Ultra Maniac is an urban fantasyshoujo manga/anime series created by Wataru Yoshizumi of Marmalade Boy fame.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 Cute Witch who is Book Dumb, magic-wise, and has come to the human world in order to get better at her craft... which is about where the similarities between the anime and manga end. The anime gives Nina a new magical rival, a quest to obtain a Plot Coupon, and a Magical GirlTransformation Sequence whenever Nina uses her magic.The manga's storyline isn't amazingly deep; it's a story of relationships and innocent fun. 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.It was popular enough to be adaptated into a stand-alone OVA by Production Reed in 2002 and as a 26-episodes-long series in 2003 by the same studio.Ain't got nothing to do with Ultraman, heh.
This series has examples of:
Animorphism: One of Nina's spells lets Ayu and Nina turn into kittens and spy on Hiroki and Tetsushi. They also do the reverse: Ayu, Hiroki, and Nina's pets turn into humans.
Author Appeal: In a nonsexual sense; Yoshizumi is well-known for including tennis in her manga.
Berserk Button: "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.
Done so funnily in the first episode of the anime series. It's a tradition to Magical Girls to have a dedicated Transformation Sequence; 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.
Can't Hold His Liquor: 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 Secret Keeper, and Nina and Yuta as magic users). Indeed, Nina was lucky to not be fined, let alone recalled, after that incident.
Continuity Cameo: Inverted. Maya, Nina's rival from the anime, appears in a photograph of Nina's friends at her magic school.
Cool Big Sis: Mito, Nina's fellow "failure" as a witch.
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.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Nina, in the manga. 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 ends up hitting Leo. Nina gets pissed and accidentally blows a ginormous hole in the ceiling.
Darker and Edgier: The Sayaka arc winds up becoming the darkest part of the series ever, with Leo undergoing a Disney Death after Taking the Bullet meant for Nina and part of the school actually being destroyed at the end of the fight when Nina's Berserk Button is pressed as a direct result.
First Kiss: During another Gender Bender spell, Ayu got hers stolen from an older girl. She freaked.
Gender Bender: 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.
Love Confession: Pretty much all the main characters give one or receive at least one.
Love Potion: 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 Hilarity Ensues.
Magical Camera: It shows who the subject of the picture likes.
No Sense of Personal Space: 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.
Parental Obliviousness: Yuta's adult sister Mita gives Ayu and Nina magic vitamin pills which turns them into 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.
School Idol: Ayu and Tetsushi, both respected by the entire school for their performance, diligence... and looks.
Secret Keeper: Ayu and Hiroki. Later, Tetsushi, too, when he finds out Nina's little secret with Nina's permission... only Nina herself wasn't around to witness Ayu revealing it to him, but rather a 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.
Shout Out: The music that plays in the anime when Nina's young triplet cousins are around sounds a lot like the theme song to The Powerpuff Girls. In fact, Wataru Yoshizumi lovesThe Powerpuff Girls.
Slap-Slap-Kiss: How Yuta's sister Mito describes her relationship with her boyfriend in the Distant Finale of the manga.
Mito: We kiss. We argue. We kiss. We argue. In other words, we're in love.
Third-Person Person: 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.
Totally Radical: The Viz "translation" has the characters saying things like "Holy sushi!" and "Galloping geishas!" in surprise. Just... no. It's worth noting that according to Anime News Network, Ultra Maniac is the only manga the person in charge of adaptation (John Lustig, who is more well known for working on Disney Comics) worked on.
Traitor Shot: Sayaka gets these after conversing with other characters, but especially after talking with Nina and Ayu.
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