in the manga her appereance is reduced to a cameo.
25	* CantHoldHisLiquor: Nina discovers her magic potential while under the influence during the bar scene. Ayu and Yuta are not amused, as they see it as careless violation of {{the masquerade}} they're supposed to maintain (Ayu as SecretKeeper, and Nina and Yuta as magic users). Indeed, Nina was lucky to not be fined, let alone recalled, after that incident.
26	* CatchPhrase
27	** In the Viz manga, [[TotallyRadical "Spamola!"]]
28	** In the Japanese version, "Practice!"
29	* CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds: [[spoiler: Yuta and Luna's LastMinuteHookup. Maya and the prince's romance may also qualify, as this isn't revealed until the last episode.]]
30	* ClingyJealousGirl: Hiroki's cat, Shinosuke.
31	* ContinuityCameo: Inverted. Maya, Nina's rival from the anime, appears in a photograph of Nina's friends at her magic school.
32	* CoolBigSis: Mito, Nina's fellow "failure" as a witch.
33	* {{Crossdresser}}: One of Nina's magic school classmates (who turns out to be a boy) impersonates her to her friends in the epilogue, and his game is only up when Nina herself shows up as he shows off to them blatantly.
34	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Nina, in the manga. [[spoiler: During a battle with Sayaka in the school gym, Nina ''trips'' and leaves herself open to attack. Sayaka takes the opportunity to throw magic and [[TakingTheBullet ends up hitting Leo]]. Nina gets pissed and ''accidentally'' blows a ginormous hole in the ceiling.]]
35	* CuteWitch: Nina.
36	* CypherLanguage: The rune-like script used by people from the magic kingdom is actually a cypher of the Latin alphabet. The text is usually English, but sometimes romanized Japanese.
37	* DarkerAndEdgier: [[spoiler: The Sayaka arc winds up becoming the darkest part of the series ever, with Leo undergoing a DisneyDeath after TakingTheBullet meant for Nina and part of the school actually being destroyed at the end of the fight when Nina's BerserkButton is pressed as a direct result.]]
38	* DarkMagicalGirl: [[spoiler: Sayaka, Yuta's girlfriend.]]
39	** [[spoiler: Maya Orihara isn't far off, either, considering how she lives her life alone.]]
40	* DistantFinale
41	* DudeShesLikeInAComa: Ayu tries to take advantage of Tetsushi while he's [[StaticStunGun bolt-jolted out cold]], but Hiroki caught her in the middle of doing it. Don't worry, Ayu-chan. [[SecretKeeper He won't tell.]]
42	* DungeonMastersGirlfriend: Subverted. Tetsushi's very cool about Ayu and everyone keeping Nina's secret from him.
43	* EmotionlessGirl: Played with. People think that Ayu is very calm and collected, but in reality, she simply isn't paying attention, or is pretending.
44	* {{Filler}}: Most of the anime's episodes.
45	* FirstKiss: During another GenderBender spell, Ayu got hers stolen by an older girl. She freaked.
46	* GenderBender: The first spell Nina casts on Ayu after Ayu asks for a spell that will make her stronger so she can beat the boy's tennis club is to turn Ayu into a boy. All this achieves is Ayu's timing and balance being thrown off due the height and upper body strength increase. Later on Nina and Ayu become boys temporarily for mildly convoluted reasons surrounding a triple date.
47	* HumanityEnsues: Ayu, Hiroki, and Nina's pets turn into humans. Nina's kitten Leo (Rio in the Viz manga translation) is recurring character who becomes a young boy. Hiroki's pet cat Shinnosuke becomes a teenage boy with an apparent crush on Hiroki which weirds Hiroki out. Ayu's pet Tamako becomes a young girl who Leo develops a friendship with/crush on [[spoiler:shame she's a puppy.]]
48	* IneptMage: Nina and, apparently, Mito. [[spoiler:[[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass It turns out Nina has a lot of magical power behind her despite her reckless overclocking of her none computer-aided spells and her terrible tactical planning.]]]]
49	* KissDiss
50	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: [[spoiler: The winner of the MagicalGirlQueenlinessTest will be forgotten by everyone on Earth once they've married the prince]].
51	* LoveConfession: [[spoiler:Pretty much all the main characters give one or receive at least one.]]
52	* LovePotion: Nina gives Ayu a pill to give to Tetsushi to make him fall in love with her. Naturally, things don't go according to plan... and HilarityEnsues.
53	* MagicalCamera: It shows who the subject of the picture likes.
54	* MagicalGirlQueenlinessTest: It's a Magical Girl Queenliness Contest, too. [[spoiler: Nina wins, but upon learning that Maya loves the prince, she gives her the stones so that SHE can marry the prince.]]
55	* TheMole: [[spoiler: Sayaka.]]
56	* NiceGuy: Tetsushi. [[spoiler: Well, [[BitchInSheepsClothing Bastard In Sheep's Clothing]], actually.]]
57	* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: It's cool when Shinnosuke is in his natural cat form, but when Hiroki changes him into a human, he's thoroughly creeped out by this.
58	* OfficialCouple: One too many.
59	** Ayu and Tetsushi.
60	** Nina and Hiroki.
61	** [[spoiler:Yuta and Sayaka.]]
62	** In the anime, [[spoiler: Maya and the prince]], and [[spoiler: Yuta and Luna]]
63	* ParentalObliviousness: Yuta's adult sister Mita gives Ayu and Nina magic vitamin pills which turns them into [[{{Stripperiffic}} scantily clad]], busty adults so they can go to a bar! What do Nina's foster parents say about this? "Have a good time!" It should be noted, though, that Mito gave the trip as a "learning experience" for both girls.
64	* TheRival: The AnimatedAdaptation's Maya Orihara. Like Nina, she's also out for the PlotCoupon which will win her the [[MagicalGirlQueenlinessTest Magical Girl Queenliness Contest]].
65	* SchoolIdol: Ayu and Tetsushi, both respected by the entire school for their performance, diligence... and looks.
66	* SecretKeeper: Ayu and Hiroki. [[spoiler:Later, Tetsushi, too, when he finds out [[MagicalGirl Nina's little secret]] with Nina's permission... only Nina herself wasn't around to witness Ayu revealing it to him, but rather a [[{{Crossdresser}} male double]] who immediately takes the opportunity to flagrantly violate the masquerade before Nina shows up to rebuke him for being a {{Jerkass}} to her friends because of how he's alienating them.]]
67	* ShoutOut: The music that plays in the anime when Nina's young triplet cousins are around sounds a lot like the theme song to ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''. In fact, Wataru Yoshizumi '''loves''' ''The Powerpuff Girls''.
68	* SlapSlapKiss: How Yuta's sister Mito describes her relationship with her boyfriend in the DistantFinale of the manga.
69	---> '''Mito:''' We kiss. We argue. We kiss. We argue. In other words, we're in love.
70	* StaticStunGun: In the form of Ring Of Power. Supposedly protects Ayu from [[TheChikan potential harassment]]. But [[IneptMage Nina isn't adept at producing]] [[AppliedPhlebotinum usable Phlebotina]], so the ring stuns even the most innocent of boys, much to Ayu's chagrin.
71	* StraightMan: Ayu, in all her no-nonsense glory, won't take any of Nina's wacky magical hijinks, [[JustifiedTrope because in her defense]], [[UnwantedAssistance it usually just adds to her problems]].
72	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: When Nina [[spoiler:destroys a chunk of the gym from the inside after Sayaka assaults Leo]], it's made clear that [[spoiler:the roof being fixed by magic]] was a mere illusion, so [[spoiler:some of the protagonists, especially Nina, have to fix the roof for real]]–and it takes ''hours''.
73	* TallDarkAndHandsome: Tetsushi, on the flip side, was ''also'' motivated by [[LoveInterest Ayu]]. [[spoiler: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]], that is, considering how [[BitchInSheepsClothing he accepted all the chocolates given to him]] by his EstrogenBrigade, [[{{Jerkass}} only to secretly toss them aside after school]].]]
74	* ThirdPersonPerson: Nina. It's inconsistent, but justified by the author in that she wanted Nina to sound a little weird; Nina justifies it by saying that the spell she used to learn Japanese wasn't perfect.
75	* TotallyRadical: The Viz "translation" has the characters saying things like "Holy sushi!" and "Galloping geishas!" in surprise. It's worth noting that according to Website/AnimeNewsNetwork, ''Ultra Maniac'' is the only manga the person in charge of adaptation (John Lustig, who is more well known for working on [[ComicBook/DisneyMouseAndDuckComics Disney Comics]]) worked on.
76	* TraitorShot: Sayaka gets these after conversing with other characters, but especially after talking with Nina and Ayu.
77	* TransformationSequence: Nina gets a mildly lengthy one with {{Bishie Sparkle}}s whenever the full costume is in need. Sometimes, it ends with a wink. [[PlayedForLaughs For our sake]], [[StraightMan Ayu]] [[BreakingTheFourthWall points out]] [[MediumAwareness that last part]].
78	* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: Yuta.
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Context Manga / UltraManiac